Getting Abu Dhabi in the Groove: Five Years of Rhythm-Related Research and Activities

This presentation reviews five years of research conducted at NYU Abu Dhabi exploring the cross-cultural practices and understanding of musical rhythm. Three previously held workshops bringing together experts from musicology, computational modeling, cognition, and neuroscience informed the formation of a large corpus of music from the region, machine learning techniques that can analyze and characterize this corpus, and algorithmic music generation tools that emulate important musical traditions, including that of the Carnatic tradition in South India. The presentation includes a live performance of Carnatic music and a duet between a human master of the tradition and a computer-generated emulation of the style.

Speakers

• Robert Rowe, Professor of Music and Director of Steinhardt Music Technology, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, NYU
• Akshay Anantapadmanabhan, Virtuoso Mridangam Performer
• Carlos Guedes, Associate Arts Professor of Music, NYUAD