Composition Commons^™

Some (Deliberately Un)Answered Questions.., Colin N. Webber Dr

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

The presentation explores the use of artificial intelligence singing software in the compositional exploration of spiritual concepts. Synthesiser V is used as a "virtual singer" throughout the composition. This technology represents a shift in resources akin to the availability of sampled orchestral instruments, with the added factors of presenting the "composer's voice". This is significant as the author is autistic and has alexithymia, so the questions around the link between the compiser's emotion and the expression of a synthetic voice are relevant.

Music Creation: A Look Into The Process And Products Of Organizing And Performing A Concert Of Arrangements And Original Musical Works, Cameron Beers

Honors Projects

As a composer, arranger, audio engineer, and musician, I have created many works in my time at SPU. These works have been showcased and performed at a concert in SPU’s own Nickerson Studios, in a joint composition recital with Emily Abshere. The process of putting this concert together was long and complicated, and is detailed in this paper, along with my own artist statement and other details about the concert. Most importantly, the works I have written and arranged for this concert are also included.

Making Old Things New Again: The Northridge Psalter, With Antiphons Based On Lessons From The Revised Common Lectionary, Bryan Scott Page

Doctor of Pastoral Music Projects and Theses

Responsive psalmody is one of the primary musical vehicles for presenting the Psalms in worship by choir and congregation. Existing responsive psalmody features congregational antiphons with texts derived directly from the psalms. Working with the Revised Common Lectionary, this thesis presents fifty newly written and composed antiphons with texts derived from the accompanying RCL lessons. The goal of this method is to emphasize prophetic connections between the Old Testament lesson and Gospel lesson via the antiphons. This thesis also features a history of lectionary development, a detailed account of the creative process, rubrics for presenting the responsive psalmody in worship, …

Arranging, Teaching And Performing The Cypriot Folk Song, Αχερόμπασμαν (Aherombasman), Georgia Orfanides

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

This paper documents my process of arranging, teaching, and conducting the Cypriot folk song, Αχερόμπασμαν (Aherombasman) to JMU’s Treble Chamber Choir. I am Cypriot-American and I wanted to create an accessible arrangement of a Cypriot folk tune in order to introduce the musical culture and language of Cyprus to a Western audience. The first section of this paper provides a brief history of the cultural and political influences on Cyprus, and an introduction to common practices in the Cypriot folk tradition. The second section details the process of transcribing the original tune from Alkinoos Ioannides’ arrangement, creating the final arrangement …

Teaching Double Bass Through Lost Traditions Of The 18th Century, Tina Battaglia

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

Through learning how to improvise entire compositions from unfigured bass using stock classical schemata, this paper seeks to bring awareness to the technical and musical benefits of translating 18th century compositional keyboard etudes called partimenti into double bass etudes.

With Love, ; An Interdisciplinary And Intersectional Look At Why Creativity Is Essential, Theo Starr Gardner

Whittier Scholars Program

My Whittier Scholars Program self-designed major, Teaching Creativity, is a mixture of Art, Literature, and Education classes. My research and praxis classes have been focused on the ‘how?’s and 'why?’s of creativity, so it felt only right that my project should be a constructivist, generative project. The project I have been working on throughout my time at Whittier, and that has just fully come to fruition on April 11th, 2024, was a solo art gallery/open mic event entitled ‘With Love,’. With Love, was conceptually inspired by the research I’ve conducted on creativity and creative arts education over the past few …

Impressionism In The Hands Of Griffes, Bauer, And Howe, And The Musical Climate In Early 20th-Century America, Elaine Sara Lim

Dissertations, 2020-current

American composers Charles Griffes (1884-1920), Marion Bauer (1882-1955), and Mary Howe (1882-1964) are considered “Impressionist” composers by some scholars. This document will explore selected piano works of each composer to determine the extent to which impressionistic traits are present. Topics such as tonality, harmony, texture, and individual style will be examined, as well as the significant relationship between music and poetry. American Impressionism was short-lived but served as a link to Modernism, as all three composers eventually experimented with other styles. Early 20th-century American audiences, accustomed to the influx of European artists and music, were slow to embrace the new …

Apple Of My Eye, Lili Tobias

Theses and Dissertations

In a near-future defined by climate change, apples have been driven extinct by a blight. Now, a biologist has engineered them back to life, and the opera centers on a mother and child waiting on line to obtain one of the first new apples.

Ākāśā, Ramya Thiyagarajan

Theses and Dissertations

Program Notes

Ākāśā represents the subtlest form of matter and is often described as the infinite space in which all other elements exist, akin to a canvas upon which the universe is painted. From this primordial element emerges all vibrations that become Sound.

While waiting in line at a Shiva temple in South India, I was struck by the multitude of sounds filling the vast space. Percussion instruments played different rhythms in front of different deities, there was a melodic reed instrument, chants, singing and bells. Voices of people conversing intertwined with this musical tapestry. As the busy soundscape intensified, …

Just Save Me, Terrence Mcmanus

Theses and Dissertations

Just Save Me is a work that deals with tremendous personal struggle. The piece was written primarily in May of 2022, with revisions taking place in the months after. Just Save Me utilizes a complex formal structure, improvisation, and incorporates elements of jazz, rock, and minimalism.

Oblique, Edward Kijowski

Theses and Dissertations

Oblique is a multi-sensory art installation that provides a story of fragmentation in sound and light rendered by an obtuse hexagon arrangement of speakers and associated lighting prompts. The oblique direction of the soundwaves creates sonic sculpturing that propels listeners into an active state.

Theological Songwriting, Jake William Dimas

Senior Honors Theses

Music affects people deeply. Because of this, Christian songwriters have a responsibility to write songs that are theologically accurate. To provide a comparison to the experiment that took place for this paper, Chris Tomlin’s biography, songwriting influences, and music are presented and discussed. The experiment began with exclusively Christian songwriters being given an initial questionnaire. A song prompt was then given to each songwriter, and once returned, the songwriter was given a questionnaire. This step took place once again for the other prompt. The songs produced by the songwriters were then analyzed, being compared with one another and with the …

Thematic Synthesis: Rethinking Generative Music With Compositional Understanding In Game And Software Development, Jasper Moore Tucker

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

Generative music, first introduced by composers like Brian Eno and David Cope in the mid-to-late 20th century, has evolved through many stages, with diverse applications across music and technology companies as well as the game industry. However, despite this widespread interest, there remains a notable lack of the foundational understanding of composition and individual expressiveness in current generative systems that was apparent in the work of early composers. This paper advocates for a shift towards prioritizing compositional thought in system design to foster greater diversity and innovation within generative music. To demonstrate this approach, a novel system synthesizing two distinct …

Jazz And Innovation: The Art Of Covers, Cyon Sailor

Honors College Theses

This paper explores the relationship cover music and Jazz standards have with innovation. Icelandic Jazz singer, Laufey, is used as a case study after the author covers one of her original songs and applies fundamental truths of musical reinterpretations to her versions of Jazz standards.

“Elegy For A Flower” - Remote Orchestral Session/Score-Focused Film, Logyn Okuda

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

Within the many aspects of a film exists the epicenter that is visual storytelling. Music production within film always becomes a point of discussion after the fact, as composers will use their musical expertise to aid the established vision of the filmmaker. Despite music technology having evolved to recreate the sound of an orchestra, the role of music remains the same. However, what if the roles were reversed? Through this endeavor, I sought out to find the impact of a multimedia work when music becomes the primary focus of storytelling. Explored in the past by Disney's "Fantasia" and Phillip Glass' …

Einstein's Dream By Cindy Mctee: An Analysis And Transcription For Wind Ensemble, Kyle Aufderhar

Dissertations

Cindy McTee’s 2005 composition for strings, percussion, and computer music is an exploration in pluralism, combining newly composed music and computer-synthesized sounds with the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Charles Ives. McTee’s initial use of Bach’s music comprises the complete harmonization of the chorale “Wir glauben all’ an einen Gott.” In later sections of the work, McTee creates entire textures from the chorale’s soprano line, subjecting it to a variety of treatments including augmentation, diminution, inversion, retrograde, and retrograde inversion. In addition to the inclusion of his music, McTee reiterates the importance of Bach through composition that relies on …

An Analytical Study Of The Sound Design And Production Techniques Of Idm Artists, Robert C. Stevens

Composition/Recording Projects

This paper analyzes the sound design and production techniques of IDM artists, and how these techniques can be incorporated into the process of writing commercial music.

Digital Orchestration In Media Compositions, Jimmy Bartley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As composers gain access to better tools, digital mockups have increasingly grown in popularity. Composers often aim to emulate an idealized orchestral sound in their mockups. By understanding the nature of acoustic orchestration and instrumentation, specific techniques and approaches for virtual instruments and sample libraries, and methods to process and manipulate MIDI audio, composers can achieve this idealized sound. This thesis will focus on the common techniques and methods that composers can use to achieve this in digital mockups. Concluding the thesis is an original work that combines digital and live instruments while exploring different techniques to achieve an ideal …

Defining Recomposition Through The Works Of Gregson, Richter, And Peck: Creating A Dialogue With Vivaldi And Bach To Compose New Music., Amanda Peck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recomposition has been a commonly utilized compositional method for hundreds of years, yet there is no universally accepted definition in the musical community. The existing literature on the subject is limited, so this project will examine various sources to define this term more accurately. This research analyzes successful recompositions for string ensemble, Peter Gregson’s Bach - The Cello Suites Recomposed (2018) and Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi - The Four Seasons Recomposed (2012), and my two new compositions, Air on the G String Recomposed and Vivaldi Cello Sonata No. 3 in A Minor Recomposed. My compositions incorporate the …

Accessible & Inclusive Music-Making, Lincoln Byass

Postgraduate

This research project aimed to assist musicians with intellectual disabilities in the collaborative music-making process. By designing and implementing accessible techniques, the study addressed the question: "What songwriting and music production techniques can support musicians with intellectual disabilities to create original music?" The outcome was a framework of techniques and three original compositions created in collaboration with these musicians.

Using qualitative methods such as autoethnography, action research, observations, and music-specific practices, the project involved multiple collaborative sessions where participants actively engaged in music composition and recording. Techniques included pre-production interviews, influence analysis, instrument experimentation, and lyrical exploration. The findings highlight …