[Call for participants] "Freesound retrieval in music performance" study @ QMUL, London

[Panagiota Anastasopoulou]

Dear NIME community,

As some of you will be soon in London for the NIME conference, we would like to invite you to participate in an in-person study we are conducting here in London. If you happen to be around before or after NIME (or even during but with time restrictions, feel free to DM us), we would greatly appreciate your participation.

Our study named “Freesound retrieval in real-time music performance” is related to the Freesound project, organized by the Centre for Digital Music (C4DM, QMUL, London) and the Music Technology Group (MTG, UPF, Barcelona). It is part of our research in sound characterization and retrieval for heterogeneous sound collections, aimed at evaluating Freesound tools in the process of music making. The entire process should take around 1-1.5 hours.

What does participation involve?

In this session, you will be asked to query and listen to sounds retrieved and played back from Freesound, and to rate their relevance according to your initial expectations under different conditions. You will also be asked to complete questionnaires about your experience and take part in a short interview. Participants will be able to explore different sound retrieval strategies and interact freely with the system in a guided experimental setting, including improvising with the retrieved sounds, learning more about how Freesound is used in creative contexts, and being involved in shaping and improving real-world tools for creative work.

Eligibility:

• This opportunity is open to musicians of any level of experience who are familiar with real-time sample-based performance through live coding, digital musical instruments (DMIs), samplers, sequencers, or programming-based music environments.
• Participants must be 18 years or older.
• We encourage participants from a diverse range of backgrounds.

Location:

- in person: C4DM studios (Control room), Engineering Building, 285 Bancroft Rd, Bethnal Green, E1 4DQ, London

- remote: Zoom meeting [technical setup required; discouraged, but DM us if you have a strong profile!]

To participate, simply click on the folloRe: [DMRN-LIST] Freesound retrieval in real-time music performance: An invitation to experimentwing link to pick a time slot:

    >> Show interest here <<

If you have any questions, simply send us a direct message at panagiota.an...@upf.edu!

If you are looking for more information, a Participant Information Sheet is available at the study's mini page, along with examples of how Freesound is generally used for creative searching and performance.

Your input is especially valuable in helping tailor Freesound (and big sound collections) for its large community, including musicians, researchers, sound designers, and generally, sound enthusiasts. Thanks in advance for your help and participation. Since we know your time as a musician and/or a researcher is often limited and very precious, we appreciate your efforts.

Kind regards,

Panagiota (Penny) Anastasopoulou

PhD Student @ MTG-UPF | Visiting Researcher @ C4DM-QMUL