ICS Materials

This present book covers a series of outstanding reputation researchers’ contributions on the topic of ICS Materials: a new class of emerging materials with properties and qualities concerning interactivity, connectivity and intelligence. In the general framework of ICS Materials’ domain, each chapter deals with a specific aspect following the characteristic perspective of each researcher. As result, methods, tools, guidelines emerged that are relevant and applicable to several contexts such as product, interaction design, materials science and many more

ICS Materials

This present book covers a series of outstanding reputation researchers’ contributions on the topic of ICS Materials: a new class of emerging materials with properties and qualities concerning interactivity, connectivity and intelligence. In the general framework of ICS Materials’ domain, each chapter deals with a specific aspect following the characteristic perspective of each researcher. As result, methods, tools, guidelines emerged that are relevant and applicable to several contexts such as product, interaction design, materials science and many more

Electric Guitar Performance Techniques: Meaning and Identity in Written Discourse

This thesis presents an in-depth analysis of selected electric guitar performance techniques and technologies, including the power chord, the wah-wah pedal and finger tapping. Employing discourse analysis, the purpose of the thesis is to identify and understand themes within a wide range of written source material pertaining to the electric guitar. I analyse primarily Anglo-American originating, English-language sources that discuss these techniques and technologies, including archival and online materials, popular and trade publications, academic writing and my own participant interviews. From my analysis, I identify a number of themes that are present within written discourse pertaining to electric guitar performance techniques and technologies, and which also cut across them. The first three main chapters consider three particular aspects of electric guitar discourse. In Chapter 2, I explore the existence of clear invention and discovery narratives for each of the three performance techniques considered in the thesis, concluding with a general list of features that appear to promote the narratives’ continuity and prominence. In Chapter 3, I look at the contemporary meaning of virtuosity and the electric guitar, suggesting that ascriptions of virtuosity are closely linked with the assumptions that underpin aesthetic preference. In Chapter 4, I examine the meanings and attitudes that are apparent in discourse relating to new electric guitar technology, demonstrating that there is a clear yet inconsistent binary between acceptance and rejection of technological change. In Chapters 5 and 6, I theorise more generally about the electric guitar, situating a range of relevant written discourse within theories of late 20th and 21st Century Neoliberalism. I suggest that many of the values and attitudes I identify within electric guitar discourse reflect those of neoliberalism, particularly with respect to the shared value attached to authenticity, individuality, innovation and a willingness to engage with the marketplace

The music technologist as collaborator in the contemporaneous co-creation of audio artefacts

This PhD portfolio of commercially available album releases exemplifies aspects of my practice as I have navigated through the roles of engineer, producer, composer and collaborator over an eight-year period. The six outputs explored are drawn from a wider catalogue of over twenty album credits. The commentary explores my technical methodology in great detail and aims to make certain aspects of my practice technically repeatable if desired. Recordings embody knowledge, arrived at through constantly evolving methodologies which synthesise techniques spanning over one hundred years of technical and creative practice. My own practice is broad (in terms of both genre and breadth of engagement) and as a result I am able to draw from practices which often remain distinct, in order to enable creative success and contribute original knowledge. The outputs have been reviewed in both broadsheet and specialist music press outlets, received nominations for and won national music awards and contributed significantly to the steadily building success of the artists I have collaborated with. Central to the notion of the contemporaneous co-collaborator is a discourse centred on how music technologists shape the aesthetic of a recorded artefact in consultation with the artist(s) they work with, in light of a set of creative criteria arrived at through both formal and informal dialogues and extensive shared listening. A progression towards mutual understanding unfolds slowly through time and establishes the culture within which a record will be made. A recording captures both sound and culture, the relationships of the key collaborators are the framework on which the artefact is built. A motivation behind the development of the submission is to demonstrate, through detailed analysis of the record-making process, how historical notions regarding the role of the music technologist have become increasingly outmoded. Constant changes in the way in which music is recorded, mixed, distributed and consumed have rendered many historical descriptors vague at best and often unrepresentative of the work undertaken by the contemporary music technologist in the realisation of an album project. Whilst not seeking to propose a new terminology the commentary shows that the roles attributed to music technologists in the sleeve notes of records (if indeed there is a physical release) are often anachronistic. The current financial state of the music recording industry has resulted in a radically altered landscape for the music technologist. There is often simply not enough money available to employ people with distinct boundaries. We find ourselves acting as tea boy / girl, recording / mix / mastering engineer, producer, composer, performer and psychologist on a regular rotating basis

Go large: The impact of size on gestural interaction in digital musical instrument design

This research is about the impact on musical gestural interaction of over- sized Digital Musical Instrument (DMI) design, that is instruments with physical dimensions that are larger than the human body performing them, but smaller than the size of the room they are in. When interacting with an interface not only does the performer move their body to control the interface, the interface design and affordances control the way the performer moves their body. In the context of DMIs, two instruments with the same sonic capabilities will elicit different patterns of gestural inter- action depending on their physical layout. Using the methodology of designing instruments for the purpose of exploring research questions, this research ex- amines the gestural interaction and music made by musicians performing with large DMIs to investigate impact of instrument size on music making. In this thesis I propose a process of investigating gestural interaction and how it shapes compositional choices through two studies. Each study examines the relative effects on performance and composition of various factors of affordances and idiomatic gestural language performed with large DMIs. Studying performer interactions and music composed with large instruments with novel layouts that participants have not yet developed idiomatic gestural languages for results in new discoveries that are relevant to the design of large instruments as well as instruments of all sizes. This research is relevant for digital musical instrument designers and Human Computer Interaction researchers as it will elucidate the influence that a DMI’s physical size and layout has on the performances and compositions created using digital musical instruments, so that designers can make informed decisions to either support or suppress specific influences in future DMI design. Further, this research contributes the design of a new digital musical instrument, Chaos Bells, that can be used by digital musical instrument performers and researchers in the future

Bendit_I/O: A System for Extending Mediated and Networked Performance Techniques to Circuit-Bent Devices

Circuit bending—the act of modifying a consumer device\u27s internal circuitry in search of new, previously-unintended responses—provides artists with a chance to subvert expectations for how a certain piece of hardware should be utilized, asking them to view everyday objects as complex electronic instruments. Along with the ability to create avant-garde instruments from unique and nostalgic sound sources, the practice of circuit bending serves as a methodology for exploring the histories of discarded objects through activism, democratization, and creative resurrection. While a rich history of circuit bending continues to inspire artists today, the recent advent of smart musical instruments and the growing number of hybrid tools available for creating connective musical experiences through networks asks us to reconsider the ways in which repurposed devices can continue to play a role in modern sonic art. Bendit_I/O serves as a synthesis of the technologies and aesthetics of the circuit bending and Networked Musical Performance (NMP) practices. The framework extends techniques native to the practices of telematic and network art to hacked hardware so that artists can design collaborative and mediated experiences that incorporate old devices into new realities. Consisting of user-friendly hardware and software components, Bendit_I/O aims to be an entry point for novice artists into both of the creative realms it brings together. This document presents details on the components of the Bendit_I/O framework along with an analysis of their use in three new compositions. Additional research serves to place the framework in historical context through literature reviews of previous work undertaken in the circuit bending and networked musical performance practices. Additionally, a case is made for performing hacked consumer hardware across a wireless network, emphasizing how extensions to current circuit bending and NMP practices provide the ability to probe our relationships with hardware through collaborative, mediated, and multimodal methods

Three Portraits of Choral Repertoire: Evolutions of Choral Music, Frank Martin Mass for Double Choir, and Ted Hearne Sound from the Bench

Two dissertation recitals and one research paper were presented in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts (Music: Conducting) at the University of Michigan. The two recitals chronicle the historical evolution of choral music since the seventeenth century and the research paper is an analysis and conductor’s guide for a piece of repertoire written in the twenty-first century. The first recital is a compilation of one performance with the University of Michigan Chamber Choir, four performances with the University of Michigan Orpheus Singers, one performance with the Chorus America Conducting Institute Chorus and Orchestra, and three virtual choir selections, two recorded by the University of Michigan University Choir and one by the University of Michigan Arts Chorale. All live performances for this recital took place in Stamps Auditorium in the Walgreen Drama Center, with the exception of the Chorus America performance, which took place in Hill Auditorium. The performance with Chamber Choir took place on Thursday, November 12, 2020. Repertoire included one movement from Clara Schumann’s Drei gemischte Chöre, op. 19 and Lili Boulanger’s Hymne au Soleil. The performances with Orpheus Singers took place on Tuesday, April 9, 2019, Tuesday, September 24, 2019, Sunday, October 22, 2019, and Tuesday, February 20, 2020. Repertoire included two movements from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4, three movements from Baldassare Galuppi’s Laudate pueri, Johannes Brahms’s Drei Quartette, op. 31, and two movements from Ralph Vaughan Williams’s In Windsor Forest. The performance with Chorus America took place on Sunday, July 21, 2019 and included four movements from Felix Mendelssohn’s Elijah, op. 70. The virtual choir pieces with University Choir were recorded on February 21, 2021. Repertoire included Arianne Abela’s Rise and Undine Smith Moore’s Daniel, Daniel, Servant of the Lord. The virtual choir with Arts Chorale was recorded on March 7, 2021, and included one movement from Reena Esmail’s Quarantine Madrigals. The second recital was a performance of Frank Martin’s Mass for double choir. The recital took place on Saturday, March 13, 2021 in Hankinson Rehearsal Hall in the Earl V. Moore Building. In lieu of a third conducting recital due to complications from COVID-19, a research paper on Ted Hearne’s Sound from the Bench was completed. The paper includes historical, textual, and musical analysis of the work. Additionally, conducting and performing considerations are presented. Through this analysis, the paper serves as a tool for conductors to reference when programming, preparing, rehearsing, and performing this work.AMUMusic: ConductingUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/167967/1/jkemper_1.pd

Making music in Muscle Shoals

Muscle Shoals, Alabama, is a unique site for studying the complex intertwining of music, race, and the American South. Exploring this region reveals how and why the music recorded in Muscle Shoals became integral to the cultural framework within 1960s and `70s America. Making Music in Muscle Shoals utilizes an integrative framework that draws upon musicology, ethnomusicology, music theory, and complementary disciplines such as American and African-American studies as it examines this northwest Alabama music industry. By combining the musical analysis of key soul recordings, original interviews, and previously overlooked archival materials, this work constructs a multifaceted interpretation of the Muscle Shoals sound as a sonic product of time, place, and specific people, imbued with cultural meaning. The period considered, 1960 to 1975, includes the ascension, dominance, and decline of soul music on the pop music charts, as well as Muscle Shoals' transition from soul mecca to pop music hit factory. This dissertation relies upon two methodologies: (1) musical analysis, (2) ethnographic research, and two case studies. In the first I foreground the contributions of the all white studio musicians to identify the musical elements that characterize the so-called Muscle Shoals sound. My conclusions challenge the often narrowly-focused associations between race and soul music, and revise the place of Muscle Shoals within the narrative of an authentic (black) Southern musical past. This dissertation, therefore, provides a model for the study of people, music, and place. Ultimately, Making Music in Muscle Shoals fills lacunae within the larger narrative of popular music studies by assessing salient musical characteristics and interpreting the long-lasting cultural effects of this Alabama community.Doctor of Philosoph