Yokohama MINA Lab

About MINA Lab

MINA Lab (Music Informatics and New Applications Laboratory) is a research laboratory that explores new possibilities in music performance and creation through music informatics. It complements Yamaha’s music informatics research at its headquarters in Hamamatsu, Japan.

At MINA Lab, we strive to bring the joy of music to more people via information technology. As the ways in which people engage with music continue to evolve, it is essential to understand these changes and to develop, test, and refine innovative musical experiences that resonate with society.

Located in Yokohama, a vibrant metropolitan area in Japan, MINA Lab is committed to pioneering new ways for people to interact with and enjoy music. We aim to deliver meaningful musical experiences to a broader audience by rapidly iterating through research, development, and real-world validation.

Message from the Lab Leader

We are passionate about enhancing the music-making experience by developing new interactions for music performance, providing valuable musical insights to performers, and creating content that addresses the creative needs of musicians. Our research has led to academic publications, product innovations, and interactive public music exhibits.

Our strength lies in the ability to research, develop, and validate new music technologies in real-world settings, from live concerts to interactive public installations. Our R&D team consists of music informatics experts who specialize in music audio and symbolic music understanding, interactive music performance, and the analysis and machine interpretation of musical expression. Alongside our collaborators, we have introduced our research to thousands of people at more than 30 events in the past five years. These large-scale experiments have not only helped us explore new ways for people to engage with music through informatics technology, but they have also provided valuable insights that contribute to Yamaha’s products and services.

To push the boundaries of music creation and performance, we welcome universities, industries, engineers, and artists who share our vision to collaborate with us in shaping the future of music technology. We have partnered with various industries and research institutions in performance science, mechatronics, sensors, and computer vision. Beyond technology development, we actively contribute to the music informatics community by sharing datasets and publishing academic research.

Akira Maezawa ( MINA Lab / Lab Leader )

MINA Lab Activity Examples and Equipment Introduction