Examination: MPA
Date: 6th February 2023 (Professor gave us options for exam dates well in advance and let us change if there was any scheduling conflicts)
Examiner: Prof. Dr. Meinard Müller
Result: 1.3; if not for the mini-project, easily 1.7 or 2.0
Notes: This is the 5 ECTS version with 2.5 Lecture + 2.5 Exercise. Course and Exam were in English

• Covered syllabus up until Beat and Tempo Tracking
  
• Attended 90% of classes
  
• Textbook + Exercise Materials + Mini Project + Reading Assignment + Personal Lecture Notes + YouTube videos for last minute prep
  
• Cleared doubts with peers and tutors
  

This follows the same format as previous years. The professor mentions this as well during the lectures. 30 minute oral exam. No surprises and it's all very straightforward. Prof. Müller makes you comfortable and there is no pressure as long as you know your facts.

Do not try to fumble around if you don't know the answers, he will know. It reduces the time for other questions and consequently a lower grade. Also, use precise terms as he is looking for certain key words. Just the concepts is okay but if you want that 1.0-1.3 grade, use the correct terms and jargon. Don't worry – Prof. will also know if you know the answer and it's just the pressure getting to you.

I was in the latter case: I used key words and I knew the answers. I was buckling under pressure and the examiner walked me through the question once more if I answered something but there was a tiny but important part of the answer missing. This didn't happen a lot so I think it was okay. Only for one question I said I wasn't sure of the answer. He gave me the answer and said it was okay since it was something of a bonus question.

1. The first few minutes (keep it within 5 minutes) are about your reading assignment. If you have taken the 2.5 ECTS version, you'll just have more questions I guess. It will be just you talking so speak confidently and clearly, Prof. Müller appreciates that. Bonus points if there is a good flow. My topic was on HPSS and F0 estimation since our mini-project used techniques from that chapter.
   Of course, I couldn't cover everything from the chapter, so I focused more on the HPSS algorithm based on the exercise materials and textbook. I highlighted the procedure, requirements, reasons for algorithm design choices and the drawbacks. I finished it up with a brief introduction to F0 estimation and melody extraction since 5 minutes were almost up. I overshot by few seconds but that's fine. Professor didn't ask too many questions on this topic because we stopped at Beat and Tempo Tracking in the Lectures and did the HPSS exercise as the sanity check back in November.
   
   
2. From there it flows into the standard questions:

• There were the standard questions about the time and frequency coefficients as it tied in well to the HPSS computations.
• Sampling and Nyquist Frequency based questions and some simple computations were asked to be solved on paper. It doesn't take long to solve, don't worry. It can be done without calculator, that's how simple the values are kept.
• This was the question that sent me in for a loop: Fast Fourier Transform. I was able to define it and the working but given the H, N and Fs values, I was asked the FFT N value. I panicked but turns out it was a pretty simple question that I wasn't prepared for. It shows up in the exercises
• The professor mentioned this several times in the lecture and he asked everyone I know this topic: Dynamic Time Warping. It's the usual suspects – the formulas, given a cost matrix, how to solve for that example and basic definitions. Definitions and conditions of the warping path are a definite question.
• There were some questions about music intervals, with some definitions and small computations. One question that I couldn't answer was „Why is there a difference between the calculated interval values of 2 notes and the actual observed interval values?“ I don't remember the answer very well because even after he explained it to me, I wasn't very clear on the concept.
• Some questions about the 12-toned equal tempered scale and some basic music theory. Some I was able to answer but for the other questions, I'm not very well versed in Western Classical Music so I made some educated guesses and it was right – I got lucky! 🍀
  
  
• I expected some questions about the Fourier Transforms and Representations so I asked the professor if I needed to quickly explain it but unfortunately we ran out of time. Professor said it was enough and not to worry about it.

The examiner and assessor took around 5 minutes, give or take few minutes, after the exam to have a quick discussion about my performance. When they came back, they asked me how I felt about my performance. I was open and said that I panicked a bit from the FFT part which was early on in the exam and as a result stumbled in a few places. They asked me how much I expected and I said 2.0. The examiner and assessor said they would also have graded me in a similar fashion had they not seen my performance, involvement and interest with the mini-project. Since the mini-project + exercises + reading assignment carries 2.5 ECTS and lecture carries 2.5 ECTS, I got an integrated grade of 1.3 (YAY!)