A retrospective of the research on musical expression conducted at CEGeME

Abstract

CEGeME - Center for Research on Musical Gesture and Expression is affiliated to the Graduate Program in Music of the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), hosted by the School of Music, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, since 2008. Focused on the empirical investigation of music performance, research at CEGeME departs from musical content information extracted from audio signals and three-dimensional spatial position of musicians, recorded during a music performance. Our laboratories are properly equipped for the acquisition of such data. Aiming at establishing a musicological approach to different aspects of musical expressiveness, we investigate causal relations between the expressive intention of musicians and the way they manipulate the acoustic material and how they move while playing a piece of music. The methodology seeks support on knowledge such as computational modeling, statistical analysis, and digital signal processing, which adds to traditional musicology skills. The group has attracted study postulants from different specialties, such as Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, Phonoaudiology and Music Therapy, as well as collaborations from professional musicians instigated by specific inquiries on the performance on their instruments. This paper presents a brief retrospective of the different research projects conducted at CEGeME.