Product Development for Music Net Education

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

My name is Philip Donner and I am working at the net communication department of the International Centre of Chamber Music in Kuhmo, Finland. I am a developer of systems and software applications for real-time networked music education.

My counter-part Matti Ruippo is working for the Sibelius Academy in the city of Kuopio. His emphasis is on music net pedagogy, especially the translation of our joint products into functioning courses and training programs.

I have been asked to present some aspects on my research and development effort. I'll focus on three areas of music net pedagogy, where I have been active. They are:

· Data Conferencing

· Netcasting

· Video Conferencing

Let's have a look at problems I have tried to tackle and some of the innovatory solutions we have been able to produce.

Data Conferencing

Research and development objective:

To create methods of enhancing NetMeeting to become a platform for music distance learning.

Key innovation:

· MIDI Combo - NetMeeting keyboard software

Educational use:

Various music theory courses including

· Arrangement

· Figured base

· Transcription

· Analysis

[Demonstration of the use of MIDI Combo in a VC setting]

Netcasting

Research and development objective:

To develop an easy-to-use suite of applications for production of educational material in conjunction with the software engine from RealNetworks.

Products:

· RealPix Author - an animation utility

· RealText Author - a text authoring utility

· SMIL Composer - an application for the integration of synchronized multimedia material

Educational use:

· 'MuTe Netcasting' - a netcasted music technology seminar

· 'Sonorous Texture' - a netcasted conference

· Real-time multimedia presentations

· Courses in the preparation of educational multimedia material for on-demand distribution

[Demonstration of authoring with the RealPix software]

Video Conferencing

Research and development objective:

Enhancing standard VC equipment to produce music sound quality which is acceptable for music education.

Key innovation:

· 'HiFi Conferencing' - an ISDN-based stereo sound transmission system replacing the telephone level sound of current VC equipment

Educational use:

Instrumental training in

· Piano

· Saxophone

· Kantele

Masterclass training in various fields of study, including

· Violin

· Conducting

Support for studies in ensemble playing

· Orchestral rehearsals

· Low-end production system for net concerts

[Clip from a VC-based netconcert production]

Closing Remarks

As you can see, music net education may take many forms. I have been using a broadly based concept of product development covering major aspects of real-time communication. The reason for this strategy is the fact that we are right now quite concretely experiencing the convergence of different modes of transmission.

Have a closer look at my presentation and you will find a number of instances where one mode of communication intersects with another.

If you find some of my work interesting I would urge you to have a look at my web pages, which you can find at [http://www.virtuosi.fi/pdonner/].

I am very grateful to the Finnish Ministry of Education which strongly supports the Music Education On-line (MOVE) project, which has played a central role in my work [http://movenet.fi/].

The Finnish Virtual University is a country-wide program, which uniquely encompasses all universities of Finland. I would also like to refer you to the English pages of the university at [http://www.virtualuniversity.fi].

As your discussions are focused on the potentials for international cooperation I would also like to bring to your attention that the Finnish Academy [http://www.aka.fi/] has made international cooperation into one of its top priorities.

I thank you very much for your attention.

-- Ph. Donner, 01.11.2002