Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization

Tomiyoshi, Kouki; Sonoda, Hiroaki; Kuriyama, Hikari; Koutaki, Gou

doi:10.3390/s26031053

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Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization

¹

Graduate School of Science and Technology, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

²

Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 860-8555, Japan

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Sensors 2026, 26(3), 1053; https://doi.org/10.3390/s26031053

Submission received: 15 December 2025 / Revised: 23 January 2026 / Accepted: 2 February 2026 / Published: 5 February 2026

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Acoustic Sensing for Musical Instrument Study and Vocal Analysis)

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Abstract

This paper proposes an acoustic analysis system to help improve saxophone performance skills. The system combines direct support for performance movements by a robot with indirect support by presenting performance information. By sensing the performance audio and performing real-time acoustic analysis, the system presents the learner with information about their performance and their playing habits. The performance information presented to the learner includes pitch, volume, and playing timing. For performance habit analysis, a Markov model with pitch as the state and an internal probability parameter that indicates the quality of the performance evaluation as the pitch transitions are defined. In the experiment, we conducted a pilot study targeting experienced saxophone players and a beginner saxophone player to verify the effectiveness of the proposed system. The experiment showed that the MAE of the played pitch was significantly reduced by using the proposed system.

Keywords: music performance analysis; player’s habit analysis; woodwind instruments

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tomiyoshi, K.; Sonoda, H.; Kuriyama, H.; Koutaki, G. Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization. Sensors 2026, 26, 1053. https://doi.org/10.3390/s26031053

AMA Style

Tomiyoshi K, Sonoda H, Kuriyama H, Koutaki G. Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization. Sensors. 2026; 26(3):1053. https://doi.org/10.3390/s26031053

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tomiyoshi, Kouki, Hiroaki Sonoda, Hikari Kuriyama, and Gou Koutaki. 2026. "Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization" Sensors 26, no. 3: 1053. https://doi.org/10.3390/s26031053

APA Style

Tomiyoshi, K., Sonoda, H., Kuriyama, H., & Koutaki, G. (2026). Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization. Sensors, 26(3), 1053. https://doi.org/10.3390/s26031053

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Music Performance Improvement Support System Using a Semi-Automated Instrument-Playing Robot with Real-Time Acoustic Analysis and Habit Visualization

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