Matthieu Hodgkinson

About Me

Passionate about music, I pursued a Bachelor's degree in Musicology at the Université Jean Monnet in Saint-Etienne, France. I completed the final year of this degree at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, as an Erasmus student, where I delved into computer music. I continued my studies there, earning an MA in Music Technology, and later completed a PhD in Computer Science, focusing on Digital Signal Processing (DSP).

My PhD thesis developed mathematical models for the vibration of plucked and struck strings. These models could be used to separate transients from more stable frequency components (predominantly harmonics) in recorded samples. The extracted transients could serve as realistic inputs to synthesis systems, such as digital waveguides. Additionally, the frequency and decay parameters derived from fitting the model to the sample could be used to calibrate these systems, enabling them to replicate the sound of classical or acoustic guitars, plucked violins, and similar instruments. I gave talks about the findings of my doctoral research at several international conferences, primarily DAFx.

Following my PhD, I spent over 10 years working in the video conferencing industry, contributing to the development of GoToMeeting at Citrix, LogMeIn, and later GoTo. Working on the endpoint and the server, the backend and the frontend, in C++ and Javascript, my work primarily focused on the audio processing chain and the network transport of audio packets. I developed a patented algorithm for jitter buffer control that utilizes a perceptual model that considers packet late loss and conversational interactivity to determine the optimal buffer size on the receiver’s endpoint.

Since April 2023, I have been working for the Muse Group as part of the Audacity team. As the DSP specialist, I have the privilege of tackling some of the most engaging tasks – at least from my point of view… These often offer opportunities for creativity, and it was while working on the problem of tempo detection that I discovered the approach I will present at ADC 2024.