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- All Subjects: COVID-19
- All Subjects: Music
- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Description
In this paper we explore the design, implementation, and analysis of two different approaches for providing music recommendations to targeted users by implementing the Gram-ART unsupervised learning algorithm. We provide a content filtering approach using a dataset of one million songs which include various metadata tags and a collaborative filtering approach using the listening histories of over one million users. The two methods are evaluated by their results from Million Song Dataset Challenge. While both placed near the top third of the 150 challenge participants, the knowledge gained from the experiments will help further refine the process and likely produced much higher results in a system with the potential to scale several magnitudes.
ContributorsMeiss, Trevor (Author) / Meuth, Ryan (Thesis director) / Miller, Phill (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The meanings and values that people assign to music and the material culture that music creation offers make excellent data sources for uncovering new and transformative aspects of culture. Gospel music is a subculture that emphasizes a unique performance style, and is based upon culturally specific religious, social, musical, and historical contexts. Students in the ensemble who musically developed through a Western classical-based connective strand may experience some adjustment from what they know and develop new skills to navigate across cultural difference. The purpose of this study was to document how participants in a specific university gospel choir setting navigated across cultural differences for gospel choir study and performance. Participants were recruited and interviewed a total of three times about their experience in the ensemble. Questions that guided the study focused on three areas: religious difference, social difference, and musical difference. An in-case analysis of each participant showed that overall, experiences in the choir were positive. Participants from a variety of diverse backgrounds approached new cultural learning differences such as physical movement, aural music learning, religious text, and performance context with an open mind and an individualized way of navigating through difference. In order for participants to reach a point where they felt that they had cultural competency in a new musical area, in this case, the establishment of a strong community was especially essential because of the assumptions attached to this ensemble and because of many of the participants' initial limited understanding of cultural markers for learning music that draw on improvisatory and aural means. This study implies that there are connections between each cultural difference that are related. For the educator intending to introduce new cultural competencies in their classrooms, considering the dynamics in which cultural differences might interact with each other is essential.
ContributorsCrane, Janelle Elizabeth (Author) / Thompson, Jason (Thesis director) / Schmidt, Margaret (Committee member) / School of Music (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
The Mizrahi Jews have greatly influenced current Israeli culture through their music and food. The Mizrahi immigrated from Middle Eastern countries and brought with them their music and food. Their music has changed slowly over time. Musiqa Mizrahit started as music the Mizrahi brought with them when the immigrated to Israel. As they adjusted to Israeli society, they began switching the Arabic words to Hebrew. Musiqa Mizrahit really took off with the creation of cassette recordings that allowed anyone to cheaply record music and share it. As Musiqa Mizrahit became more accessible, it slowly gained popularity across Israel. As popularity for the genre, it slowly became accepted in Israeli society. Up until then, Musiqa Mizrahit had been discriminated against and was not considered part of Israeli culture. Nowadays, Musiqa Mizrahit is very popular and widely accepted in Israel. The food was accepted by the Ashkenazi in the first two decades of the countries existence by the widespread Israeli pushback in Mandatory Palestine and into the existence of the brand new country. now many of the Mizrahi foods are considered part of the Israeli national cuisine.
ContributorsKoester, Samantha Lanette (Author) / Shemer, Judith (Thesis director) / Ali, Souad (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Introduction: This research examined the prevalence of Chinese older adults’ risk factors (perceived racial discrimination, fear of COVID-19), protective factors (resilience, community support), and mental health status (depression, PTSD) in Chinese older adults aged 65 years and above during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the relationships between risk and protective factors and their mental health outcomes were explored.
Methods: This study was a secondary data analysis using the anonymous survey data collected by a research team. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the distributions of the variables; and hierarchical multiple regression models were conducted to examine their relationships.
Results: The sample included 90 Chinese older adults in the United States. The participants demonstrated a moderate level of fear of COVID-19 (M= 21.55, SD = 4.75; range 10-33). The participants scored on the lower end of the perceived discrimination scale (M = .40, SD = 1.44 before COVID-19; M = .77, SD = 1.54 during COVID-19; range 0-7). Resilience (M = 29.02, SD = 5.78 on a scale of 0-40) demonstrated a moderate to moderately high level of resilience. As for community support, 40.3% of participants reported receiving assistance or information regarding COVID-19 from local Asian organizations, indicating a moderate level of community support. The participants reported a relatively low score for PTSD (M = 0.75 SD = 1.17 on a scale from 0 to 5) or depression (M = 2.76 SD = 2.72 on a scale from 0 to 27). Consistent with hypotheses, findings of hierarchical regression models suggested that the risk factors fear of COVID-19 and perceived racial discrimination were positively associated with PTSD symptoms while resilience was negatively associated with PTSD symptoms. Differently, none of the risk factors were significantly associated with depression symptoms while resilience showed a negative relationship with depression symptoms.
Conclusion: The findings of this research will help public health officials better understand the needs of minority and aging communities to best support them during crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic.
ContributorsMang, David (Author) / Chia-Chen Chen, Angela (Thesis director) / Li, Wei (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
This thesis proposes and explores an adapted approach to music recommendation and
event promotion, aimed at providing streaming users more accessibility to local artists,
performers, and events. By focusing specifically on the enrichment of local music ecosystems,
this research is undertaken with the express interest of local music artists, venues, and
streamers in mind. It seeks to serve a multifaceted goal: revitalizing local music scenes by
making them more visible and accessible through streaming platforms; empowering local music artists by providing them with a broader audience and new opportunities for engagement; reconnecting artists with the community, thereby fostering a stronger sense of local identity and cultural cohesion; and providing economic benefit to local venues through increased attendance and engagement. In essence, this thesis intends to harness the power of streaming platforms to rekindle the localized relationships between listeners, artists, and venues, thereby contributing to the renaissance, sustainability, and vibrancy of local music cultures. These outcomes will be achieved through a two-pronged theoretical and practical approach, incorporating Proof of Concept (PoC) algorithm with the Business Model Canvas
(BMC). A Proof of Concept recommendation algorithm was developed as a tool to empirically demonstrate the viability of the proposed strategies. This prototype music recommendation
algorithm was designed and tested with the explicit goal of creating a novel music recommendation algorithm that biased users towards exposure of smaller local artists and
events.
ContributorsBradley, Robert (Author) / Clarkin, Michael (Co-author) / Ellini, Andre (Co-author) / Mancenido, Michelle (Thesis director) / Sirugudi, Kumar (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
Tempe City Roots is an upcoming music festival that aims to promote sustainability and community in the City of Tempe. Accessibility has been notably absent from the ideation process for this festival, despite being essential for a sustainable and community-oriented festival. Equity and justice are core to sustainability and disabled people are important members of the Tempe community. I have undergone a thorough research and ideation process to create nine accessibility-centered ideas for Tempe City Roots based on the thoughts and experiences of the disabled community. These ideas would make Tempe City Roots more accessible and inclusive for all, and allow each attendee to have a safe and enjoyable experience.
ContributorsColucci, Melody (Author) / Reeves, James Scott (Thesis director) / Kuhn, Anthony (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The flute is a unique instrument for a multitude of reasons. Culturally, the flute has existed for centuries and spanned continents. Musically, it is unlike other woodwind instruments in that it requires no reed to produce sound. Physically, the acoustical properties of the flute follow that of an open organ pipe and there are numerous variables that can affect the flute's sound. By gaining a fundamental understanding of the history of the flute, the physics of music, and how a flute produces sound, we can begin to look at these variables, such as material, bore, and size, and understand the physics behind the flute and piccolo. This knowledge can then be applied to our own analysis of flute and piccolo playing to examine if these conclusions hold true.
ContributorsConnolly, Grace (Author) / Foy, Joseph (Thesis director) / Hannon, Mikaela (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Physics (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor)
Created2024-05