Automatic Accompaniment to Arab Vocal Improvisation: From Technical to Commercial Perspectives

Abstract

In this multidisciplinary study, the main research question was how to improve the value of entrepreneurial initiatives that provide the web service of automatic accompaniment to Arab singing. As an example and case study, we considered the Mawaweel website that offered an automatic accompaniment to Arab vocal improvisation as a main service. After overviewing the website, we conducted a survey examining the satisfaction of its visitors in regard to presentation and quality of service. It was found that the Mawaweel website had potential to achieve success as the majority of the 22 respondents expressed general satisfaction after their first visit to the website, with an average rate of 75%. However, respondents' ratings were strict when discussing specific aspects about the website presentation and service quality, and the means of average rates were 68.32% and 50.23% respectively. The standard deviations of average rates were 15.70% and 19.13%, respectively. This revealed a sense of inhomogeneity in the values of the different aspects of the website presentation, and an expanded sense of inhomogeneity in the quality of the different services delivered by the website. We then compared the Mawaweel website to other websites and proposed specific improvements to the aspects with average rate below 50%.

Real-Time Maqam Estimation Model in Max/MSP Configured for the Nāy

“…Automatic instrumental accompaniment to Arab vocal improvisation was discussed in [3] and [12], and used for educational purposes in [13]. Furthermore, a web application delivering such service is available in [14].…”

“…Furthermore, a web application delivering such service is available in [14]. Improving the technicality and the commercialization of such accompaniment models was tackled [15]. However, these contributions did not present any maqam finding model despite its importance to the success and usefulness of accompaniment applications.…”

“…Actually, scale estimation is yet a hot MIR subject [3]. Examples of related contributions include that of [23] who evaluated his off-line scale estimation system against a database from the western common practice repertoire.…”

“…Failing to find the right maqam may consequently lead to providing an automatic accompaniment composed in a wrong key. This will for sure decrease the accompaniment reliability and usefulness [3]. Real-time maqam finding can also be used in live performances to influence the visual components and effects in the performance venue.…”