Music Commons^™

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 …

Volume 05, Ian Karamarkovich, Jessica Cox, Kyle Fowlkes, Allison Pawlowski, Kaitlin Major, Carrie Dunham, Kelsey Scheitlin, Kathryn Grayson, Ashley Johnson, Jennifer Nehrt, Kelsey Stolzenbach, Kristin Mcquarrie, Sara Nelson, Melisa Michelle, Jessica Sudlow, Perry Bason, Danielle Dmuchawski, Mariah Asbell, Matthew Sakach, Timothy Smith Jr., Annaliese Troxell, T. Dane Summerell, Sarah Ganrude, Malina Rutherford, Hannah Hopper, John Berry Jr., James Early, Colleen Festa, Chelsea D. Taylor, Michelle Maddox, Kaitlyn Smith, Sarah Schu, Cabell Edmunds, Katherine Grayson, Kayla Tornai

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

The Tallis House as an Extension of Emily Tallis in McEwan's Atonement by Ian Karamarkovich

Graphic Design by Jessica Cox

Graphic Design by Kyle Fowlkes

Graphic Design by Allison Pawlowski

Incorporating Original Research in The Classroom: A Case Study Analyzing the Influence of the Chesapeake Bay on Local Temperatures by Kaitlin Major, Carrie Dunham and Dr. Kelsey Scheitlin

Graphic Design by Kathryn Grayson

Graphic Design by Ashley Johnson

Facing the Music: Environmental Impact Assessment of Building A Concert Hall on North Campus by Jennifer Nehrt, Kelsey Stolzenbach And Dr. Kelsey Scheitlin

Art by Kristin …

Brown, Mark, B. 1976 (Fa 751), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and photograph for Folklife Archives Project 751. Interview conducted by Mark Brown with luthier Steve Cooley, Louisville, Kentucky. Cooley discusses how he makes and repairs guitars and banjos at the Guitar Emporium in Louisville. He also relates information about playing with Bill Monroe and other musicians in Kentucky.

Williams, Donna (Fa 595), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 595. Paper titled “Turning Legend to Song,” written by Donna Williams for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. The paper analyzes the propensity of songwriters to rely upon tales and legends for inspiration in the composition of songs. Williams focuses on Boone County, Kentucky’s legend of Skull Bone Cave.

Potts, Emily (Fa 598), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 598. Paper, titled “From Green to Blue: Cultural Identity in Irish and Bluegrass Fiddling,” written by Emily Potts for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. The paper compares Celtic fiddle music and Bluegrass music, identifying the similarities in the circumstances of their origin, style, and purpose. Much of the paper is based upon an interview with Bluegrass musician Julianna Waller.

Tibetan Guozhuang In Diqing Autonomous Prefecture: A Comparative Musical Analysis, Christina Du Breuil

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The song and dance traditions of the Tibetan peoples of Diqing Prefecture are numerous and varied. Of these traditions, Guozhuang is cited as one of the oldest and most centrally traditional pieces of folk heritage. However, Guozhuang varies even within Diqing Prefecture. This paper addresses the basic form and structure of Guozhuang as well as variations between Benzilan and Shangri-la Guozhuang, two places separated not only by geographical distance but also the encroachment of development on traditional culture.

Hopkin, Rachel Claire (Fa 586), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding Aid and full text paper (Click on "Additional File" below) for Folklife Archives Project 586. Independent study project conducted by Rachel Hopkin on George R. Gibson, a banjo player from eastern Kentucky. The project, contained on two DVDs, includes photos, audio interviews and transcripts, a paper, bibliography, and field notes. Participating in the interview are Gibson and musicians John W. Haywood and Kevin C. Howard, who describe Gibson’s influence on them. This project was executed for the folk studies program at Western Kentucky University.

When Words Fail, Music Speaks, Hannah Williams '12

Outstanding Ethnographic Research Projects

Vocal performers are distinctive due to the self-discipline that necessarily accompanies having one's voice be one's instrument, as all life choices directly affect a vocalist's ability to sing. Vocalists are also united by a strong feeling of self-confidence that is essential in a field that is highly competitive, subjective, and personal. Furthermore, while a love of music is a common theme for many musicians, vocal performers are distinguished by both the emotional and physical connection that they must forge with their music.

Wheet, Glenda Carol (Fa 72), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 72. “Lou Mona Katherine (Shaw) Yokley: Traditional Folk Musician.” Collection contains field notes and cassette concerning the fieldwork of Glenda Carol Wheet and her work with Lou Mona Katherine (Shaw) Yokley. Collection was completed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Cox, Linda Walker (Fa 63), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 63. “Is This A Playback?” A project documenting bluegrass, country, and gospel music being performed at Ray Walker’s Allen County home. Music was collected during a session with several participating musicians. The items were collected by Linda Cox for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University.

Watkins, Dianne (Winkler), 1941-2024 (Fa 55), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 55. “Those Old Calliopes,” a paper and interview by Dianne Watkins executed for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Includes recording of calliopes and other related materials.

Taft, Ann Celine (Fa 49), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 49. Oral history interview with The Straightway Gospel Singers from Gallatin, Tennessee conducted by Ann Celine Taft for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Subsequent paper titled "The Straightway Gospel Singers" also included.

Rich, Cordell (Fa 47), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives 47. Interview with Cordell Rich at his home near Jamestown, Tennessee. Topics include gospel hymns, death omens and ghost stories.

Hollingsworth, Teresa L. (Fa 39), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 39. [Singing schools] Interview with Zilpha Amanda Hume concerning her husband’s (Archie Hume’s) singing schools where he acted as a singing school instructor. Interview was conducted by Teresa Hollingsworth for an oral history project at WesternKentucky University. Includes index, tape summary, transcription, handwritten fieldwork notes and a cassette tape.

Chapter 11, Songs In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

A chapter on song composition and performance in the Sikaiana ethnography. Songs were an important part of Sikaiana life in 1980-1993. There were two major song types: songs composed in a traditional Polynesian style, and songs composed for the more recently introduced guitar.

A related website is www.sikaianaarchives.com

Volume 04, Matt Szemborski, Phillip Van Ness, Sarah Croughwell, Sarah Mayfield, Alyssa Strackbein, Marley Kimmel, Stephanie Skipp, Jamie Yurasits, Katherine Taggart, Alex Leonhart, Kristen Rawls, Andrew Armes, Amanda Haymens, Allison Paqlowski, Erica May, Stephanie Lane, Luke Acree, Cassandra L. Wilson, Stephanie Pishock, Erica Hopson, K. Juston Osborne, Katheryn Grayson, Kyle Fowlkes, Jessica Cox, Kaity Byrum, John-Harwood Scott, Ashley Johnson, Samantha Hockman, Emily Staskiel, Nancy Macdonald, R. Kruger Bressin, Benjamin P. Bilodeau, Andrea Irby, Kristin Macquarrie, Sarah Bietsch, Elizabeth Bednar

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Please note that part of pages 92-95 are redacted, in the digital copy, due to a misprint of the original printed article.

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

The Internal Other: Transculturation and Postcolonial Magical Realism in Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children by Matt Szemborski

Photography by Phillip Van Ness

Photography “Waterfall” by Sarah Croughwell

Romancing the Bite: Statistical Analysis of Young Adult Vampire Novels by Sarah Mayfield

Photography by Alyssa Strackbein

Photography by Marley Kimmel

Wine and Society in the Viceroyalty of Peru by Stephanie Skipp

Analysis of Claud Monet’s Impression, Sunrise by Jamie Yurasits

Exploring Meaning: The Lindisfarne Gospels by …

Jameson, Jennifer Michelle, B. 1987 (Fa 561), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 561. An annotated collection of playlists for the Freeman Kitchens collection of audio recordings (chiefly reel-to-reel tapes) held by the Folklife Archives at Western Kentucky University. A second listing includes "notable items" within the collecction as identified by the compiler.

The Symbolic Creation Of Cultural Performance At The Walnut Valley Festival, Maggie Colleen Cobb

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Through two years of ethnographic fieldwork and 19 interviews, I synthesize symbolic interaction and a sociological framework of culture to examine the ways in which the Walnut Valley Festival is created and experienced as a unique form of cultural performance, one that is always shifting in response to the emergent cultural creation and reception of attendees. No work to date combines the dimensions of both production and reception of music festivals as a unique form of cultural performance. In bringing back the oftentimes ignored affective dimension in cultural studies, I use Griswold's (2004) metaphor of a cultural diamond, examining the …

Moore, Julian "Jack" (Fa 536), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 536. Sixteen music tracks recorded by Julian "Jack" Moore, soloist, accompanied by Mary Alice Black, pianist. The selections are chiefly hymns.

Nationalism And Its Expression In Cuba’S Art Music: The Use Of Folklore In Mario Abril’S “Fantasia (Introduction And Pachanga)” For Clarinet And Piano, Nikolasa Tejero

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In the centuries since the colonization of the New World, the people of Cuba created a strong musical tradition. Initially, their music mirrored the European composition canons of structural, melodic and harmonic order. The eventual confluence of its distinct cultural elements (i.e. the European, African, and, to a lesser extent, Amerindian) led to the emergence of a new, distinctly Cuban musical tradition.

The wars for independence that began in the United States and Europe in the eighteenth century created a surge towards political and cultural autonomy that swept across the Latin American colonies, generating a wave of nationalism during the …

Pop Song As Custom: Weddings, Ethnicity, And Entrepreneurs In West Sumatra, Jennifer Fraser

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Human Things: Rethinking Guitars And Ethnography, Matthew L. Hale

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This work is about objects and their makers, their relationship, and the negotiation between tradition and innovation in the creation of things. I explore the relationship between tradition, innovation, and technology as it pertains to the creation, perception, and interaction with acoustic steel string guitars and ethnographies. First, I focus on the works of two Nashville based guitar makers, Grant and Cory Batson. I investigate the ways in which the Batsons critically evaluate traditional construction techniques and design features as they create their instruments, looking at their theories of tone production, methods of construction, and their perceptions and uses of …

Beisswenger, Donald Andre (Fa 1), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Folklife Archives Project 1. Project titled "White Gospel Music in Logan County" conducted by Donald Andre Beisswenger for a folk studies class at Western Kentucky University. Includes interviews with Jeff and Gwen McKinney and Chester Whitescarver about singing schools and white gospel music. Transcript of McKinney interview included as well as a tape summary for the Whitescarver interview.

Volume 03, Cheryl Peck, Charles Hoever, Longwood Theater Department, Brittany Anderson, J. Ervin Sheldon, Richard Hayden, Yuri Calustro, Candice Fleming, Rebecca Franklin, Ashley Yocum, Danielle M. Jagoda, Cristina M. Valdivieso, Jameka Jones, Amy Ellis, Ashley Maser, Erikk Shupp, Jamie Yurasits, Joshua Davis, Alexander Leonhart, Kenny Wolfe, Sally Meadows, J. Haley, Amy Jackson, Morgan Howard, Adrienne Heinbaugh, Melissa Dorton, Ciarra Stalker

Incite: The Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship

Introduction from Dean Dr. Charles Ross

Little Shop of Horrors by Longwood Theater Department

Who Has the Hottest Hotsauce in Farmville: A Quantitative Comparison of Sauces from Local Restaurants by Cheryl Peck and Charles Hoever

Precipitation Effects on the Growth of White Oaks and Virginia Pines on the Mt. Vernon Plantation by Brittany Anderson

Design and Synthesis of Novel Ion Binding Molecules for Self-Assembly and Sensing Applications by J. Ervin Sheldon

A Statistical Analysis of Algorithms for Playing SameGame by Richard Hayden

Intersecting Cylinders at Arbitrary Angles by Yuri Calustro

Putting a Foot in the Revolving Door: Strategies for Reducing …

The Kora And Korafolaw: A Treatise On The Musical Instrument And Those Who Play It, William Ridenour

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

“The kora is what they play in heaven” a friend once told me. I agreed with him, easily. Ever since I first heard the kora played in the United States, my interest in it and the culture that produced it has deepened. Being able to carry out research on it has been a blessing and a pleasure.

All of my fieldwork was done in Bamako, the capital of Mali between April 15th and May 7th 2010. I spent most of my time in the company of the venerable jeli and korafola Dialy Mady Sissoko, who more or less adopted me …

Nyanyian Rakyat Bugis: Kajian Bentuk, Fungsi, Nilai, Dan Strategi Pelestariannya, Amaluddin Amaluddin

Bahasa dan Seni: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra, Seni, dan Pengajarannya

Buginese Folksong is a cultural product of Buginese ethnic. As a cultural product, it has been used as a medium of art expression to convey various things on Buginese life, as an addition to the people entertainment medium. This research is fo- cused on four aspects, namely (1) the form, (2) the function, (3) the value, and (4) the defensive or perpetuation strategy. This research includes a qualitative research which employs hermeneutics theory. Based on the result on the research it was found the Buginese Folksong in form of Makkacaping and Elong, that function as the critical media in the …

Ua94/6/2 Student / Alumni Personal Papers Wku Hilltoppers Quartet, Wku Archives

WKU Archives Collection Inventories

Records created by and about the Hilltoppers quartet. The collection includes phonograph records, copies of scrapbooks, promotional materials and sheet music.

Heavy Metal: An Anthropological Approach To A Religious Phenomenon, Alexandra Durazo

Whittier Scholars Program

This essay will consider whether the experience of heavy metal music can be understood as a religious phenomenon. Through field research and an exploration of ways to understand religion, I will show that the culture of heavy metal music parallels that of a religious phenomenon while considering whether heavy metal culture qualifies as a legitimate religion. From first-hand experience as well as observation and analysis and using anthropological methods of field research, I have gathered data in a journal to provide evidence of my experiences and analysis at heavy metal concerts from May 2, 2009 to April 8, 2010. I …

Thomas, Patricia (Fa 400), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text paper (click on "Additional Files" below) for Folklife Archives Project 400. Paper: "Murder Ballads of Kentucky" written by Patricia Thomas for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.

Eade, Richard M. (Fa 389), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Folklife Archives Finding Aids

Finding aid and full-text scan of paper (Click on “Additional Files” below) for Folklife Archives Project 389. Paper: "Hazel C. Gillum" written by Richard Eade for a Western Kentucky University folk studies class.