Abstract of Talk
Computational Musicology
-Hari Sahasrabuddhe
Abstract: This talk is an overview of our exploration of the mathematical and computational structures with which we can model Hindustani classical music (the art music of Northern India - HCM) as it is practiced today.
Musical performance can be studied in the form of notation or sound recording. Our work attempts to build models based on notation. Combining a finite-state model of Raga and algorithmic models of improvisation lead to sophomoric performances. The next goal of finding semantics of melody has proved far more challenging. Our continuing efforts in this direction will be discussed.
Biography: Dr. Sahasrabuddhe received his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Bombay, and M.Tech. and Ph.D. degrees from IIT Kanpur. He held faculty positions in Computer Science at IIT Kanpur, University of Pune and IIT Bombay. He was also a visiting faculty at University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Waterloo. A strong advocate of computer science education in India, Prof. Saharsrabuddhe has participated in the evolution of a Distance Education Technology at IIT Bombay. His main contribution is the design of the audio paths in the entire process of interactive telecast and recording of sessions. His research in the last 20 years has focused on computational musicology. More recently, with his students he developed a new theory of tuning in Indian Classical Music and verified it with the help of renowned musicologist Pandit Babanrao Haldankar. He is a member of Computer Society of India, Indian Science Congress, and Indian Musicology Society.