Plans and Performances: Parallels in the Production of Science and Music, by David De Roure, Graham Klyne, Kevin R. Page, John Pybus, David M. Weigl, Matthew Wilcoxson, and Pip Willcox. Presented at IEEE e-Science 2016, Baltimore, 25 October 2016

1. David De Roure, Graham Klyne, Kevin R. Page, John Pybus,
David M. Weigl, Matthew Wilcoxson, and Pip Willcox
OXFORD E-RESEARCH CENTRE AND BODLEIAN LIBRARIES
Plans and Performances:
Parallels in the Production of
Science and Music

2. Whether in the science lab or the music studio,
we go in with a plan, we perform, and we make
a record of that performance for distribu8on,
consump8on, and reuse.

3. Capturing the experiment record
2
Cerys Willoughby

4. Sean Bechhofer

5. Carolin Rindfleisch

6. Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller

8. Solid State Logic
“Seamless integra8on with all the
benefits of classic SSL analogue console
automa8on and DAW based workflow.”

9. Both domains are increasingly data-intensive,
with the adop8on of new technology, and also
socially intensive with democra8sed and
growing ci8zen engagement.

11. vimeo.com/98560778 chordify.net
The Theory and Prac8ce
of Social Machines
sociam.org
www.zooniverse.org
www.music-ir.org/mirex

12. chemistry lab
music studio
computa8onal workflow
business workflow
archaeology
early printed works
interac8ve tool
human
completeness of process record
machine
ci8zen science
“Accidents of
preserva8on
and discovery…”

13. demeter.oerc.ox.ac.uk/NumbersIntoNotes

14. The music industry has embraced digital
technology throughout the lifecycle from
composi8on to consump8on; scien8fic prac8ce,
and scholarly communica8on, are also
undergoing transforma8on.

15. Process
Process
Process Develop
Develop
Record
Record Record
Idea
Idea Idea
Publish
Fund Publish
Fund
Read
Read
Plan
Plan
Plan
Cameron Neylon

16. Pre
During
Post
Discovery of
music/ar8cle
Listening to music
Reading ar8cle
Buying of
music/ar8cle
Deciding what
to purchase
Ra8ng play lists
Ci8ng ar8cle
Organising
library
Making
recommenda8ons Consumer
Ac8vity
Cycle
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Reuse of digital
content
Based on
Vandermerwe

17. Why isn’t it as easy to find and play research as it is music?

18. Building on the
e-Science literature

19. www.researchobject.org
Eamonn Maguire

20. Our inves8ga8on explores the no8on of the
Digital Music Object (DMO), analogous to the
Research Object, for rich capture, sharing and
reuse of both process and content.

22. PR,
Ticke8ng,
Event org
Science Museum,
PR, percussion spec,
s8lls, handouts
Tmus
materials
Ada sketches
performance
Recording,
Video,
S8lls
Tmus
materials
DRMN+10
Recording,
Video, S8lls
Centre for
Digital
Scholarship
Lovelace
Symposium
Simula8on
Band
Mesmerism
Bags and stems

23. • Audio files, including mul8ple STEMS of recorded music
• Other associated media files, especially video
• MIDI and other kinds of directly playable formats
• Algorithms and other kinds of genera8ve music
• Scores and other nota8ons that enable humans to perform the
music
• In turn, the metadata might poten8ally describe:
• The provenance of the music generated during its composi8on,
produc8on and performance
• Descrip8ons of the instruments, performers, segngs, effects,
patches and so forth a
• The structure, form and genre of the music, from official musical
forms to more everyday no8ons of style, genre and even mood
and emo8on
• The broader history of the music including where it has been
played, who has listened to it and who has covered it.
From the FAST Manifesto

24. DMOs in progress
1. Mutability. Considering “Lazy” ID alloca8on, on access.
2. Distributed and heterogenous content. DMO as assembly script/Makefile?
3. Digital Rights Management
4. Checksums provide useful weak guarantees, but mul8media content and
streams are challenging
5. Pervasive support for provenance
6. Compliance with industry standards – for content and packaging
7. Physical manifesta8ons…
Steve Benford

25. Closing thoughts
1. Our work has emphasized the importance of
describing process, both prospec'vely and
retrospec'vely
– Workflow representa8ons are well rehearsed
– Early experiments with W3C PROV confirm its u8lity and
poten8al
– Need mul8ple interpreta8ons in mul8ple contexts
2. The digital-social and digital-physical intersec8ons are
crucial context, and automa8on is increasing
– Materiality makers
3. Science/music as performance perspec8ve
– Common theme around the role of crea8vity.

26. Thanks to Steve Benford and Alan Chamberlain (University of Nogngham),
Terhi Nurmikko-Fuller, Carolin Rindfleisch and Ségolène Tarte (University of
Oxford), Mark Sandler and Geraint Wiggins (Queen Mary University London),
Emily Howard (Royal Northern College of Music), Sean Bechhofer and Carole
Goble (University of Manchester), Iris Garrelfs (University of the Arts London),
and Jeremy Frey (University of Southampton).
david.deroure@oerc.ox.ac.uk
www.oerc.ox.ac.uk/people/dder
@dder
www.semanticaudio.ac.uk
www.transforming-musicology.org
www.sociam.org
www.researchobject.org

28. www.oerc.ox.ac.uk
david.deroure@oerc.ox.ac.uk
@dder