Accretion and Acrylics: Composition Portfolio with Commentary

This portfolio consists of nine compositions and an accompanying commentary on each of the pieces. The earlier compositions represent the exploration of preoccupations with canon, counterpoint, and rhythmically-charged, pulsating mobiles. This led to the further research elements incorporating the development of rhythmic motifs and their proliferation, culminating in static sonic canvases, slowing the rate of harmonic change. Investigative research into the various gradations applied to amplitude levels, first explored in my electronic music and then applied in the form of dynamics in my acoustic writing, represents another highly-featured process in this thesis. The opening chapters chart the processes of the compositional techniques attained over the course of the degree, with reference to my musical background, my interest in timbre and rhythmic development, through the exploration of electronic music. With reference to the study of softwares, for sampling and synthesis allowing for the manipulation of sounds, by changing registers, pitch, by time stretching alongside the myriad of synthesis applications available, I reference some of the cross-fertilization processes with regards to my acoustic compositions. The nine compositions ranging from duo to orchestral works mark the culmination of four years of research embracing the aforementioned features, leading to the development of my current aesthetic of music

Electronic Dance Music in Narrative Film

As a growing number of filmmakers are moving away from the traditional model of orchestral underscoring in favor of a more contemporary approach to film sound, electronic dance music (EDM) is playing an increasingly important role in current soundtrack practice. With a focus on two specific examples, Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998) and Darren Aronofsky’s Pi (1998), this essay discusses the possibilities that such a distinctive aesthetics brings to filmmaking, especially with regard to audiovisual rhythm and sonic integration

Functionality and history of electronics in regards to the performance practice of the following works: Temazcal (1984), Javier Álvarez, and Memory Palace (2012), Christopher Cerrone

Master's Project (M.Mu.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2016The Electroacoustic pieces; Temazcal (1984), by Javier Alvarez (b.1956), and Memory Palace (2012) by Christopher Cerrone (b.1984), each employ different types of electronic technologies in their realization through performance. This paper will discuss the origin and history of the technology applied respectively in the works. I will examine the role of percussion within the works, specifically in regards to learning and problem solving through technological challenges in order to effectively perform the compositions. By looking at Temazcal and Memory Palace through the context of their historical significance as electroacoustic works, the inherent functionality of the technology employed in each, and the resultant performance practices that have subsequently developed, a greater musical appreciation and understanding of electroacoustic works, in general, is possible

New urban Soundscapes: Angklung Buskers in Yogyakarta

Caratterizzati da una costante sovrapposizione di stimoli acustici di diversa natura, i paesaggi sonori delle realtà metro- politane contemporanee sono entità composite di difficile interpretazione. Entro questi contesti, tuttavia, la produzione di musica dal vivo ha senza dubbio un ruolo cruciale nella costruzione degli spazi sonori pubblici e dell’immaginario acustico ad essi associato. Nel presente articolo sono presentati alcuni risultati di una ricerca svolta a Yogyakarta (Giava, Indonesia) su un particolare fenomeno di musica di strada, le angklung bands: gruppi di musicisti di strada che si guadagna- no da vivere esibendosi quotidianamente negli spazi più trafficati della città. Applicando il metodo etnografico dell’osservazione partecipante, è stata documentata l’attività di questi musicisti, indagandone storie di vita, prassi performative e repertori, considerando la complessità del feno- meno e il suo rapporto “osmotico” con l’ambiente urbano Yogyanese. Descrivendo questo specifico caso di studio, si cercherà di dimostrare come una pratica musicale apparentemente marginale possa avere una funzione importante nella costruzione di una realtà acustica metropolitana, sino a divenirne un’impronta sonora. Il saggio è corredato da esempi video che illustrano la pratica musicale in analisi e consentono di valutarne l’impatto sul paesaggio sonoro circostante.Being characterized by a constant overlapping of different kinds of acoustic stimuli, contemporary metropolitan soundscapes are composite entities that are rather difficult to interpret. Within these contexts however, the production of live music undoubtedly has a crucial role in the construction of sonic public spaces and of the acoustic ideas and concepts that are associated with them. This paper presents some results of a research conducted in Yogyakarta (Java, Indonesia) regarding a particular kind of street music, i.e. the angklung bands: groups of buskers who make a living by performing every day in the most crowded spaces of the city. By applying the ethnographic method of participant observation, the activity of these musicians was documented, together with their life stories, repertoires and performative practices. In addition, the complexity of the phenomenon and its “osmotic” relationship with the Yogyanese urban context was carefully considered. This specific case study is utilized in order to show how an apparently marginal musical practice has had a significant function in the construction of a metropolitan acoustic environment, to the extent of becoming one of its soundmarks. This paper is accompanied by several video examples, which illustrate how the musical practice analyzed is conducted and make it possible to evaluate its impact on the surrounding soundscape

Portfolio of compositions

This text contains a short general description of my experience at the University of Birmingham. This is an attempt to communicate how my perception in composing music has changed and evolved. The focus is to introduce briefly my experience before I arrived at the University of Birmingham, then go through all the compositions I have worked on during my PhD programme. This attempt is to explain the main processes I have used for composing, giving a wider view of the issues that I was interested in developing. Furthermore, I will consider some technical aspects with reference to facilities that the University of Birmingham offers to students. This appears to be the right opportunity for them to explore technology almost without any restrictions. I also give some information about other nonmusical issues, which I was interested in developing in order to look into personal aesthetic directions. My main reason for being at the University of Birmingham was to explore compositional processes different from my previous experiences, in order to enlarge my abilities and perspectives in music composition

An Analysis of Rhythmic Staccato-Vocalization Based on Frequency Demodulation for Laughter Detection in Conversational Meetings

Human laugh is able to convey various kinds of meanings in human communications. There exists various kinds of human laugh signal, for example: vocalized laugh and non vocalized laugh. Following the theories of psychology, among all the vocalized laugh type, rhythmic staccato-vocalization significantly evokes the positive responses in the interactions. In this paper we attempt to exploit this observation to detect human laugh occurrences, i.e., the laughter, in multiparty conversations from the AMI meeting corpus. First, we separate the high energy frames from speech, leaving out the low energy frames through power spectral density estimation. We borrow the algorithm of rhythm detection from the area of music analysis to use that on the high energy frames. Finally, we detect rhythmic laugh frames, analyzing the candidate rhythmic frames using statistics. This novel approach for detection of `positive' rhythmic human laughter performs better than the standard laughter classification baseline.Comment: 5 pages, 1 figure, conference pape

Editorial: Beyond Pythagoras

This fourth journal issue of Divergence Press is a selection of papers given at the Beyond Pythagoras Symposium held at the University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Research in New Music, 21-23 March 2014. The symposium sought to explore new trends in the sonic arts and experimental electronic music particularly new tuning systems, post-acousmatic and post-digital aesthetics, as well as the re-embodiment of sound production and listening

Zvi Keren: his contribution to Israel's music scene : an interview in honor of his 85th birthday

It is with great pride that I introduce a new section in this issue of Min-Ad: Israel Studies in Musicology, dedicated to interviews with musicians who have made major contributions to Israel’s music life. I am particularly pleased to inaugurate this section with an interview with our esteemed colleague (and in my case, teacher), Zvi Keren, a major figure in the development of Israel´s contemporary, jazz and light music. This interview is conducted by Alona Keren-Sagee, Zvi Keren´s daughter

Infants’ perception of rhythmic patterns

We explored 9-month-old infants perception of auditory temporal sequences in a series of three experiments. In Experiment 1, we presented some infants with tone sequences that were expected to induce a strongly metric framework and others with a sequence that was expected to induce a weakly metric framework or no such framework. Infants detected a change in the context of the former sequences but not in the latter sequence. In Experiment 2, infants listened to a tone sequence with temporal cues to duple or triple meter. Infants detected a change in the pattern with duple meter but not in the pattern with triple meter. In Experiment 3, infants listened to a tone sequence with harmonic cues to duple or triple meter. As in Experiment 2, infants detected a change in the context of the duple meter pattern but not in the context of triple meter. These findings are consistent with processing predispositions for auditory temporal sequences that induce a metric framework, particularly those in duple meter

Haptics for the development of fundamental rhythm skills, including multi-limb coordination

This chapter considers the use of haptics for learning fundamental rhythm skills, including skills that depend on multi-limb coordination. Different sensory modalities have different strengths and weaknesses for the development of skills related to rhythm. For example, vision has low temporal resolution and performs poorly for tracking rhythms in real-time, whereas hearing is highly accurate. However, in the case of multi-limbed rhythms, neither hearing nor sight are particularly well suited to communicating exactly which limb does what and when, or how the limbs coordinate. By contrast, haptics can work especially well in this area, by applying haptic signals independently to each limb. We review relevant theories, including embodied interaction and biological entrainment. We present a range of applications of the Haptic Bracelets, which are computer-controlled wireless vibrotactile devices, one attached to each wrist and ankle. Haptic pulses are used to guide users in playing rhythmic patterns that require multi-limb coordination. One immediate aim of the system is to support the development of practical rhythm skills and multi-limb coordination. A longer-term goal is to aid the development of a wider range of fundamental rhythm skills including recognising, identifying, memorising, retaining, analysing, reproducing, coordinating, modifying and creating rhythms – particularly multi-stream (i.e. polyphonic) rhythmic sequences. Empirical results are presented. We reflect on related work, and discuss design issues for using haptics to support rhythm skills. Skills of this kind are essential not just to drummers and percussionists but also to keyboards players, and more generally to all musicians who need a firm grasp of rhythm