Music Commons^™

Here Comes The Sun: A Diachronic Study Of The Role Of Music In The Amarna Period, Waleed Hawatky

Theses and Dissertations

Music has and continues to play a prominent role in the lives of individuals and in society, hardwired into the human experience and integral to our understanding of the world in both its tangible and intangible manifestations. This was no different in dynastic Egypt, where abundant iconographic and physical evidence from the Old Kingdom onward shows music performed in many diverse contexts at every social level.

Music appears not only to gain prominence during the reign of Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten (c. 1353–1335), also known as the Amarna Period, but also to develop innovations, including new kinds of instruments and musical ensembles, …

Vibe Diggers: The Sampling Of Brazilian Music In Hip-Hop, Romulo De Carvalho Moraes Barbosa

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation investigates the trend of musical borrowings of 1970s MPB (música popular brasileira) by contemporary American hip-hop producers, especially in terms of what they have called a “Brazilian vibe.” A lot has been said about sampling already from legal, sociological, and historical points of view, but less has been said about its aesthetic procedures, and even less about the wider implications of a tendency for using transnational sources. In the case of MPB, hip-hop artists seem to understand the music they sample through an often vague, intuitive representation, which fuses qualities of those recordings with an intersubjective mood, a …

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Professionalizing Folklore In Latin America: Four Paradigms Of The Musician And The Coloniality Of Music Education, Matias Recharte

Visions of Research in Music Education

In this article, I discuss the professionalization of folklore and its entanglements with coloniality through an analysis of four paradigms of the musicians I encountered in conversations with students, administrators and instructors at the Escuela Nacional de Folklore Jose Maria Arguedas in Lima, Peru. I contrast two pairs of paradigms, the empírico with the académico and the chivero with the professional in order to show how the “professional folklore musician” is constructed through similarities and differences with these paradigms. For my analysis, I use a coloniality theory framework (Casto-Gomez, 2021; Quijan, 1980, 2000, 2007; Segato 2011, 2022) which considers social …

Review Of: “Singen Is A Part Vu Unsern Lebm”: Musik Bei Den Hutterern Von Fairholme/Manitoba—Judith Rubatscher, Vlatka Škender

Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies

In winter 2012, I serendipitously stumbled upon a recording of the Hutterites singing which, to my bewilderment, mesmerized me with a swiftness and intensity thus unbeknown. It was a splendid exhibition of YouTube’s algorithmic erraticism: the aural acrobatics of Bach and the melancholy-inducing Händel’s Sarabande were succeeded by a chant that was—as per Henrik Ibsen’s (alleged) final words—“quite the contrary.” The choir sung of transcendence in a manner so basal and blissful, and so barefacedly human as only a folk song can be, that one was compelled to listen with downcast eyes. And thus began my journey to the Anabaptists: …

Singing As Liberation: Spiritual Imagination And An Embodied Practice Of Hope Through Spirituals And Songs Of The Uhadi, Matisse Geselle

University Honors Theses

An exploration of the spirituality and the sacredness of music—and especially singing—through recording my own interpretations of spirituals and songs of the uHadi. It is also a poetic inquiry into how imagery of the river is used in spirituals as a pathway to freedom and liberation, and how the singing of spirituals is hope embodied. And it is a reflection of how my experience of the uHadi and my friends of the Ibuyambo ensemble changed me. The process of working on this project also feels like I am connecting to myself—and others—more deeply through singing. And ultimately, I hope for …

The Fellowship Of Christ's Sufferings: Toward A Practical Philosophy Of Worship For Missions In The Latin American Church, Moriah Hope Joseph

Senior Honors Theses

Within Latin America, evil and suffering are ever-present realities that cannot be concealed, and the Hispanic society is aching for relief. Liberation Theology and the prosperity gospel – and their accompanying worship practices – have been offered as tools to help alleviate the experience of suffering. But these theological perspectives and practices have accomplished little in edifying the Church by way of truth. Thus, the call for the modern missionary is to instead preach worship that is a response to the incarnate Christ in suffering. The missionary must advocate for worship practices that provide space for biblical lament, reveal a …

Conga Santiaguera: A Century Of Innovation And Competition, Nick Herman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Santiago de Cuba is home to the island’s biggest, oldest, and most famous carnival.  Any local resident will confirm that “sin conga no hay carnaval (without conga there is no carnival).” In Santiago, conga refers to a vibrant street procession, the music that drives it, and the ensemble that makes the music.  Conga Santiaguera: A Century of Innovation and Competition presents a musical history of the conga from roughly 1910 to 2010.  This project, https://cuny.manifoldapp.org/projects/conga employs an eBook, musical analysis, oral histories, and audiovisual media to show how the conga has been constantly reinvigorated by innovation, competition, and Afro-Diasporic …

Reimagining Puerto Rican Sonic Identity: Musical Style And Creation After Hurricane María., Gabriel E. Bouche Caro

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines the manifestation of Puertorriqueñidad (Puerto Rican identity) in concert music composed after Hurricane María (2017), a catastrophe that catalyzed a profound shift in Puerto Rico's cultural consciousness. Focusing on four composers whose early careers were shaped by this period—Johanny Navarro, John Rivera Pico, Iván E. Rodríguez, and Christian Quiñones—the study combines close readings of scores and recordings with extensive original interviews to understand how musical identity is constructed in the wake of collective trauma. The analysis reveals that while the composers share a generational bond, their aesthetic practices are strikingly diverse: Navarro preserves Afro-Caribbean rhythmic structures, Rivera …

Music As An Environment, Yuval Gur

Masters Theses

Music.

For me, music has always been a constant. In my happiest moments it lifted my joy into other realms; in my darkest, it consoled me and offered refuge.

Over time, however, this constancy has grown predictable. Recorded music, once capable of transforming a day, has faded into background sound - familiar but dulled. This project begins with my loss of wonder: how might the act of listening regain its power to move me?

I ask: how does the experience of listening transforms when music is encountered as an environment that can be entered and navigated rather than as a …

The Piano Music Of Orlando Fagnani And Its Connections To The Choro Tradition, Norman J. Charette

Dissertations, 2020-current

This study explores the life, piano works, and compositional style of Orlando Fagnani (1922–1977) as it fits into the choro tradition. By situating his compositions within their historical context, providing biographical insights, investigating stylistic features, and analyzing one of his piano works, Mini Prelúdio No. 1, this document highlights Fagnani’s contribution to Brazilian music and places him not only among significant composers of choro, but also among the leading Brazilian composers of the twentieth century. The fortunate timing of his birth in the same year as the Week of Modern Art contributed to a deeper connection with Brazil’s …

From Sacred Harp To Byzantine Chant: Inculturation And Formation Of Orthodox Communion In Alaska, Ava Ortwein

Honors Theses

This thesis will explore how Eastern Orthodoxy has been embraced by some native Appalachians, which has led to a convergence of musical trends as a regional phenomenon. It argues that parts of Appalachia are embracing Orthodoxy, especially as noted through converging musical structures. Through an examination of countries which have accepted Orthodoxy, I emphasize inhabitants’ agency and free acceptance of the Eastern Church, especially through convergence of musical traditions. I also analyze lived experience in Sacred Music within this Appalachian Orthodox Context rather than formal music theory. The research incorporates a diverse range of scholars including ethnomusicologists, historians, Orthodox theologians, …

Pro Rege Chr. Brass Band: A Century Of Sound, Jonathan T.J. Henneveld

Dissertations

The Christian Brass Band Pro Rege of Heerenveen, The Netherlands, celebrated its one hundredth birthday in 2024. As one of the most prominent community-based brass bands in the region, Pro Rege is part of a Dutch wind ensemble tradition that goes largely undocumented. While they and other bands like them function as cultural and educational institutions, academic literature remains limited, almost ignoring them completely. This dissertation wishes to address this oversight by providing an historical study of the brass band from its establishment in 1924 to the present day.

Starting out in the Dutch ensemble tradition of the Fanfare band, …

Nhạc Vàng And Historical Consciousness: Affect, Memory, And The Vietnamese Diaspora, Bryan L. Le

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines nhạc vàng as a cultural form shaped by war, displacement, and diaspora. It analyzes how the music carries historical experience through lyrics and performance, and how its meanings shift across contexts. The study shows how music shapes memory, identity, and historical understanding beyond fixed political or archival frameworks.

Sonic Rupture And Embodied Politics:
Reconfiguring The Aesthetic Regime In The Syrian Uprising, Lynn Shabani

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis argues that the Syrian uprising of 2011 emerged as a sonic and embodied rupture within an authoritarian aesthetic regime that had long governed public sensibility. Through chants, song, and coordinated movement, political agency took form as collective, affective practice, transforming vernacular repertoires into infrastructures of mobilization, audibility, and resistance.

Amor, Art, And Advocacy: Un Conversación With Chicanx Mother, Grammy Award Artivist, Macarthur Fellow, And Scripps Professor Martha Gonzalez, Belén S. Yudess

The Transdisciplinary STEAM+ Journal

This Spotlight features a conversation with Professor Martha Gonzalez, a Chicana artivista (artist/activist) musician, feminist music theorist, and Associate Professor and Chair of the Intercollegiate Department of Chicana/o Latina/o Studies (CLS) at Scripps/Claremont College. The conversation draws from Prof. Gonzalez’s background as a Chicana, and the  Chicanxs, Mexicanxs, Latinxs, and Indigenous communities in Mexico and Los Angeles that have shaped her work. She shares her practice in teaching and engaging with collective songwriting, her critique of western paradigms, and explorations of boundary crossing that music facilitates as part of championing the hope and flourishing that comes from within communities and …

Appreciative Commoning; Musical Knowledge-Sharing In Earhouse Songwriting Club, Arya J. P. Adyuta

Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia

This article develops the concept of “appreciative commoning” to focus on the importance of appreciation in musical community practices. By examining the practices of musical knowledge-sharing in the Earhouse Songwriting Club (ESC), a songwriting community, this article argues that greater attention should be paid to the roles of appreciation and support in facilitating media and cultural commoning in Indonesia. The article draws on ethnographic fieldwork in Earhouse, an initiative space located in Pamulang, South Tangerang, established by the musician duo Endah N Rhesa. Exploring three main activities of the community: weekly meetings, monthly showcases, and afterparties, I show how embracing …

Powwow Sound: The Differences Between Northern And Southen Style Music, Alison P. Walker

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

The purpose of this study was to observe the music performed at Powwows and the differences of the sound according to region.

I examined the changes based on region that made the style of music performed different.

Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently?, Keiarra J. Gonzales

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Sleep is crucial for maintaining a balanced metabolism and managing appetite, blood sugar, and diabetes. There are many global sleep challenges among college students, which includes what level of priority sleep is in college populations. Therefore, this study covers the topic question Does Traditional Music From Different Cultures Affect Sleep Quality Differently. Furthermore, this study will include peer-reviewed articles, comparison of musical traditions, and analysis of tempo, instrumentation, and cultural familiarity.

Japanese Music Theory, Elias N. Nichols

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This research project explores Japanese music theories. By analyzing the basic components of Japanese music, including historical and modern approaches, this presentation demonstrates the similarities and differences in the formation of music in western thought when compared to the methodology of Japan. This research dives deep into tones, scales, melodic approaches, historical development and the effect on modern compositions today. This project informs the audience on the nuances of Japanese music theories in the hope to dispel stereotypes about music theories from different cultures, apart from western thought.

Preliminary Sonification Of Enso Using Traditional Javanese Gamelan Scales, Sandy Hs Herho, Rusmawan Suwarman, Nurjanna J. Trilaksono, Iwan P. Anwar, Faiz R. Fajary

Northeast Journal of Complex Systems (NEJCS)

Sonification—the mapping of data to non-speech audio—offers an underexplored channel for representing complex dynamical systems. We treat El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a canonical example of low-dimensional climate chaos, as a test case for culturally-situated sonification evaluated through complex systems diagnostics. Using parameter-mapping sonification of the Niño 3.4 sea surface temperature anomaly index (1870–2024), we encode ENSO variability into two traditional Javanese gamelan pentatonic systems (pelog and slendro) across four composition strategies, then analyze the resulting audio as trajectories in a two- dimensional acoustic phase space. Recurrence-based diagnostics, convex hull ge- ometry, and coupling analysis reveal that the sonification …

The Banjo: A Dive Into The Creation And Rise Of Bluegrass’S Favorite Instrument, Hans E. Deaton

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This study examines the creation and development of the banjo and its cultural transformation from its West African origins to its role in modern American music. The banjo originated from instruments native to West Africa and was brought to the Americas through the transatlantic slave trade, where it evolved within enslaved African communities. It was later performed by 19th-century American minstrels, leading to its widespread adoption by the Appalachian South. In the 20th century, the banjo became a defining instrument in bluegrass music, shaped by performers such as Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs. Today, the banjo maintains a lasting influence …

Msh 115 - World Music Writing Intensive, Margaret Farrell

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus guided our exploration of music around the globe. In this writing intensive section, music served as a means to internalize information through writing as well as inspiration for developing a clear and persuasive writing style. Our investigations included consideration the forms of the music as well as their cultural and historical contexts.

We're All Ramblers, Here: American National Identity As Articulated Through The Sounds And Stories Of Bluegrass Music, Greyson M. Sherman

Senior Theses

This creative thesis argues that bluegrass music, through its multicultural origins and its central "Rambler" archetype, articulates a distinctly American negotiation between freedom and rootedness — one that extends far beyond the genre's narrow popular image. Drawing on musicological scholarship and cultural history, the paper first recovers bluegrass's suppressed origins in the convergence of West African, Anglo- Celtic, and broader European traditions, complicating narratives that position the genre as exclusively white and Appalachian. It then introduces the Rambler — the restless, longing figure who haunts bluegrass lyrically and structurally — as both a product of that history and a metaphorical …

Contributors To Issue 7

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

Sounds Of Other Shores: The Musical Poetics Of Identity On Kenya's Swahili Coast, By Andrew J. Eisenberg. Middletown, Ct: Wesleyan University Press, 2024 [Review]., Charles Lwanga

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

No abstract provided.

The Japanese Shakuhachi: Comparing The Ancient Tuning With The Modern One, Nick Bellando, Bruno Deschênes

Music & Musical Performance: An International Journal

The difference between traditional and modern shakuhachi construction and tuning is significant in that it represents a paradigm shift in the psychological aim and embodied techniques employed in association with the instrument. Beginning in Edo-era Japan as an ostensibly religious instrument, the shakuhachi was at first played with a similar technique to its predecessor, the hitoyogiri, using the breath to modify pitch and giving priority to tone color. Coming into the modern era, the shakuhachi came to be used increasingly as a modern musical instrument; the resulting higher priority of pitch-precision brought about changes in construction and playing techniques that …

Expresiones Musicales Rurales, Ana Betina Morgante Combariza, Rosa Delia Acosta León, Manuel Fernando Merchán Bernal, Juan Manuel Urrego Laurin, Andrés Felipe Acuña Duarte

Ciencias Sociales, Humanidades y Ciencias Políticas

La riqueza musical de una región no solo reside en sus sonidos y melodías, sino en las historias, las tradiciones y los valores que estos transmiten de generación en generación. Este libro de partituras es el resultado de un proceso de investigación etnomusicológico que busca documentar, preservar y divulgar las expresiones musicales rurales de tradición oral en Cundinamarca. Las partituras contenidas en esta publicación no son solo transcripciones musicales, representan una ventana a la cosmovisión de las comunidades rurales cundinamarquesas, donde la música es un medio de comunicación, un canal para la memoria colectiva y una herramienta pedagógica de inestimable …

Groove Goes The Distance: An Initial Inquiry Into Jazz Music In Egypt, Farida Gohar

Theses and Dissertations

Jazz music has been a historically contentious site of social, cultural, and political signification. From the violent subjugation that characterized its origins and aspirational freedom that animated its practice, to its transformation into a distinctly “American” music instrumentalized by the US State Department to counter Soviet influence, jazz’s capacity for the inscription of meaning is vast and regularly cause for debate. The particular configuration of jazz music in Egypt is no less complicated although seldom studied. This thesis ventures an initial mapping of the dynamics and negotiations that historically defined the initiation of “Egyptian” jazz, as well as the ones …

Lakota Powwow Singers At The Drum, Robert J. Damm

Publications

No abstract provided.