The Semantics of Timbre

Because humans lack a sensory vocabulary for auditory experiences, timbral qualities of sounds are often conceptualized and communicated through readily available sensory attributes from different modalities (e.g., bright, warm, sweet) but also through the use of onomatopoeic attributes (e.g., ringing, buzzing, shrill) or nonsensory attributes relating to abstract constructs (e.g., rich, complex, harsh). The analysis of the linguistic description of timbre, or timbre semantics, can be considered as one way to study its perceptual representation empirically. In the most commonly adopted approach, timbre is considered as a set of verbally defined perceptual attributes that represent the dimensions of a semantic timbre space. Previous studies have identified three salient semantic dimensions for timbre along with related acoustic properties. Comparisons with similarity-based multidimensional models confirm the strong link between perceiving timbre and talking about it. Still, the cognitive and neural mechanisms of timbre semantics remain largely unknown and underexplored, especially when one looks beyond the case of acoustic musical instruments

UNUSUAL COLLABORATIONS: THE PIANO IN UNIQUE TRIO SETTINGS

Title of Dissertation: UNUSUAL COLLABORATIONS: THE PIANO IN UNIQUE TRIO SETTINGS Zsolt Balogh, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2019 Dissertation directed by: Professor, Rita Sloan, School of Music Performers of different instruments face great challenges in creating a unified tone in a chamber ensemble. One of the most challenging of chamber music settings involves strings, winds or brass, voice and piano. The objective of this performance dissertation is to explore and examine piano trios from the early classical era through the 20th century which differ from the traditional violin, cello and piano combination. By combining the piano with a string, a wind or brass instrument, or even voice, it becomes more challenging to create a homogenous ensemble sound. Each instrument has a different range, method of tone production, attack, dynamic range, timbre and intonation. My dissertation includes works which highlight how blending sounds this varied and interesting has created an enriched and enlivened chamber music repertoire. Given that this particular repertoire is often exciting and immensely satisfying to study and perform, the rewards are great for all involved. The three recitals in this dissertation were presented in Gildenhorn Recital Hall on 3/1/2017, 3/28/2018 and 11/5/2018 and included Ligeti's Horn Trio, Brahms' Horn Trio, Schubert's Shepherd on the Rock, Mozart's “Kegelstatt” Trio, Reinecke's Trio for Piano, Clarinet, and Horn, Beethoven's Clarinet Trio and Brahms' Clarinet Trio. My partners in this dissertation were soprano Amy Broadbent , violinists Anto Meliksetian and James Stern, violist Rebecca Barnett, cellist Molly Jones, French hornists Joshua Blumenthal and Derek Maseloff, and clarinetists Natalie Groom and Jeremy Eig. Recordings of all three recitals can be accessed at the University of Maryland Hornbake Library

Towards a Better Understanding of Emotion Communication in Music: An Interactive Production Approach.

It has been well established that composers and performers are able to encode certain emotional expressions in music, which in turn are decoded by listeners, and in general, successfully recognised. There is still much to discover, however, as to how musical cues combine to shape different emotions in the music, since previous literature has tended to focus on a limited number of cues and emotional expressions. The work in this thesis aims to investigate how combinations of tempo, articulation, pitch, dynamics, brightness, mode, and later, instrumentation, are used to shape sadness, joy, calmness, anger, fear, power, and surprise in Western tonal music. In addition, new tools for music and emotion research are presented with the aim of providing an efficient production approach to explore a large cue-emotion space in a relatively short time. To this end, a new interactive interface called EmoteControl was created which allows users to alter musical pieces in real-time through the available cues. Moreover, musical pieces were specifically composed to be used as stimuli. Empirical experiments were then carried out with the interface to determine how participants shaped different emotions in the pieces using the available cues. Specific cue combinations for the different emotions were produced. Findings revealed that overall, mode and tempo were the strongest contributors to the conveyed emotion whilst brightness was the least effective cue. However, the importance of the cues varied depending on the intended emotion. Finally, a comparative evaluation of production and traditional approaches was carried out which showed that similar results may be obtained with both. However, the production approach allowed for a larger cue-emotion space to be navigated in a shorter time. In sum, the production approach allowed participants to directly show us how they think emotional expressions should sound, and how they are shaped in music

Revisiting Irish Ceol Traditions: Composing for Secondary School Strings

Part A: Exegesis -- Part B: Portfolio of compositions [currently unavailable].This submission for the Master of Philosophy degree at the Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, takes the form of a portfolio of compositions supported by an exegesis. The musical investigation that has led to this submission has been creative and compositional. It has drawn upon the Irish ceol tradition and contributes to the repertoire of works for secondary school string ensembles. The works in the portfolio are: Suite for Strings, in 6 movements (35 minutes); Suite for String Quartet, containing 5 movements (10 minutes) and 4 short sets of variations, that draw upon traditional Irish tunes as thematic material. The exegesis contains four chapters; The Irish Ceol Tradition; The Importance of Traditional Music in Secondary School String Ensembles; Creating Irish Ceol in A String Orchestra; and Commentaries on Compositions.Thesis (MPhil) -- University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, 201

Space and Voice: Compositions for Contemporary Cello

This dissertation contains a diverse portfolio of ensemble and solo compositions for contemporary cello. Throughout the accompanying paper, the concepts space and voice are utilized as analytical lenses, as they are central to my compositional approach. The evolution of cello space in Western art music is contrasted with cello space in jazz, and the modes of sound production in the classical cello tradition are compared to the voice of the jazz cello. While examining jazz cello voice, the notion of idiomatic improvisation is considered and the paper turns to original research regarding the recordings of Harry Babasin, Oscar Pettiford, and Fred Katz, who introduced the cello as an improvising instrument to the jazz genre. The remainder of the written component focuses on my composition process and aesthetic considerations. Composition and improvisation are treated as distinct but interrelated points along a continuum of creative music practice. Within the composition process, improvisation is used to generate musical materials, and various methods of structuring pieces to incorporate improvisation are employed. Commentaries on the composition process, including the salient features pertaining to space and voice, are included for each score

Instrumental Tango Idioms in the Symphonic Works and Orchestral Arrangements of Astor Piazzolla. Performance and Notational Problems: A Conductor\u27s Perspective

Tango performance practices and notational conventions included in the orchestral works of Astor Piazzolla belong in two groups. The first is tango performance manner, or the specific way of rendering the written musical text; and the second is tango special effects, which could be defined as a group of non-traditional (for European music) instrumental techniques specific to tango music. Both groups are part of a performance style that has been poorly systematized, if at all, and kept alive only by means of face-to-face transmission. The purpose of this dissertation is to identify and analyze the challenges that Piazzolla faced while including these performance practices into his symphonic compositions, as well as to provide the orchestral conductor with the basic elements for a successful approach to performance

Understanding Music: Past and Present

Understanding Music: Past and Present is an open Music Appreciation textbook co-authored by music faculty across Georgia. The text covers the fundamentals of music and the physics of sound, an exploration of music from the Middle Ages to the present day, and a final chapter on popular music in the United States. Accessible files with optical character recognition (OCR) and auto-tagging provided by the Center for Inclusive Design and Innovation.https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/arts-textbooks/1000/thumbnail.jp

Volume 26, Number 12 (December 1908)

Tschaikowski\u27s Appreciation of Grieg How to Play My Best Know Pieces Schumann\u27s Industry as a Piano Student Schubert\u27s Love of Nature Secret of Public Appearance Wagner\u27s Phenomenal Imagination Training of a Concert Pianist, Part 1 We Shoot at a Flying Mark Paying for Lessons With Anton Rubinstein in the Class-Room Teaching the Scales and Arpeggios Securing Arm Control at the Keyboard Lesson with Dr. Hans von Bülow Make Every Movement Count Question of Equipment Musical Comedy of Errors How Chopin Played Dvorak on Why Bohemia is Musical What Teachers and Pupils Could Do for American Music Getting the Most Out of One\u27s Lessons Getting a Grasp Upon a Piece Bizet at the Keyboard Saint Saëns as a Pianist Rubinstein on Memory Fairy Music Carl Goldmark\u27s Reminiscenceshttps://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/etude/1026/thumbnail.jp

PIANO INSIDE OUT: THE EXPANSION OF THE EXPRESSIVE, TECHNICAL, AND SONOROUS SPECTRUM IN SELECTED TWENTIETH-CENTURY ART-MUSIC REPERTOIRE FOR THE MODERN ACOUSTIC PIANO

Art Music for the acoustic piano has changed tremendously during the twentieth century. Some of the techniques and skills pianists need to master in order to be able to perform successfully twentieth-century art piano music include: a refined ability to discriminate varied layers of sonorities; sophisticated pedal combinations; a sometimes percussive technique; and superior control of complex metric and rhythmic passages. New combinations of patterns that require specific technical preparation pose substantial pianistic challenges. Todays pianist needs to master a variety of glissandi, chords, or single melody textures played directly on the strings inside the piano and to combine such techniques with sounds beyond the traditional piano sonorities. Besides technical preparation, pianists must also acquire sufficient knowledge of twentieth-century compositional techniques and analytical methods, as well as composers individual styles and their contributions to new ways of using the acoustic piano. This document focuses on selected twentieth-century piano compositions by Ravel, Debussy, Prokofiev, Bartk, Cowell, Cage, Holliger, Crumb, Corigliano, and Louie. These composers and their works are discussed with an emphasis on the new expressive, technical, artistic, pedagogical, and performance elements they introduce. The original technical exercises in Appendix A employ twentieth-century scales, harmonies, and progressions. These exercises will facilitate the development of technical skills related to the pieces considered here and to other twentieth-century piano repertoire. The interviews with John Corigliano and Alexina Louie provide uniquely insightful and provocative glimpses of the creative and technical issues involved with two remarkably original artistic conceptions in this repertoire. It is almost a truism to observe that much of the piano music of the twentieth century eschews convention and invents its own vocabulary and syntax. At the beginning of a new century, we are able to gain an historic perspective upon this body of repertoire. This document will lead to an increased awareness and understanding of selected twentieth-century piano repertoire. It suggests that twentieth-century piano compositions should assume an important and equal place with the more traditional music in the pianists repertoire and in the university and conservatoire curricula