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1. Meta-Xenakis: Developing Style-Agnostic, Stochastic Algorithmic Music

   Manaris, Bill; Forgette, Anna (January 2023, International Computer Music Conference proceedings)

   Iannis Xenakis was a pioneer in algorithmic composition of music and art. He combined architecture, mathematics, music, and performance art to create avant-garde compositions and performances that are still being analyzed, performed widely, and discussed today. Xenakis’s musical contributions are deeply algorithmic in nature, inspired by his appreciation and understanding of mathematics and controlled randomness, i.e., stochastic processes. This paper argues that Xenakis's algorithmic approach is style-agnostic, as it may be used with different sonification choices to produce pieces with more traditional aesthetics, possibly bringing broader acceptance, appreciation, and application of his techniques and ideas to more traditional compositional spaces. Also, today’s music technology has evolved tremendously, through the integration of artificial intelligence, advanced computing algorithms, and human computer interaction – techniques and technology that were unavailable to Xenakis, but which would have been inline with his pioneering spirit. We explore some of Xenakis’s early works in algorithmic and stochastic music, and reimagine the types of music Xenakis could possibly be making today, having access to the modern technology of smartphones and computing devices. Examples include a retelling of Xenakis's “Concret PH” using smartphones for sound spatialization and audience interaction / participation; “Éolienne PH”, an example piece which utilizes the same statistical distributions as “Concret PH” to produce a completely different sound aesthetic; “on the Fractal Nature of Being…” which combines Xenakis's stochastic / aleatoric techniques with traditional music theory and modern mathematics / fractal geometry; and, finally “Nereides / Νηρηΐδες”, a piano miniature piece, which is made using statistical distributions from a cloudy sky. We close with some general ideas on the future of the Algorithmic Arts. 

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2. "Speakers, More Speakers!!! – Developing Interactive, Distributed, Smartphone-Based, Immersive Experiences for Music and Art"

   Forgette, A.; Manaris, B.; Gillikin, M.; Ramdsen, S. (June 2022, Proceedings of the International Symposium on Electronic Art)

   We describe a multi-speaker, smartphone-based environment for developing interactive, distributed music and art applications, installations, and experiences. This system facilitates audience engagement through participation via personal smartphones, potentially connecting with traditional computing devices via the Internet without additional software or special configurations. The proposed approach has been inspired and motivated in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and builds on earlier works and technology. It demonstrates a design approach that is more efficient and provides a new avenue for music composers and artists to design highly distributed, participatory, immersive music and art experiences, utilizing various input sensors and actuators available in today’s smartphones. These include individual smartphone accelerometers, video cameras, and – of course – speakers. The use of smartphones also provides for relatively precise geolocation through GPS or simple social engineering approaches, such as using dedicated QR codes for different locations (e.g., seats in an auditorium). This allows for composing experiences to be rendered in the same room / auditorium, highly distributed across the Internet, or a combination of both. The paper presents the technological background and describes three case studies of such experiences, in an attempt to demonstrate the approach and inspire new avenues for artistic creativity and expression towards highly immersive, participatory installations / performances of music and art works for the 21st century. 

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3. Developing Computational Thinking in Middle School Music Technology Classrooms

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3626253.3635527  

   McCall, Lauren; Allen, Brittney; Freeman, Jason; Garrett, Stephen; Grossman, Sabrina; Paz, Jed; Edwards, Doug; McKlin, Tom; Lee, Taneisha (March 2024, ACM)

   To engage diverse populations of students who may not self-select into computing courses, a curriculum for a middle school music technology + computer science course that addresses learning standards for both subjects was developed and deployed. Students who engage with the curriculum learn modern music production techniques and computational thinking concepts. This is through a mix of traditional approaches to music technology education (digital audio workstations) and computational approaches via a culturally relevant learning platform that introduces students to coding through music production and remixing. This poster reflects on the last two years of curriculum design and deployment, teacher training, and student and educator engagement and feedback to provide insight into the teaching (and learning) of computational thinking in the music technology classroom. 

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4. More of the story: Ruminations on “How Mathematics Education in Ohio Impacted the Nation

   Foley, Gregory D (January 2025, Ohio journal of school mathematics)

   Edwards, Michael Todd (Ed.)

   This is one of three responses to two articles by James E. Schultz on how mathematics education in Ohio—and especially at Ohio State University—has influenced mathematics teaching and learning across the United States and beyond. Every mathematics teacher in Ohio should know this story. Schultz’s two contributions are oral histories in written form and possess a biographical and even autobiographical flavor. My response will follow suite. After a brief introduction, I reflect on—and add to—Schultz’s “Laying the Groundwork” article (2024a) and his “Incorporating Technology” piece (2024b). I then consider how the issues and legacy presented in these articles connect to mathematics teaching and learning today and how Ohio continues to influence mathematics education beyond its borders. I close with an epilogue on how I first met several key characters in this mathematical narrative. 

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5. Use of Intelligent Voice Assistants by Older Adults with Low Technology Use

   Pradhan, Alisha; Lazar, A; Findlater, Leah (April 2020, ACM transactions on computerhuman interaction)

   Voice assistants embodied in smart speakers (e.g., Amazon Echo, Google Home) enable conversational interaction that does not necessarily rely on expertise with mobile or desktop computing. Hence, these voice assistants offer new opportunities to different populations, including individuals who are not interested or able to use traditional computing devices such as computers and smartphones. To understand how older adults who use technology infrequently perceive and use these voice assistants, we conducted a three-week field deployment of the Amazon Echo Dot in the homes of seven older adults. Participants described increased confidence using digital technology and found the conversational voice interfaces easy to use. While some types of usage dropped over the three-week period (e.g., playing music), we observed consistent usage for finding online information. Given that much of this information was health-related, this finding emphasizes the need to revisit concerns about credibility of information with this new interaction medium. Although features to support memory (e.g., setting timers, reminders) were initially perceived as useful, the actual usage was unexpectedly low due to reliability concerns. We discuss how these findings apply to other user groups along with design implications and recommendations for future work on voice user interfaces. 

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