36,310 research outputs found
'The Mind Hears': an Examination of Some Philosophical Perspectives on Musical Experience
Dissertation by Jeanette Bicknell on the scope and nature of the 'levels of understanding' that determine how we experience music, supervised by EWC and defended in May of 2000, as submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy, Graduate Programme in Philosophy, York University, Toronto, Ontario
Beyond unwanted sound : noise, affect and aesthetic moralism
PhD ThesisThis thesis uses Baruch Spinozaâs notion of affect to critically rethink the correlation
between noise, âunwantednessâ and âbadnessâ. Against subject-oriented definitions,
which understand noise to be constituted by a listener; and object-oriented
definitions, which define noise as a type of sound; I focus on what it is that noise
does. Using the relational philosophy of Michel Serres in combination with
Spinozaâs philosophy of affects, I posit noise as a productive, transformative force
and a necessary component of material relations.
I consider the implications of this affective and relational model for two lineages:
what I identify as a âconservativeâ politics of silence, and a âtransgressiveâ politics of
noise. The former is inherent to R. Murray Schaferâs âaesthetic moralismâ, where
noise is construed as âbadâ to silenceâs âgoodâ. Instead, I argue that noiseâs âbadnessâ
is secondary, relational and contingent. This ethico-affective understanding thus
allows for silence that is felt to be destructive and noise that is pleasantly
serendipitous.
Noiseâs positively productive capacity can be readily exemplified by the use of noise
within music, whereby noise is used to create new sonic sensations. An ethicoaffective
approach also allows for an affirmative (re)conceptualization of noise
music, which moves away from rhetoric of failure, taboo and contradiction.
In developing a relational, ethico-affective approach to noise, this thesis facilitates a
number of key conceptual shifts. Firstly, it serves to de-centre the listening subject.
According to this definition, noise does not need to be heard as unwanted in order to
exist; indeed, it need not be heard at all. Secondly, this definition no longer
constitutes noise according to a series of hierarchical dualisms. Consequently, the
structural oppositions of noise/signal, noise/silence and noise/music are disrupted.
Finally, noise is understood to be ubiquitous and foundational, rather than secondary
and contingent: it is inescapable, unavoidable and necessary
Aspiring Performers and Aspiring Teachers: Some Aspects of the Socialization of Music Students
This thesis is concerned with certain aspects of the socialization of aspiring professional musicians. Specifically, it deals with factors which influence a music student\u27s self-appraisal of his skill and his choice of a specific profession within the music world
Stability and accuracy of long-term memory for musical pitch
Existing research gives an inconsistent picture of the nature of the cognitive processes underlying memory for musical information. A study was conducted to investigate the stability and accuracy of long-term memory for pitch amongst individuals who have not had musical training. The independent variable which was manipulated in this study was the pitch of each excerpt from a well-known pop song. Participants heard one long sequence of excerpts, each of which had been raised or lowered in pitch by one semitone, or been left unaltered. After hearing each excerpt, participants were asked to detect whether it was different from the original version of the song they remembered. The dependent variable under investigation in this study was the accuracy with which participants detected alterations in the pitch of familiar songs. Participants were significantly worse at detecting whether the pitch of an excerpt had been changed when the altered excerpt was preceded by an unaltered excerpt or vice versa, than when they heard two consecutive unaltered excerpts. This suggests that pitch memory is subject to interference from previously presented pitch information
From John Farnham to Lordi: the noise of music
In the field of music scholarship in general, it is popular music studies that have engendered the most innovative developments over the last several decades. As an academic formally based in literature and cognate theoretical fields, I would go further and offer the personal opinion that they have made some of the most interesting contributions to the methodologies of cultural studies over that period, fed by prior traditions of ethnomusicology and ethnography. One of the main reasons has a bearing on this article: it is impossible to write effectively about popular music, which is so predominantly independent of the printed score, without at least implicitly questioning the scopic orientations of cultural analysis and theory which dominate other fields (and indeed, sometimes music studies themselves). We can find an unfolding summary of the developments in popular music studies through what I suggest are the three most important academic journals in the field, which are, in order of seniority, Popular Music and Society (founded in the USA in 1971), Popular Music (UK, 1981) and Perfect Beat: the Pacific Journal of Research into Contemporary Music and Popular Culture (Australia, 1992). In its continuing series, Perfect Beat provides a comprehensive and focused exemplification of approaches to the critical analysis of the musics usually designated as âpopularâ in the Oceanic region. In short, if we want to know whatâs going on in Australian popular music studies, this journal is a good place to start
Knocking on the door: Examining the practice of classical singers at a performing arts institution
Practice is a major part of the everyday existence of musicians at a performing arts institution, and is of particular importance for singers, who are not just learning to sing but also building their vocal instrument along the way. The purpose of this study was to examine the practice of classical singers studying at a performing arts institution, through an interpretive case study approach. Participants completed a multi-part survey which asked logistics of their singing practice, their use of practice strategies, how these strategies were acquired, and the influence of various factors related to practice. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed together with reference to a conceptual framework of self-regulated learning. The study found that singersâ practice was affected by a wide range of factors, and many strategies to improve singing were employed both within and beyond the practice room. The study also found that singing lessons were a major resource for singers to learn skills to develop into well self-regulated musicians
Reinvention in the Line of Death: A Reconsideration of Geoffrey Hill\u27s Commemorative Verse
This paper considers the embodied ethics of Geoffrey Hillâs poetic practice. Hill stages his engagement with poetry through the idioms, images, tropes, and diction of the literary tradition. Through this pragmatic rehearsal of the language of the dead, Hillâs poetry projects the tradition into the present. Hill resists the ethical entrapments of appropriative poetry through his insistence upon the brute physicality of atrocity and through a rigorous (for both poet and reader) formal difficulty. Hillâs practice refuses to console after the models of Peter Sacks, Jahan Ramazani, or John Vickery. Instead, concerned with modernityâs disconnectedness, Hillâs poetry returns us to the presence of the dead, to their ritual and language. Alternatively, because Hillâs subjects are historical atrocities, rather than natural occurrences, the sort of communal consolation that the elegy traditionally offered would be inappropriate to Hillâs concerns. These atrocities are, most frequently, instances of human violence (the Holocaust, the Battle of Towton, the Wars of the Roses, etc.) and, for this reason, they do not lend themselves to the consolations of natural cycles of death and rebirth. Since they were often committed in the name of religion, Christian transcendence is similarly questionable, as are other consolatory transcendences. These conventional modes of consolation being denied, Hillâs poetry reconnects us with the dead through the formal devices and techniques of the historical institution of poetry. Through the rigorous engagement with and sacrificial making of poetry, Hill attempts to redeem tradition and history for the present
From War Pigs to Unsung Heroes: The Criticism and Justification of War in Metal Lyrics
TÀssÀ tutkimuksessa kÀsitellÀÀn heavy metal -kappaleiden sanoitusten
sisÀltöÀ. Tutkimusmateriaaliin on valittu yksi teema, sota, jonka avulla
avataan sanoitusten sisÀltöÀ ja merkitystÀ. Metallimusiikki alakulttuurina on
tyylillisesti ja temaattisesti spesifi, ja sillÀ on omat musiikilliset
tavoitteensa. TÀssÀ tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan erityisesti sitÀ miten sotaa
kritisoidaan tai perustellaan heavy rock -sanoituksissa.
Tutkimusmateriaalini koostuu 29 englanninkielisen kappaleen sanoituksesta
vuosilta 1970â2012. Edustettuina on useita ajanjaksoja sekĂ€ maita.
YhdistÀvÀnÀ tekijÀnÀ on englannin kielen lisÀksi se, ettÀ kaikki sanoitukset
kÀsittelevÀt modernia lÀnsimaista sodankÀyntiÀ. Tekstit valittiin sen
perusteella, ettÀ niissÀ ilmeni positiivinen tai negatiivinen nÀkökulma
sotaan.
Tutkimus nojaa Theo van Leeuwenin legitimaatioteoriaan, joka puolestaan
pohjautuu diskurssianalyysiin. Legitimaatioteoria kÀsittÀÀ neljÀ strategiaa,
jotka voivat joko kritisoida tai perustella sosiaalisia kÀytÀnteitÀ. Ne ovat
auktoriteetteihin vetoaminen, moraalinen arviointi, jÀrkeistÀminen ja
mytopoeesi. Yksi tavoitteistani tutkimuksessani on selvittÀÀ
legitimaatioteorian toimivuutta omassa materiaalissani. KÀytÀn metodina
lÀhilukua, joka mahdollistaa niiden sanojen ja ilmaisujen identifioimisen,
jotka ovat nÀkökulmaltaan joko positiivisesti tai negatiivisesti sotaan
suhtautuvia. Analyysini kannalta tÀrkeitÀ ovat sekÀ kieli- ettÀ
kulttuurikonteksti, sillÀ ne mÀÀrittelevÀt sanojen merkityksen.
Analyysin perusteella kÀvi ilmi, ettÀ esimerkit jakautuivat eri strategioiden
vÀlille hyvin epÀtasaisesti. Auktoriteetteihin vetoamisen strategiasta löytyi
vain yksi esimerkki, kun taas moraalisen arvioinnin esimerkkejÀ oli
neljÀtoista. LisÀksi kaikkia legitimaatioteorian alaryhmiÀ ei löytynyt
materiaalista ollenkaan. Osalla alaryhmistÀ oli useita esiintymiÀ, mutta
osalla vain yksi. Esimerkkien epÀtasaista jakautumista selittÀÀ mm. se, ettÀ
tutkimuksen materiaalin kannalta kaikki alakategoriat eivÀt ole relevantteja.
Jotta tutkimustuloksista saataisiin edustavampi, laajempi otanta olisi
tarpeen. Legitimaatioteorian soveltuvuutta sanoituksien yhteydessÀ tulisi
tutkia laajemmin.Siirretty Doriast
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