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Description
I believe the human mind is not an accurate reproducer of objects and events, but a tool that constructs their qualities. Philosophers Bowman Clarke, James John, and Amy Kind have argued for and against similar points, while Daniel Hoffman and Jay Dowling have debated cases from a psychological perspective. My understanding of their discourse surfaces in Cognize Normal-Like Pleez, a video installation designed to capture the enigmatic connection between perceivers and the things they perceive. The composition encapsulates this theme through a series of five videos that disseminate confusing imagery paired with mangled sounds. The miniatures operate in sequence on computer monitors set inside a haphazardously ornamented tower. Though the original sources for each video communicate clear, familiar subjects, the final product deliberately obscures them. Sometimes sounds and images flicker for only brief moments, perhaps too fast for the human mind to fully process. Though some information comes through, important data supplied by the surrounding context is absent.
I invite the audience to rationalize this complexing conglomerate and reflect on how their established biases inform their opinion of the work. Each person likely draws from his or her experiences, cultural conditioning, knowledge, and other personal factors in order to create an individual conceptualization of the installation. Their subjective conclusions reflect my belief concerning a neurological basis for the origin of qualities. One’s connection to Cognize’s images and sounds, to me, is not derived solely from characteristics inherent to it, but also endowed by one’s mind, which not only constructs the attributes one normally associates with the images and sounds (as opposed to the physics and biology that lead to their construction), but also seamlessly incorporates the aforementioned biases. I realize my ideas by focusing the topics of the videos and their setting around the transmission of information and its obfuscation. Just as one cannot see or hear past the perceptual barriers in Cognize, I believe one cannot escape his or her mind to “sense” qualities in an objective, disembodied manner, because the mind is necessary for perception.
I invite the audience to rationalize this complexing conglomerate and reflect on how their established biases inform their opinion of the work. Each person likely draws from his or her experiences, cultural conditioning, knowledge, and other personal factors in order to create an individual conceptualization of the installation. Their subjective conclusions reflect my belief concerning a neurological basis for the origin of qualities. One’s connection to Cognize’s images and sounds, to me, is not derived solely from characteristics inherent to it, but also endowed by one’s mind, which not only constructs the attributes one normally associates with the images and sounds (as opposed to the physics and biology that lead to their construction), but also seamlessly incorporates the aforementioned biases. I realize my ideas by focusing the topics of the videos and their setting around the transmission of information and its obfuscation. Just as one cannot see or hear past the perceptual barriers in Cognize, I believe one cannot escape his or her mind to “sense” qualities in an objective, disembodied manner, because the mind is necessary for perception.
ContributorsLempke, John Paul (Author) / Suzuki, Kotoka (Thesis advisor) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Stover, Chris (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Advances in computational processing have made big data analysis in fields like music information retrieval (MIR) possible. Through MIR techniques researchers have been able to study information on a song, its musical parameters, the metadata generated by the song's listeners, and contextual data regarding the artists and listeners (Schedl, 2014). MIR research techniques have been applied within the field of music and emotions research to help analyze the correlative properties between the music information and the emotional output. By pairing methods within music and emotions research with the analysis of the musical features extracted through MIR, researchers have developed predictive models for emotions within a musical piece. This research has increased our understanding of the correlative properties of certain musical features like pitch, timbre, rhythm, dynamics, mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCC's), and others, to the emotions evoked by music (Lartillot 2008; Schedl 2014) This understanding of the correlative properties has enabled researchers to generate predictive models of emotion within music based on listeners' emotional response to it. However, robust models that account for a user's individualized emotional experience and the semantic nuances of emotional categorization have eluded the research community (London, 2001). To address these two main issues, more advanced analytical methods have been employed. In this article we will look at two of these more advanced analytical methods, machine learning algorithms and deep learning techniques, and discuss the effect that they have had on music and emotions research (Murthy, 2018). Current trends within MIR research, the application of support vector machines and neural networks, will also be assessed to explain how these methods help to address the two main issues within music and emotion research. Finally, future research within the field of machine and deep learning will be postulated to show how individuate models may be developed from a user or a pool of user's listening libraries. Also how developments of semi-supervised classification models that assess categorization by cluster instead of by nominal data, may be helpful in addressing the nuances of emotional categorization.
ContributorsMcgeehon, Timothy Makoto (Author) / Middleton, James (Thesis director) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-12
Description
For my honors thesis, I chose a creative project that would incorporate expertise and skills from both of my undergraduate degrees at Arizona State University: Music Performance and Music Theory and Composition. The main goal for this project was to design and experience an artistic process of musical production and create a professional musical work to release on digital platforms. The musical process included five main components: Listening, Transcribing, Composing, Recording, and Post Production. The final product is a full album, titled This is Jam Music, that consists of eight pieces and a run time of 33 minutes.
ContributorsArora, Vashawn Michael (Author) / Gardner, Joshua (Thesis director) / Knowles, Kristina (Thesis director) / Libman, Jeffrey (Committee member) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
This presentation explores the processes of writing and producing the original musical "Subplots," debuted in August 2022. Through composition and music direction lenses, this presentation outlines the creative journey from conception to performance, highlighting the process of collaborating with a librettist, performers, and production team members. This thesis was completed under the direction of Dr. Jody Rockmaker and Dr. Alex Temple; all materials are copyrighted by Anthony Procopio and Sara Matin.
ContributorsProcopio, Anthony (Author) / Rockmaker, Jody (Thesis director) / Temple, Alex (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Music, Dance and Theatre (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
ABSTRACT
Wind band directors in the State of Arizona are required by the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) to choose at least one music selection from the “State Lists of Required Compositions” of Florida, Texas, and/or Virginia for their ABODA scholastic concert band festival presentation and adjudication. The works could also be used for school performance. Additionally, the Arizona State Department of Education requires Certified Wind Band Teachers to use the Arizona Academic Standards in the Arts Music – Performing Ensembles (updated in 2015) as source material for the standard that should be met by the conclusion of the academic year. This research explores the educational and pedagogical correlations between the state standards and an annotated list of select Wind Ensemble repertoire.
The Florida Bandmasters Association, Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, and Texas’s University Interscholastic League’s lists of required compositions include thoughtfully selected titles that promote musical growth. A fourth list found in Richard Miles’ textbook series entitled Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (Volume 1-11) which promotes music education through rehearsal preparation and performance-based practices. This list will only include compositions that all four compilations selected. The list will convey the following information:
1. The average grade, title, composer and date of the composition
2. A brief program note about the composition
3. A description of each teaching standard covered by the selected repertoire
Additionally, the author has decided to add some works to the list to ensure the inclusion of race and gender diversity. These additional works may one day make the state required performance lists as time allows the selection process to catch up with the volume of repertoire added.
Wind band directors in the State of Arizona are required by the Arizona Band and Orchestra Directors Association (ABODA) to choose at least one music selection from the “State Lists of Required Compositions” of Florida, Texas, and/or Virginia for their ABODA scholastic concert band festival presentation and adjudication. The works could also be used for school performance. Additionally, the Arizona State Department of Education requires Certified Wind Band Teachers to use the Arizona Academic Standards in the Arts Music – Performing Ensembles (updated in 2015) as source material for the standard that should be met by the conclusion of the academic year. This research explores the educational and pedagogical correlations between the state standards and an annotated list of select Wind Ensemble repertoire.
The Florida Bandmasters Association, Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors Association, and Texas’s University Interscholastic League’s lists of required compositions include thoughtfully selected titles that promote musical growth. A fourth list found in Richard Miles’ textbook series entitled Teaching Music Through Performance in Band (Volume 1-11) which promotes music education through rehearsal preparation and performance-based practices. This list will only include compositions that all four compilations selected. The list will convey the following information:
1. The average grade, title, composer and date of the composition
2. A brief program note about the composition
3. A description of each teaching standard covered by the selected repertoire
Additionally, the author has decided to add some works to the list to ensure the inclusion of race and gender diversity. These additional works may one day make the state required performance lists as time allows the selection process to catch up with the volume of repertoire added.
ContributorsKoch, Paul Andrew (Author) / Hill, Gary W. (Thesis advisor) / Caslor, Jason (Committee member) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
This work studies the influence on music and sound on visual media. It takes two visual media clips and sets them with several musical and compositions. Each piece of music is different in genre and tone, thus changing the audiences perception of the media. It also studies how different genres appeal to different demographics and how this can be used to appeal to them.
ContributorsTanabe, Arion (Author) / Bolanos, Gabriel (Thesis director) / Temple, Alex (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Concert bands as we know them today started in the nineteenth century. The repertoire at that time consisted primarily of orchestral transcriptions penned almost exclusively by people who identified as white male. In the twentieth century, even as the creation of original works for concert band became common place, the rate of compositions written by someone other than a white male was minimal. Composers from other communities were seldom played or introduced into the canon. Today, the instances of concerts including only white male composers are increasingly rare. Diverse and innovative programming have become much more the norm and the opportunities for composers from underrepresented communities have never been greater. This project describes the commissioning and recording process of six new compositions for concert band from composers of traditionally underrepresented communities and backgrounds. And since several of the pieces are playable by public school bands, it also includes a pedagogically-based performance guide for each work.
ContributorsJones, Malcolm James Arthur (Author) / Caslor, Jason (Thesis advisor) / Hudson, James G (Committee member) / Knowles, Kristina (Committee member) / Myers, Nathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Over the past fifty years, the number of new compositions written for trumpet has increased tremendously. Fueled by close collaboration between composers, performers, and organizations, audiences are yearning to hear these new works. The purpose of this doctoral project is to provide insight into how a commission for solo trumpet, All My Spirit Tingled, came to fruition and how a burgeoning soloist may best learn this challenging repertoire. The first chapter provides background on the composer, his musical vision, and the chosen soloist for this commission. The second chapter provides a detailed performance guide of All My Spirit Tingled, including references to technical studies, etudes, and solos from trumpet literature that may provide further material with which to grow as a performer of this work. The dissertation provides a professional recording of the premiere to assist the reader throughout the performance guide. This document also includes program notes for the composition, as well as composer biographical information, a list of other works by Robert Tindle featuring brass instruments, and a transcript of the composer and performer interview.
ContributorsDeshler, David Woehrle (Author) / Burgstaller, Joesef (Thesis advisor) / Swoboda, Deanna (Committee member) / Temple, Alex (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Frank Zappa considered “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary” hismasterpiece. It contains every aspect of his melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic language. These techniques include: folk-influenced songs, quartal melodies, asymmetric meters, speech-influenced rhythms, octave-displaced chromaticism, “conceptual continuity,” and creative studio techniques. He considers these aspects and weighs them against each other to maintain a sense of balance on both a micro- and macroscopic scale.
The first chapter of this dissertation explores the events that led up to the creation of the composition. A chronology of historical events precedes a synopsis of the piece’s narrative. The second chapter examines a rehearsal tape from March of 1972, which was released posthumously, that contains the song that will eventually become the fourth movement of the piece: “The New Brown Clouds.” That song, as well as others on the recording, contains several examples of Zappa’s musical vocabulary. These excerpts are also included in the two albums that were released and are also heard in Zappa’s magnum opus.
The third and fourth chapters examine the first version of “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary.” The third chapter focuses on musical analysis and identifying key components of Zappa’s compositional style. The fourth chapter talks about he Grand Wazoo’s tour, the Petit Wazoo tour a month later, and the subsequent tour in 1973. Zappa wrote new music for these tours, and those pieces became part of the large revision that is discussed in chapter 5.
The sixth chapter examines the recording process, locations, and the innovative techniques Zappa uses in the studio. Every time he released a recording of the composition, there was always a notable revision— including shortly before his death in 1993. Finally, the Ensemble Modern’s posthumous recording of “The Adventures of Greggery Peccary” is also scrutinized.
ContributorsOxford, Josh (Author) / Temple, Alex (Thesis advisor) / Meyer, Jeffery (Committee member) / Bolanos, Gabriel (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
Previous literature on synchronization to music using finger tapping tasks in a laboratory or otherwise controlled setting has led to some invaluable, albeit dated, theories about time and synchronization. In an effort to modernize some of the approaches utilized in research on music synchronization, this study applies established theories of music entrainment to a fieldwork study. Specifically, this study focuses on the extent to which participants of Capoeira, a Brazilian martial art disguised as a dance, synchronize to external timekeepers by analyzing icti in several types of movements and comparing them to musical rhythmic beats.
Sports psychology studies have shown that the presence of music can have involuntary effects on exercise. For example, walkers and runners will spontaneously synchronize gait to auditory signals. However, runners do not normally focus on choreology, acrobatics, and environmental stimuli while exercising. This study contributes to this field of research by adding observations and analyzing degrees of synchronization in a martial art, which may be more cognitively demanding than running.
In Capoeira, participants are still expected to attend to music. The degree of synchronization that occurs in a Capoeira class can then be compared with synchronization in martial arts that have music solely as a background component. These future studies would be analyzing music entrainment in real-life environments with physical activities that are more cognitively complex than running. Moreover, these future studies can help to confirm or challenge current theories of attention and music entrainment and synchronization.
Sports psychology studies have shown that the presence of music can have involuntary effects on exercise. For example, walkers and runners will spontaneously synchronize gait to auditory signals. However, runners do not normally focus on choreology, acrobatics, and environmental stimuli while exercising. This study contributes to this field of research by adding observations and analyzing degrees of synchronization in a martial art, which may be more cognitively demanding than running.
In Capoeira, participants are still expected to attend to music. The degree of synchronization that occurs in a Capoeira class can then be compared with synchronization in martial arts that have music solely as a background component. These future studies would be analyzing music entrainment in real-life environments with physical activities that are more cognitively complex than running. Moreover, these future studies can help to confirm or challenge current theories of attention and music entrainment and synchronization.
ContributorsRossi, Alex (Author) / Norton, Kay (Thesis advisor) / Knowles, Kristina (Thesis advisor) / Fossum, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020