Naturalistic Artistic Decision-making and Metacognition in the Music Studio

Professional artistic contexts, such as studio-based music production, are rarely investigated in naturalistic decision-making (NDM) research, though creative work is characterised by uncertainty, risk, a lack of clearly definable goals, and in the case of music production, a complex socio-technical working environment that brings together a diverse group of specialized collaborators. This study investigates NDM in the music production studio. In music production, there is a professional role explicitly tasked with taking decisions—the (record) producer. The producer, as a creative collaborator, is differentiated as a problem-solver, solution creator and goal setter. This investigation looks at the producer’s metacognitive abilities for reflecting on the nature of problems and decisions. An important challenge for this study is to develop methods for observing decision-making without unrealistically reducing the amount of uncertainty around outcomes or creative intention within a studio production. In the face of that, a method is proposed that combines socio-cultural musicology and cognitive approaches and uses ethnographic data. Preliminary findings shed light on how the producer in this study self-manages his decisions and his interactions with, and in response to, the production environment; how decisions and actions sustain collaboration; how experience is utilized to identify scenarios and choose actions; and the kinds of strategies employed and their expected outcomes. Findings provide evidence that exercising producing skills and performing production tasks involve metacognitive reflection

An in-depth study of personal creative maintenance

This qualitative research study was created to examine four individual creative producers in the field of the visual and performing arts from different walks of life to determine if any similarities between the producers emerged. More specifically, the researcher was interested in (a) investigating how creative thinkers became creative producers and (b) investigating how these creative producers maintained and sustained high levels of creative production. After thoroughly utilizing the constant comparative method of data collection and analyzation, which includes peer debriefs, member checks, and other various qualitative techniques to keep the study internally valid, three themes emerged from the grounded data. Theme one is that a continuous evolution of the artist exists. This is brought about by parental support and critical incidents. Furthermore, these participants hold an enduring feeling of passion and responsibility for their field of creative endeavor. Theme two is that each creative producer spoke of having an intense inner sense of self. This sense of self first emerged within these participants at an early age, and its adult presence is evident in how these producers (a) cannot separate the artist from the person, (b) are aware of their personal and artistic growth, (c) are aware of their personal metacognitive strategies of generating ideas, and they sometimes use their art as a source of personal therapy. Theme three talks about how these creative producers see art as a greater whole. Its evidence is manifested within these participants perception that art has a very humanistic purpose by its effect on their communities

"It's cleaner, definitely": Collaborative Process in Audio Production.

Working from vague client instructions, how do audio producers collaborate to diagnose what specifically is wrong with a piece of music, where the problem is and what to do about it? This paper presents a design ethnography that uncovers some of the ways in which two music producers co-ordinate their understanding of complex representations of pieces of music while working together in a studio. Our analysis shows that audio producers constantly make judgements based on audio and visual evidence while working with complex digital tools, which can lead to ambiguity in assessments of issues. We show how multimodal conduct guides the process of work and that complex media objects are integrated as elements of interaction by the music producers. The findings provide an understanding how people currently collaborate when producing audio, to support the design of better tools and systems for collaborative audio production in the future

Problem-framing behaviours of an instrumental music teacher in studio and large group contexts

The focus of this case study was on the problem-framing activities of one teacher within two teaching contexts – large group and studio. This study was grounded in Schön’s research on reflective practice and sought to answer the following research questions: 1. What are the teacher’s problem-setting behaviours in the studio and large class context? As the teacher resets problems; (a) what “frame-experiments” are carried out by the teacher in each context? (b) Are these experiments similar or different? (c) How do these “frame-experiments” change with each iteration? 2. What type of teacher feedback is given to students in each of these contexts? 3. What tacit teacher understandings are at work in each context? 4. What are the similarities and differences in assessment techniques used in a studio and large group context? Interpretation of the data revealed several differences in how one teacher framed problems in the studio and classroom contexts. Findings from the data suggest ways that teaching strategies commonly employed in studio teaching might be applied to classroom music teaching

Towards an understanding of creativity in independent music production

For years, creativity has been a topic of interest for scholars in psychology, human development, and the arts. Research on creativity has produced a growing body of literature in the art and science of music production. Correspondingly, the entertainment sector has undergone what business and entrepreneurship scholars refer to as disintermediation or a reduction of skilled labor affecting the roles and responsibilities of those working in music production. Research on creativity with independent music production (IMP) is less common. Little is known about creativity by those without access to particular domains. As the music and recording industries remain untethered, an increase in autodidactic and incremental learning processes seems likely along with the growth of new models of independent music production. Using a Bourdieusian theoretical framework, the article analyzes two skill areas in IMP, experimentation, and critical listening, and calls for a more equitable and imaginative analysis of creativity

Teaching the way we learnt: a study in popular music education

Popular music education in the UK, and worldwide, has seen a significant expansion in the last two decades. As this new subject matures, scholars are beginning to fashion a new and more student-centred approach to learning and teaching: drawing on the informal learning practice found in popular music. Green (2006) defined the key characteristics of informal learning: allowing learners to choose the music; learning by listening and copying recordings; learning in friendship groups, with minimum adult guidance; learning in personal, often-haphazard ways; and integrating listening, playing, singing, improvising and composing. Informal musical learning is also facilitated through the use of recording as a technique for reflecting on, and improving one’s own performance. These novel approaches to music education have begun to be applied by music educators, in a diverse range of contexts. Karlsen (2010) has correspondingly linked informal learning with ideas of authenticity, and communities of practice: social networks that provide individuals with access to learning through interaction with experienced ‘old-timers’ as described by Lave and Wenger (1991). This thesis examines the way that seven musicians, teaching in one private UK Higher Education popular music institution, learnt their craft: firstly as musicians and subsequently as teachers. It asks how the way that these individuals acquired their skills and beliefs might impact on the way that they teach their students, and if this impact might be more effective if teachers were encouraged to reflect on their own learning, using that reflection to research, inform, and modify their own teaching practice. This work is particularly situated in small and medium size group teaching rather than the one to one teaching model found in classical music programmes, or in peripatetic music teaching. Furthermore, my work takes a structural-constructivist approach using the ideas of Bourdieu (1977, 1990a, 1993) as a theoretical lens, and drawing on the constructivist learning theory developed from the principles established by Vygotsky in the 1920’s and 1930’s (1930/1978).1 I argue that a hybrid approach to Bourdieu’s notion of habitus (1990a, p.53) or the dispositions we adopt to the social world is crucial to understanding the way that we become musicians. Moreover, that the situatedness of musical and educational practice and the identity practices of learners and teachers are fundamental to the process of learning as a process of becoming (Lave and Wenger, 1991). Ergo, by recognising this process of learning as situated in social, cultural, historical, and technological contexts we may also facilitate metacognition (Flavell, 1979). By metacognition, I mean the ability to be reflexive2 as a learner or teacher; understanding the way that learning works, our beliefs about learning, and how those beliefs affect one’s own learning and thus agency. Additionally, that notions of authenticity and creativity are vital to the effectiveness of musical learning practices, and the accumulation of social and cultural capital for popular musicians. My research methods include the use of open ‘semi structured’ interviews (Leech, 2002) alongside observation in the classroom3 to generate empirical data. The primary research presented here is an Action Research Study: enabling the teachers in the study to retrieve their own experience of informal learning in order to facilitate informal learning practice in the music classroom. I suggest that these individuals recognise the importance of their own experience and are able to utilise, and learn from those experiences in developing approaches that are relevant, creative, and also authentic to their students. What this work also aims to do is establish links between theory and practice, and to identify potential mechanisms for engaging with our students’ entire learning experience, whilst allowing them to understand the social and cultural process of musical learning. 1 This text is a collection of Vygotsky’s work originally published in the 1920’s and 1930’s. 2 Reflexivity is a word used in sociology to describe how much agents are able to recognise the forces of social structure and therefore affect agency. 3 By classroom teaching, I mean small group (10-20 students) and exceptionally, larger group (40-60) teaching, as is the model for delivery at my institution

Foundational Learning and Rehabilitation: An Investigation of the Remedial Strategies of Postsecondary Violin Instructors

Applied violin instructors at the postsecondary level often face the task of having to implement rehabilitation (remedial/corrective pedagogy) with incoming first-year students in order to address technical/musical habits or deficiencies. (Burt & Mills, 2006; Rolland, 1974b; Zweig, 2008). If students are not guided appropriately in the critical early stages, they increase their potential of developing poor technical habits or deficiencies that could be carried with them into their future studies (Hallam, 2013; Howe & Sloboda, 1991b; Kempter, 2003; Mills & Smith, 2003; Nerland, 2007). As various motor patterns are formed through habitual reinforcement, incorrect techniques may be strengthened (Salzberg & Salzberg, 1981). Using a descriptive qualitative methodology with elements of multiple case study research design, 10 postsecondary violin instructors from across North America were interviewed to gain insight into personal rehabilitative approaches, influences, experiences, and assessment strategies that they implement with their first-year performance students. The interview data, external data sources, and artifacts were then analyzed through the theoretical framework of empiricism, Social Development Theory, Scaffolding Theory, Attribution Theory, and Teacher Attribution Scaffolding Theory. The results indicated that most first-year violin performance students require remedial work, with posture and the bow arm representing the most pressing deficiencies. The participants had differing opinions in terms of how deficiencies are established, but they agreed that appropriate early instruction is imperative. Many participants believe that through experience, they now address correction based on the individual psychological wellbeing of every student, their level of self-efficacy, resistance to change, and postsecondary pressures. By contrast, other participants view rehabilitation as a necessary part of postsecondary education, regardless of artistic proficiency. The participants agreed that although some first-year students resist correction, the majority of students exhibit an increased sense of self-efficacy through a positive feedback loop of practice, motivation, feedback from their instructors and peers, and tangible documentation of improvement. The pedagogical expertise and applied experiences presented in this study should inform current and future violin pedagogues about the effects of inappropriate early instruction, how to assess the need for rehabilitation, and how to address technical/musical deficiencies effectively

Unknown Architectures: Agnes Martin and Ian Curtis

This study focuses on the affective role of the built space of artistic production––the studio, the writing room, the rehearsal space, and the city––to examine, through the lens of architecture, mechanisms of artistic creativity such as inspiration, insight problem solving, nature, and the sublime. Architecture is defined here as human-built, natural, or conceptual space, place, or object. The romantic image of the suffering artist––the artist who suffers for their art––is well known, but to what extent does an artist make work because of their suffering or despite their suffering? In order to represent both hypotheses embedded in the question, two specific artists were selected for case study. The Canadian-American artist Agnes Martin (1912–2004) is known for her abstract geometric paintings, writings and lectures, and the decision to turn her back on the New York art scene and move to rural Northern New Mexico where she lived for almost 50 years. Martin overcame schizophrenia to become one of the most successful artists of her generation. The English singer-songwriter-musician Ian Curtis (1956–1980), lead singer of the influential postpunk band Joy Division, lived most of his life in or close to the northern English city of Manchester. Curtis suffered from epilepsy and committed suicide at the age of 23 the day before Joy Division’s first American tour. The study takes a mixed methods approach, which includes historiography, autoethnography, and hermeneutics, to examine the effect and affect of architecture on the two case study subjects, Martin and Curtis, and how place and space is expressed via Martin’s and Curtis’s work to locate both artist and audience. The study finds that Martin and Curtis were influenced and inspired by their surroundings, as evidenced in their work. Both artists also altered space or place in order to facilitate control and creativity. Last, the artists’ lives and works are reflected back at their respective region or city to bring the effect and affect of architecture full circle