The socio-cultural and learning experiences of music students in a British university

Research into student experience in Higher Education has largely focused on students' role as learners. However, the student experience encompasses a much wider range of behaviours and beliefs than can be captured through a focus on teaching and learning alone. I report the findings of a research project which explored student experience in the music department of a British red-brick university. Music presents a particularly interesting case study given the presence of extra-curricular musical activities, the opportunity for social interaction between staff and students outside the formal context of the lecture or seminar room, and perceptions of Western art music as a form of ‘middle-class’ culture. Analysis of survey and interview data reveals the centrality of musical performance activities, and in particular the development of a performer identity, to students' experience of belonging and achievement. The influence of students' socio-economic background is also considered: social class was largely invisible to respondents within the departmental context, possibly because it is an invisible norm, within larger contemporary discourses in which social class is equated with financial difference rather than cultural difference. However, the research revealed an association between socio-economic background, term-time employment and academic achievement. The implications of these findings for teaching and learning in music in Higher Education are considered

The Utilisation of Music by Casino Managers: An Interview Study

Music is ubiquitous in retail and commercial environments, with some managers believing that music can enhance the customer experience, increase footfall and sales and improve consumer satisfaction. Casino gambling is popular in the United Kingdom and anecdotal evidence suggests that music is often present. However, little is known about the rationale for music use from the perspective of casino managers. In this study semi-structured interviews were conducted with five casino managers to establish their motivations for utilising music, the factors informing their choice of music and the extent to which music is used with the intention of influencing gambling behaviour. Results showed that casino managers utilised two types of music—recorded background music, often sourced via external music supply companies and live music. Live music was often situated away from the gaming floor and used primarily to accompany participation in non-gambling activities. Recorded background music was not used with the direct aim of influencing customers’ gambling behaviour, but to create the right atmosphere for gambling and to promote certain moods within the casinos. To achieve these aims casino managers manipulated the tempo, volume and genre of the recorded background music. Casino managers also reported that some gamblers listen to music via portable music players, possibly with the intention of customising their gambling experience. This study is unique as it has provided a first-hand account of casino managers’ implicit theories with regards to why they utilise music and the roles which music is considered to fulfil in casinos

Chapter 16 Volcanic hazard vulnerability on São Miguel Island, Azores

AbstractIn recent years much progress has been made in researching a wide variety of extreme events on São Miguel. In addition there are a number of volcano-related risks that impact upon the people of São Miguel. Some of these may occur both before and during volcanic emergencies (e.g. earthquakes), whilst others render São Miguel dangerous even when its volcanoes are not erupting (e.g. flooding, landslides, tsunamis and health impacts, especially the effects of CO2seepage into dwellings). In this chapter we first define what vulnerability means to the people of São Miguel, and relate this to the cultural and economic characteristics of the island. The following aspects of vulnerability are discussed: (a) physical (i.e. housing, settlement and the characteristics of evacuation routes and plans); (b) demographic and economic; and (c) social and cultural and perceptual (i.e. whether people have an accurate cognition of risk). Particular areas of concern relate to housing: the identification of isolated dwellings that would be difficult to evacuate; the vulnerability/resilience of evacuation routes following recent infrastructure improvements; characteristics of the island's transient population; management of livestock under emergency conditions; local leadership roles; and educational outreach.</jats:p

Peak experiences with electronic dance music: Subjective experiences, physiological responses, and musical characteristics of the break routine

This paper investigates the role of musical features in shaping peak-pleasurable experiences of electronic dance music (EDM). Typically, large structural and dynamic changes occur in an EDM track, which can be referred to as the break routine, consisting of breakdown, build-up, and drop. Twenty-four participants listened to four EDM excerpts featuring break routines, and one excerpt without a break routine. Measures were taken of skin conductance, self-reported affect, and embodied aspects of subjective experience, and incidence of pleasant bodily sensations. Participants reported intense affective experience with EDM despite being removed from the club context, and attributed this experience to the drop in particular. They described these experiences as energizing and uplifting, and pointed to an embodied, kinaesthetic experience of the music. Drop sections of the music were associated with significantly higher skin conductance response than other sections of the break routine. Analysis confirms correlation between specific acoustic and musical features and peak-response as observed with other music genres, and also identifies novel musical characteristics particular to EDM associated with peak experience. This shows that pleasurable peak experience with EDM is related to specific musical features, and has embodied spatial and kinaesthetic experiential qualities even when listened to without dancing and away from the club context

A comparison of presence and emotion between immersive virtual reality and desktop displays for musical multimedia

Visual and auditory immersion influence sense of presence, and in some cases emotional response. However, these have previously been tested separately and it is unknown whether and how immersion influences experiences combining both, as found in musical multimedia. A within-participants experiment compared participants’ sense of presence (feeling of ‘being there’), and induced and perceived emotions, when experiencing a classical concert performance presented over headphones on a desktop PC (2D video with headlocked sound reproduction) or in virtual reality (VR) (head-mounted display presenting 360° video and reactive spatial sound reproduction). Emotion was measured by self-report questionnaires based on a three-dimensional model (pleasantness, tense arousal and energetic arousal) and presence was measured using four items (Sense of physical space, Engagement, Ecological Validity and Negative Effects). Participants experienced a significant increase in pleasantness and all dimensions of presence in VR compared to the desktop condition. Ratings of felt arousal and perceived emotions did not significantly differ between conditions. The “engagement” component of presence was positively correlated with emotion felt and perceived, whereas “ecological validity” and “sense of physical space” were related to emotions experienced in the desktop condition only. The role of presence should therefore be considered when investigating emotional responses to musical multimedia

Promoting prosociality in Colombia: Is music more effective than other cultural interventions?

This article reports a two-part study into the prosocial impacts of third sector cultural activities with children and adolescents in impoverished and violence-stricken urban neighbourhoods in Cali, Colombia. First, a year-long field study set out to compare a pre-existing music-training programme with a dance-training programme and a football-training programme with 9–14 year olds, to determine the extent to which each affords the development of empathic attitudes and prosocial behaviours. The music and dance programmes produced few significant changes in participants’ empathy or prosociality, and there were few significant differences between the empathy and prosociality of the participants in the two groups. Participant dropout prevented comparison with the football-training programme. Second, an interview study was used to understand the place of prosociality in the aims and work of policymakers, funders and third-sector practitioners running cultural activities for social impacts in the Cali region. The study revealed that the organisations aimed to achieve individual and social transformation by creating the conditions for transformation, evidenced as positive outcomes. Neither the measures used by the organisations themselves nor the psychosocial constructs of prosociality and empathy used by the researchers adequately evidenced some of the intended outcomes, such as enabling individuals to build a life project, practising and sustaining social inclusion and transforming communities, nor a path from individual to social transformation. Differences between the structure of cultural activities and their associated values meant that different activities were believed to lend themselves to social transformation more or less well. This highlights the need for critically reflective, co-constructed research using a fuller range of constructs that can capture the outcomes of these programmes for both individuals and groups

Volcanic hazard vulnerability on Sao Miguel Island, Azores

"In recent years much progress has been made in researching a wide variety of extreme events on S. Miguel. In addition there are a number of volcano-related risks which impact upon the people of S. Miguel. Some of these may occur both before and during volcanic emergencies (e.g. earthquakes), whilst others render S. Miguel dangerous even when its volcanoes are not erupting (e.g. flooding, landslides, tsunamis and health impacts, especially the effects of CO2 seepage into dwellings). In this chapter we first define what vulnerability means to the people of São Miguel, and relate this to the cultural and economic characteristics of the island. The following aspects of vulnerability are discussed: a. physical (i.e. housing, settlement and the characteristics of evacuation routes and plans); b. demographic and economic; c. social and cultural and perceptual (i.e. do people have an accurate cognition of risk). Particular areas of concern relate to housing; the identification of isolated dwellings which would be difficult to evacuate; the vulnerability/resilience of evacuation routes following recent infrastructure improvements; characteristics of the island's transient population; management of livestock under emergency conditions; local leadership roles and educational outreach.