Arts and Humanities Commons^™

Musicians’ Appendix

Pastoral Liturgy

No abstract provided.

Recording Sounds And Instruments For Sample Libraries, Camden Daly

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

In this paper, we will look at the topic of instrument sampling for virtual instrument libraries. This paper will look at the history of recording devices, samplers, first technologies for playing orchestral sounds, and the process for making my own library. This paper looks at the techniques and processes for sampling a grand piano in detail. Details including pitch, dynamics, microphone placements, round robins, releases, and pedals. For my own sample library, I recorded and programmed Foley sounds that can be used for film compositions.

Ishmael Album Review, Robert N. Moore

Backstage Pass

This is an extensive review of the metal album Ishmael, written, performed, mixed, mastered, and released all by Jared Smith. The album combines religion, intricate guitar riffs, and metal to create an avant-garde piece of art.

Copyright And Copywrong, Noah Granard

Backstage Pass

This paper attempts to offer a critique of the music industry and modern copyright law via analysis/individual case study in order to provide suggestions for possible reform. Topics include: background information and commentary on the status of the public domain, why the current laws/statures hamper creativity, and what steps should be taken next to remedy these issues. In order to both promote new music, while also respecting the intellectual property of artists and groups with existing content, there must be genuine reform at the highest levels; copyright and music industry laws must stem from the basis of supporting artists and …

Producer Interview: Teak Underdue, Kris Jones

Backstage Pass

This interview is with three-time Grammy-nominated music producer Teak Underdue of Hallway Productions. He discusses his background and the path he has taken to become a well respected music creator and producer. The interviewee offers advice for aspiring producers on how to build their reputation and credits in the music industry.

Industry Profile: Seven Seas Music Founder, Brooke Wentz, Elizabeth Shearrow

Backstage Pass

Brooke is the CEO of Seven Seas Music and an award-winning music producer and supervisor. For a decade, she has led The Rights Workshop, a leading music licensing and supervision firm with film credits including “Bully,” “Melancholia,” “Don’t Stop Believin’: Everyman’s Journey,” and “Bill Cunningham: New York.” In 2014, Brooke married her singular knowledge and passion for world music with cutting-edge technology to found Seven Seas Music, a web-based platform where media professionals can listen to, build lists and license – with a single click – curated sounds from an astounding array of emerging and established artists in more …

Fronteras, J. Aaron Stanley

Music Theses and Dissertations

Fronteras means “borders” or “frontiers” in Spanish, and this piece explores that idea in a number of ways. Two big influences in my music is jazz and Mexican popular and folk music. I lived in Mexico for five years, which is where I met my wife, and we continue to make frequent trips there. In a way, you could say I’m married to Mexico! At the same time, I’ve listened to and loved jazz since I was a boy. I have a lot of experience performing in and arranging for jazz bands. This work fuses those two very different influences …

The Effect Of Vocal Exploration Exercises On Pitch-Matching Skills In First And Fourth Grade Students, Katie Hillestad

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of daily vocal exploration exercises on pitch matching skills of first and fourth grade students. Students were assessed on their ability to match pitch in echo patterns and short songs at the beginning and end of the study. The goal was to use vocal exploration to help students develop their head voice and potentially develop more accurate singing. The first grade experimental and control groups and fourth grade control group showed improvement in their echo patterns, but the fourth grade experimental group demonstrated a reduction in their echo abilities. Both …

Signal To Noise: Harmonic Temperaments And Patterns Of Interference, Dylan A. Marcheschi

Theses and Dissertations

An audio/visual exploration of historical tuning systems. Most contemporary Western audiences will seldom if ever encounter harmony outside of post-Renaissance tuning conventions. This presentation highlights some of those pre-orthodox harmonic relationships which existed throughout most of history. The corresponding paper documents correlates in recent advances of acoustic ecology.

La Carranga Como Identidad Cultural Local Y Regional Del Departamento De Cundinamarca Y Boyacá– Colombia, Karen L. López

Honors Program Theses and Projects

“Somos hablares, historias copla, canto y poesías, eso es lo que les traemos, eso es la carranguerita, sinfónicamente hablando, un canto hermoso a la vida”. Estas son las palabras con las que inicia algunas de sus presentaciones en público Jorge Velosa, el hombre más influyente y reconocido de la música carranguera. Este ritmo musical es muy importante porque por medio de su letra expresa ideas, valores, y lazos de identidad únicos de la comunidad campesina. También, es un estilo de música colombiana que busca la sonrisa de la gente, muestra cómo convivir en paz con la naturaleza, y es la …

The Bourgeois Blues: Representations Of Race And Authenticity In The Songs Of Lead Belly, Jonathan Lower

Madison Historical Review

Abstract to come.

The Pre-Fab Fab Four, Thyra L. Chaney

The Downtown Review: An Interdisciplinary Journal Written and Peer-Reviewed by Mandel Honors College Students at Cleveland State University

This paper describes the formation of The Monkees as a manufactured boy band and pop culture phenomenon, and the social and cultural context that led to the group's dissolution and lasting legacy in the history of television and popular culture.

Musical Irony In Selected Piano Sonatas By Ludwig Van Beethoven, Andrew J. Hochler

Theses and Dissertations

In the third variation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Piano Sonata in C Minor, Op. 111, there is an abrupt shift in rhythms that almost resembles an excerpt of early jazz. This passage is so seemingly out of place that it appears to be an ironic commentary on the music that came before. This variation thereby raises an interesting question: how can irony play a role in music?

In an attempt to answer this question, this thesis examines the aesthetic property of irony, suggesting ways in which might be understood to impact three piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven: namely, his …

Video Game Sound As Educational Space, Leonard Grasso

Masters Theses, 2020-current

Synergizing fields such as music theory, computing, musicology, cognition, and psychology, scholars and practitioners have approached game music from many directions. However, research on pedagogical usages of game music is still emerging. While many education scholars have researched game-based-learning (Bourgonjon et al, 2013; Simões, Redondo, & Vilas, 2013; Beavis, Muspratt, & Thompson, 2015; Hamari et al, 2016), music education authors have largely remained distant from ludomusicology (the study of music as it relates to play). I intend to bridge that gap by examining the intersections of game music and sound, player interaction, and learning. My research synthesizes the work of …

Basics Of Jazz Piano, Jim Kinnie

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Advanced Jazz Improvisation, Jim Kinnie

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Jazz Composition And Arranging I, Jim Kinnie

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

Jazz Composition And Arranging Ii, Jim Kinnie

Library Impact Statements

No abstract provided.

A Performer’S Guide To Barbara York’S Four Paintings By Grant Wood, Allen Parrish

Dissertations

In 2012, Barbara York was commissioned by John Manning to write Four Paintings by Grant Wood for solo tuba. The work is based on four paintings by native Iowan painter, Grant Wood. The four paintings are Stone City, Iowa; Young Corn; American Gothic; and Parson Weems’ Fable. York included details from these paintings in each movement. This dissertation includes information about Barbara York, Grant Wood, the programmatic details of Four Paintings by Grant Wood, and technical considerations for the work. The performer should be better prepared to create a well-informed performance after reading this dissertation.

How Music Shapes Our Identities And Why It Matters: Case Studies Of Professional Musicians, Annabelle C. Linker

Rehabilitation, Human Resources and Communication Disorders Undergraduate Honors Theses

Brain research has demonstrated that music uniquely contributes to neural functioning, but little is known about how losing the ability to produce music, which may be inherent to personal identity for professional singers, impacts quality of life. This study explored identity and music in the lives of five well-known vocal music professionals selected because they have publicly talked about the role of music in their lives via books, televised interviews, and documentaries. The careers of three of the individuals were disrupted by neurogenic disease; one lost the ability to sing after treatment for vocal nodules; and the fifth individual remains …

Skateboard Jesus, Kenley Alligood

All NMU Master's Theses

Skateboard Jesus is a collection of poetry written in mostly first and second person free verse, containing in addition some prose poems and other forms harder to categorize. The poetry in this collection is largely narrative in structure, and engages with themes of identity and performance as objects of its larger concern, often filtered through the lens of music. In addition, my work often focuses on religion, mental health, and gender and sexuality. This collection, by the very nature of its concerns, engages in discussions of performance theory. Performance and narrative are inseparable entities, permeating every facet of our existence …

“Style Within Style”: Chopin’S Use Of Smaller-Form Styles Used In His Sonata-Form Works, Isis Victoria Cabrera

Music Theses - Archive

Frédéric Chopin is widely renowned for his standalone piano works, namely his nocturnes, mazurkas, and polonaises. Many contend Chopin was better suited for salon music and should not have attempted sonata-form pieces for piano or larger ensembles. For example, in a review of Chopin’s Piano Sonata in B-flat minor, opus 35, Schumann stated: “that [Chopin] should have called it a ‘sonata’ [is to] suggest a joke, if not sheer bravado.” Along with this, David Wright states that: “Chopin is certainly not a great composer since he is a very limited composer. All his works involve the piano, and he did …

A Plan To Unify Generational Worship Divisions Through The Development And Implementation Of A Biblical Philosophy Of Generational Worship, Leonard L. Tomlin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Westside Baptist Church is a multigenerational Southern Baptist Church with an established culture of dynamic musical worship. Throughout the last four decades, this congregation has flourished in its weekly engagement of musical worship. Westside's musical worship styles are generally comprised of traditional hymns, southern gospel, and praise and worship music. While the church has maintained a reputation of first-rate worship music, the last decade has revealed a growing division among the congregation's generational worship style preferences. One generation of the church longs to worship with the songs that they grew up with, while another generation prefers to grow up with …

Wwisdom In Action, Drew R. Tomasik

Masters Theses

Writing music to score for video games requires an extensive artistic vocabulary, but equally important is an understanding of game development and the technological integration required. This text is an overview and interpretation of a semester’s work in Wwise, a software environment designed specifically for the integration of sound into video games. As Wwise is standard for the industry, facility with it increases marketability to a job candidate wanting a career in game development. The text stands alone to recount the process of learning Wwise from square one, as well as creating a soundtrack for a sample game; that said, …

The Role Of Music In The Trauma Narrative And “Storytelling”: Perspectives Of Clinicians, Taylorlyn N. Mehnert

Masters Theses

There is a lack of detailed literature describing how music is used for expressing and processing the trauma narrative. This study used a constructivist grounded theory approach through an anti-oppressive lens to explore the ways in which music therapists use music in exploring clients’ stories. The term “story” is used as opposed to “narrative” or “memory” to incorporate a broader definition of expression including non-verbal, musical, metaphorical, or any other method the client chooses. Eight board-certified music therapists (MT-BC) were interviewed regarding their use of music in the context of clients’ stories. Braun and Clarke’s reflexive thematic analysis was used …

The Library Of Babel, Jared Tubbs

Masters Theses

The Library of Babel is an installation that allows users to search through a sea of sonic and visual representations of alphabetical symbols and punctuation that are encompassed in an infinite textual library. Users peer through the various walls, shelves, and volumes of the library, searching for whatever they wish - be it meaning, sense within the chaos, or audiovisual euphony. The default sounds for symbols can be replaced by recordings that the user creates on location, allowing the user to provide their own sonic reconstructions of the Library’s contents. The Library of Babel breaks language into its constituent parts, …

Common Ground, Cody Christopher-Park Ray

Masters Theses

Common Ground is a work that explores ideals of unity through the shared awareness of human mortality. I wrote the majority of this work during the COVID-19 pandemic in the fall of 2020. Throughout this period, including the summer leading up to it, political and social tension was felt throughout the country. This sentiment stemmed from the unjust killings of unarmed people of color at the hands of law enforcement, to blatant errors in the way political figures handled the spread of this newfound disease, leading to more than 400k civilians prematurely dead. In experiencing these external pressures, I found …

Pedagogy Or Andragogy?: Which Teaching Method Produces Successful Esl Tutoring That Involves Musical Activities?, Julia Cormack

Theses/Capstones/Creative Projects

Considering the connections between music and language, as well as Chi et al.’s (2001) theory, this thesis introduces an original case study investigation: which teaching method, pedagogy or andragogy, will be most effective in one-on-one ESL tutoring sessions that use music as source material? The term pedagogy often describes the art and science of teaching. However, its Greek roots refer to the method of the teacher leading the classroom. Meanwhile, andragogy describes a teaching method where the teacher engages with the students in the learning and leading; Greek for “leader of man,” andragogy most often refers to teaching adults. To …

What Have Mississippi Band Directors Found Successful When Teaching The Horn?: A Qualitative Survey, Madeleine Case

Honors Theses

This study surveyed band directors in the state of Mississippi, asking them what methods they use to teach the horn. The purpose of this research was to find some solid methods and concepts that participants found successful in their horn teaching, as well as open the discussion on what makes horn teaching unique to that of other instruments. Participants were selected for an online survey on two criteria: they had to have at least a Bachelor’s degree in Music or Music Education, and they had to have at least one year of teaching experience in Mississippi.

After participants were surveyed, …

Captain And Stoker: Exploring Tandem Performance Through New Instrument Design And Implementation, Matthew Spady

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

This paper examines historical examples of two-player, or tandem, instruments and electroacoustic sound manipulation practices beginning in the nineteenth century, addresses design theory and construction principles for modern electroacoustic performance instruments, and investigates practice for such instruments. The paper begins with an exploration of Jean-Baptiste Vuillame’s octobasse, Maurice Martenot’s ondes martenot (including its distinct sound diffusion apparatuses), and Nicolas Collins’ backward electric Hawaiian guitar as progenitors of new, tandem instruments that require collaboration to produce a single, sounding result. The paper poses that while some of the devices mentioned above hold potential as tandem performance instruments, they were not designed …