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

**Authors:** Kouki Tomiyoshi, Hiroaki Sonoda, Hikari Kuriyama, Gou Koutaki

PMC · DOI: 10.3390/s26031053 · Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026-02-05

## TL;DR

This system helps saxophone players improve by using a robot and real-time sound analysis to provide feedback on pitch, timing, and playing habits.

## Contribution

A semi-automated robot system with real-time acoustic analysis and habit visualization for saxophone performance improvement.

## Key findings

- The system reduced the mean absolute error (MAE) of played pitch significantly.
- Performance habit analysis using a Markov model with pitch transitions was effective.
- Both experienced and beginner players benefited from the system's feedback.

## 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.

## Full text

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## Figures

10 figures with captions in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12900130/full.md

## References

24 references — full list in the complete paper: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12900130/full.md

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Source: https://tomesphere.com/paper/PMC12900130