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Description
This project sheds light on trombonist Andy Martin's improvisation and provides tools for further learning. A biographical sketch gives background on Martin, establishing him as a newer jazz master. Through the transcription and analysis of nine improvised solos, Martin's improvisational voice and vocabulary is deciphered and presented as a series of seven thematic hooks. These patterns, rhythms, and gestures are described, analyzed, and presented as examples of how each is used in the solos. The hooks are also set as application exercises for learning jazz style and improvisation. These exercises demonstrate how to use Martin's hooks as a means for furthering one's own improvisation. A full method for successful transcription is also presented, along with the printed transcriptions and their accompanying information sheets.
ContributorsWilkinson, Michael Scott (Author) / Ericson, John (Thesis advisor) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Global climate change (GCC) is among the most important issues of the 21st century. Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change are some of the salient local and regional challenges scientists, decision makers, and the general public face today and will be in the near future. However, designed adaptation and mitigation strategies do not guarantee success in coping with global climate change. Despite the robust and convincing body for anthropogenic global climate change research and science there is still a significant gap between the recommendations provided by the scientific community and the actual actions by the public and policy makers. In order to design, implement, and generate sufficient public support for policies and planning interventions at the national and international level, it is necessary to have a good understanding of the public's perceptions regarding GCC. Based on survey research in nine countries, the purpose of this study is two-fold: First, to understand the nature of public perceptions of global climate change in different countries; and secondly to identi-fy perception factors which have a significant impact on the public's willingness to sup-port GCC policies or commit to behavioral changes to reduce GHG emissions. Factors such as trust in GCC information which need to be considered in future climate change communication efforts are also dealt with in this dissertation. This study has identified several aspects that need to be considered in future communication programs. GCC is characterized by high uncertainties, unfamiliar risks, and other characteristics of hazards which make personal connections, responsibility and engagement difficult. Communication efforts need to acknowledge these obstacles, build up trust and motivate the public to be more engaged in reducing GCC by emphasizing the multiple benefits of many policies outside of just reducing GCC. Levels of skepticism among the public towards the reality of GCC as well as the trustworthiness and sufficien-cy of the scientific findings varies by country. Thus, communicators need to be aware of their audience in order to decide how educational their program needs to be.
ContributorsHagen, Bjoern (Author) / Pijawka, David (Thesis advisor) / Brazel, Anthony (Committee member) / Chhetri, Netra (Committee member) / Guhathakurta, Subhrajit (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Jazz continues, into its second century, as one of the most important musics taught in public middle and high schools. Even so, research related to how students learn, especially in their earliest interactions with jazz culture, is limited. Weaving together interviews and observations of junior and senior high school jazz players and teachers, private studio instructors, current university students majoring in jazz, and university and college jazz faculty, I developed a composite sketch of a secondary school student learning to play jazz. Using arts-based educational research methods, including the use of narrative inquiry and literary non-fiction, the status of current jazz education and the experiences by novice jazz learners is explored. What emerges is a complex story of students and teachers negotiating the landscape of jazz in and out of early twenty-first century public schools. Suggestions for enhancing jazz experiences for all stakeholders follow, focusing on access and the preparation of future jazz teachers.
ContributorsKelly, Keith B (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra (Thesis advisor) / Tobias, Evan (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Sullivan, Jill (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Concerto for Piano and Chamber Orchestra was conceived in February of 2013, and conceptually it is my attempt to fuse personal expressions of jazz and classical music into one fully realized statement. It is a three movement work (fast, slow, fast) for 2 fl., 2 ob., 2 cl., bsn., 2 hrn., 2 tpt., tbn., pno., perc., str. (6,4,2,2,1). The work is approximately 27 minutes in duration. The first movement of the Concerto is written in a fluid sonata form. A fugato begins where the second theme would normally appear, and the second theme does not fully appear until near the end of the solo piano section. The result is that the second theme when finally revealed is so reminiscent of the history of jazz and classical synthesis that it does not sound completely new, and in fact is a return of something that was heard before, but only hinted at in this piece. The second movement is a kind of deconstructive set of variations, with a specific theme and harmonic pattern implied throughout the movement. However, the full theme is not disclosed until the final variation. The variations are interrupted by moments of pure rhythmic music, containing harmony made up of major chords with an added fourth, defying resolution, and dissolving each time back into a new variation. The third movement is in rondo form, using rhythmic and harmonic influences from jazz. The percussion plays a substantial role in this movement, acting as a counterpoint to the piano part throughout. This movement and the piece concludes with an extended coda, inspired indirectly by the simple complexities of an improvisational piano solo, building in complexity as the concerto draws to a close.
ContributorsSneider, Elliot (Author) / Rogers, Rodney (Thesis advisor) / DeMars, James (Committee member) / Hackbarth, Glenn (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
The primary function of the medium access control (MAC) protocol is managing access to a shared communication channel. From the viewpoint of transmitters, the MAC protocol determines each transmitter's persistence, the fraction of time it is permitted to spend transmitting. Schedule-based schemes implement stable persistences, achieving low variation in delay and throughput, and sometimes bounding maximum delay. However, they adapt slowly, if at all, to changes in the network. Contention-based schemes are agile, adapting quickly to changes in perceived contention, but suffer from short-term unfairness, large variations in packet delay, and poor performance at high load. The perfect MAC protocol, it seems, embodies the strengths of both contention- and schedule-based approaches while avoiding their weaknesses. This thesis culminates in the design of a Variable-Weight and Adaptive Topology Transparent (VWATT) MAC protocol. The design of VWATT first required answers for two questions: (1) If a node is equipped with schedules of different weights, which weight should it employ? (2) How is the node to compute the desired weight in a network lacking centralized control? The first question is answered by the Topology- and Load-Aware (TLA) allocation which defines target persistences that conform to both network topology and traffic load. Simulations show the TLA allocation to outperform IEEE 802.11, improving on the expectation and variation of delay, throughput, and drop rate. The second question is answered in the design of an Adaptive Topology- and Load-Aware Scheduled (ATLAS) MAC that computes the TLA allocation in a decentralized and adaptive manner. Simulation results show that ATLAS converges quickly on the TLA allocation, supporting highly dynamic networks. With these questions answered, a construction based on transversal designs is given for a variable-weight topology transparent schedule that allows nodes to dynamically and independently select weights to accommodate local topology and traffic load. The schedule maintains a guarantee on maximum delay when the maximum neighbourhood size is not too large. The schedule is integrated with the distributed computation of ATLAS to create VWATT. Simulations indicate that VWATT offers the stable performance characteristics of a scheduled MAC while adapting quickly to changes in topology and traffic load.
ContributorsLutz, Jonathan (Author) / Colbourn, Charles J (Thesis advisor) / Syrotiuk, Violet R. (Thesis advisor) / Konjevod, Goran (Committee member) / Lloyd, Errol L. (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
This is a study of the plight of smallholder agriculture in Northwest Costa Rica. More specifically, this is the story of 689 rice farms, of an average size of 7.2 hectares and totaling just less than 5,300 hectares within the largest agricultural irrigation system in Central America. I was able to define the physical bounds of this study quite clearly, but one would be mistaken to think that this simplicity transfers to a search for rural development solutions in this case. Those solutions lie in the national and international politics that appear to have allowed a select few to pick winners and losers in Costa Rican agriculture in the face of global changes. In this research, I found that water scarcity among smallholder farms between 2006 and 2013 was the product of the adaptations of other, more powerful actors in 2002 to threats of Costa Rica's ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement. I demonstrate how the adaptations of these more powerful actors produced new risks for others, and how this ultimately prevented the rural development program from meeting its development goals. I reflect on my case study to draw conclusions about the different ways risks may emerge in rural development programs of this type. Then, I focus on the household level and show that determinants of successful adaptation to one type of global change risk may make farmers more vulnerable to other types, creating a "catch-22" among vulnerable farmers adapting to multiple global change risks. Finally, I define adaptation limits in smallholder rice farming in Northwest Costa Rica. I show that the abandonment of livelihood security and well-being, and of the unique "parcelaro" identities of rice farmers in this region define adaptation limits in this context.
ContributorsWarner, Benjamin (Author) / Childers, Daniel (Thesis advisor) / Eakin, Hallie (Committee member) / Abbott, Joshua (Committee member) / Wiek, Arnim (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This multiple-case study addresses the nature of the out-of-school musical engagements of four undergraduate students who were enrolled as jazz studies majors in a large school of music in the U.S. southwest. It concerns what they did musically when they were outside of school, why they did what they did, what experiences they said they learned from, and how their out-of-school engagements related to their in-school curriculum. Research on jazz education, informal learning practices in music, and the in-school and out-of-school experiences of students informed this study. Data were generated through observation, interviews, video blogs (vlogs), and SMS text messages.
Analysis of data revealed that participants engaged with music when outside of school by practicing, teaching, gigging, recording, playing music with others, attending live musical performances, socializing with other musicians, listening, and engaging with non-jazz musical styles (aside from listening). They engaged with music because of: 1) the love of music, 2) the desire for musical excellence, 3) financial considerations, 4) the aspiration to affect others positively with music, and 5) the connection with other musicians. Participants indicated that they learned by practicing, listening to recordings, attending live performances, playing paid engagements, socializing, teaching, and reading. In-school and out-of-school experience and learning had substantial but not complete overlap.
The study implies that a balance between in-school and out-of-school musical experience may help undergraduate jazz studies students to maximize their overall musical learning. It also suggests that at least some jazz studies majors are fluent in a wide variety of music learning practices that make them versatile, flexible, and employable musicians. Further implications are provided for undergraduate jazz students as well as collegiate jazz educators, the music education profession, and schools of music. Additional implications concern future research and the characterization of jazz study in academia.
Analysis of data revealed that participants engaged with music when outside of school by practicing, teaching, gigging, recording, playing music with others, attending live musical performances, socializing with other musicians, listening, and engaging with non-jazz musical styles (aside from listening). They engaged with music because of: 1) the love of music, 2) the desire for musical excellence, 3) financial considerations, 4) the aspiration to affect others positively with music, and 5) the connection with other musicians. Participants indicated that they learned by practicing, listening to recordings, attending live performances, playing paid engagements, socializing, teaching, and reading. In-school and out-of-school experience and learning had substantial but not complete overlap.
The study implies that a balance between in-school and out-of-school musical experience may help undergraduate jazz studies students to maximize their overall musical learning. It also suggests that at least some jazz studies majors are fluent in a wide variety of music learning practices that make them versatile, flexible, and employable musicians. Further implications are provided for undergraduate jazz students as well as collegiate jazz educators, the music education profession, and schools of music. Additional implications concern future research and the characterization of jazz study in academia.
ContributorsLibman, Jeffrey B (Author) / Tobias, Evan (Thesis advisor) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / Solis, Theodore (Committee member) / Stauffer, Sandra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
The study of artist transcriptions is an effective vehicle for assimilating the language and style of jazz. Pairing transcriptions with historical context provides further insight into the back story of the artists' life and method. Innovators are often the subject of published studies of this kind, but transcriptions of plunger-mute master Al Grey have been overlooked. This document fills that void, combining historical context with thirteen transcriptions of Grey's trombone features and improvisations. Selection of transcribed materials was based on an examination of historically significant solos in Al Grey's fifty-five-year career. The results are a series of open-horn and plunger solos that showcase Grey's sound, technical brilliance, and wide range of dynamics and articulation. This collection includes performances from a mix of widely available and obscure recordings, the majority coming from engagements with the Count Basie Orchestra. Methods learned from the study of Al Grey's book Plunger Techniques were vital in the realization of his work. The digital transcription software Amazing Slow Downer by Roni Music aided in deciphering some of Grey's more complicated passages and, with octave displacement, helped bring previously inaudible moments to the foreground.
ContributorsHopkins, Charles E (Author) / Pilafian, Sam (Thesis advisor) / Stauffer, Sandra (Committee member) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Ericson, John (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This project explores the cultural identity of a refugee group named Meskhetian Turks, an ethnic group forced to relocate multiple times in their long history. Driven from their original homeland and scattered around Central Asia and Eastern Europe for decades, approximately 15,000 Meskhetian Turks have been granted refugee status by the American government in recent years. The focus of this study is a group of Meskhetian Turkish refugees in the Phoenix metropolitan area. This is a narrative study conducted through twelve open-ended in-depth interviews and researcher's observations within the community. The interview questions revolved around three aspects of Meskhetian cultural identity, which were represented in each research question. These aspects were: how Meskhetian Turks define their own culture; how they define their connection to Turkey and Turks; and how they define Americans, American culture and their place within the American society. The first research question resulted in three themes: history, preservation of culture, and sense of community. The second research question revealed two themes: Meskhetian Turk's ties to Turkey, and the group's relationship with and perception of Turks in the area. The final research question provided two themes: the group's adaptation to United States, and interviewees' observations regarding the American culture. Exploring these themes, and examining the connection between these aspects provided a complex and intertwined web of connections, which explain Meskhetian Turkish cultural identity. Meskhetian Turks' cultural self-definition, relation with the Turkish community, and perceptions of American culture are all inter-connected, which supports and furthers a dialectic approach to cultural studies. The study also contributes to refugee adaptation literature by examining cultural identity influences on the group's adaptation in the United States and offering insight and suggestions for improving the adaptation process.
ContributorsBilge, Hatice Nurhayat (Author) / Broome, Benjamin J. (Thesis advisor) / Martinez, Jacqueline (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
Family adaptation to child developmental disability is a dynamic transactional process that has yet to be tested in a longitudinal, rigorous fashion. In addition, although children with developmental delays frequently have behavior problems, not enough research has examined possible underlying mechanisms in the relation between child developmental delay, adaptation and behavior problems. In the current study, factor analysis examined how best to conceptualize the construct of family adaptation to developmental delay. Also, longitudinal growth curve modeling tested models in which child behavior problems mediated the relation between developmental risk and indices of family adaptation. Participants included 130 typically developing children and their families (Mental Development Index [MDI] > 85) and 104 children with developmental delays and their families (MDI < 85). Data were collected yearly between the ages of three and eight as part of a multi-site, longitudinal investigation examining the interrelations among children's developmental status, family processes, and the emergence of child psychopathology. Results of the current study indicated that adaptation is best conceptualized as a multi-index construct. Different aspects of adaptation changed in unique ways over time, with some facets of adaptation remaining stable while others fluctuated. Child internalizing and externalizing behavior problems were found to decrease over time for both children with developmental delays and typically developing children. Child behavior problems were also found to mediate the relation between developmental risk and family adaptation for over half of the mediation pathways. Significant mediation results indicated that children with developmental delays showed higher early levels of behavior problems, which in turn was associated with more maladaptive adaptation. These findings provide further evidence that families of children with developmental delays experience both positive and more challenging changes in their families over time. This study implies important next steps for research and clinical practice in the area of developmental disability.
ContributorsPedersen y Arbona, Anita (Author) / Crnic, Keith A (Thesis advisor) / Sandler, Irwin (Committee member) / Lemery, Kathryn (Committee member) / Enders, Craig (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011