Matching Items (3)
Description
Throughout history composers and artists have been inspired by the natural world. Nature's influence on music is extraordinary, though water in particular, has had a unique magnetic pull. The large number of compositions dealing with water, from Handel's Water Music (1717) to Ros Bandt's and Leah Barclay's Rivers Talk (2012), reflects this continuous fascination. Since the late 1940s, composers have ventured further and brought actual sounds from the environment, including water recorded on tape, into the musical arena. Moreover, since the 1960s, some composers have nudged their listeners to become more ecologically aware. Much skepticism exists, as with any unconventional idea in history, and as a result compositions belonging to this realm of musique concrète are not as widely recognized and examined as they should be. In this thesis, I consider works of three composers: Annea Lockwood, Eve Beglarian, and Leah Barclay, who not only draw inspiration from nature, but also use their creativity to call attention to pristine environments. All three composers embrace the idea that music can be broadly defined and use technology as a tool to communicate their artistic visions. These artists are from three different countries and represent three generations of composers who set precedents for a new way of composing, listening to, performing, and thinking about music and the environment. This thesis presents case studies of Lockwood's A Sound Map of the Danube River, Beglarian's Mississippi River Project, and Barclay's Sound Mirrors. This thesis draws on unpublished correspondence with the composers, analytical theories of R. Murray Schafer, Barry Truax, and Martijn Voorvelt, among others, musicological publications, eco-critical and environmental studies by Al Gore, Bill McKibben, and Vandana Shiva, as well as research by feminist scholars. As there is little written on music and nature from an eco-critical and eco-feminist standpoint, this thesis will contribute to the recognition of significant figures in contemporary music that might otherwise be overlooked. In this study I maintain that composers and sound artists engage with sounds in ways that reveal aspects of particular places, and their attitudes toward these places to lead listeners toward a greater ecological awareness.
ContributorsRichardson, Jamilyn (Author) / Feisst, Sabine (Thesis advisor) / Solís, Ted (Committee member) / Norton, Kay (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
ABSTRACT The catalyst for this research was rooted in a patient satisfaction survey reported the need for an ambient quiet setting. This study used a descriptive comparative design augmented with qualitative data. The sample consisted of 54 participants came from one of three primary care clinics listened to 22 minutes of existing natural clinical sounds while the others listened to therapeutic sound hertz in a treatment room. The survey data correlated identify if an association existed or not to add therapeutic soundscape hertz back into a clinical ambient setting could affect the patient experience and wellness. Rather than, continue with abatement program efforts to remove unwanted sounds or mask the noise. Quantitative data were collected on mood states and biometric measures consisted of respiratory, heart, pulse systolic, and diastolic blood pressure rates. Qualitative data 5-Point Likert scale and open-ended questions determined participants' awareness of ambient sounds within the clinical setting. Data from participants were analyzed and compared separately for each clinic. The metrics were found to be statistically correlated (p<0.05) for the POMS-A survey and biometric measures using a Chi-square test. After the intervention, two clinics reported a 60%, and the third clinic an 80% mood state changes. Clinic 2-M reported the greatest significant mood state change. The t-Test validation biometric measures showed no significant evidence among the test and control groups for Clinic 1-L (396, 417, 444 Hz). Clinics 2-M (528, 639 Hz) and Clinic 3-H (714, 852 Hz) did share significant evidence to respiratory, heart, and systolic blood pressure rates. The respondents revealed 27% had a positive opinion of the therapeutic sound hertz perceived as silent or quiet, 59% had a negative opinion of unwanted sounds included communication as disruptive, and 16% felt the clinic’s physical design was poor. As a whole, this study indicates exposing patients to therapeutic sound hertz had a positive impact on their biopsychosocial wellness states. The value and novelty of this study show by adding selective distinct therapeutic sound hertz levels back into the clinic setting have profound implications for future researchers to build upon how the quality soundscape performance effects on the patient.
Contributorstate, angela diane (Author) / Bender, Diane (Thesis advisor) / Takamura, John (Committee member) / Lamb, Gerri (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
The study of acoustic ecology is concerned with the manner in which life interacts with its environment as mediated through sound. As such, a central focus is that of the soundscape: the acoustic environment as perceived by a listener. This dissertation examines the application of several computational tools in the realms of digital signal processing, multimedia information retrieval, and computer music synthesis to the analysis of the soundscape. Namely, these tools include a) an open source software library, Sirens, which can be used for the segmentation of long environmental field recordings into individual sonic events and compare these events in terms of acoustic content, b) a graph-based retrieval system that can use these measures of acoustic similarity and measures of semantic similarity using the lexical database WordNet to perform both text-based retrieval and automatic annotation of environmental sounds, and c) new techniques for the dynamic, realtime parametric morphing of multiple field recordings, informed by the geographic paths along which they were recorded.
ContributorsMechtley, Brandon Michael (Author) / Spanias, Andreas S (Thesis advisor) / Sundaram, Hari (Thesis advisor) / Cook, Perry R. (Committee member) / Li, Baoxin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013