| HAA-263831-19 | Digital Humanities: Digital Humanities Advancement Grants | Morehouse College | Algorithmic Thinking, Analysis and Visualization in Music (ATAVizM) | 1/1/2019 - 12/31/2021 | $129,873.00 | Aaron | Michael | Carter-Enyi | | | | Morehouse College | Atlanta | GA | 30314-3776 | USA | 2018 | Music History and Criticism | Digital Humanities Advancement Grants | Digital Humanities | 129873 | 0 | 129856.3 | 0 | The creation of an improved, open source method for visualizing patterns and themes in music and the development of course modules for undergraduate students at HBCUs.
Innovations in music visualization render new possibilities for understanding music. One example is Wattenberg’s Shape of Song, a defunct web app. The arc diagram visualization technique for Shape of Song is brilliant, but ultimately the project did not live up to its potential because of a poor understanding of how composers develop musical themes, a central object of inquiry for music theorists. Algorithmic Thinking, Analysis and Visualization in Music (ATAVizM), identifies and implements major improvements over Shape of Song: (1) pattern recognition based on heuristics from music theory, (2) theme identification by users integrated into the application, and (3) visualization enhancements that make arc diagrams utilitarian for research and teaching. The team will also design and implement a course module at Emory, Georgia State University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and the University of Georgia. |