Marcel Trussell-Cullen

Using AI to rethink violin technique: A Retrospective Study of Leading Violinist’s Videos

Could empirical data extracted from videos of leading violinists change our ideas about violin-playing technique? Might these long-held ideas about violin technique be inaccurate? This research seeks to understand how leading violinists produce their sound by using AI to diagnose their playing techniques. It is suggested that the use of empirical data such as this may be a more accurate guide to how to play well than received wisdom based on conjecture. A range of software applications were used to extract 3-dimensional movement patterns from 42 videos of leading violinists. Movement variables analysed include proximity of the bow to the bridge, bow speed, bow tilt, bow pitch, bow to string angle, violin tilt, violin elevation, and violin horizontal rotation. The corresponding sound files were also analyzed to identify correlations between the movement variables and the sound pitch and volume. The initial results proved surprising. It was expected that there would be strong correlations between volume and the generally accepted methods for controlling tone production (Bow Contact Point, Bow Speed, and Bow Tilt – Bow pressure was not able to be quantified.) However, there were no strong correlations between the amplitude and any of these movement variables. Therefore, it can be posited that most of the methods generally thought to control tone production (specifically, Bow Contact Point, Bow Speed, and Bow Tilt) do not, in fact, influence volume. Instead, amplitude may be solely affected by bow pressure to the string. Further analysis may reveal more insights into successful technique. Interestingly, the movement patterns of the different violinists are quite inconsistent, suggesting that widely varying techniques can be equally successful.

About Marcel Trussel-Cullen

Marcel Trussell-Cullen Bmus(Perf), MMus, Grad Dip IT, Grad Dip  Ed, MA,  was born in New Zealand into a musical family with 3 generations of musicians. He began playing the violin at the age of 4 when his grandfather presented him with one as a birthday gift. After completing his undergraduate degree at Auckland University he accepted a scholarship to study with Eugene Drucker who is one of the violinists in the Emerson String Quartet. After 7 years of study with Drucker and others in Boston and New York he moved to Melbourne Australia where he primarily concentrated on teaching. After 11 years running one of the top school string departments he undertook a change of direction and completed a graduate diploma in Information Technology. Following this he aimed to combine his two interests completing a Master of Arts where he designed a tool using Nintendo Wii to help children with the learning of the violin. Further study involved a trial with a tool which he created using Xbox Kinect to help kids improve their violin playing. Since then he has written a number of Apps to help students master note reading and tuning. Currently Marcel is the Head of Strings at St Kevins College in Melbourne Australia and is also completing a PHd where he is investigating the use of modern technology with violinist videos to help understand methods and patterns of movement used by established violinists.