Other Music Commons^™

“The Rubber Lung” - An Original Instrument Design, San Gonzalez

2026 Symposium

This project presents an experimental sensor-based instrument designed to produce unconventional sound textures for horror media. The device uses a flex sensor on a balloon that is then connected to an Arduino, which responds to bending and movement, sending data to a Max/MSP patch where the input controls sound processing such as filters and frequency. The physical motion of flexing the sensor on the balloon mimics the expansion and contraction of lungs, creating a breathing like interaction between performer and instrument. This design allows subtle gestures to alter the sound in real time. By using a bodily, breathing motion into …

New Music And New Instruments: The Development Of The Electric Bass Guitar, Braxton Algood

Student Scholar Symposium

The sound of the modern electric bass has become ubiquitous in music across multiple genres. With the emergence of jazz music in the 1930s, upright bassists like Jimmy Blanton sought to create a sonic space that exploited the resonance in the low register of the traditional double bass, but was more rhythmic and percussive than the instrument’s traditional role. This desire for a percussive string instrument that had the sound of the upright bass—and might also be more portable—led to the creation of Leo Fender’s first electric bass guitar in 1951. By the end of the 1950s, the electric bass …

Jesus Music Movement, Gabby Armitage

Student Scholar Symposium

Jesus Music and how it has influenced Christian Contemporary Music today.

Shame On You, Cultural Appropriation! Rethinking Dvořák’S ‘Gypsy Songs, Op. 55, Ana Molano

Three Minute Thesis (3MT®) at UNI

This paper investigates the portrayal of Romani, “gypsy,” people in Western music, with Antonín Dvořák’s song cycle “Gypsy Songs, Op. 55” as a central case study. It explores the view of cultural appropriation as cultural borrowing, examining how this concept intersects with musical exoticism and orientalism, and how these musical traits shaped Dvořák’s portrayal of Bohemian Romani culture. Drawing on historical and socio-musical methodologies, the study analyzes the Bohemian Romani and Hungarian influences in Dvořák’s cycle. It discusses the ecological impact of the Gypsy Songs within its cultural environment and implications for performance reception. By situating Dvořák’s work within broader …

No Basset Horn? No Problem: Mozart’S Kv 439b And Its Adaptations, Martha Elvira Smith Gomez

ATU Scholars Symposium

Regardless of the ensemble, many musicians see value in honoring the intentions of a composer. The further in time one is removed from the composer, the harder this task can be. This is especially difficult with changes in what instruments are common and available. Mozart’s KV 439b, a collection of five multi-movement divertimentos, is believed to be originally written for a trio of the now-obsolete basset horn. This has led to a variety of arrangements and transcriptions for a wide range of ensembles of different sizes and instrumentations.

In my presentation, I will be analyzing and comparing select movements of …

Composing The Music For Iphigenia Among The Taurians, Johnathan Hodges

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This poster session outlines the music composition process for Pepperdine’s production of Iphigenia Among the Taurians, Jan. 28-Feb. 1, Dr. Bradley Griffin, Director. My presentation focuses on the challenges I had to overcome, my goals and objectives, and finding the right sound for the score.

Exploration Of College Students’ Use Of The Occupation Of Music Listening To Support Engagement And Well-Being, Beverly Murphy, Morgan Breen, Jenna Breseman, Jailine Gonzalez, Tiesha Henley, Julianne Sta.Ana

Occupational Therapy Annual Research Colloquium

Heightened feelings of stress or anxiety can often accompany the transition to college, secondary to changes to an existing routine. These changes can potentially lead to occupational disruption or imbalances impacting students’ well-being and performance. This descriptive, exploratory research investigates whether college students are utilizing music as a means to support or enhance their occupational well-being. At this point, little is known about the extent of utilizing music listening as an occupational therapy intervention on college campuses to manage the allostatic load among students. To address this, a quantitative survey with close-ended questions was distributed virtually to college students within …

The Effect Of Study Music Tempo On Short Term Memory Retention In Reading And Verbal Comprehension, Payton Ballinger

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

This study experimentally investigated the effect of background music on retention as it relates to short term memory. Eighty undergraduate participants from various fields of study at Pepperdine University were randomly assigned to either listen to or read a preselected passage while listening to preselected excerpts of fast or slow tempo music. All participants were then asked to complete a 10 question test covering the material presented. There was a main effect specifically for music tempo in that participants who were exposed to background music at a slower speed while either reading or listening to a passage scored higher on …

Visualizing The Spread Of Western Music Throughout The World Using Big Data, Dakota C. Cookenmaster

Campus Research Month

Music, perhaps the most prevailing form of art throughout the ages, has impacted the world in countless ways. Due to the vast magnitude of published musical compositions, it is difficult to comprehend the full extent of how Western music has spread from Europe to the rest of the world. Our contribution is a presentation of the history of music throughout the ages, highlighting the countries of publication by year since the 15th century. Our visualization also exhibits the top 10 most prevalent composers within the British Library, with additional information such as the composers’ number of works and lifespan.

The Sound Of The Civil War: Examining The Intersection Between Music And Emotion In America, 1861-1865, Christina Cannon

Campus Research Month

The topics of the history of music and the history of music intersect in the Civil War in fascinating ways. Both religious music and “secular” music were seen to have great power over their listeners, potentially with the power to alter the directions of lives or their salvation status. Music was used both as a mode of rebellion against the antagonizing army and ideal and a rebellion against unnecessarily violent acts. Each side used it against the other, but a select few also used it against the war itself. Soldiers marched to music, set camp to music, and fought to …

So It Goes: Hauntology, Lost Futures, And Mac Miller, Ryan Hiemenz

Capstone Showcase

Hauntology is a relatively new concept born out of the current state of late capitalism, wherein it has become increasingly common for new releases of popular culture, art, and media to appease the societal desire to return to the past. First coined by Jacques Derrida in his book Specters of Marx, the term “Hauntology” was used to describe the phenomenon of the “death” of communism and how the capitalist powers that “killed” it essentially made the idea of communism immortal. They made it a specter, and ghosts cannot die. This concept was then altered by the late Mark Fisher, …

Cognitive Insights And Implications Of Singing: Actions, Proprioception, And Perception In Vocal Performance., Juanita Leal

Graduate Student Research Symposium

Studies in vocal performance have suggested the interdependence of cognitive reactions and performative proprioception. This interdependence indicates an introspective self-evaluation process during the act of musical performance. When affected by singers’ judgment of vocal production, self-evaluation and perceptive processes potentially change due to implicit competitive roles in the music performance environment.

In this project, I delve deeper into the ways the brain recognizes aspects of vocal sounds, how it reacts to the process of singing, and how it can identify them as its own In two different environments: the controlled practice space and the variable performance space. By reflecting on …

Species Abundance Distributions And The Canon Of Classical Music, Noelle Atkin

Annual Symposium on Biomathematics and Ecology Education and Research

No abstract provided.

A Feminist History Of The Roland Mc-505, Cameron Davis

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

A Feminist History of the Roland MC-505

Abstract

Roland’s MC 505 is a small portable music production instrument also known as agroovebox that functions as a programmable sixty-four note polyphonic synthesizer and drummachine with twenty-six interchangeable drum kits to use in various combinations. (1) The groovebox is equipped for both audio recording and live performance, both of which are analyzed in this research. The machine has many innovative elements that have carried over into modern music technology as well as some limitations that have since been left behind. This study acts as a historical evaluation of the growth and improvements …

Developing A Multimedia Interface For Electrical Biosignal Interpretation, Christopher Cox

Undergraduate Research and Scholarship Symposium

In the last ten years, a great deal of interest has been generated around the practice of using plants’ electrical signals to create sound or music. In order to render biosignals capable of producing sound electronically, some kind of interface is necessary that converts a plant’s natural electrical signals into data that a computer can understand. Existing commercial interfaces cost at minimum $3001,2 . Worse yet, two popular off-the-shelf interfaces conform their output signals to stereotypical human notions of what a plant might “sound like”. In this project we fabricated a simple but high-performance interface for less than $5 in …

Using Music As A Teaching Tool To Teach Social Emotional Learning (Sel), Pat Mcmanus, Christina Jensen

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Music has been known to improve retention of topics and knowledge, and Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the foundation for academic achievement. Using music to teach helps students make an emotional connection, making it easier for students to gain knowledge on topics such as empathy, self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making. Experience the use of music to teach SEL!

Memorias | Electronic Literature + Live Coding Performance, Jessica A. Rodriguez Miss, Rolando Rodriguez, Alejandro Brianza, Luis M. Guzman

Electronic Literature Organization Conference 2020

Memorias is a web-based artistic project by Jessica Rodríguez developed through the Estuary platform —an online platform to host live coding languages. It is based in six autobiographical writings connected to the way she “hears”, “writes”, “watches”, “reads”, “sees” and “listens” to the word. Through these texts, six code works were designed and programmed, hybridizing natural and computing languages by parsing three existing live coding languages: Tidal Cycles, Punctual, and CineCer0.

Together, Memorias’ languages collide different materialities as well as visual and sonic approaches, going from voices in English, Spanish, Cello and Paetzold samples, audio and visual synthesis, and pre-recorded …

Using Music As A Teaching Tool To Teach Social Emotional Learning (Sel), Patrick Mcmanus, Christina Jensen

National Youth Advocacy & Resilience Conference

Social Emotional Learning (SEL) is the foundation for academic achievement. Using music to teach makes it easier for students to gain knowledge on topics such as empathy, self-management, self-awareness, social awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision making.

Richard Dyer's Star Theory Applied To Musician/Actress: Lady Gaga, Allora R. Lee

Capstone Showcase

Richard Dyer’s Stars and general studies analyze the unusual phenomena surrounding influential film stars and their unmitigated power to compel and amaze those outside of the spotlight. His studies separate the theory into three intermingling parts: stars as a social phenomenon, stars as images, and stars as signs. There are many components in Dyer’s studies that can be extracted and used in analyses of particular actors and actresses. However, this does not solely revolve around film stars. In this analysis, I will be examining the famous pop music icon and recent actress, Lady Gaga. Through an analysis of her style, …

The Song That Lives On, Katlyn Miller

KUCC -- Kutztown University Composition Conference

This personal essay dives into the relationship between Evanescence's song "My Immortal" and two specific events of loss Miller has experienced in her life. The paper explores how different forms of loss intertwine and how music is the bridge between those varying types of loss.

Electronic Music And The Uno Technology Assisted Performance Ensemble, Nicholas Spencer

UNO Student Research and Creative Activity Fair

The University of Nebraska at Omaha's Technology Assisted Performance Ensemble (or TAPE) is UNO's first Laptop Orchestra. TAPE focuses on electronic music as well as exploring the boundaries of what we understand to be music. Combining traditional music theory and digital synthesis creates a new genre of academic music that is on the cutting edge of research in both fields of music and technology. TAPE was founded by Dr. Seth Shafer and Nicholas Spencer with initial funding by the University of Nebraska at Omaha's FUSE grant.

A Royal Revolution: An Analysis Of The Influence Of Prince On Music Marketing, Deirdre T. Guion Peoples

Atlantic Marketing Association Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Music Therapy In The Modern Era: Three Discussions, Kate Pisarczyk, Sean Harty, Victoria Kleeman

Celebration of Learning

This Senior Inquiry presentation includes the findings of three Pre-Music therapy senior’s research. The three projects delve into very different, but important aspects of music therapy in our modern era. Sean Harty's Memory and Music delves into the impact of music on different parts of the aging brain in regards to memory recall. Music therapy is one avenue in order to assist this type of clientele. Victoria Kleeman's Synergy Should Tell the Story in Music Therapy explores the idea of creating synergy within the world of music therapy. Her discussion leads with the idea that the creation of synergy comes …

Newfoundland And Irish Music: Synonymous Or Similar?, Kathryn E. Krajewski

Celebration of Learning

This paper explores how Newfoundland music was influenced by not only Irish music, but English music as well. Some background on the connections and relationship Newfoundland had with England and Ireland is provided before delving into the influence these countries had on Newfoundland music. Musical examples are included to illustrate how the songs of Newfoundland have both similarities and differences to the music of Ireland and England.

How Does Music Connect The Artist And Fans?, Jacob Garringer

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies (2015-2021)

This paper discusses the connection that subcultures and fan-bases of certain musical acts feel with their favorite artists on an emotional and psychological level. Analyzing the lyrical content of rock artists Kurt Cobain, Layne Staley, Chris Cornell, and Chester Bennington, all of which suffered from depression and/or addiction and eventually committed suicide, this paper aims to look at how the lyrics of their songs connect their experiences in real life to their fans who may be suffering the same illnesses, and how they could be seen as a cry for help.

“The Real Spice Girl, Hot Girl Power”: M.I.A. Singing The Subaltern Voice In The Euro-American Soundscape, Emma Niehaus

Ray Browne Conference on Cultural and Critical Studies (2015-2021)

Gayatry Chakravorty Spivak’s seminal work of Subaltern Studies, “Can the Subaltern Speak?” analyzed the predisposition of the “Western” academy to ultimately silence the voices, experiences, and cultures of colonized, “third world” and non- European “others”. Following Spivak’s work, other scholars examined subaltern speech as it manifested in various other cultural products for instance, music. Notably, subaltern scholars such as Rebecca Romanow and Amanda Weidman in “Can the Subaltern Sing” argued that aural space for the subaltern musician was shrinking in the face of a rapidly globalizing Euro-American music industry. My presentation argues that it is not a question of if …

From Swing King To Swing Kids: The Jazz Era Of ‘Big Band Orchestras’ In World War Ii, Katie Victoria Burnopp

Student Scholar Showcase

Known as the ‘King of Swing’, clarinetist and band leader Benny Goodman (1909-1986) threatened the Nazi cause during WWII. With intent of improving music pedagogy, the purpose of this research was to investigate swing music during World War II. The particular problems of this study were to: (1) identify how the swing music of Benny Goodman (1909-1986) influenced adolescents in the United States of America, United Kingdom, and Germany; (2) explore the Nazi party view on ‘swing’ music of the era; (3) examine how the music of Charlie and his Orchestra became used as a tool for Nazi propaganda; and …

Anxiety And Alternative Facts: An Arts-Based Critical Social Improvisation Project, Rebecca Zarate, Nancy Beardall, Talaye Zarafshandardaky, Brooke Rutstein

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

According to Grayson and Meilman (2011) the stakes are too high in current campus culture to not acknowledge the social roots of mental health issues such as anxiety, and concerns of students as related to campus safety. This arts-based, music performance project responded to concerns on campus from recent political and social events. More specifically, it aimed to explore the concept of “alternative facts” and how this idea plays with the collective concepts of truth and falsifications. It explored applications of clinical improvisation and the concept of collective anxiety as a social phenomenon expressed through arts including music, dance, and …

Do It Yourself But Never Alone: Creating Social Change From Punk To Politics, Joe Mageary

Lesley University Community of Scholars Day

This presentation will use punk rock culture as a context within which to address the question of how decentralized social movements can focus the energy of concerned citizens on direct action and meaningful change-making. Goals of the presentation include: addressing how do-it-yourself (DIY) punk culture is engaging in social activism as a response to social injustice; demonstrating how punk is using the arts for social engagement; and providing an example of how punk can be a form of empowerment via radical education.

These points will be illustrated through the presentation of original qualitative research conducted by the presenter during a …

New Compositions For Percussion Duo, Andrea Venet

Showcase of Faculty Scholarly & Creative Activity

The submitted videos are a representation of recent performances and world premieres of commissions by Dr. Andrea Venet’s percussion duo, Escape Ten. Escape Ten is an ensemble in residence at the UNF School of Music with Dr. Annie Stevens (Virginia Tech). The first video is of a new composition, 2300 Degrees, by Ivan Trevino. Trevino held a musical residence at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, NY and was greatly affected by observing glass blower Lino Tagliapietra work. Ivan states “In order to recreate the feelings I felt while watching Lino work, I decided to create a piece with …