Digital Commons Network^™

Robert Nathaniel Dett And The Music Of The Harlem Renaissance, Daniel Weaver

History Theses

While the contributions of writers and poets to the period of American cultural history known as the Harlem Renaissance are relatively well defined and understood, assessing the contributions of musicians has been more problematic. The topic has been covered indirectly through works of American music history and African American history, but there have been comparatively few works linking music directly to the goals of the movement. Much of the insight into music’s place during this period derives from contemporary writers such as Alain Locke and James Weldon Johnson, both of whom featured discussions of music in their writings. Relatively unknown …

Finding Meaning In The Two-Finger Banjo Style., Jeffrey K. Elkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The two-finger banjo style languishes as a small footnote in the lexicon of old time banjo music—very important to a passionate (and lucky!) few, but not known by too many others. This research is a starting point to understanding the meaning of two-finger banjo; through a review of primary literature, interviews, witnessing performances, and individual investigation of playing two-finger banjo, I have been able to document some understandings about the style.

These understandings informed further appreciation of old time music, the old time music (and banjo) communities, and the art of making music in this way—while describing the journey, I …

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. …

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 …

Performing Folk Punk : Agonistic Performances Of Intersectionality, Benjamin D. Haas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The overarching goal of this project is to argue that folk punk performances offer spaces where a listening audience is exposed to a radical and intersectional politics, and enable that audience to identify with those views. By considering the performances of Inky Skulls, Pussy Riot!, and Against Me!, this study looks to the ways in which these folk punk exemplars highlight elements of the radical politics of the American left and in the history of folk and punk music. In particular, this project considers the intersections of race and class, women and nonhuman animals, and queerness and anarchism, as intersecting …

Dubbin' The Literary Canon: Writin' And Soundin' A Transnational Caribbean Experience, Warren Harding

Honors Papers

In the mid-1970s, a collective of Jamaican poets from Kingston to London began to use reggae as a foundational aesthetic to their poetry. Inspired by the rise of reggae music and the work of the Caribbean Artists Movement based London from 1966 to 1972, these artists took it upon themselves to continue the dialogue on Caribbean cultural production. This research will explore the ways in which dub poetry created an expressive space for Jamaican artists to complicate discussions of migration and colonialism in the transnational Caribbean experience.

In order to do so, this research engages historical, ethnomusicological, and literary theories …

“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, …

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 …

An Undergraduate Seminar On Irish Musical Culture In Ireland And The Irish Diaspora In America, Including The Influence Of Irish Music On Appalachian Folk Music Culture, Frieda Eakins

Masters Theses

The following project establishes a concise, yet multifaceted design for a seminar on Irish musical culture. While it was initially developed as a course for its author to teach in the undergraduate, on-ground classroom, this project provides a framework adaptable enough for use by other instructors and/or for additional music seminars. This project is unique in its two-fold purpose in that the design and resources are directed to assist the instructor with streamlining course curriculum preparation, while the course content specific to the project when utilized offers students in the undergraduate college classroom a better understanding of Irish musical culture …

The Development Of Mennonite Music In The Congo: A Study In Musical Thought, Jill Michelle Schroeder-Dorn

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine musical thought among members of the Congolese Mennonite Church. Established and governed by missionaries, the music practices of the Church were initially modeled after Western services, which consisted of church choirs and four-part hymn singing. Congolese who chose to convert to Christianity had to adapt to a new musical system, which included not only properties of musical sound, but also concepts surrounding the music making experience, including what music is and what it has the power to accomplish. The church has now been in existence for over one hundred years, and musical …

When Black Meets White In The Heart Of Worship: A Case-Study Of Musical Changes In A Multiracial Church, Serge Volpe

Masters Theses

The Worldwide Church of God began as a denomination relying on certain Jewish practices and other Euro-centric distinctions to define its' identity. In the New York City area, African-American churchgoers exceeded that of whites; yet church liturgy retained its European-American flavor. When the denomination underwent transformation in the 1990s, many congregants were unable to accept changes, including new musical styles, and reacted in a manner inconsistent with what church leaders had hoped for. This thesis examines what some African-Americans experienced during this period when liturgy changed to include music representative of their culture. Interviews were conducted with African-American churchgoers from …

Musical Protest And Revolutionary Media: Capital Transformation Among Artists, Activists, And Journalists During The 14 January Revolution, Nathanael Mannone

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the transformations of cultural, symbolic and material capital (and power) both within and among the fields of music, activist, and journalism during the recent uprising in Tunisia. Analyzing a selection of Tunisian music juxtaposed to several ubiquitous conjectures in the news media, I also challenge the role music is purported to have played in these revolutions. In recent months, many in the international press and music industry have credited hip-hop artists in Tunisia as being a driving force in the 14 January Revolution. Many cite substantially increased levels of outspokenness among the artist community against the regime …

A Theory Of Music As Political Resistance, Ian D. Walker

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis began as a curiosity about the correlation between politics and music. Closer inspection revealed that there is an absence of literature discussing the relationship between the two. The vacuum in the literature allows this adaptation of John Kingdon’s Streams Theory to serve as a theoretical framework through which the relationship between music and politics can be viewed. Upon applying this theoretical framework, the case study genres identified paint a picture of resistant music arising as a function of government action, social climate, and large-scale events that affect the streams identified. In short, government action, social climate, and large-scale …

Program Review: Music & Performing Arts, Valerie C. Cisler, Darleen Mitchell, University Of Nebraska At Kearney Department Of Music And Performing Arts Faculty

Academic Program Reviews

No abstract provided.

Listening Awry: Lacan And The Electric Guitar At The Intersection Of Music, Technology, And Identity, Jacob Morris

Pursuit - The Journal of Undergraduate Research at The University of Tennessee

Contemporary positions on technology tend to emphasize that its import lies in its appropriation by a given social actor (group or individual), by how it is used. This paper does not categorically deny that such is often the case, but suggests that its inversion is widely overlooked. Overlooked, because much like the skull in Holbein’s The Ambassadors, evidence of technology’s active effect on the user is distorted until viewed from a particular vantage point. This paper takes Lacanian psychoanalysis as its vantage point and the musical technoculture of the electric guitarist as its object, revealing in the electric guitarist’s …

If There's No "Fat Lady," When Is The Opera Over? An Exploration Of Changing Physical Image Standards In Present-Day Opera, Emily L. Stephenson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Though present-day American society generally assumes opera is one of the few remaining entertainment fields where talent matters more than physical appearance, as the 2004 firing of Deborah Voigt demonstrates, present-day opera singers are increasingly being held to stricter image standards. In 2004, Covent Garden dismissed Voigt from their production of Ariadne auf Naxos, in which Voigt was supposed to reprise her critically acclaimed interpretation of the title role. According to Voigt, Covent Garden's casting director Peter Katona felt that she was too large to fit into the black dress the new production required of the character. Voigt's removal …

Mississippi Breakdown: A New Look At The Mississippi Old Time Fiddle Music Traditions, Joseph Jamison Hollister

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This is a cultural study that focuses on the fiddle music of Mississippi. It includes both Anglo and African American roots. Also, the white blues fiddle traditions of Mississippi are examined and analyzed.

Graduate Recital, Vocal Performance, Christopher Fiano

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The master of music recital, being one of my final musical endeavors before the completion of my graduate degree in vocal performance, featured a wide variety of repertoire. As a new member of the tenor fach, finding music that is challenging and appropriate for my level of development was difficult. The recital featured works by Stefano Donaudy, Hugo Wolf, Èduardo Lalo, Gabriel Faurè, Georges Bizet, and Samuel Barber. Each musical set presented its own challenges. The Italian set by Donaudy featured smooth legato vocal lines intertwined with a thick musical texture and lavish supportive harmonies. The German Wolf set featured …

Graduate Recital, Saxophone, Abby Gross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The young age of the saxophone in the existence of the music world has influenced the instrument's repertoire and programs to be versatile in genres and stylistic influences. This program features styles from several time periods and cultures including 20th and 21st century contemporary saxophone and piano duets, Brazilian choro, electronic music, and jazz. The nature of the instrument also allows pieces written for other instruments to take a different characteristic and open new meaning to a piece when played on the saxophone. For example, the element of passion in Brahms's Sonata in F minor No. 1 for clarinet takes …

Graduation Recital, Piano, Jamie Mazza

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This graduate recital features significant piano works from the major periods in music history. The opening pieces - the Scarlatti sonatas - are technically challenging but allow the pianist to show a great deal of expression. Schumann's Liederkreis, Op. 39 as well as the Weisgarber Sonatine are collaborative works; the first features a soprano soloist and the second is written for flute, clarinet, and piano. Ending the first half of the program is Schumann's Concerto in A minor, op. 54, extremely challenging for both soloist and accompanist, especially during the cadenza. The second half of the recital includes another contemporary …

Emergent Rhythmic Structures As Cultural Phenomena Driven By Social Pressure In A Society Of Artificial Agents, Joao Pedro Magalhaes Martins

Other Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Business Theses

This thesis studies rhythm from an evolutionary computation perspective. Rhythm is the most fundamental dimension of music and can be used as a ground to describe the evolution of music. More specifically, the main goal of the thesis is to investigate how complex rhythmic structures evolve, subject to the cultural transmission between individuals in a society. The study is developed by means of computer modelling and simulations informed by evolutionary computation and artificial life (A-Life). In this process, self-organisation plays a fundamental role. The evolutionary process is steered by the evaluation of rhythmic complexity and by the exposure to rhythmic …

Semiotics, Habitus And Music In The Transmission Of Tibetan Culture In Toronto, John Robertson

Masters Theses

This ethnographic study explores the role of music in cultural transmission in the Tibetan community of Toronto, Canada. Beginning with an integration of Peircian semiotics, Bourdieu's habitus and musical semiosis, I then identify certain non-Tibetan cultural elements being encountered by those in the Toronto community which are potentially creating cognitive structures foreign to those which have their generative principles in pre-exile Tibetan past, and the ways in which Tibetans are transmitting (to varying degrees) cognitive schemata which identify these non-Tibetan elements and protect against their appropriation. After exploring elements which are not Tibetan, I turn to those which are: a …

The Status Of Students With Special Needs In The Instrumental Musical Ensemble And The Effect Of Selected Educator And Institutional Variables On Rates Of Inclusion, Edward C. Hoffman Iii

Glenn Korff School of Music: Dissertations, Theses, Student Creative Work, and Performances

The purpose of this study was to describe the current status of students with special needs in the instrumental musical ensemble and to examine the effect of selected educator and institutional variables on rates of inclusion. An online survey was designed by the researcher and distributed electronically to 600 practicing K-12 instrumental music educators in the states of Idaho, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, and Rhode Island. While 13.6% of the total school-aged population nationwide received special education services, demographic data provided by respondents revealed that students with special needs accounted for 6.8% of all students participating in bands, orchestras, …

From Gwoka Modénn To Jazz Ka: Music, Nationalism, And Creolization In Guadeloupe, Jerome Camal

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

My dissertation explores the development of new musical styles based on gwoka, a Guadeloupean drum-based music and dance tradition. During five visits to Guadeloupe between 2007 and 2009, I interviewed musicians, music professionals, and cultural and political activists. In addition, I attended numerous musical performances, learned to play and dance gwoka, and performed with several ensembles. I combine this ethnographic data with archival evidence to reveal how Guadeloupe's atypical path to decolonization and economic dependency has fueled the growth of nationalist sentiment on the island. Using transcriptions and analyses of musical recordings, I demonstrate how musicians have participated in Guadeloupe's …

An Inquiry Into Contextualized Christian Expression In North India, M. J. Gracin

Masters Theses

The riches of India's ancient and diverse culture are proclaimed from the music that communicates the heart of Bharat Mata - Mother India. This sentiment resounds across the vast geographical area of India in songs from Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists, Christians and Bollywood composers. The question of how Christians might express their faith in light of societal, historical and religious amalgamations is the topic of discussion for this project. The inquiry will focus on the music culture of North India, specifically as it is expressed in the city of B_____, Uttar Pradesh. A six week field study was conducted in …

Analysis Of The Dutar Playing Technique Of Abdurehim Heyt, Michael Alan Kee

Masters Theses

Uyghur dutar player Abdurehim Heyt is hailed by many Uyghurs as the Dutar King, referring to his mastery of the instrument. This thesis examines several of Heyt's songs and compares them with songs from three other Uyghur dutar players in an attempt to isolate and define the unique characteristic of Heyt's dutar playing technique that sets him apart from other Uyghur dutar players.

This study presents a brief examination of the concept of music ornamentation as it has developed in the West. The Uyghur concept of music ornamentation - purakh - is then explained and compared with the Western concept …

Singing From The Village, Bonnie Lynn Bost

Masters Theses

Singing from the Village brings to light some basic problems in education for a village school near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, South India. While problems of poverty, social strife, possible over use of rote learning, lack of critical and creative thinking are discussed, the focus of this study is the problem of how the children hear western melodies differently because of the musical vocabulary their ears and brains have become accustomed to in their village. Singing from the Village attempts to examine village songs and compare them to a western children's song, Praise Him, Praise Him sung each day at the …

Nomadic Amdo Tibetan Glu Folk Songs, Wendolyn Craun

Masters Theses

Tibetan glu folk songs are a literary and musical expression historically passed down from generation to generation. This regional study purposes to define the origins, influences, categories, qualities, and significance of nomadic Amdo Tibetan glu folk songs. These topics are explored within the settings of Tibetan culture, history, theory, and current usage. Recordings of twenty-seven glu folk songs accompanied by transcribed text and music offer contemporary examples of this song genre that is quickly disappearing. The ultimate goal of this study is to answer the question: What are the defining characteristics of nomadic Amdo Tibetan glu folk songs?

Mésica Criolla: Cultural Practices And National Issues In Modern Peru. The Case Of Lima (1920-1960), Luis Martin G¢Mez

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

My thesis is a historical analysis of a group of musical forms called m£sica criolla in twentieth-century Peru. I analyze the historical relocation of these musical forms as symbols of Peruvianness during the period 1920 to 1960. I argue that the idea of the existence of a national music called m£sica criolla emerged as a product of the urban modernization that had been transforming the landscape of the city of Lima since the second half of the nineteenth century. Faced with this transformation, early twentieth-century Lime¤o intellectuals asserted that Lime¤os displayed distinctive artistic attitudes in their daily lives. For them, …