Digital Commons Network^™

Creating Better Musicians Through Musicality: A Guide To Building An Instructional Unit, Shelby Leo

Theses

This project provides an in depth focus on how to strengthen an ensemble's approach to musicality through lesson plans, assessments, and activities. The primary focus group of this project is high school aged performance based classes including band and choir. The aim of the project is to provide a music educator with a detailed curriculum to teach musicality that is adjustable to any size ensemble and any score. Furthermore, this project is not a study but instead an explanation to the approach of developing the curriculum unit. The project consists of a four unit curriculum with two to three lessons …

What Is This Noise?: A Comparison Of Narrative And Statistical Program Notes' Ability To Affect Enjoyment, Luke Henderson

Theses

Program notes, brief written statements provided to attendees of classical music performances, have in some cases increased audiences’ enjoyment of what they hear, but results from such research are inconsistent. This study sought to explore the effects of program notes on enjoyment, eudaimonic appreciation, and intention to attend a concert, as well as whether narrative or statistical styles of notes would be more effective. Participants in an experiment were randomly assigned to one of three conditions--no program notes, narrative style program notes, and statistical program notes--then asked to listen to a piece of music. Those who received program notes reported …

Half A Heart, Maria Gesek

Theses

Half a Heart is a screenplay that follows a character’s journey to find happiness in her life and learn to be strong enough to stand on her own. Cara has spent a significant portion of her life in a relationship with Sal, and while this relationship has made her happy and could be considered true love, it is something she must learn to walk away from as it is not moving forward. Cara must learn to find other forms of happiness while also learning to stick up for herself. One of the most difficult struggles she needs to overcome is …

Beginning Band: Cognitive Development Based Instruction, Kayla Price

Theses

This project focuses on how to facilitate a more efficient beginning band experience for students based on the average state of cognitive development for their age group. The primary focus is presenting an alternative to immediately starting students in a traditional band method book when they first begin band classes. The aim of the project is to study the cognitive development of the average sixth grader to best determine what instructional approach would best suit their processing abilities before introducing the band method book. Furthermore, the study exposes the fallacies of the traditional band method book system and suggests and …

“Take Those Old Records Off The Shelf” A Uses & Gratifications Study Of Different Music Platforms, Emily Hawk

Theses

The platforms people use to listen to music have evolved rapidly in the last fifty years. Digital streaming and digital downloads are the most popular platforms to consume music, but physical platforms like CDs and vinyl are still common or, in the case of vinyl, even growing in use. This study investigated the needs being met and the reasons behind listening to music on these different platforms. This study also compared the differences in gratifications sought between physical music platforms and non-physical music platforms. A survey shared via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, as well as via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk …

End-To-End Music Transcription Using Fine-Tuned Variable-Q Filterbanks, Frank C. Cwitkowitz Jr

Theses

The standard time-frequency representations calculated to serve as features for musical audio may have reached the extent of their effectiveness. General-purpose features such as Mel-Frequency Spectral Coefficients or the Constant-Q Transform, while being pyschoacoustically and musically motivated, may not be optimal for all tasks. As large, comprehensive, and well-annotated musical datasets become increasingly available, the viability of learning from the raw waveform of recordings widens. Deep neural networks have been shown to perform feature extraction and classification jointly. With sufficient data, optimal filters which operate in the time-domain may be learned in place of conventional time-frequency calculations. Since the spectrum …

Music Consumption In The Dominican Republic: Technological Changes, Uses, And Gratifications, Frank R. Lantigua

Theses

Music consumption has been transformed by technological changes during the last three decades; the introduction of streaming technologies and the expansion of the global music market have changed the way people in various countries engage with music in daily life. Previous research on music consumption points to the uses and gratifications often sought by audiences, as well as the motives that drive their consumption habits. While most studies have centered on audiences from the developing world, this study focuses particularly on music consumption in the Dominican Republic. The data was collected through an online survey that inquired about the platforms …

The Modernized Keyboard: Improving The Musician’S Experience Through User-Centered Design, Andrew James Magee

Theses

In 2016, a major part of being a gigging musician is traveling with your instrument.

For musicians with smaller instruments, such as the harmonica, traveling is no problem. Simply place it in your pocket and you are good to go anywhere with musical creation at your fingertips.

Medium-sized instruments, like the guitar, are somewhat of a hassle to travel with due to their size, but are also typically lightweight, so the traveling still somewhat tolerable.

But for musicians with large and heavy instruments, such as drums or a digital keyboard, traveling can be a nightmare. 

My thesis explores the full …

Outburst, Benjamin A. Strack

Theses

Outburst is the story of 17-year-old Tommy, a young musician who views life differently: from the seat of a wheelchair. He is working with his best friend, Joey, to come up with a winning entry for a songwriting contest. They are a complementary ensemble, as Joey has the greatest skill with the guitar and Tommy’s abilities are stronger as a lyricist. With a lot of work left on the song, and only four days to the competition, Joey’s new girlfriend drives a wedge in their friendship and musical partnership.

Tommy tries to accommodate Kristin’s entry into their social circle, but …

Digitabs: Share. Learn. Play, Alfredo Lopez

Theses

This project focused on designing an effective online sharing network that includes video tutorials and music tablatures of any original or pre-existing song, created and shared by fellow musicians. This network encourages people with little to no musical background to perform their own versions of songs by practicing and learning music theory in a pedagogical interactive environment.

The Busk Below, Kenton Cummings

Theses

Whether above, or below the concrete jungle a.k.a. NYC, there is no doubt that this town is a proving ground. Countless individuals flock to the mecca city in search of success, money, and fame-looking to share their talents with anyone who will listen. No exception to this ethic, are the subway tunnels below ground that harbor an abundance of talent. Known as Street Performers, these subway buskers are more than the title mostly associated with panhandlers and beggars. Their talents captivate an audience, mostly distracted by their everyday lives, as they travel from one destination to the next. These performers …

Music Uses And Gratifications Among Youth, Karen De La Rosa Herrera

Theses

This study identified the uses and gratifications of music genres and communication needs among young adults. An online survey of young adults in the College of Liberal Arts at Rochester Institute of Technology was conducted. Seven communication factors were found to correlate with listening to 21 different music genres. A sense of identity was significantly related to alternative, indie, jazz, and new age music. Behavior was related to dance, easy listening, hip hop/rap, new age, pop, and world music. Interaction with others was related to easy listening and pop music. Knowledge was related to alternative, dance, easy listening, hip hop/rap, …

Thedor Kullak's "Scenes From Childhood," Op. 62, And Op. 81: A Pedagogical Guide, Jennifer Lynn Kottke

Theses

Theodor Kullak (September 12, 1818 - March 1, 1882) composed "Scenes from Childhood," Op. 62 and Op. 81 for young piano students. This thesis is a guide for teaching these pieces to intermediate piano students. Following Kullak's biography, aspects of note-reading, fingering, rhythm, technique, and musicality are discussed and illustrated in specific examples from the music.

The Sound Of Music: The Influence Of Evoked Emotion On Recognition Memory For Musical Excerpts Across The Lifespan, Sherrie L. Parks

Theses

TITLE: THE SOUND OF MUSIC: THE INFLUENCE OF EVOKED EMOTION ON RECOGNITION MEMORY FOR MUSICAL EXCERPTS ACROSS THE LIFESPAN Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (Carstensen, 1999) posits that as people age, they selectively focus on positive aspects of emotional stimuli as opposed to negative as a way of regulating emotions. Thus, older adults remember positive information better than negative. This hypothesis has been tested extensively with visual stimuli, but rarely with auditory stimuli. Findings from this study provide support in the auditory domain. In this study, 135 younger, middle-aged, and older adults heard consonant (pleasant) and dissonant (unpleasant) musical excerpts. Participants were …

Band Space: Promoting Local Musicians On The Web, Alisha Messmer

Theses

Local Rochester Musicians start off with limited resources to promote their music. One option would be to upload their music for free onto a website. A good example of a free website that introduces new and already familiar bands is MySpace. But sites like MySpace are not only focusing on music. MySpace has a primary focus on people interacting with other MySpace users, sharing their biography, photos, likes, dislikes etc. Amongst the users there are countless distractions that can almost drive a user away from the site. Is there another solution to promote local talent? What if a website can …

Music, Skill And Artifact: The Pursuit Of Physical Opportunities, Cindy Staton

Theses

As a musician being faced with the option to create music on a primarily digital and intangible level, I found this new digital experience to be problematic when compared to the experience of playing a physical instrument. This thesis explores this idea on a macro scale extending it to examine our everyday lives and the effects technology in the digital age have had upon us specifically in the United States. We live in a country where our jobs primarily involve sitting at a desk and working on a computer. Having once worked on farms or made a living as a …

Social Learning Theory As A Model For Illegitimate Peer-To-Peer Use And The Effects Of Implementing A Legal Music Downloading Service On Peer-To-Peer Music Piracy, Nathan Fisk

Theses

In an attempt to both provide added services to students and help curb the growing problem of music piracy on college campuses, many universities have implemented legal digital music services. The Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) was one of these universities, where the Cdigix Ctrax service is provided to students. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of such a strategy, Information Technology Services (ITS) at RIT requested the services of Dr. Samuel McQuade, who administered a Webbased survey to all Ctrax users and an equal number of randomly selected non-Ctrax using students at RIT. In total, 447 students responded to …

The Effects Of 50 Beat Per Minute Music To Decrease Anxiety And Lower Heart Rates In A Select Group Of College Students, Laura E. Burnell

Theses

The purpose of this study was to assess the affect of experimenter chosen 50 beat per minute music composed especially for stress and anxiety reduction on a select group of college students, and to examine its usefulness in promoting relaxation. The rationale for the study was based on research done in the area of using music to promote relaxation, and on the composer's claims that this music has been effective on a variety of populations for such purposes. Thirty subjects comprised of 17 males and 13 females ranging in age from 18 to 25 years participated in the study. This …

Music, The Master Communicator, Patricia Jean Lee

Theses

Music has been a universal language through time. It communicates the very essence of life, reflecting the heart, the soul and the mind of man. This study, based on research, testing and observation , seeks to establish that music is capable of communicating and educating; that music is not only relevant as an art form for the purpose of enjoyment and entertainment, but that music is a practical and acceptable means of expression and communication. To accomplish this goal , the paper discusses the history of communication, focusing on various types of communication to establish common elements, laying the foundation …

Computer Improvisation Of Jazz Solos, Daniel Chen

Theses

This thesis discusses the possibilities of using a computer to create Jazz solos. Various implementations using stochastic and rule based approaches were created and applied to analyze the original melody as well as the chord progressions. Based on the melodies generated, a rule-based approach that considered the original melody and the chord progression was found to produce the most "musical"

Voices Production, Elsa Burroughs Fritts

Theses

Unavailable.

A Study On The Use Of Music To Teach Locational Skills In Library Use To Third Grade Students, Nancy Karl

Theses

This study addresses the question : Will the use of music activities to t each locational skills in library use to third grade students be more effective in helping students to acquire and retain these skills than a more traditional multi-media approach?

Locational skills in this study include: alphabetical order, correct use of the card catalog, location of fiction and non-fiction books, recognition of different types of reference materials and their uses and the ten Dewey Decimal classifications.

The music activities include folksongs and original songs and coordinating activity worksheets. The multimedia approach uses sound filmstrips, charts and catalog cards …

Instrumental Music Guide: Grades 5-9, Joan Joy Coerver

Theses

Not available.