MusicLab

At the heart of MusicLab Copenhagen was a full evening concert of classical music performed by the Danish String Quartet. The musicians wore motion capture suits, eye trackers, and physiological measurement devices. The aim was to study the musicians' interactions and absorption.

MusicLab Copenhagen was the result of a two-year-long planning and preparation phase. The project was led by the former postdoctoral fellow Simon H?ffding. Due to the many postponements of the concert, Simon had moved on to a tenured associate professor position at Syddanske Universitet by the end of the project.

Around 20 researchers from RITMO and partnering institutions travelled to Copenhagen to take part in the experiment.

The Danish String Quartet volunteered to run additional experiments before the concert. Here the research assistants place wireless heart rate sensors on the musicians.

Olivier Lartillot checks the score-following features of software developed during his MIRAGE project. The goal is to improve computers' capability to listen to and understand music and conceive technologies to facilitate music understanding and appreciation. One of the pieces was accompanied by a visualization of the musical content and form in the concert.

Audience members wore their mobile phones in a custom-made chest pouch. To synchronize all the devices, postdoctoral fellow Finn Upham instructed everyone to conduct a tapping sequence at the beginning and end of the concert.

Doctoral fellow Atilla Vrasdonk and associate professor Nanette Nielsen check the forms filled by audience members. The ratings and subjective descriptions collected will be analyzed with the data measured by the audience members' mobile phones.