Music Commons^™

Arts-Based Sustainability: From New York To Malawi, Martha B. Lerski

Publications and Research

Recognizing that libraries serve multiple constituencies and subject areas, this chapter documents and advocates for development of transdisciplinary arts-based research (ABR) and culture-related projects linked to environmental challenges. Libraries contribute collections and spaces, as well as the research of library and information scientists. Libraries are currently among invisible contributors to sustainability planning and services. The chapter will link this invisibility to the value of what visual arts refer to as negative space elements in subjects ranging from traditional ecological knowledge to environmental science. Library collections, projects, and research contribute to education for sustainable development (ESD) as required to achieve the …

What Happened To Hip-Hop?, Matt M. Didomenico

Capstones

Hip-hop, coming from one of the most exciting periods in its existence, is now experiencing a disappointing comedown. After becoming the U.S.'s most popular genre for the first time in 2017, the genre began to see declines both artistically and commercially, but why is that?

https://mdidom2000.medium.com/what-happened-to-hip-hop-6b3369e7bb04

Dreamvisions+: Virtualizing Medieval Poetics In Multimedia Performance, Mac Waters

Dartmouth College Master’s Theses

DreamVisions+ is a transdigital and transhistorical odyssey into the realm of fiction and truth, reality and virtuality. Rooted in the tradition of late medieval dream-vision poems—wherein religious or political allegories unfold through dreaming protagonists—DreamVisions+ stages a multimedia dream vision of the digital age, reading medieval dream visions as proto–virtual reality. Through the creation and analysis of DreamVisions+, a full-length solo multimedia performance, I synthesize live electroacoustic music, XR technologies, and 3D game environments with medieval textual and visual iconography to construct a porous, unstable dream world that collapses medieval and digital imaginaries.

Situating my work within broader political …

An Ethnomusicological Approach To Culture In Culturally Relevant Pedagogies And Curricula, Andrés R. Amado

School of Music Faculty Publications

Although the frameworks of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Culturally Responsive Curriculum tend to reduce educational disparities, pedagogical approaches focused on minoritized populations now draw controversy. This chapter exam ines the essentializing potential of historical notions of “culture” used in these frameworks and proposes instead an ethnomusicological definition that conceives culture as a malleable collection of habits shared by different individuals and groups. This definition avoids equating culture with specific traits of minoritized people and helps valorize collaborative teaching and learning. After situating Culturally Relevant Pedagogy within the intellectual history of “culture,” and overviewing the field of ethnomusicology …

Introducción: Texturas Aurales Del Istmo, Antonio Monte Casablanca, Andrés R. Amado, María Soledad Hernández

School of Music Faculty Publications

Este dossier examina las configuraciones sonoras de Centroamérica y el Caribe a partir de un enfoque que entrelaza música, lenguaje, cuerpo y memoria en contextos de desplazamientos trasnacionales y transístmicos. Los artículos reunidos abordan las resonancias transístmicas como formas de conocimiento y resistencia. A través de análisis literarios, etnográficos y sonoros, se describen y analizan prácticas culturales que reconfiguran identidades en movimiento. Los artículos estudian desde la situación de los músicos exiliados, los carnavales populares, las interpretaciones de la poesía en clave de modernidad y nacionalismo, hasta cantos de hinchadas futboleras. La noción de “texturas aurales” articula producciones escritas, orales …

Friends And Family: How To Prepare A Themed Recital, Henry Broughton

University Honors Theses

Recital preparation is an essential part of being a successful musician that can be very challenging to students that are unfamiliar with the process. A recital that revolves around a theme can lead to greater audience engagement and make a sense of continuity to multiple pieces on a recital. Though there are countless method books to brass playing, very few of them discuss a method or process for organizing recitals, especially recitals revolving around a theme.

In this paper I will discuss the methods that I used to prepare my senior thesis recital: the techniques I used to practice difficult …

American Utopia: The Evolution Of David Byrne’S Viewpoint Of America From 1977 To Present, Morgan A. Prince

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

David Byrne is a multimedia artist known primarily as the lead singer and main songwriter for the new wave band Talking Heads. Throughout Byrne’s career he has continually written about America and Americans. This thesis traces his writings about America from the beginning of Talking Heads to his most recent projects. In doing so, the thesis puts forward that Byrne’s opinion on America has changed from one that is centered on the American people to one that is instead focused on American institutions. Additionally, the thesis traces how Byrne’s work has evolved from idealization to realism, as his early work …

Localization Of Music In Perceived Motion In Cochlear Implant Users, Madeleine Beyer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Spatial perception contributes to music perception and enjoyment, yet it remains understudied in cochlear implant (CI) users. Spatial effects in music are often achieved through panning, a tool which redistributes an audio signal level between or among several outputs, creating a perceived sound localization. CI users typically perform worse than normal hearing (NH) listeners on tasks of horizontal localization and music perception when manipulating the actual location of the sound. However, despite the common use of panning in daily use and consumption of music, no previous studies were conducted to examine how panning impacts the listening experience for CI users. …

East Asian And “Extraordinary”: Intersecting Racial And Musical Identities In The Classical Music Solo Career, Audrey Chen

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

A performer’s success within the classical music industry is reliant not only on musical merit but also on extramusical factors like race, gender, class, and culture, all of which influence a musician’s upbringing. For East Asian musicians, distinctions of merit can be accompanied by racialized and often paradoxical narratives about Asian identity that essentialize their performance, personality, and background. This dissertation examines how Asian and Asian-American performers of Western classical music navigate this interplay of racial and musical identity within their careers, with a specific focus on string players and pianists.

Chapter 2 introduces five major racialized narratives used to …

Breath, Void, Ground, Huichun Yang

Masters Theses

Before the sound, there is breath. Before the explosion, there is a threshold. Before the noise, there is silence.

Inspired by the physicality of balloons, this thesis explores breath as sonic material that carries memory, moves through bodies, and resonates across spaces. The balloon becomes a skin that holds breath: a force inhaling trauma, ritual, and intimacy. When released through mouth and latex, breath conjures alien, untranslatable voices that hiss and hum.

It begins with a balloon and expands with endless breath. The balloon becomes a site where the history, body, and voice disintegrate and reform. The pressure and tension …

How To Walk On Water: Living Through The Absurd, Esther Du

Masters Theses

Set in a speculative world submerged by water, this thesis constructs a fragmented, nonlinear narrative that reflects on survival, memory, and displacement in the aftermath of catastrophe. Through three interwoven chapters—The Outcast, The Researcher, and The World—the project explores the emotional and psychological landscapes of individuals navigating a post-apocalyptic existence where the past is irretrievable and the future uncertain. Using an interdisciplinary form of visual storytelling, writing, and sound, the work draws from personal experience and collective trauma to examine how people reconstruct identity and meaning after loss. Rather than offering a definitive answer to existential …

The Sound Of Music: Why Do Humans Find Enrichment In Music While Non-Human Primates Do Not?, Sonetta Im Ty

Honors Projects

Music has been observed as an effective enrichment for captive animals across multiple species. However, studies have shown that it is ineffective for promoting welfare in non-human primates (Suborder Haplorhini). These findings were unexpected, given the evolutionary roots shared between humans and non-human primates. This paper addresses several possibilities for this observation, including differences in ear anatomy, brain structure, and music perception between humans and non-human primates.

Kevin Bobo's Boboland: A Performer's Guide, Tyler D. Whitehead

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Kevin Bobo is an active American percussionist, educator, and performer that continues to leave a lasting influence in the percussion community. His works for chamber percussion ensemble and solo marimba continue to push the limitations for percussionists in terms of technical ability, new compositional methods and techniques for expanded timbral effects. Bobo’s compositions such as Boboland, a marimba solo with percussion quartet, present technical and musical challenges that are generally unaligned with traditional performance practices in percussion and especially the marimba. This document aims to provide detailed guidance and instruction for the performance of Boboland and will cover all aspects …

Locating Timbre In Copyright Law’S Modern Musical Work, Lauren Wilson

Journal Articles

Copyright law requires courts deciding music infringement cases to locate two copyrights within a single song: one in the “musical work” and another in the “sound recording.” But songs do not naturally divide into such pieces. Instead, judges untrained in music must parse from a unified song the musical elements belonging to each copyright and to whom those copyrights belong. They have historically approached the task as a simple matter of identifying elements notated on a score as belonging to the musical work and placing “everything else” on the sound recording, but such a formalistic approach does not suit the …

Music As Medicine: The Impact Of Music On Pain Reported After Surgery, Anastasia Pike, Gregory T. Chesnut

Journal of Global Awareness

The impact of music on subjective reporting of pain and anxiety has been increasingly described in medical literature. Multimodal methods of alleviating postoperative pain and anxiety, including the use of live or recorded music in perioperative settings, have been shown to improve patient-reported pain levels and, in some studies, to result in decreased opioid usage. The overprescription of opioids after surgery can contribute to long-term abuse or trafficking of medications, and the use of non-opioid medications, alternative methods of pain relief, and environmental/auditory stimuli offer new mechanisms to promote safe opioid prescribing while improving both pain control and patient wellbeing. …

Notes From The Editor, Jay Nathan

Journal of Global Awareness

No abstract provided.

Sweet Talk "Switch On", David Turner, Soren Walker

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

“Switch On” is the debut album by Melbourne’s Sweet Talk. Founded in 2018 by D. M. Turner and Soren Walker, Sweet Talk was created as a means to explore their love of American music of the mid to late 20th century through a uniquely Australian lens. Australia and the United States have a close relationship stretching back over 100 years. This bond continues to be expressed geopolitically and is prevalent in the cross-cultural exchange found in contemporary music. Sharing a British and Irish heritage, the countries have developed several musical styles in parallel including country music and rock n roll. …

The Shared Roots And Divergent Paths Of African American Spirituals And Afro-Caribbean Music, Jana Jones

Masters Theses

The resilient perseverance of African culture manifested itself in the music of the diasporic communities of the transatlantic slave trade. This slave trade led slaves to two main areas: North America and the Caribbean. While there were common roots and shared experience of slavery that influenced similar growing musical traditions of African American and Afro-Caribbean music such as rhythmic and melodic elements, over time, their music evolved along distinct paths due to differing social, political and religious contexts. Through a comparative study of lyrical themes, melodic patterns, rhythmic characteristics and cultural functions, this research traces the influence of the African …

A Phenomenological Study On The Effects Of Graded Performance Evaluations On The Longterm Musical Engagement Of Students In Malaysia, Qianxi Lim

Masters Theses

This qualitative transcendental phenomenological study aimed to research the effects of graded examinations, such as the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM) and Trinity, on the musical engagement of students who have taken private music lessons. Graded examinations are widely used in Malaysian private music studios, and most music teachers and students use the examinations as the primary source for music education. Participants shared their demographics, experience with graded examinations and private music lessons, and current musical engagement through an online questionnaire on Google Forms. Eight Malaysians who have taken private music lessons and graded examinations were …

The Evolution Of The Drum Set In American Musical Theater, Andrew M. Wert

Masters Theses

For several decades, American musical theater has been an essential part of the entertainment industry and has provided large-scale employment for musicians. Over the past several decades, composers have produced new works incorporating contemporary music styles and ensembles. This project will explore the changes in music styles in the music of musical theater from vaudeville to the present, analyze the effect that popular music in America has had on the techniques used by composers and orchestrators who write for drum set in musical theater, and examine changes in the function of the drum set player in pit orchestras. Ultimately, this …

Shaping Music Education: Insights From High School And Collegiate Band Directors On Russell Boone's Influence, Devanon Petallio Fitzgerald

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the valuable contributions and impacts that Historically Black Colleges and Universities band directors have made toward collegiate and high school band programs, there is little research on the contributions and implications of Russell Boone, a former band director and pioneer of the marching band program at Mississippi Valley State University. While many secondary school and collegiate band directors employ his techniques, only a few have highlighted his importance. Under the leadership of Russell Boone, the MVSU marching band made history as the first band from an HBCU to participate in the Rose Bowl parade. Additionally, the band participated in …

Successful Habits Of Small Historically Black College And University Band Programs, William Thomas Brooks

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative study is to identify successful habits associated with the establishment, development, and sustainability of historically black college and university band programs consisting of less than 128 instrumentalists. The success of large Historically Black College and University (HBCU) band programs often highlights and markets the brand of the HBCU experience. Despite the gleaming success of widely popular schools, there is varied success among smaller programs with less visibility. HBCU bands around the country operate with fewer than 128 band instrumentalists, with some demonstrating more successful behaviors than their larger counterparts. Despite their efforts, these programs sometimes …

Self-Perception, Socioeconomic, And Gender Factors In Third Grade Rhythm Improvisation, Patrick W. Thames

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative causal-comparative research design examines differences in rhythmic improvisational skills and self-perception among third graders from different socioeconomic backgrounds. This study includes participants from two different socioeconomic backgrounds: an affluent private elementary school and an elementary school with low socioeconomic status in Pulaski County, Arkansas. (N=32) This study includes the administration of the Rhythmic Improvisational Readiness Record (RIRR), which includes self-perception components and peer evaluation. Researchers use two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to examine differences in gender and socioeconomic status and analyze causal comparative data that reveal the relationship between self-perceived ability and the participants' actual improvisational skills. This …

Transforming The Challenges Of Improvisation For Sacramento Elementary Music Teachers, Monta Monique Saïd

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the widespread consensus among music teachers that improvisation is a crucial skill for children to learn, there have been multiple challenges integrating improvisation into daily teaching practice in general elementary music classrooms. This research, conducted across multiple public schools in the Greater Sacramento Area Unified School District, aimed to identify these challenges and provide actionable solutions based on teacher feedback to improve the situation. Using phenomenological research design as explained by Creswell, this study analyzed, synthesized, and identified patterns of experience among general elementary music teachers through observations, interviews, and collected artifacts. The study found that lack of time, …

An Ethnodoxological Approach To Developing A Worship Leader Training Program In Infanta, Quezon, Philippines, Lindsay Kay Oakley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Although there has been an increase in pastor training programs in the Philippines to fulfill the need created by the steady growth of evangelical church plants, there are few initiatives to create worship leader training programs. Worship is central to the evangelical church, and music plays an important role in the spiritual formation of believers in churches throughout the world. However, because of worship theology constructs and the implications of Filipino culture for worship contextualization, more attention must be given to equipping worship leaders for ministry in the Philippines. This study sought to identify the training and resources needed to …

Balance And Blend: Quality Of Life And Work-Life Balance In Military Reservist Band Directors, Jeremy Ryan White

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the research on work-life balance and stress management in various fields and stages of life, the perspectives of music educators serving in the military as part-time reservist musicians have yet to be explored. Teachers with a desire to serve in the military may find the part-time status appealing, as most duties are performed on weekends or during the summer. While there are many benefits to serving one’s country as a reservist, this second career may place added stress on the service members and their families. This qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study will gather data via qualitative surveys collected from Military …

A Comparison Of Sight-Reading Methods For Instrumental Ensembles With The Consideration Of Engagement, Nicholas A. Luchterhand

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the fact that nearly all band programs competing in festivals are evaluated on sight-reading ability, minimal research exists regarding specific pedagogical sight-reading methods and their effectiveness. Traditionally, music educators have used scales, rhythm books, method books, and technical exercises as warm-ups in order to improve overall music reading skills. Employing these methods is also known as the Music Fundamentals Approach. However, researchers have challenged this as the best method for development. To evaluate potential advantages among different approaches, a quantitative study will compare success rates of three sight-reading acquisition methods across separate high school band classes: one employing a …

A Comparison Of Middle To High School Male Retention Rates In Tenor-Bass Choirs And Mixed Choirs In Georgia, Victor Alexander Ubiera

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Documentation quantitatively measuring the effect of tenor-bass ensembles in the recruitment and retention of male singers is limited within the literature. Without data, choral music educators may lack the evidence to justify adjusting their choral program offerings to include all-male ensembles. This quantitative, causal-comparative study compares eighth to ninth grade male student retention between schools in the state of Georgia that offer the all-male or tenor-bass model and those that do not. This study investigates the correlation between the number of male students who continue choral enrollment between eighth and ninth grades and their prior participation in middle school tenor-bass …

An Analysis Of The Adequacy Of Preparation For The Totality Of Worship Leadership, Michael Kenneth Geake

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Despite the gradual transition of “music minister” into “worship leader,” preparation and training for the expanded roles may be considered slow in terms of total responsibilities. While degree programs have incorporated in-depth coursework in essential ministry topics – such as theology, discipleship, and evangelism – there has been little recognition of their roles as managers and counselors. Many of these programs prepare students for jobs that no longer exist. This study focuses on the worship leader, both as a student and as one who has already started their career, with responsibilities in the church and to their family. Through qualitative …

Case Study On Florida Agricultural And Mechanical University Marching Band From 1998-2011, Michael E. Young

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) marching bands have been at the forefront of entertaining crowds at football games for many years, from the innovative techniques in marching and maneuvering to orchestral arrangements of classical to popular music that capture the hearts of all music enthusiasts. The band that exemplifies this is the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU) marching band, better known as the incomparable ‘Marching100.’ This world-famous marching band has performed on numerous occasions, such as the Super Bowl, Rose Bowl, and the President's Inaugural parades. A qualitative research case study will examine the halftime pageantry in the …