A structural language for computer performance of piano music

A language design of typed music is presented for the performance of the piano and piano-like musical instruments with the aid of computer. Here, “typed music” is defined as a computer-readable document that specifies the sequence of sounds to be rendered. The main concern is the high-level, quantitative description of musical gesture. The proposed language, named MUSE, provides this feature with (1) the organization of notes into a hierarchical structure, and (2) the parameterization of interpretive practice into terms of dynamics, agogics, articulation, shift, and the damper motion. By using these, the user can put the desired gesture, including a finer temporal variation of performing velocity, both locally and globally in time and voice.