ABSTRACT The existence of patterns and internal relationships within musical contexts is undeniable, but the abstract nature of the language makes reliable detection of these relationships by machine a notoriously difficult task. This lecture will discuss what makes musical data mining unique, detail key reasons for past difficulties, and describe an autonomous system (patent pending) that overcomes the present challenges through the application of research observations in music cognition as a ground-plan for intelligently adaptive algorithms capable of isolating and describing fundamental motivic structures in addition to their likely variations. The presentation will show that once these core ideas are identified, it may be possible to delineate the relevant vectors in order to abstractly represent characteristics that grant thematic identity to a specific work, style, or genre; in effect providing a detailed musical fingerprint.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER Dr. Greg Wilder currently serves as president of Orpheus Media Research, an intelligent software design company based in Philadelphia. In recent years Dr. Wilder has worked with top industry leaders as pianist, composer, software developer, and theatrical sound designer. In addition to countless commercial credits, he has served as engraver/editor for several major publications and composed original music for dozens of broadcast and theatrical productions around the country, including several world-premieres. Previous to working in industry, Dr. Wilder taught on the faculties of Dickinson College and West Chester University, where he received an HSA "Outstanding Faculty Member" award for excellence in teaching and honorary membership in Tau Beta Sigma.

Dr. Wilder began piano studies at age three and composed his first work a few years later, leading him to earn advanced degrees from Bowling Green University (BM, 1996) and the Eastman School of Music (MM, 1999, DMA, 2002). His music has garnered featured performances in prominent venues around the world, in addition to numerous awards and honors from organizations including the American Composer's Forum, the Angel Orensanz Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, ASCAP, the Society of Composers International, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Dr. Wilder's music is available on the Albany record label. (URL: http://www.gregwilder.com/)

For further information, please, contact: Xenofon.Koutsoukos@vanderbilt.edu