Designing and Composing for Interdependent Collaborative Performance with Physics-Based Virtual Instruments

Interdependent collaboration is a system of live musical performance in which performers can directly manipulate each other’s musical outcomes. While most collaborative musical systems implement electronic communication channels between players that allow for parameter mappings, remote transmissions of actions and intentions, or exchanges of musical fragments, they interrupt the energy continuum between gesture and sound, breaking our cognitive representation of gesture to sound dynamics. Physics-based virtual instruments allow for acoustically and physically plausible behaviors that are related to (and can be extended beyond) our experience of the physical world. They inherently maintain and respect a representation of the gesture to sound energy continuum. This research explores the design and implementation of custom physics-based virtual instruments for realtime interdependent collaborative performance. It leverages the inherently physically plausible behaviors of physics-based models to create dynamic, nuanced, and expressive interconnections between performers. Design considerations, criteria, and frameworks are distilled from the literature in order to develop three new physics-based virtual instruments and associated compositions intended for dissemination and live performance by the electronic music and instrumental music communities. Conceptual, technical, and artistic details and challenges are described, and reflections and evaluations by the composer-designer and performers are documented

Expressions, Summer 2017

College of Humanities and the Arts Newslette

An Aural Version of Situated Knowledge: A Conversation with Ellen Waterman

Ellen Waterman’s creative and research practices are all about listening together across and through distance and difference. When I spoke with her during our socially distanced summer of the pandemic, I was interested to hear how our current situation has influenced her thinking about what it means to create sound and sound-based work together. What follows is an interview that still attempts to be spontaneous and to listen, even in written form

Music, Meaning and Transformation: Meaningful Music Making for Life

This book and the series which builds on the philosophy examines the musical experiences that students find meaningful and ways in which teachers, parents and community music leaders might provide access to meaningful music education. This is particularly relevant today because school music often fails to provide sustainable access to music making for life, health and wellbeing beyond school. The book seeks to reframe the focus of music education within a pragmatist philosophy and provide a framework that is culturally and chronologically inclusive. The proposed book is aimed at current and pre-service music teachers, community music leaders and coaches and designed to be a useful professional development tool and reference resource for teacher/community arts workers. Secondary audiences for the book would include all general and trainee elementary school teachers and interested teachers in disciplines other than music particularly those from the community arts concerned with music, cultural health and wellbeing in community settings. Another secondary market would be private music teachers in the community and recreational music-making coaches who need strategies and techniques for the provision of culturally inclusive music experiences within complex multi cultural and cross cultural settings

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Live Coding

Open Access peer reviewed papers on live coding published at the 1st International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) in Leeds

Inspiring Music for All: next steps in innovation, improvement and integration

The report, funded by the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, provides an overview of schools-based music education in England. It represents the outcomes of research undertaken in January and February 2014 which included detailed literature reviews, personal interviews with thirty-five specialists involved in leading various organisations responsible for different aspects of music education, focus group discussions and an on-line survey of the music education workforce that generated 515 responses. The findings suggest that the place and status of music in schools vary widely across the country. The best music in schools is significantly more inclusive, more musically diverse and better quality that it was a decade ago. However, the quality and reach of schools-based music education is still unacceptably variable and inconsistent at both primary and secondary levels. Detailed findings and recommendations are included in the report

The Music Relationships of Children Experiencing Homelessness

abstract: Over a million children who attend American public schools experience homelessness every year. This study investigates the musical lives of children experiencing homelessness through the lens of the ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner, 1979). Children encounter music in a variety of ways and develop their own lexicon of meaning that depicts the relationships they have in, through, and around music. Relationship connections in this study were depicted through a system of relationship networks (Neal & Neal, 2013). In this study I present and analyze the cases of nine participants who attended an after-school care program at a homeless shelter for families in the southwestern United States. Participants were 8 to 12 years old and represented diverse ethnicities and genders. Data were gathered over a period of two to eight months, depending on participant, via interviews, music and art making, and observations. Research questions in this study included: What are the relationships, as experienced in, through, and around music, in the lives of children experiencing homelessness; and, What do music experiences tell us about the lives of children experiencing homelessness? Some children experienced fractured music relationships and could not continue to engage with music in comparison to their lives before homelessness. Some children continued to make music regularly before and during their shelter stay. A few children discovered new connections through music interactions at the shelter and hoped to engage with music in new ways in their new homes. Multiple children faced barriers to music making in their respective school music programs. Children preferred to engage in music consistent with current popular culture, accessed through the radio, smart phone, and computer. Use of hands-on activities that fostered active engagement engendered the most participation and connection to music. Recommendations include examination of current procedures and practices to ensure alignment with the McKinney-Vento Homeless Act federal mandate, development of a supportive environment to foster social and emotional growth, facilitating communication with parents, and the inclusion of music from the child’s background in the classroom repertoire. Performance and interactive music opportunities can mitigate the effects of homelessness and restore a sense of dignity, relationship, and autonomy. All stakeholders in the wellbeing of children should include conversations about student experience of homelessness in current dialogue on educational policy and practice.Dissertation/ThesisDoctoral Dissertation Music Education 201

Creating and Performing New Australian Works on the Hungarian Concert Cimbalom

This thesis explores the creation and performance of five new Western Australian works for the Hungarian concert cimbalom. These include four solo works, and one duet, which were scored, analysed, performed, and recorded. This thesis is in two parts: this exegetical component, which details the background, development, and findings of the research, including the scores created, and the manual that was developed for composers’ use; and a practical component, which is an active representation of the research, included as video recordings. To assist the composition of the new works, a manual was developed for the composers’ use. This manual began with archival research into the extant literature, and was supplemented with my research and the findings from the collaboration process. The developments pertained to the areas of techniques, mallet selection, preparation, and compositional approach. The manual was a valuable tool throughout the creation and development of the works and remains a work in progress. A practice-led research framework was central to the project, allowing reflection both in-action and on-action. The project is divided into three areas: the development of a manual as a tool for composers; collaboration with composers on the creation of new works; and performance and recording of the new works. The practical component of the research includes studio recordings of four of the works, and a live performance of the fifth. These performances demonstrate both the creative outcomes of the project in the form of the works, and the research findings through the use of extended techniques and compositional approach. The exegetical component contains contextual information about the current cimbalom practices in Australia. As my interaction with the research was subjective in nature, I give extensive information about my musical background, and the bodies of knowledge I drew upon in the process. This provides a context for my interaction with the research, and an understanding of my methodological approach