Towards a Dynamic Model of the Palm Mute Guitar Technique Based on Capturing Pressure Profiles Between the Guitar Strings

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An investigation of the electric bass guitar in twentieth century popular music and jazz

The acoustic bass played mostly an accompanying role in popular music during the first half of the Twentieth Century, whereas the arrival of the electric bass guitar in the early 1950s presented new opportunities for acoustic bassists and musicians, composers, producers, engineers, the recording industry and the listening public. The distinctive sound of the electric bass guitar encouraged musicians to explore new timbres. The musicians who embraced the electric bass guitar developed its language, discovering and employing different techniques. The instrument became a catalyst for change and took on a more prominent role, forever changing the sonic landscape of popular music and jazz in the Twentieth Century

Live electronics in live performance : a performance practice emerging from the piano+ used in free improvisation

This thesis explores a performance practice within free improvisation. This is not a theory based improvisation – performances do not require specific preparation and the music refrains from repetition of musical structures. It engages in investigative and experimental approaches emerging from holistic considerations of acoustics, interaction and instrument, and also philosophy, psychology, sociopolitics and technology. The performance practice explores modes and approaches to working with the given potentiality of an electronically augmented acoustic instrument and involves the development of a suitably flexible computerised performance system, the piano+, combining extended techniques and real-time electroacoustic processes, which has the acoustic piano at its core. Contingencies of acoustic events and performance gestures – captured by audio analysis and sensors and combined to control the parameter space of computer processes – manipulate the fundamental properties of sound, timbre and time. Spherical abstractions, developed under consideration of Agamben’s potentiality and Sloterdijk’s philosophical theory of spheres, allow a shared metaphor for technical, instrumental, personal, and interpersonal concerns. This facilitates a theoretical approach for heuristic and investigative improvisation where performance is considered ‘Ereignis’ (an event) for sociopolitically aware activities that draw on the situational potentiality and present themselves in fragile and context dependent forms. Ever new relationships can be found and developed, but can equally be lost. Sloterdijk supplied the concept of knowledge resulting from equipping our ‘inner space’, an image suiting non-linearity of thought that transpires from Kuhl’s psychological PSI-theory to explain human motivation and behaviour. The role of technology – diversion and subversion of sound and activity – creates a space between performer and instrument that retains a fundamental pianism but defies expectation and anticipation. Responsibility for one’s actions is required to deal with the unexpected without resorting to preliminary strategies restricting potential discourses, particularly within ensemble situations. This type of performance embraces the ‘Ereignis’.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Live Electronics in Live Performance: A Performance Practice Emerging from the piano+ used in Free Improvisation.

This thesis explores a performance practice within free improvisation. This is not a theory based improvisation – performances do not require specific preparation and the music refrains from repetition of musical structures. It engages in investigative and experimental approaches emerging from holistic considerations of acoustics, interaction and instrument, and also philosophy, psychology, sociopolitics and technology. The performance practice explores modes and approaches to working with the given potentiality of an electronically augmented acoustic instrument and involves the development of a suitably flexible computerised performance system, the piano+, combining extended techniques and real-time electroacoustic processes, which has the acoustic piano at its core. Contingencies of acoustic events and performance gestures – captured by audio analysis and sensors and combined to control the parameter space of computer processes – manipulate the fundamental properties of sound, timbre and time. Spherical abstractions, developed under consideration of Agamben’s potentiality and Sloterdijk’s philosophical theory of spheres, allow a shared metaphor for technical, instrumental, personal, and interpersonal concerns. This facilitates a theoretical approach for heuristic and investigative improvisation where performance is considered ‘Ereignis’ (an event) for sociopolitically aware activities that draw on the situational potentiality and present themselves in fragile and context dependent forms. Ever new relationships can be found and developed, but can equally be lost. Sloterdijk supplied the concept of knowledge resulting from equipping our ‘inner space’, an image suiting non-linearity of thought that transpires from Kuhl’s psychological PSI-theory to explain human motivation and behaviour. The role of technology – diversion and subversion of sound and activity – creates a space between performer and instrument that retains a fundamental pianism but defies expectation and anticipation. Responsibility for one’s actions is required to deal with the unexpected without resorting to preliminary strategies restricting potential discourses, particularly within ensemble situations. This type of performance embraces the ‘Ereignis’

Interacção gestual na música para instrumentos e sons electroacústicos

Doutoramento em MúsicaEsta tese apresenta alguns aspectos em como o fenómeno do gesto musical pode ser compreendido na percepção da interação musical na música para instrumentos e sons electroacústicos. Através de exemplos de análise, classificação e categorização de diferentes relacões gestuais entre instrumentos e sons electroacústicos, pretende-se estabelecer modelos específicos de interacção que podem ser aplicados como método analítico assim como na composição musical. A pesquisa parte de uma variedade de definições sobre gesto musical na música em geral, na música contemporânea e na música electroacústica em particular, para subsequentemente incluir as relações entre dois eventos sonoros com características diferentes - o electroacústico e o instrumental. São essencialmente abordadas as relações entre gestos musicais através da análise de diversas características: altura, ritmo, timbre, dinâmica, características contrapontísticas, espectromorfológicas, semânticas e espaciais. O resultado da pesquisa teórica serviu de suporte à composição de diversas obras, onde estes aspectos são explorados sob o ponto de vista da criação musical.This dissertation presents some aspects how the phenomenon of musical gesture can be understood in the perception of musical interaction in music for instruments and electroacoustic sounds. Through analytical examples, classification and categorization of different kinds of gesture relationships between instruments and electroacoustic sounds, the aim is to establish specific models of interaction that can be applied as analytical method, as well as in composition. This research departs from a variety of previous approaches to gesture in music in general, and more specifically contemporary music and electroacoustic music, in order to include the relations between two sound events with different characteristics - the electroacoustic and the instrumental. This research focuses on relations between musical gestures, through the analysis of several characteristics (pitch, rhythm, timbre, dynamics, contrapuntal, spectromorphologic, semantic and spatial). The result of theoretical research has served as basis for composition of various works, where these aspects are explored from the point of view of musical creation.FC

Playing the changes: rediscovering the lexicon of electronic organ performance practice from 1943 to 2015

This thesis explores the historical development of the electronic organ via the survey, analysis and comparison of stylistic practices heard in historic recordings. This project establishes that the instrument went through several significant stages of development since its introduction in 1935, which have hitherto been undocumented in scholarly work. As this thesis will show, the changing design of the instrument can be aligned with an evident expansion in the stylistic lexicon of musical arrangement and performance. This aural-based micro-genre of electronic music is rediscovered via a multi-faceted survey model that triangulates the results of transcribed recordings, reconstructive performance on period instruments and practitioner survey. This addresses the typical challenge of historical instrument study: that of defining the degree to which technology shapes musical performance. Chapter One places the instrument within a cultural context via a review of literature. The reason for the instrument’s lack of appeal to musicologists is explained as the result of an image problem: the instrument is often regarded as a dated appliance of home entertainment and exists within a method of practice which aligns more closely to that of jazz than Western art music. By removing stereotypes and establishing the displaced cultural values that the instrument embodies, it is possible to see the true value of the research process. Chapter Two begins to present the findings of the survey by examining some of the earliest recordings made on the Hammond organ. The chapter illustrates how certain design flaws in an instrument that was originally Christopher Stanbury Introduction 6 intended as a low-cost replacement for a pipe organ led to an entirely different trajectory than the inventor’s initial ecclesiastical application. Chapter Three details further updates to the original Hammond design whilst correcting and expanding upon previous definitions of features that are defined in literature. The Lowrey organ is also introduced, along with an illustration of why the unique features and tonal qualities of the instrument resulted in a different approach to musical arrangement and performance. Chapter Four documents the introduction of emulative voicing, whereby instruments of the nineteen seventies and early eighties were designed to imitate the sound of other acoustic instruments. The resultant change in arrangement and performance style is illustrated and compared to the results of previous chapters. Chapter Five details instruments made by the Yamaha Corporation that feature digital synthesis technologies. The vast distance between these instruments and previous models, both in terms of technological profile and resultant performance practice, is illustrated and discussed. Chapter Six provides a summary of the survey findings and reexamines the evident changes in the instrument and performance practice. The nature of the relationship between organist and instrument is discussed, along with a return to some of the literature reviewed in Chapter One. Discrepancies between the conclusions of some authors and those of this thesis are outlined and discussed

Playing the changes: rediscovering the lexicon of electronic organ performance practice from 1943 to 2015

This thesis explores the historical development of the electronic organ via the survey, analysis and comparison of stylistic practices heard in historic recordings. This project establishes that the instrument went through several significant stages of development since its introduction in 1935, which have hitherto been undocumented in scholarly work. As this thesis will show, the changing design of the instrument can be aligned with an evident expansion in the stylistic lexicon of musical arrangement and performance. This aural-based micro-genre of electronic music is rediscovered via a multi-faceted survey model that triangulates the results of transcribed recordings, reconstructive performance on period instruments and practitioner survey. This addresses the typical challenge of historical instrument study: that of defining the degree to which technology shapes musical performance. Chapter One places the instrument within a cultural context via a review of literature. The reason for the instrument’s lack of appeal to musicologists is explained as the result of an image problem: the instrument is often regarded as a dated appliance of home entertainment and exists within a method of practice which aligns more closely to that of jazz than Western art music. By removing stereotypes and establishing the displaced cultural values that the instrument embodies, it is possible to see the true value of the research process. Chapter Two begins to present the findings of the survey by examining some of the earliest recordings made on the Hammond organ. The chapter illustrates how certain design flaws in an instrument that was originally Christopher Stanbury Introduction 6 intended as a low-cost replacement for a pipe organ led to an entirely different trajectory than the inventor’s initial ecclesiastical application. Chapter Three details further updates to the original Hammond design whilst correcting and expanding upon previous definitions of features that are defined in literature. The Lowrey organ is also introduced, along with an illustration of why the unique features and tonal qualities of the instrument resulted in a different approach to musical arrangement and performance. Chapter Four documents the introduction of emulative voicing, whereby instruments of the nineteen seventies and early eighties were designed to imitate the sound of other acoustic instruments. The resultant change in arrangement and performance style is illustrated and compared to the results of previous chapters. Chapter Five details instruments made by the Yamaha Corporation that feature digital synthesis technologies. The vast distance between these instruments and previous models, both in terms of technological profile and resultant performance practice, is illustrated and discussed. Chapter Six provides a summary of the survey findings and reexamines the evident changes in the instrument and performance practice. The nature of the relationship between organist and instrument is discussed, along with a return to some of the literature reviewed in Chapter One. Discrepancies between the conclusions of some authors and those of this thesis are outlined and discussed

The translation of cuatro learning in open and closed systems of transmission in Colombia: Towards an aural/oral approach in higher education

This study investigates the cultural and educational elements involved in learning the cuatro, a traditional Colombian and Venezuelan plucked four-string instrument. I set out to investigate the basis for an identification of two, what I call ‘transmission paradigms’. In one paradigm, learning takes place via relatively ‘open systems of transmission’. These occur in contexts such as family, friends, social gatherings, festivals and self-directed learning. They involve mainly aural/oral and holistic practices. The ethos is relatively unsystematic, random and strongly situated in extramusical cultural practices. In the other paradigm, learning occurs predominantly in relatively ‘closed systems of transmission’. These are common in institutional settings, from the university to the private lesson. They tend to relate to learning that also involves a strong presence of imitation, but through graded exercises and pieces. The ethos is relatively systematic – based on isolation of knowledge, linearity, and tending towards fragmentation. In the first paradigm, both explicit knowledge (e.g. technical abilities) and tacit knowledge (e.g. feel and expression) are permanently at the centre of learning; with the second paradigm, however, one tends to privilege explicit knowledge since it is more easily isolated, objectified and fragmented. A mixed methods approach was used, combining interviews and ethnography. Interviews were conducted with 44 cuatro players from Colombia and Venezuela who had contrasting profiles in terms of age and musical experience. Participatory and nonparticipatory observations took place within open transmission paradigms consisting mainly of large and small group gatherings at festivals; observations were also conducted within closed paradigms consisting of classes and one-to-one lessons at music academies and universities. Analysis took into account three crosscutting categories: ways of learning and teaching, contents of transmission, and teachers and learners’ perceptions. The most relevant findings of the study are that, although there were a number of contrasting elements between the two transmission paradigms, there were also many areas of similarity; in addition, some areas, such as the use of notation, turned out to be less contrasting than I had expected. Most importantly, a variety of what I call ‘processes of translation’ occurred between them. Moved by personal interest, cuatro players learn through musical paths that include, to differing degrees, both paradigms of transmission. All of the participants had been exposed to open systems of transmission settings, and at least 30 out of the 44 had also had some type of contact with closed systems of transmission. Open settings are usually embedded in socio-cultural contexts that enhance the emergence of intense processes of early music enculturation, while most closed systems of transmission settings evidence intentional efforts to establish explicit contact with cultural contexts such as active participation in music festivals. With the exception of universities and private tutelage, where individual lessons are at the centre of learning, most cuatro transmission takes place within collective spaces of music making. In general terms, cuatro transmission is based on imitation. Notation is usually subsidiary and open, in the sense that musicians usually invent personal codes. While in open settings of transmission learning is rather holistic, in closed settings transmission generally it does imply linear and logical simple-to-complex sequences. Musicians are very versatile in terms of their ability to play different instruments and their capacity to accompany dancing. Within all contexts there is some level of integration of performing, improvising, arranging and composing. Building on these findings, the present project puts forward a proposal for the teaching of the cuatro at local universities. Specific focus is placed on the idea of a ‘mestizo’ pedagogy that juxtaposes modern systematic approaches – which tend to be more of the closed type mentioned above – and local traditional aural/oral approaches in music transmission, which are more unsystematic and holistic in nature and are thus related to the open systems of transmission that were explored. This proposal suggests collective music making as a methodological axis of transmission within the university setting, and seeks to enhance the development of individual artistic voices, feel, celebration of music and vital contact with the cultural contexts that frame musical production