Guitar Ensemble May 27, 2016

Concert Program

Michael Partington with Guest Artists Ronald Patterson, violin Carole Terry, harpsichord Donna Shin, flute Kevin Callahan, guitar February 28, 2010

Concert Program

Expanding guitar production techniques: Building the Guitar Application Toolkit (GATK)

The purpose of this thesis was to build the Guitar Application ToolKit (GATK), a series of applications used to expand the sonic capabilities of the acoustic/electric stereo guitar. Furthermore, the goal of the GATK was to extend improvisational capabilities and the compositional techniques generated by this innovative instrument. ^ During the GATK creation process, the current production guitar techniques and overall sonic result were enhanced by planning and implementing a personalized electro-acoustic performance set up, designing custom-made performance interfaces, creating interactive compositional strategies, crafting non-standardized sounds, and controlling various music parameters in real-time using the Max/MSP programming environment. ^ This was the fast thesis project of its kind. It is expected that this thesis will be useful as a reference paper for electronic musicians and music technology students; as a product demonstration for companies that manufacture the relevant software; and as a personal portfolio for future technology related jobs. ^

Guitar player in Brewster, New York

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Guitar player (Fran)

General note: Title and date provided by Bettye Lane.

Sara, age 15, plays the guitar

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Sara, age 15, plays the guitar

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Sara, age 15, plays the guitar

Inscriptions: Verso: [stamped] Photograph by Freda Leinwand. [463 West Street, Studio 229G, New York, NY 10014].

Physical model parameter optimisation for calibrated emulation of the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster guitar pedal

In this work we explore optimising parameters of a physical circuit model relative to input/output measurements, using the Dallas Rangemaster Treble Booster as a case study. A hybrid metaheuristic/gradient descent algorithm is implemented, where the initial parameter sets for the optimisation are informed by nominal values from schematics and datasheets. Sensitivity analysis is used to screen parameters, which informs a study of the optimisation algorithm against model complexity by fixing parameters. The results of the optimisation show a significant increase in the accuracy of model behaviour, but also highlight several key issues regarding the recovery of parameters.