Composition Commons^™

Analysis And Utilization Of Hip-Hop Techniques In Classical Music, William Francis Montgomery

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT

As of January 4^th, 2018, R&B/Hip-Hop (including rap) had overtaken rock and roll as the most popular genre among music fans. Nielsen Music reported that rap had surpassed rock in terms of total consumption with rappers such as Drake and Kendrick Lamar leading the charge. This would lead to the second-highest growth of any genre of music, spiking at 25% over the previous year.[1] This came as a very big surprise to many, especially when we take into consideration the rocky at best relationship that rap has had with public perception.

There are many misconceptions and …

Designing And Composing For Interdependent Collaborative Performance With Physics-Based Virtual Instruments, Eric Sheffield

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interdependent collaboration is a system of live musical performance in which performers can directly manipulate each other’s musical outcomes. While most collaborative musical systems implement electronic communication channels between players that allow for parameter mappings, remote transmissions of actions and intentions, or exchanges of musical fragments, they interrupt the energy continuum between gesture and sound, breaking our cognitive representation of gesture to sound dynamics.

Physics-based virtual instruments allow for acoustically and physically plausible behaviors that are related to (and can be extended beyond) our experience of the physical world. They inherently maintain and respect a representation of the gesture to …

Mobile Music Development Tools For Creative Coders, Daniel Stuart Holmes

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This project is a body of work that facilitates the creation of musical mobile artworks. The project includes a code toolkit that enhances and simplifies the development of mobile music iOS applications, a flexible notation system designed for mobile musical interactions, and example apps and scored compositions to demonstrate the toolkit and notation system.

The code library is designed to simplify the technical aspect of user-centered design and development with a more direct connection between concept and deliverable. This sim- plification addresses learning problems (such as motivation, self-efficacy, and self-perceived understanding) by bridging the gap between idea and functional prototype …

Music Reading For Everybody: Notation For Laptop Music Making, Kathleen Alyse Winn

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to document the creation of a new music notation called KeyMusic for the ASCII/QWERTY keyboard on any computer platform. This notation is designed to enable those without musical training the ability to participate in music making. Creation of the notation is traced from its conception to the application of HCI (Human Computer Interaction) usability criteria to establish its efficacy for users. All of the pieces notated in this format so far, are transcriptions from traditional folk song and arrangements of classical melodies. The development of a chromatic, polytonal, multitimbral laptop instrument which is designed …

The Cohens And The Kellys: Performance At The Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Toronto, Canada - Toronto, Dermot Dunne, Nick Roth

Concert Programmes

This performance consisted of a collaborative project between accordionist Dermot Dunne and saxophonist Nick Roth who together devised and performed an original film score for the 1926 silent film the Cohens and the Kellys. The score consisted of original arrangements of existing pieces by classical composers and traditional music from a variety of sources.

World Premiere Performance Of Quintet No.2 By N. Roth, Dermot Dunne

Concert Programmes

Nick Roth's second quintet was commissioned by the Sligo International Chamber Music Festival to be premiered by Dermot Dunne, accordion and the Vogler string quartet. The work draws on many aspects of the muezzin call to prayer in the Islamic faith including the various different modes (or maqaams) used in the call to prayer throughout the day. The work is a synthesis of the ISlamic call to prayer with contemporary composition techniques

Illuminations, Emerson Sudbury

Theses and Dissertations

Illuminations is a vocal piece for mezzo-soprano and electronics. It incorporates elements of ambient and noise music. Relying on texts by Arthur Rimbaud and drawing inspiration from composers such as Debussy and Arvo Pärt, it is an attempt to blend tradition with contemporary practices and aesthetics.

Music For A New Era: Selected Works Dedicated To Flutist Louis Fleury (1878-1926), Lydia Carroll

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Louis Fleury (1878-1926) was a skilled flutist, respected writer and critic, prolific music editor, and new music enthusiast in France at the turn of the twentieth century. Unfortunately, Fleury’s legacy has been overshadowed by figures such as his teacher Paul Taffanel (1844-1908), as well as his contemporaries, including renowned flutists Philippe Gaubert (1879-1941), Marcel Moyse (1889-1984), and Georges Barrère (1876-1944). Fleury studied with Taffanel at the Paris Conservatoire from 1895-1900. Today Taffanel is regarded as having established the modern French Flute School, which is a tradition of flute playing and pedagogy. The legacy of the French Flute School of the …

Intrusive Thoughts - Guitar, Voice, & String Quintet, Joseph M. Young

Theses and Dissertations

This four-movement song addresses mental health, specifically that of Obsession Compulsive Disorder and the symptom of intrusive thoughts that are often associated. From the point of view of an individual suffering from OCD, each movement describes the disorder and portrays different stages of dealing with and managing emotions and relationships.

Traditional Irish Musical Elements In The Solo-Piano Music Of Ryan Molloy, Brian Thomas Murphy

Dissertations

Music in Ireland has become increasingly popular in recent decades. There is no shortage of Irish musical groups, recordings, and live performances featuring Irish music both in Ireland and abroad. Contemporary art music in Ireland has also seen an increase in support and notoriety. Irish composers face a decision of how, if at all, to engage with traditional folk music that is so prominent in their culture. Ryan Molloy (b. 1983 in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland) is a composer and performer who incorporates elements of traditional Irish music in the context and in the language of modern art music. …

Negative Harmony: Experiments With The Polarity In Music, Michael Brister

Undergraduate Honors Theses

I set out to experiment and justify the use of a new theory called Negative Harmony in 21^st century music. Negative Harmony is a musical avenue from which composers can glean new tones within traditional music theory rules. I took inspiration from the current leading authority on the topic, Jacob Collier, as well as older scholars from the 20^th century, such as Ernst Levy and George Rochberg. I conducted research on the theory by finding its relation to major and minor chords, and how these mirrored chords worked from a theory standpoint. I then composed two original works, …

Dreamscape No. 2, "Songs For The Woman In The Sun Hat"., Derek D Carter

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

this dreamscape is a collection of love songs, reworked and reimagined into the dreamy, hazy nature of both dreams and love. each song comes from the jazz canon and takes a specific idea or motif and builds and destroys as it moves along. each song is paired with an interlude, aimed to explore some of the darker memories or regrets we may have felt for loved ones, for love is not without its complications.

Mabalêl., Johannes Visser

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The symphonic song, Mabalel, as presented here, is an extract from a larger composition that also forms part of a greater trilogy of songs on South African texts. Throughout the three texts in the trilogy, themes of nature, pre-civilization society, and African tragedies create unification between the works. In Mabalel, a young native South African girl is sent to get water for her village from the river, when she is unexpectedly attacked by Lalele, a crocodile. The beauty of this text not only lies in its metaphorical representation of the (most often unjust) difficulties and tragedies faced daily by rural, …

Abandoning Abuse: Acknowledging Adoption In The 21 Century, Deborah Elizabeth Ellis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The inspiration for this set of pieces arose from a friendship with fellow grad student Morgen Cavanah. Morgen and I were both adopted as children, and it this common background that gave rise to these pieces. The poems chosen were written by Morgen about individuals or events in her life. Though I had planned to set 9 of the original 12 poems, this set is comprised of my four favorites. Each piece uses repetitive piano motives that underlie the melodic lines of the voice, flute, and cello. This choice explores harmonic and melodic possibilities that expand minimal accompaniment. Much of …

Amalgam., Tim Clay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

According to the Internet, the word “amalgam” can mean one of two things. It can refer to either “an alloy of mercury with another metal, especially one used for dental fillings” or “a mixture or blend.” While using a musical work as dental filling is an interesting idea, this work falls under the latter definition. This amalgam consists of elements evoking rock, metal, hiphop, pop, Mozart, and a little bit of Bach. Other influences may have leaked into the piece, but this listing contains the items that were at the front of my mind during the composition process. During my …

Eclectic: A Recording Project Of Original Crossover Compositions, Chance Moore

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Music makers have always borrowed one another’s influences, across philosophies, across culture, and thus, across genres. Since the 1950’s, a time when classical music was at its farthest reach from popular music, the rift between these two “worlds” has shrunk, and music crafters from each category are free to take from the other as they please. As a figure who stands between the cultivated and vernacular traditions, my aim for this thesis is to give an introduction to some of the ways genre hybridization has been achieved since 1950, present a collection of my own compositions (along with recordings) that …

An Analysis Of Musicals By Lynn Ahrens And Stephen Flaherty, And An Original Musical, Fly Like An Eagle, Donna Howard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty have written musicals together for several decades. This thesis contains an in-depth discussion and stylistic analysis of several songs each from Once on This Island, Ragtime, and Seussical – three Ahrens & Flaherty shows chosen specifically because of their variety in style and subject matter. This analysis includes, among other things, the lyrics and lyric setting, textures, harmonic settings, accompaniment styles, rhythms, and harmonic progressions. The central portion of this document contains the music for nine songs of an original musical titled Fly Like an Eagle. This script is written by Daris Howard and is …

Pedagogy Of Video-Game Scoring For Collegiate Application And An Original Score For The Nintendo Switch Title, Renaine, Mason Lieberman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video-game scoring as an academic subject is quite new. There are limited opportunities for college-level students to study this field, and even fewer that are offered remotely via online sources. My goal for this thesis was to craft educational modules, courses, or other academically-based resources, that would develop a student’s musical skills, professional instincts, and educational groundings in the game audio world. These courses could then serve as an academic model for the development of other classes. After conducting research informed by my professional background as a composer in the video game industry (with a particular focus on my experiences …

Taking Notes: Generating Twelve-Tone Music With Mathematics, Nathan Molder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There has often been a connection between music and mathematics. The world of musical composition is full of combinations of orderings of different musical notes, each of which has different sound quality, length, and em phasis. One of the more intricate composition styles is twelve-tone music, where twelve unique notes (up to octave isomorphism) must be used before they can be repeated. In this thesis, we aim to show multiple ways in which mathematics can be used directly to compose twelve-tone musical scores.

From Choir To Band: Analysis And Application Of Adaptation Techniques As Demonstrated In Works By Whitacre, Ticheli, And Johnson, Deshmond D. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the adaptation techniques of composers Frank Ticheli and Eric Whitacre. As a means for that exploration, it includes an original choral work by the author as well as a band transcription that was done using adaptation techniques found in the Ticheli and Whitacre pieces. The application of those techniques sheds new light on the subject of band transcriptions by showing a variety of possible approaches. Musicians, conductors, and composers will be able to use these materials to enhance the composition and performance of a choral work and its band transcription.