An Intelligent Data Repository Consolidating Artifacts of Music Learning Michael Kalochristianakis Hellenic Mediterranean University, Heraklion, Greece kalohr@hmu.gr Panagiotis Zervas University of Peloponnese, Patras, Greece p.zervas@uop.gr Chrisoula Alexandraki Hellenic Mediterranean University, Rethymnon, Greece chrisoula@hmu.gr ABSTRACT This paper presents current and ongoing developments towards the implementation of a web-based data repository that is tailored to the needs of networked mediated music education. The repository consolidates digital artifacts that are generated, shared, and negotiated during music learning sessions, which include asynchronous student or teacher interactions, as well as synchronous collaborative online music lessons. These artifacts are represented either as sound files or as symbolic music notation files in various ascii-based formats. The repository provides basic functionalities, such as sharing artifacts through e-learning platforms, as well as rendering and processing them during learning sessions. A distinct focus of this research concerns the integration of intelligent functionalities for sound analysis, description, and processing with the aim of providing efficient mechanisms for search, retrieval, and data exploration. 1. INTRODUCTION Music education is a creative process which is highly complex in terms of cognitive and sensory-motor interactions. A music lesson is conventionally held in a classroom and concentrates on both the structural (tone, rhythm, tempo, harmony), as well as the expressive elements of music interpretation via repeated teacher-student collaboration. The artifacts that typically mediate the practices of a music lesson vary; they involve structural music elements (i.e., notes, rhythm), music interpretation discrepancies (i.e., the musical instrument) as well as communication and coordination activities (i.e., commands, messages, gestures, etc.). Technological advancements have allowed the adoption of several innovative ideas in music learning and the way courses are delivered (i.e., online, or blended learning scenarios). For example, Yan [31] outlines how MIDI, music sequencing, and digital mixing have transformed piano performance education. On the other hand, the Internet, as a limitless supply of information, supports instructors and students in finding music resources of different musical genres, works, or styles of interpretation. Besides recordings of music performances which can be found in abundance on online platforms such as YouTube, Spotify etc., specialised repositories for digital music content provide learners with the ability to perform a musical work at the same time as listening a recorded accompaniment (play along). Also, the Internet as a medium, allows dissemination and sharing musical performances, events and collective experience that would otherwise be either impossible or very difficult to become available. Finally, the widespread usage of video conferencing software has enabled music teachers to organize classes via personal websites or social media and deliver them remotely using teleconferencing or VoIP applications and file sharing platforms. For several years, various initiatives have emerged from the private sector (yousician.com, melodics.com), as well as academia (such as Berklee online courses [29]) to provide musicians with a variety of learning opportunities, including social networking, books and videotaped lectures, daily curricula, and even software applications that capture student performance and provide automatic feedback by analyzing the captured performance. Therefore, it is becoming evident that modern technology can enhance conventional music education, while also revealing new perspectives in the direction of distance learning. Learners are offered the opportunity to contact well-known instructors, who can conduct classes from their own studios, record, and share learning material, even if they are occupied with concerts, tours, etc. Furthermore, over the last few years, extensive research in the field of artificial intelligence has enabled the integration of creative tools that may be used to assist student improvement and to efficiently create new educational content, such as student assignments. This paper presents current and ongoing progress on the development of a music resource repository focusing on music Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0). Attribution: owner/author(s). Web Audio Conference WAC-2022, July 6–8, 2022, Cannes, France. © 2022 Copyright held by the owner/author(s).