Digital Commons Network^™

Adapting & Appropriating Art From Afar: Negotiating A Global Identity Through Popular Culture, A Study Of Salsa In The Senegalese Context, Elizabeth Bockenfeld

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The following study is essentially an attempt to explore cross-cultural exchange and the resulting (re)creation of different forms of cultural expression. In its broadest sense it aims to explore the quotidian, cultural sides of globalization. It takes for its focus the re-appropriation of salsa music in Dakar, Senegal. Through interviews and participant observation in a number of salsa venues, I explore the various meanings Senegalese salseros put into salsa music and dance. Senegalese salsa is rooted in a very concrete historical background, while also holding meaning for the present. In short, the appropriation of salsa into the Senegalese context serves …

A Content Analysis Of Music Therapy Theses And Dissertations From 2000 To 2012 From Amta Approved Graduate Programs, Liisa G. Flores

Masters Theses

The purpose of this content analysis was to categorize, code, and analyze trends related to graduate music therapy theses/dissertations completed from the year 2000 to 2012. Information was gathered related to what American Music Therapy Association (AMTA) approved schools have graduate programs and how many students have graduated from these institutions. Research questions addressed in this study were to determine (1) who were the thesis/dissertation advisors for students, (2) what was the type of goal for the research, (3) what types of studies were completed, and (4) what populations were studied.

Results included 35 schools offering graduate music therapy degrees. …

Across The Red Steppe: Exploring Mongolian Music In China And Exporting It From Within, Thalea C. Davis

Masters Theses

Mongolian music culture as it exists in China is a unique entity unto itself as it features a base of traditional Mongolian practice and also includes aspects of Chinese music and culture. As the world becomes more interconnected and as China continues to display a markedly Han society to the world at large, Mongolian musicians and Mongolian-music enthusiasts in China maintain and evolve their musical culture in a nebulous middle-ground between Mongolian and Han-Chinese culture. How Mongolian music culture in China came to be and its ultimate function in global society are the key questions being investigated in this thesis. …

Rebel Girls: Feminist Punk For A New Generation, Rachel L. Bodansky

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the Riot Grrrl bands of the 1990s, as well as Amanda Palmer today, as examples of feminist punk artists. Rather than focusing on Riot Grrrl as a unique musical episode, this thesis argues that all punk is activist in nature, and that Riot Grrrl was building on this activist tradition while challenging the misogyny implicit in punk culture. Likewise, Amanda Palmer uses similar punk strategies (such as a DIY approach to music production, and direct interaction with fans) to create political music.

Kachin Sound Instruments Within The Context Of The Kachin Baptist Convention Of Northern Burma: History, Classification, And Uses, Walter Brath

Masters Theses

This organology identifies and describes the Kachin's sound instruments, classifies them according to the Hornbostel-Sachs' system, and considers evidence of an indigenous classification scheme. Very little research exists to date on the music of the Kachin peoples of Northern Burma. This paper cites the only known indigenous organology and is the first English language study to extrapolate evidence into an emergent classification system. This qualitative study is based on ethnographic interviews, the minimal literature available on the topic, and participant observation drawn from fieldwork conducted in the Kachin State of Northern Burma (modern day Myanmar) during the months of May …

Music And Movement Share A Dynamic Structure That Supports Universal Expressions Of Emotion, Beau Sievers, Larry Polansky, Michael Casey, Thalia Wheatley

Dartmouth Scholarship

Music moves us. Its kinetic power is the foundation of human behaviors as diverse as dance, romance, lullabies, and the military march. Despite its significance, the music-movement relationship is poorly understood. We present an empirical method for testing whether music and movement share a common structure that affords equivalent and universal emotional expressions. Our method uses a computer program that can generate matching examples of music and movement from a single set of features: rate, jitter (regularity of rate), direction, step size, and dissonance/visual spikiness. We applied our method in two experiments, one in the United States and another in …

Alumni Notes

TEMPO

No abstract provided.

Juan Luis Guerra And The Merengue: Toward A New Dominican National Identity, Raymond Torres-Santos, Cuny Dominican Studies Institute

Publications and Research

This research monograph offers a historical account about the development of merengue in the Dominican Republic from the late 1800’s to the present.

How Bebop Came To Be: The Early History Of Modern Jazz, Colin M. Messinger

Student Publications

Bebop, despite its rather short lifespan, would become a key influence for every style that came after it. Bebop’s effects on improvisation, group structure, and harmony would be felt throughout jazz for decades to come, and the best known musicians of the bebop era are still regarded as some of the finest jazz musicians to ever take the stage. But the characteristics of bebop can easily be determined from the music itself. [excerpt]

A Comparison Of Bluegrass Bands: 2013 Bands Versus The 1940s-1960s Bands, Elizabeth Rosanne Butler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated the bluegrass music genre of 2013 and compared it with bluegrass found in the 1940s and 1960s. To date, only one similar study has been identified. In 1963, L.M. Smith completed a study entitled, Bluegrass Music and Musicians: An Introductory Study of a Musical Style in Its Cultural Context. In the conclusion to his study, Smith listed five major characteristics found in the bluegrass genre: 1. "Bluegrass is hillbilly music, played by white Southern musicians for a Southern audience." 2. "Bluegrass is not dance music and is seldom used for this purpose." 3. "Bands are made …

Democratizing Indian Popular Music: From Cassette Culture To The Digital Era, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

The history of Indian popular music constitutes in itself a significant development in modern culture, as this set of genres—especially but not only in their Bollywood forms—have been cherished by hundreds of millions of listeners not only in South Asia but internationally as well. At the same time, the trajectory of Indian popular music represents a dramatic case study of media culture as well, as its patterns of ownership, consumption, and even musical structures themselves have been conditioned by technological changes. Most striking is the way that a highly monopolized, streamlined, and homogeneous popular music culture dominated for several decades …

Retention And Invention In Bhojpuri Diasporic Music Culture: Perspectives From The Caribbean, India, And Fiji, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Two Sides To A Drum: Duality In Trinidad Orisha Music And Culture, Ryan J. Bazinet

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation presents an ethnographic and historical study of music and culture in the Yoruba-derived Trinidad Orisha religion in Trinidad and New York City. Its objectives are: (1) to provide description and documentation of Trinidad Orisha music, an understudied music genre in the African diaspora; (2) to shed light on the historical, cultural, and demographic factors contributing to the development of Trinidad Orisha music by its practitioners; and (3) to provide substance for meaningful comparisons between Trinidad Orisha music and other Yoruba-derived musics.

Based on four years of fieldwork (2008-2012) in Trinidad and in Brooklyn, NY, the study explores Trinidad …

Hispanismo En Seis Cuerdas, Roberto Hermosillo

Global Tides

This article is a survey on the role that the guitar plays in the Spanish-speaking countries of the world. The guitar, introduced by Spaniards in Spanish America, reflects the culture of every country that has adopted the instrument as part of their culture. Such reflection can be observed by finding traces of cultures of some countries such as Spain, Mexico, Argentina, and Cuba in the guitar music of each of those nations. The guitar, as a cultural icon, can also be observed in other forms of art from such places such as literature and painting. Finally, the article gives a …

Influences Of Armenian Folk Music On Clarinet Chamber Works By Aram Khachaturian And Alexander Arutiunian, Emma Peterson

Honors Program Theses

Armenia has a rich cultural and musical history. The Armenian folk music tradition, developed over many centuries, is of great national significance to the Armenian people. Among other instruments, the clarinet has enjoyed a prominent place in the folk music tradition of Armenia. This project discusses the Armenian folk music elements in the clarinet chamber works Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Aram Khachaturian and Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Alexander Arutiunian. There are three sections of research: the study of Armenian folk music, the study of folk elements in the pieces by Khachaturian and Arutiunian, and …

Transcription And Analysis Of Ravi Shankar's Morning Love For Western Flute, Sitar, Tabla And Tanpura, Bethany Padgett

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to provide a transcription and musical analysis of Ravi Shankar’s Morning Love for Western flute, sitar, tabla and tanpura. This document provides a discussion of Ravi Shankar’s biography, a theoretical context for the piece including an introduction to Hindustani musical characteristics, and prescriptive transcriptions of Morning Love in Western and Indian notation. A detailed analysis of the piece applies the Hindustani classical musical characteristics discussed. Morning Love is one of only two pieces for Western flute composed by Ravi Shankar as a result of his collaboration with French flutist Jean-Pierre Rampal. Prior to this …

Zoltán Kodály's Sonata For Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8 : One Cellist's Path To Performance, Celeste Power

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

My purpose in writing this document is to simply present my experience in learning and performing Zoltán Kodály’s Sonata for Unaccompanied Cello, Op. 8. My intent is not to instruct cellists on the interpretation of this piece. Each musician must decide how to play it in a way that suits his or her own conception of the piece. Rather I intend to go through each movement and discuss the problems I faced and how I endeavored to solved them, why some solutions worked and others did not, how I prepared for a recital performance of the piece, and what I …

Investigating "Experimentalism" : A Case Study Of The Tuba And Its Repertoire, Andrew Brian Larson

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The extant repertoire for the tuba serves as a landmark for how the tuba was perceived at that moment in time by that composer. This document contains a brief analysis of the tuba “experiment” that has been ongoing since its invention. In addition, it contains a brief parallel case study of the saxophone and how this instrument, invented at about the same time as the tuba, has embraced experimentalism and modern performance. This document contains five major sections. The first provides a brief history of the tuba and its predecessors. The second introduces numerical data representing the performance frequency of …

Sicong Ma's Amei Suite & Gaoshan Suite : Historical Background And Performer's Guide, Ming-Ying Chiu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Before the Spanish, the Dutch, the Japanese, and the Chinese Mainlanders occupied Taiwan, Austronesians are believed to have been the island’s first immigrants. They are acknowledged as the Aboriginal Taiwanese. Since these people do not have a written language, music, especially singing, became an important means of communication and education for the Aborigines, whose culture is today considered one of the most historically valuable cultures in Taiwan. Sicong Ma (1912-1987) is a major composer who also played an important political role in China. After escaping from China during the Culture Revolution in 1967, Ma was protected by the United States …

The Performance And Perception Of Social Identities In Country-Rap Music, Rachel Grandstrand

Honors Papers

Within the United States, few genres incite as vehement of a reaction as Country and Hip-Hop music, and both of these genres have faced a history of marginalization by the mainstream media corporations and by the broader population of the US. The reason for this marginalization often stems from the racial and class associations of the communities that produce this music, and the relationship between these genres and the broader population is well documented. What remains under-discussed is the relationship between these two communities. This study explores this relationship through an analysis of Country-Rap music, a sub-genre of Country music …

Czech Bluegrass Fiddlers And Their Negotiations Of Past And Present, Lee Bidgood

ETSU Faculty Works

Excerpt: Proc ty housle? ("Why the fiddle?") - "Fiddlers are all bad here - Why not write about the banjo or something else that Czechs are good at?"These questions about my ethnographic fieldwork came from musician colleagues with whom I working in researching bluegrass music in the Czech Republic, during a jam circle around a table. While these colleagues were mainly banjo and guitar players, these critiques of Czech fiddling are common even among Czech fiddlers, who are in many cases not as accomplished (in technical skill or musicality) as are their banjo-playing and mandolin-picking compatriots.

Free From Jazz: The Jazz And Improvised Music Scene In Vienna After Ossiach (1971-2011), Thomas Albert Zlabinger

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Focusing on a diverse and eclectic scene that is under-documented, this dissertation investigates the historical, social, and cultural aspects of jazz and improvised music in Vienna over the last four decades. Through fieldwork, I have observed various characteristics and trends regarding the jazz and improvised music scene in Vienna and have subsequently organized the musicians and their recordings into seven fluid "fields": Traditional-U.S. Performance, Post-Tradition, DJ/Hip-Hop, Volk/Ethnic, Cabaret, Unclassified, and Abroad. One of the most striking aspects of the entire scene is the near-absence of a racialized discourse among musicians and critics and of stereotypical markers of "blackness" in performance. …

“We Sang Alleluia, Praise The Lord!”: African-American Identity And The Use And Reception Of Music Within A Seventh-Day Adventist Church In New York City, 1970 – 2010, Jeryl Lee Cunningham-Fleming

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The Ephesus Seventh-day Church, one of the first Black SDA churches that were formed in the New York City area during the late 1920s and early 1930s, is one church that has been faced with the challenge of maintaining traditional repertoire and musical practices, while including more popular genres and styles that lay outside the SDA guidelines. Located in Central Harlem, Ephesus is surrounded by the cultural and historical influences within the Harlem community. The Ephesus Church, based on extant hymnals and the recollections of church members, continued in the Euro-centric musical traditions of early SDA churches until the 1960s, …

Little Eichmanns: A Composition For Chamber Octet, Benjamin D. Norton

Theses and Dissertations--Music

An original composition in one movement for a chamber octet comprised of a string quartet and a jazz piano quartet with tenor saxophone. The work develops an idée fixe, introduced in the opening bars, through a wide variety of transformations, textures, and styles. The two quartets begin in antiphonal alteration, united in thematic material, yet separated by style. A modern art music style contrasts with an improvisational jazz style. Gradually, the two quartets, and their concomitant musics, bleed into one another, breaking down stylistic boundaries. In the conclusion of the work, the idée fixe, the supplementary themes, and …

China’S Musical Revolution: From Beijing Opera To Yangbanxi, Yawen Ludden

Theses and Dissertations--Music

This study seeks to investigate the modern derivative of Beijing opera, known as yangbanxi, through macro and micro approaches. The first part of the thesis surveys the development of Beijing opera under the historical context and in its social, political, and cultural perspectives. The second part, taking a microscopic perspective, undertakes an in-depth analysis of the compositions that were solely created by composer Yu Huiyong. First, it assays the application of Yu’s theory to his compositions of various Beijing opera arias. Second, it analyzes Yu’s instrumental music in compositional dimensions such as material, structure, and techniques, considering the larger implications …

Music Cultures Of Mechanical Reproduction, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

Popular musics arc best understood as comprising those genres whose styles have evolved in an inextricable relation with their dissemination via the mass media and their marketing and sale on a mass-commodity basis. While much popular-music activity takes place independently of the mass media, other essential aspects of popular-music production and marketing arc inevitably inseparable from technologies of mechanical reproduction, which perforce condition aspects of music culture in general. Hence, just as one could speak of military cultures based around the stirrup, or later the firearm, or agrarian cultures based on the hoe, the ox, or the tractor, so do …

Popular Music Studies And The Problems Of Sound, Society And Method, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

Building on Philip Tagg’s timely intervention (2011), I investigate four things in relation to three dominant Anglophone popular music studies journals (Popular Music and Society, Popular Music, and the Journal of Popular Music Studies): 1) what interdisciplinarity or multidisciplinarity means within popular music studies, with a particular focus on the sites of research and the place of ethnographic and/or anthropological approaches; 2) the extent to which popular music studies has developed canonic scholarship, and the citation tendencies present within scholarship on both Western and non-Western popular musics; 3) the motivations for two scholarly groups, Dancecult and ASARP, to breakaway from …

Misa Mo Unama Coñoca, Gustavo Leone

Department of Fine & Performing Arts: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Music of the Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos

The Jesuits were expelled from the Spanish colonies in South America in 1767, leaving behind a remarkable musical legacy that was buried for over two hundred years. But the music did not disappear completely. Thanks to the Chiquitos people of Bolivia, the music was played and preserved throughout the 18th and 19th centuries.

In 1985, Swiss architect Hans Roth discovered 9,000 of these musical manuscripts and in 1990 UNESCO declared the churches of the Chiquitos a “patrimony of humanity”. Dr. Gustavo Leone of Loyola University Chicago's Department of Fine and Performing Arts …

Just Sing What You Want To Say: The Importance Of Linguistic Tone In Bai Songs, Lisa Andrews

Masters Theses

The Bai people, a minority group in the People's Republic of China numbering at least 1.6 million, live mostly in the Dali Autonomous Prefecture in northwest Yunnan. Historically, Bai from the central region would gather annually at the base of Shibaoshan Mountain to sing partner style love songs in search for a suitable marriage partner; today, this time is marked by a three-day festival officially titled "Shibaoshan." The annual song competition invites skilled singers to spontaneously compose melodies in response to their counterpart, crafting lyrics to flatter or tease their singing partner. The study quantifies the close relationship between Bai …

Zumba® Fitness As A Cultural Mediator, Cole E. Durain

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This ethnography describes local experience as it pertains to aspects of music, dance, and fitness which are compiled into Zumba® Fitness classes of the Rio Grande Valley. While Zumba is not unique to this region, it is locally interpreted based on geo-cultural factors of the Texas-Mexico border region. A large part of Zumba’s success in the Valley can be attributed to the way music is used to identify with regional popular culture and becomes a catalyst for changing the way locals think about health. Research gathered through participant-observation shows that Zumba has become a cultural expression where participants perform both …