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8 months ago

Drop-in session summary (27th August)

Quick recap

The meeting focused on preparations for the upcoming hackathon, including discussions about the challenges from Audiotool and ABRSM (AI for musical performance evaluation). Participants were introduced to various challenges, including developing apps for Audiotool's platform, creating plugins for Muse Hub, and exploring AI technologies for music assessment (ABRSM). The group emphasized the importance of team formation and communication through Dev Post, with guidance provided on how to get started with different challenges and access datasets.

Next steps

  • Silas to provide more detailed documentation and instructions for the Audio Tool SDK, particularly for accessing sample data.

  • Joyce/Jose to prepare and share the ABRSM dataset for participants who choose their challenge.

  • Joyce/Elena to create an agreement for participants regarding the use of ABRSM data.

  • All participants to register on DevPost to form teams and communicate with sponsors.

  • Participants to review the Audio Tool, ABRSM and MuseHub challenge documentation to prepare for the hackathon.

Summary

Hackathon Planning and Future Events

Silas and Jean-Baptiste discussed the upcoming hackathon, noting its last-minute nature and the focus on quick solutions rather than technical debt. They mentioned potential locations for future events, including Amsterdam, East, Stockholm, and London during South by Southwest in June next year, with the possibility of a large sponsor for an extravagant event.

Audio Tools Integration Discussion

Jean-Baptiste discussed a potential hack involving audio tools with svanka, who is a PhD student working on automatic mixing systems. They explored the possibility of integrating a deep learning-based mixing system into audio tools, but Silas suggested that the current API might not be sufficient for their needs, as it doesn't yet support audio from individual tracks. The group agreed that further testing and exploration would be necessary to determine the best approach for their project.

Hackathon Registration and Challenge Overview

The meeting began with Jean-Baptiste introducing the hackathon and emphasizing the importance of registering on both Eventbrite and Devpost for communication and hack submission. Participants were introduced, including Silas from Audio Tool, who will present a challenge involving their API and SDK, and Joyce from ABRSM, who will present a challenge alongside colleagues Elena and Jose. Other participants, such as Phil, expressed interest in generative music projects, while Nour showed interest in the machine learning challenge. The conversation ended with Silas set to present the Audio Tool challenge next.

Audio Tool Beta Testing Overview

Silas introduced Audio Tool, a collaborative DAW in beta, and explained that participants were invited to be beta testers. He described the project's data structure and the upcoming release of a public API and JavaScript SDK for building integrations with the tool. Phil asked about creating plugins and using HTML forms to interact with the DAW, which Silas confirmed was possible. Silas provided links to the beta and development platforms, and Jean-Baptiste invited questions from the audience, with Svenka indicating a need to review the information further.

ABRSM AI Music Evaluation Challenge

The Associated Board of the Royal School of Music (ABRSM) presented an AI challenge to develop a proof of concept that uses AI to support experts in the evaluation and feedback process of musical performances. Joyce explained that ABRSM assesses thousands of performances annually and is interested in exploring AI technologies to enhance efficiency and provide helpful feedback. The challenge includes a dataset of 300 piano performances with associated feedback and marks, and the winning team will receive a cash prize of £1,500. Participants were encouraged to use public domain data and were flexible in their approach to the challenge, with potential applications for both experts and learners.

Hackathon Team Formation Strategy

Jean-Baptiste explained the process for finding team members for a hackathon project, emphasizing the importance of a mix of skills, including technical and non-technical roles. He advised advertising skills on DevPost and collaborating with other profiles to form teams, with a recommendation of at least three people per team for better chances of success. Silas clarified that the hackathon aims to showcase apps on the Autotool platform, which is in its beta phase, and emphasized that winning submissions will gain visibility and potentially win prizes, including $5,000 worth of Google Cloud Services.

Audio Data Access and Integration

Silas explained to svanka that while audio data is stored in a project's structure as a .docx file, it cannot be directly captured as audio, but can be generated through an audio engine. He demonstrated how to access sample data through the API, showing svanka the sample entity structure and Protobuf files that can be used to generate bindings for different languages. Phil inquired about MIDI track interaction, and Silas showed him how to connect to a project using a URL and work with the document structure through JavaScript modules.

Dataset Challenge Setup Discussion

The group discussed how to get participants started with a challenge that involves a dataset. Joyce mentioned sharing the dataset via SFTP and having Elena handle the agreement for dataset usage. Jean-Baptiste suggested documenting the process and sharing it with participants to help them get ahead. Joyce agreed to upload the dataset and provide an SFTP link, with her email serving as the contact point for now.

Muse Hub App Challenge

Jean-Baptiste presented Muse Hub, a platform that distributes apps and plugins for audio and music software, including Audacity and MuseScore. He explained that Muse Hub has millions of users and serves as the official download source for MuseScore and Audacity. The challenge involves creating an app or plugin that could be featured on Muse Hub, with the winner receiving visibility and potential recognition as "App of the Month." Jean-Baptiste also mentioned that Martin Keary, the product manager for Audacity and MuseScore, will be a judge for the challenge.

Hackathon Preparation and Team Building

 

The meeting focused on preparations for an upcoming hackathon, with Jean-Baptiste emphasizing the transition to Dev Post as the primary platform for communication and team formation, noting only 14 registrations there compared to 77 on Eventbright. Sungkyun introduced their team, which includes Crystals and Edit, working on a dataset collection app driven by deep learning models for audio event tagging, though not directly related to music. Jean-Baptiste reminded attendees to create accounts on Dev Post, join the Discord channel, and interact with others to build teams before the hackathon starts next Saturday. He also promised to send meeting notes and encouraged participants to reach out with questions.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions about the hackathon, please post on the discussion forum.