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Ancient Musical Instruments Play Again Through Astra ProjectUtilising the high speed GÉANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT networks, computer modelling allows sound reconstruction of harp-like Epigonion Wednesday 3 September 2008, Cambridge, UK: Ancient musical instruments can now be heard for the first time in hundreds of years, due to a new computer modelling project. ASTRA (Ancient instruments Sound/Timbre Reconstruction Application) has recreated the sounds of the harp-like Epigonion musical instrument from Ancient Greece and has performed one of the oldest known musical scores dating back to the Middle Ages. To achieve this it used the advanced GÉANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT research networks to link high capacity computers together, sharing information to enable the computer-intensive modelling of musical sounds. Knowledge of the Epigonion musical instrument, dating back from the Ancient Greek era, is based on archaeological findings, historical pictures and literature. Using this archaeological data as an input, it was then transformed by a complex digital audio rendering technique to model the actual sound of the instrument. This advanced physical modelling synthesis creates a virtual model of the instrument and reproduces the sound that the instrument might have made by simulating its behaviour as a mechanical system. The Epigonion is a wooden string instrument that musicians have likened the sound to something similar to a modern harp or a harpsichord. The ASTRA team have compiled the sounds of four Epigonion instruments to recreate a medieval musical piece, making this the first time that these instruments have been heard performing together. Samples of the Epigonion and the musical piece can be accessed at http://www.astraproject.org/examples/dufay.mp3 “This is an exciting project for us and for musicians and historians around the world. For the first time we can actually hear the musical sounds of the past, using modelling techniques rather than guesswork,” says Professor De Mattia, Director of the Conservatory of Music of Salerno and Co-ordinator of the ASTRA project. Recreating the sound of the Epigonion instrument and the compilation of this musical piece is a great achievement and is the first step towards our goal of constructing a full orchestra in the future.” “The combination of the high speed GÉANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT networks and grid computing infrastructures provide the immense computing power vital for this exciting project,” commented Dr La Rocca, Co-ordinator of ASTRA gridification. “Previously the amount of computing power needed to recreate ancient music was unobtainable, but the use of high capacity research networks provides us with the ability to turn our research into reality.” The physical modelling process needs extreme amounts of computing power – taking about four hours for a high powered computer to correctly reproduce a sound lasting only 30 seconds. To bring together sufficient power and to share information the ASTRA project is using the GILDA and EUMEDGRID grid computing infrastructures, which link computing resources across the Mediterranean at high speed (up to 2.5 Gbps) through the GÉANT2 and EUMEDCONNECT research networks. “The success of the ASTRA project demonstrates how high speed networking technology can underpin research collaboration across a wide range of subjects and allow the academic world to work together across multiple locations,” said Dai Davies, General Manager, DANTE. “This unique project is delivering a fascinating glimpse into the music of the past for the benefit of the students and researchers of today – we look forward to hearing more music as ASTRA develops.” The benefits of the collaborative approach used in this project are far reaching. ASTRA not only makes it possible to recreate instruments that previously would have been either too expensive or too difficult to manufacture by hand, it also allows any model and its associated data to be accessed by our collaborators. Research data can therefore be shared around the world, making it a truly international project of immense value to working archaeologists and historians. - ends - About DANTE DANTE is a non-profit organisation, co-funded by the European Commission and working in partnership with European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) to plan, build and operate advanced networks for research and education. Established in 1993, DANTE has been fundamental to the success of pan-European research and education networking. DANTE has built and operates GÉANT2, which provides the data communications infrastructure essential to the success of many research projects in Europe. DANTE is involved in worldwide initiatives to interconnect countries in the other regions to one another and to GÉANT2. DANTE currently manages projects focussed on the Mediterranean, Latin American and Asia-Pacific regions through the EUMEDCONNECT, ALICE and TEIN2 projects, respectively. For more information, visit www.dante.net About GÉANT2: GÉANT2 is an advanced pan-European backbone network that interconnects National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) across Europe. With an estimated 30 million research and education users in 34 countries across the continent connected via the NRENs, GÉANT2 offers unrivalled geographical coverage, high bandwidth, innovative hybrid networking technology and a range of user-focused services, making it the most advanced international network in the world. Together with the NRENs it connects, GÉANT2 has links totalling more than 50,000km in length and its extensive geographical reach interconnects networks in other world regions to enable global research collaboration. Europe’s academics and researchers can exploit dedicated GÉANT2 point-to-point links, creating optical private networks that connect specific research centres. GÉANT2 is co-funded by the European Commission under the EU’s Sixth Research and Development Framework Programme. The project partners are 30 European National Research and Education Networks (NRENs), TERENA and DANTE. GÉANT2 is operated by DANTE on behalf of Europe’s NRENs. For more information, visit www.geant2.net About EUMEDCONNECT EUMEDCONNECT is the first research and education network for the Mediterranean region. Starting in 2004, 11 project partners are connected and benefiting from a high capacity network dedicated to users of the research and academic community. This infrastructure is helping to bridge the digital divide between the Mediterranean and European regions, and increase academic collaborations between the regions. It was co-funded by the European Commission’s EUMEDIS Programme up to 2007; partners are continuing the network while options for a replacement programme are being discussed. For more information, visit www.eumedconnect.net About ASTRA The ASTRA projects aims to reconstruct the sound or timbre of ancient instruments using archaeological data as fragments from excavations, written descriptions and pictures. The technique uses is the physical modeling synthesis, a complex digital audio rendering technique which allows modeling the time-domain physics of the instrument. Sound is then generated using parameters that describe the physical materials used in the instrument and the user's interaction with it. For more information, visit http://www.astraproject.org/ Contact details Chris Measures/Clodagh Boyle Rainier PR (on behalf of DANTE) +44 (0)20 7494 6570 [email protected] Helen Martindale DANTE Direct: +44 (0)1223 371 328 Mobile: +44 (0)7823 538090 [email protected] As a community-building service, TMCnet allows user submitted content which is not always proofed by TMCnet editors. If you feel this entry is of inferior quality or wish to report it for some reason, please forward the URL to "webedit [AT] tmcnet [DOT] com" with your comments. |