Representation, analysis, and design of discrete time signals and systems. Discrete-time processing of continuous-time signals. Decimation, interpolation, and sampling rate conversion. Flowgraph structures for DT systems. Time- and frequency-domain design techniques for recursive (IIR) and non-recursive (FIR) filters. Linear prediction. Discrete Fourier transform, FFT algorithm. Short-time Fourier analysis and filter banks. Multirate techniques. Hilbert transforms, Cepstral analysis, various applications.

(MAS.962)

Information and Communication Technologies for Development (Gari Clifford, Rich Fletcher, Jhonatan Rotberg, Luis Sarmenta)

ICT4D is a design studio course in which students learn about, and work on, applications of information and communication technologies (ICT) for use in developing countries and underserved communities. Students work in multidisciplinary teams on term-long projects in collaboration with community partners, field practitioners, and experts in relevant fields. They will be expected to leverage hands-on technical skills in both mobile and fixed digital technologies together with social insight in order to address relevant development problems in areas such as health, microfinance, entrepreneurship/economic innovation, education, and civic activism/people empowerment. Emphasis will be placed on projects aiming to serve actual underserved communities (through international project partner organizations).

See the blog here.

Gives students a broad overview of Western music from the Middle Ages to the 20th century, with emphasis on late baroque, classical, romantic, and modernist styles. Enhances the musical experience by developing listening skills and an understanding of diverse forms and genres. Major composers and works placed in social and cultural contexts. Weekly lectures feature demonstrations by professional performers, and introduce topics to be discussed in sections.

Designed specifically for new doctoral students in the Media Arts and Sciences (MAS) program. Explores inellectual foundations of MAS, unifying themes connecting MAS research, and working practices of MAS researchers. Students discuss foundational papers, critique current MAS research, and work on collaborative projects related to key MAS themes.

PhD dissertation case study: “Inside The Conductor's Jacket: Analysis, Interpretation and Musical Synthesis of Expressive Gesture” by Teresa Marrin Nakra, 2000.

Thesis: TablaNet: a Real-Time Online Musical Collaboration System for Indian Percussion

Thesis: TablaNet: a Real-Time Online Musical Collaboration System for Indian Percussion

Survey of perceptual and cognitive aspects of the psychology of music, with special emphasis on underlying neuronal and neurocomputational representations and mechanisms. Basic perceptual dimensions of hearing, salient qualities, contrasts, patterns and streams that are used in music to convey melody, harmony, rhythm, and separate voices. Perceptual, cognitive, and neurophysiological concomitants of the temporal dimension of music are explored. Special topics include comparative, evolutionary, and developmental psychology of music perception, biological vs. cultural influences, Gestaltist vs. associationist vs. schema-based theories, comparison of music and speech perception, parallels between music cognition and language, music and cortical function, and the neural basis of music performance.

Fundamentals of characterizing and recognizing patterns and features of interest in numerical data. Basic tools and theory for signal understanding problems with applications to user modeling, affect recognition, speech recognition and understanding, computer vision, physiological analysis, and more. Decision theory, statistical classification, maximum likelihood and Bayesian estimation, nonparametric methods, unsupervised learning and clustering. Additional topics on machine and human learning from active research.

Project: Tabla Strokes Recognition

Input-output and state-space models of linear systems driven by deterministic and random signals; time- and transform-domain representations. Sampling, discrete-time processing of continuous-time signals. State feedback and observers. Probabilistic models; stochastic processes, correlation functions, power spectra, and whitening filters. Detection; matched filters. Least-mean square error estimation; Wiener filtering.

Introduces students to the rudiments of Western music through oral, aural, and written practice utilizing rhythm, melody, intervals, scales, chords, and musical notation. Individual skills are addressed through a variety of approaches, including keyboard practice in the required piano labs.

Thesis Proposal: TablaNet: a Real-Time Online Musical Collaboration System for Indian Percussion

Analyzes seminal work directed at the development of a computational understanding of human intelligence, such as work on object tracking, object recognition, change representation, language evolution, and the role of symbols in learning and communication. Reviews visionary ideas of Turing, Minsky, and other influential thinkers. Examines the role of brain scanning, systems neuroscience, and cognitive psychology. Emphasis on discussion and analysis of original papers. Requires completion of a substantial term project.

Project: Musical Features of Intermediate Complexity for Music Recognition

Current computer music concepts and practice. Project-based work on research or production projects using the Media Lab's computer music, interactive, and media resources. Requires significant studio work and a term project.

Project: PAX levare

Students analyze rhythmic and melodic structures of musical genres, examine local explanatory tools and assess alternate theories of Karnatak Music. Course will involve readings on historical sources in the development of Indian classical music (especially Widdess, Rowell, and Powers), current ethnomusicological writings on Karnatak music practice and colonial history, and close listening to contemporary performances.

Paper: Analyzing & Synthesizing Gamakas: a Step Towards Modeling Ragas in Carnatic Music

An introduction to probability theory, and the modeling and analysis of probabilistic systems. Sample space, probabilistic models, conditional probability. Discrete and continuous random variables. Transform techniques. Bernoulli and Poisson processes. Markov processes. Limit theorems and elements of statistical inference.

Introduction to a theory that tries to explain how minds are made from collections of simpler processes. Treats such aspects of thinking as vision, language, learning, reasoning, memory, consciousness, ideals, emotions, and personality. Incorporates ideas from psychology, artificial intelligence, and computer science to resolve theoretical issues such as wholes vs. parts, structural vs. functional descriptions, declarative vs. procedural representations, symbolic vs. connectionist models, and logical vs. common-sense theories of learning.

Fundamentals of signals and information theory with emphasis on modeling audio/visual messages and physiologically derived signals, including sampling, sampling rate conversion, reconstruction, quantization, Fourier analysis, entropy, and noise. Shannon's fundamental theorems.

Fundamentals of signal processing and linear systems theory as applied to audio/visual messages and physiologically-derived signals. Linear systems, difference equation, Z-transforms, convolution, filtering. Additional topics may include filter design, feature detection, communication systems.

Principles of information processing by the human auditory system, from detection of frequency, intensity, and spectrum, to the development of their perceptual correlates as pitch, loudness, and timbre. Machine models of the human auditory and musical experience using perceptually based sensor and interpretor constructs, sufficient to enable machines to experience sound and music in a manner related to our own. Exploring auditory and music cognition with the aid of real-time audio processors. Modeling musical common sense.

Mid-term project: Psychoacoustics Experiments
Term project: Perceptual Synthesizer

Fundamentals of signal and system analysis, with applications drawn from filtering, audio and image processing, communications, and automatic control. Topics include convolution, Fourier series and transforms, sampling and discrete-time processing of continuous-time signals, modulation, Laplace and Z-transforms, and feedback systems.