Digital Commons Network^™

Music As A Tool, Kayla Boone

Capstones

My community is focused on individuals who are currently struggling or have struggled with their mental health and are seeking music as an alternative to psychotherapy.

Profits For Spotify, Pennies For Artists, Joshua R. Rosenberg

Capstones

Major recording labels have always been king-making investment houses. They market the music and manage the careers of artists such as New York singer-songwriter Blake Morgan, who has to fight tooth and nail to escape being mistreated financially. But digital distribution services have now come along and upped the parasitic ante. By dominating global market share and distributing millions of songs for the labels, companies like Spotify are piggybacking on the music industry’s already exploitative system and magnifying it exponentially. The more content you control, the larger the overall profit–even if the overwhelming majority of content creators are essentially starving. …

New York’S Jazz Scene Decimated By Ongoing Shutdown, Alissa L. Mcpherson

Capstones

New York's jazz scene is in shambles. COVID has disrupted virtually all in-person musical performances. Musicians are left with no definite time frame as to when they will be allowed to enter a club again, and club owners are doing all they can to keep the music alive.

Zu Viel Zukunft!, Grace Brecht

Student Research Submissions

Punk rock developed in the 1970s and local scenes developed throughout Europe and the United States. East Germany was no exception. Despite — and because of — the brutal state-sponsored violence against and repression of anyone who did not conform to the government’s ideals, punk flourished in the Deutsche Demokratische Republik. Although the initial exposure to punk came via English punk bands on West German radio, the Eastern punks had little interest in the West and were largely anti-capitalist. Instead, they focused their attention on their own country and on the vast social reform needed there. The punks channeled their …

Big River Hardware, Jayla Walls

Honors Capstones

Big River Hardware is a small business that sells restored antique radio/radio parts and guitar parts. Ben, the owner of Big River Hardware, found it challenging to attract new customers. We created a Kickstarter campaign to bring attention to Big River Hardware, fund his business during COVID-19, and attract new customers.

Revamping The Guitar Curriculum: Adapting Piano Methods And Theory To Apply To The Guitar, Brian Cummings

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In this paper I will discuss the importance of a well rounded pedagogy for beginning guitar students. The existing piano pedagogy has courses outlining lessons and appropriate pieces correlated with lessons in technique, theory, ear training, sight reading, as well as other disciplines; the guitar has nothing like it to compare. I will also include a creative project including examples of piano lessons adapted for the guitar, including theory ideas using the fretboard, finding intervals on one string using half steps represented by the frets, and example pieces that offer a variety in genres, among other things. I will draw …

Mixing Music In Dolby Atmos, Roberto Cabanillas

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper will focus on Dolby Atmos as a surround sound program developed by Dolby Laboratories with the intent to be used to enhance the audio experience. Within this paper, there would be research done to explain a brief history of Dolby Laboratories and a considerable amount on Dolby Atmos. It will also explain how Atmos works and how the production program is used to make immersive mixes. It will go in-depth on the capabilities of how it can be used for mixing music. This paper will include sources ranging from manuals, websites, and books to show how Dolby Atmos …

Music Therapy: Revitalizing Alzheimer's Disease Patients, Natalie Villalobos

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper explains the different benefits that music therapy has on patients with Alzheimer's disease. It will briefly explain what Alzheimer’s disease is: the causes, some of the symptoms, and the effects it may have. Also, the paper will explore the impact music has on the brain in regards to affecting a specific area, its connection to memory, and to emotions. Although Alzheimer’s does not have a cure, research has shown that music therapy does decrease the rate at which it grows. By looking at results from different research studies, a better understanding of what treatment or a specific session …

Popular Music Genres: The Past 70 Years To Now, Natasha Lugo

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Each decade is connected to specific music genres that are remembered years later. Artists who imprint in listeners’ minds, album collections or playlists stand out within certain decades from when they were the most successful. Awards, charts, album sales and performances are some of the accomplishments that help the growth of their careers through the public. With pop and rap being the favored genres, proven in the charts from the last twenty years, what is today’s music genre? Using a few artists as reference along with collecting data, starting from the 1950s and ending with the 2010s, this paper will …

The Effects Of Music On Dairy Production, Anneliese Kemp

Honors College Theses

The purpose of this research is to find which genre of music dairy cows produce the most milk to in order to aid dairy farmers in yielding maximum product while also keeping their cattle as comfortable as possible. During each lactation a different genre of music will play, basic vital signs, and behavioral observations of the cows will be taken, then the amount of milk produced during that genre will be measured. First, no music will be played, base line vitals will be taken, and milk yield will be measured. This will give an estimate to how positively or negatively …

Finding Messiaen’S Blackbird: An Investigative Analysis Of Birdsong And Other Techniques Used In Le Merle Noir, Alexandra L. Aguirre-Berman

Dissertations

Aguirre-Berman, Alexandra L, Finding Messiaen’s Blackbird: an investigative analysis of birdsong and other techniques used in Le merle noir. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2020. This document explores Olivier Messiaen’s use of serialism, Greek rhythms, Hindu deçi-tâlas, ‘style oiseau’ and other ornithological information as they relate to his composition for flute and piano, Le merle noir. As a result of this exploration, an investigative analysis of several compositional elements is provided, including ancient Greek rhythms, Hindu deçi-tâlas, serialism, and birdsong in order to process their connection with Messiaen’s blackbird. Messiaen’s blackbird is identified as the Eurasian …

Life And Legacy Of Luis Gianneo: A Comprehensive Study Of His Compositions For Violin, Maria Belen Hernandez

Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to promote the complete works of composer Luis Gianneo (1897–1968) through the analysis of his pieces for violin, including the Aymara Violin Concerto, the Sonata for Violin and Piano, Cinco Piezas for violin and piano, and Tres Piezas for violin solo. These pieces represent the wide variety of the styles and compositional techniques that Gianneo explored during his lifetime. In his violin concerto and works for violin and piano, Gianneo cultivated Argentine nationalism as well as European influences such as Neoclassicism. Later in his life, in Tres Piezas for violin solo, he experimented with …

Three In One: The Style, Structure, And Sound Of Thad Jones As A Jazz Trumpeter, Shawn Edward Williams

Dissertations

Thad Jones’s role as a big-band composer, arranger and leader of the famed Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra formed the basis for his international reputation in the jazz world. However, it can be demonstrated that Jones’s improvisational style as a jazz trumpet soloist directly informed his composition and arranging style. Long before Jones became an active composer and arranger, he spent decades performing as a soloist with various small groups. Jones spent his formative years in Pontiac, Michigan playing with the Arcadia Club Band, a family band formed by his uncle, where he worked alongside his brother Hank Jones. Jones continued …

Performance Guide And Recording Of Three Twenty-First-Century Compositions For Solo Cello, Katarina Majcen Pliego

Dissertations

The twenty-first century boasts a vast repertoire of solo cello pieces. While many editions might feature phrase markings and other performance indications by the composer, they rarely include bowing indications, fingerings, and other practical advice. Due to the diversity and sometimes technical difficulty of the twenty-first-century solo cello repertoire, most new works now include guidelines or performance guides written by the composer or first performer. I have selected three pieces according to the following criteria: no performance guide is currently available; the published score lacks editorial guidance on performance issues such as bowing and fingering; and no commercially available recording …

Language Learning From The Developmental And Neurocognitive Perspective: An Examination Of The Impact Of Music On Second Language Acquisition, Shelby Grimm

Honors College Theses

This literature review aims to analyze the influence of music as a learning tool throughout the process of second language acquisition. Through the compilation and analysis of recent research conducted on the academic, cultural, and linguistic impacts of music on the four modes of language, which include reading, speaking, writing, and listening, this thesis will demonstrate the effects of incorporating music into the second language learning curriculum. Definitions of both music and language, as well as a description of the components of both areas will be included. An examination of the neurocognitive relationship between music and language, as well as …

Exploring The Gospel Fusion Arrangements Of The Recording Collective, Tyler Williams

Composition/Recording Projects

Exploring the Gospel Fusion Arrangements of The Recording Collective

Putting Cajuns On The Map: Music's Role In Popularizing Louisiana's Bayou Culture, Christine Broussard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Southern Louisiana witnessed a grassroots Cajun cultural revival whose most active years stretched across three decades in the latter half of the twentieth century. While important local and world events created conditions favorable to its development, actors and events within the Cajun musical sphere specifically, and the establishment and use of iconography within that sphere, played integral roles in sustaining the Cajun renaissance into the 1980s. Activist efforts that recast long-held negative tropes about Cajun culture ensured modern-day Cajuns had access not only to cultural traditions but to the same spaces created to help keep those traditions alive. While those …

The Importance Of Having Properly Funded Art Programs And The Benefits It Brings To Public Schools, Chelsey Brown

Liberal Arts Capstones

This presentation is to help raise awareness towards art education in schools and how these programs are losing their funding. The main focus is to present information on how the arts benefit people in both the school and in more public settings. Politics affect how much money is given to the arts and if the school is not art-rich, they may suffer and have a poorly funded arts program. The arts provide cognitive, health, and social benefits that can help kids learn and can also help those who participate in community programs. Students who participate in art, music, theater, or …

Bidla: The Transnational Influence Of American Hip-Hop On Għana, Amanda Ndidika Eke

Theses - ALL

Għana (pronounced A-na) is a rhyming conversational music form created on the island country of Malta, a country situated between southern Italy and Northern Africa. Hip-Hop was birthed in black and Latino urban communities in New York, where street cultures were isolated from white neighborhoods. Hip-Hop has had an overwhelming influence on the Black American community, as well as the entire U.S. society. Over the past three decades, Hip-Hop has influenced and uplifted the world by speaking up for generations and providing the voice for a group of people trying to deliver a message. This thesis explores how artists on …

“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 …

Exploring The Impact Of Musical Mnemonic Strategies On Student Achievement And Engagement In Inclusive Science Classes, Zinna Eaton

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Students with disabilities often struggle with comprehending material and performing at grade level, and teachers often find new ways to help their students comprehend the curriculum. A common challenge for special education teachers is incorporating different learning styles and various instructional strategies to better assist their students. One teaching strategy and resource that many teachers incorporate is the use of music in their instruction. This research project examines how incorporating music teaching strategies into daily instruction impacts the level of engagement and the academic achievement level of sixth-grade students with and without mild/moderate disabilities within inclusive science classrooms. The study …

An Examination Of Music Majors’ Exercise Motivations And Readiness For Change, Jason Ruggieri

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examined hypothesized differences in college students’ exercise behaviors, motivations, and readiness for change. Previous research confirms longstanding health benefits of regular physical activity and corresponding wellbeing and mortality risks of a sedentary lifestyle. Despite this evidence, people become increasingly more inactive over time. Overall, college students perpetuate these life-long sedentariness trends. Music students encounter physical performance demands unique to degree programs, endorsing more physical and mental health complaints than most undergraduates. Self-determination theory and the transtheoretical model of behavior change postulate individuals with strong self-directed motivations and willingness to enact behavior changes are more likely to be physically …

Consequential Saints: A Preliminary Study Of Jazz And Religion In New Orleans, David Baker

Dissertations

The moral ecosystem of New Orleans at the beginning of the twentieth century offers a unique opportunity for jazz to function and be observed beyond positivist definitions of music. The common narrative often cites religion and morality as peripherally influencing factors in the development of jazz but frequently disregards the impact of New Orleans’ atypical religious milieu and its influence on local culture. While recent research exists that studies the nuanced role of identity, phenomenology, and culture in shaping early jazz, the influence of New Orleans’ unusual form of morality and religion is subsequently ignored. Understanding the birth of jazz …

Musical Meter: Examining Hierarchical Temporal Perception In Complex Musical Stimuli Across Human Development, Sensory Modalities, And Expertise, Jessica Erin Nave-Blodgett

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Performing, listening, and moving to music are universal human behaviors. Most music in the world is organized temporally with faster periodicities nested within slower periodicities, creating a perceptual hierarchy of repeating stronger (downbeat) and weaker (upbeat) events. This perceptual organization is theorized to aid our abilities to synchronize our behaviors with music and other individuals, but there is scant empirical evidence that listeners actively perceive these multiple levels of temporal periodicities simultaneously. Furthermore, there is conflicting evidence about when, and how, the ability to perceive the beat in music emerges during development. It is also unclear if this hierarchical organization …

Variations On A Theme Of Robert Schumann: Intertextual References And Private Meaning In Clara Schumann’S Opus 20 And Johannes Brahms’S Opus 9, Karin Buer

Dissertations

Buer, Karin. Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann: Intertextual References and Private Meaning in Clara Schumann’s Opus 20 and Johannes Brahms’s Opus 9. Published Doctor of Arts dissertation, University of Northern Colorado, 2020. For centuries, composers have used their music as an expressive tool, imbuing it with publicly accessible meaning that often reflects the time and place in which the composer lived. Throughout the nineteenth century, the view of music as a means of expression, specifically self-expression, became crystallized as never before. Robert Schumann and other literary-minded nineteenth-century composers thus communicated, through their art, meanings which were both public …

Transcribing Kuhlau For The Saxophone: A Stylistic Bridge, Nathaniel Clement Berman

Dissertations

This dissertation examines and adapts for saxophone Three Fantasias, Op. 95 for unaccompanied flute by Friedrich Kuhlau (1786-1832), a composer of enduring popularity and respect among flutists. Musical repertoire written for saxophone began in the late 1800s, and became more robust in the twentieth century. Because of this relative dearth, especially in early works that predate the instrument’s invention, saxophonists have routinely relied on transcriptions of period music for pedagogy, performance, and recording. Transcriptions of works by Baroque composers, especially those of J. S. Bach, are particularly popular. This, however, has left a large chronological and stylistic gap in common-practice …

Hymeno : The Music In Ministry, Jamila Patricie Sylvester

Master of Music Projects

INTRODUCTION

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16 KJV Arguably one of the best-known verses in the Bible is John 3:16. A quick glimpse of those seven little letters and numbers spelling out John 3:16 and, like the first four measures of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, immediately people know what you are talking about. It matters not if they are faithful church-going believers or unbelievers, people know – or do they? In the 2009 live-streamed college championship football game between …

Mindfulness, Flow And Self-Care For Double Bass Musicians, Samuel R. Brown

Music ETDs

In this qualitative multi-case study, three college-age music majors from the local state university were interviewed, observed, and asked to complete reflections in order to answer the following questions: How do mindfulness activities affect collegiate double bass music students’ perceptions of their own playing and practicing? My secondary questions were 1) how do mindfulness activities affect flow experiences among collegiate double bass music students, and 2) how do mindfulness activities affect students’ perception of self-care? The interviews were transcribed, coded using “concept coding” (Miler, Huberman, & Saldaña, 2020), and then grouped into categories, themes, and sub-themes. The themes were time, …

Prescribed Freedom, Proscribed Freedom: Compositional And Improvisational Balances In Jazz, Andrew W. Saliba

Masters Theses

Jazz is a recent and flexible art form, rooted in the twin musical strains of occidental canon and folkloric African-American music. From its genesis, jazz musicians have had the difficult task of reconciling these seemingly opposite musical parents while simultaneously building a new musical canon that respects and upholds its past, even as it celebrates new individual voices. Like any multifaceted challenge this balancing of elements has not always gone smoothly, and attempts to codify the delineation and categorization of jazz remain controversial even now. There is additional challenge in defining the nature of “free” improvised music. While free music …

How Will Self-Centering And Breathing Practices Improve And Promote Purposeful Learning In Beginning Band, Leah Toppen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Rehearsing an ensemble of beginning band students is a joy and adventure. Every student who enters the band room for rehearsal is excited to take out their instrument and play. The excitement and other emotions students have when they walk into class can affect the energy and tone of a rehearsal. This capstone project is for band directors who teach beginning band and are in need of a more focused rehearsal setting and routine. Centering and mindfulness practices have been around for centuries. Practicing centering and mindfulness helps call down the mind and body. This capstone explores the question: how …