The Application of Phonetic Acoustic Analysis in Ewenki Traditional Folk Songs

<p>This study aimed to assess and identify the teachers’ knowledge in the preservation of traditional leyteño – samareno folk songs towards culturally responsive pedagogy. The study employed a descriptive qualitative approach wherein researchers interviewed five teachers based on rank and ethnicity. When a straightforward explanation of phenomena is sought, a qualitative descriptive method must be the design of choice. It is a method that is highly helpful when researchers want to know who were engaged in an event, what was involved, and where it occurred. The study found out that participants’ ways of acquiring knowledge of traditional Waray-waray folk songs represent different sources, 75% comprise answers in school, from seminars/workshops held at Tacloban and Samar places. Generally, the ability of the teachers to teach traditional folk songs is significantly impacted by their lack of substance and pedagogical understanding. The proficiency of the instructors in teaching traditional folk songs will be passed down through the generations based on how accurately the songs are sung. Every music instructor struggles to localize and contextualize traditional folk songs because of their very limited learning material and pedagogical experience, particularly those who are not native residents of the area.</p>

Music regional style classification aims to divide the traditional folk songs according to different geographies. Research on the regional style classification of music contributes to digging into the creation rules of traditional folk songs and is of great significance to geographical type retrieval. This paper combines the temporal model to encode the musical structures based on the analysis of the characteristics of Chinese traditional folk songs. Conditional Random Field (CRF) is utilized to establish the model of folk songs for the first time. The state function and the transfer function of the CRF are calculated by the classical clustering algorithm Gaussian Mixture Model (GMM) to estimate the label sequence. In contrast to previous music classification methods (such as SVM, KNN, etc.), the accuracy of the regional style classification of folk songs increases in a range of 4.6% ~ 18.13%, and the best performance is achieved by the GMM-CRF model in our experiment.

NORTH AMERICAN FOLK AND BLUEGRASS MUSICFolk Songs of Another America: Field Recordings from the Upper Midwest, 1937-1946. By James P. Leary. (Languages and Folklore of the Upper Midwest.) Madison: University of Press; Atlanta, GA: Dust to Digital, 2015. [xxi, 430 p. ISBN 9780299301507 (hardcover), $60.] Bibliography, indexes, illustrations, 5 compact discs, 1 digital video disc.Polka Heartland: Why the Midwest Loves to Polka. Photos by Dick Blau, text by Rick March. Madison: Historical Society Press, 2015. [200 p. ISBN 9780870207228 (hardcover), $29.95; ISBN 9780870207235 (e-book), varies.] Bibliography, notes, index, illustrations.The Upper Midwest is a region rich in musical traditions, but it is not as well studied as other areas of the country. So it is very fortunate that we have these two new books that enlighten us about the music of the region. At first glance, Folk Songs of Another America resembles a book, but it is primarily a collection of five compact discs and a DVD, all bound in a book-like container with extensive liner notes. The recordings were made in the Upper Midwest in the first half of the twentieth century by the well-known folk collectors Sidney Robertson [Cowell] (1903-1995) and Alan Lomax (1915-2002), as well as the lesser-known student apprentice Helene Stratman-Thomas (1896-1973). These researchers, equipped with federal support from the Archive of American Folk Song at the Library of Congress, recorded nearly two thousand traditional performances in more than twenty-five languages from representative musicians and singers in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin (p. 2). The present work contains 174 audio samples as well as a twenty-four-minute documentary film with twelve additional selections. These recordings document the multi-ethnic and multi-lingual music of the region.Making a similar argument as in his earlier book, Polkabilly (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), Leary states, America's Upper Midwest emerges from these field recordings as a distinctive American region wherein, from the nineteenth century through the 1940s, a remarkable array of American Indian, Anglo-American, African American, and especially non-Anglo-European peoples maintained, modified, borrowed, merged, and composed songs and tunes from their respective and frequently shared folksong traditions . . . the depth and breadth of the Upper Midwest's folksong traditions, so complex and 'so mixed,' have remained elusive and almost forgotten (p. 3). He explains that previous publications emphasized English-language performances exclusively, ignoring the majority of the recorded material. The title of Leary's latest book is explained by his description of it as a redemptive counter-cultural project that effectively challenges and considerably broadens our understanding of folk music in American culture (p. 4).Each of the six chapters corresponds to one of the discs in the collection. The first chapter, called Pigtown Fling, documents twenty-eight pieces collected by Robertson in 1937. This collection includes performances by French Canadians, lumberjacks, Gaelic Scots, Serbians, and Finns. The second chapter, River in the Pines, contains descriptions of twenty-two pieces collected at the National Folk Festivals in Chicago in 1937 by Robertson and in 1938 in Washington, D.C. by Lomax. Robertson captured live performances on stage, while Lomax made his recordings under studio conditions at the Library of Congress. They both recorded mostly the same performers from Wisconsin, who were organized by Otto Rindlisbacher (1895-1975) from Rice Lake. Rindlisbacher, of Swiss-German descent, was a master of many of the ethnic styles from the region. The recordings include performances on accordion and Hardanger fiddle, as well as on instruments mostly hand made by Rindlisbacher: the cigar-box fiddle, Paul Bunyan harp, Viking cello made from a pitchfork (psalmodikon), and birch bark horn. …

The singer as the co-author: the features of the representation of Ukrainian folk songs in the concert and art space of the present

In artificial intelligence research, prosodic and pitch features are the focus of singing intelligent speech synthesis. Pitch features are usually studied by extracting fundamental frequencies. In the process of folk song singing, many special vocal skills are used, mainly related to the mode of vocal fold vibration. Using singing voice signals and parameters to study singing pitch and vocal types can better obtain the pitch and prosodic characteristics of singing. This experiment mainly takes Ewenki folk songs as the research object, analyzes singing voice signals and parameters, so as to provide reference for singing voice synthesis. The Ewenki are one of China’s ethnic groups with a small population. The Ewenki folk songs are sung in the Ewenki language, which retains many features of ancient folk songs and singing pronunciation characteristics, especially in the vocal vocalization of the singing voice. The article takes the typical traditional folk song of Ewenki, "Molie Girl", as the object of study. By collecting the singing voice and voice signals of a professional and a non-professional singer, extracted the parameters of fundamental frequency, open quotient and speed quotient. After statistical analysis of the parameters, the overall voice characteristics of the professional and non-professional singers during the singing process and the differences in the voice parameters of the trailing part of the voice were obtained. The analysis revealed both professional and non-professional singers were able to express the artistic characteristics of traditional folk songs, with different vocal styles and singing techniques. The experimental voice acoustic parameters and results can be used as a reference for the synthesis of traditional folk songs and as a method for the teaching of traditional folk songs.

This section of the book Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan Sources, Sentiment and Society presents appendix 2 which contains six subdivisions; Main min'yō sakaba (folk song bars) in Tokyo, Main min'yō sakaba (folk song bars) in the Osaka area, Umbrella organizations of min'yō groups, Record shops, Further events information and Okinawan min'yō sakaba and information in Tokyo and Osaka. The Japanese say that 'folk song is the heart's home town'. Traditional folk songs (min'yō) from the countryside are strongly linked to their places of origin and continue to play a role there. Today, however, they are also taught as a quasi-art music, arranged for stage and television, quoted in Westernized popular songs and so forth.Keywords: modern Japan; Okinawan min'yo sakaba; Osaka area; quasi-art music; traditional folk song; Umbrella organizations

The topicality is associated with the need for musicological understanding of the value categories of ethnoaesthetics in the creative activity of singers that represent the Ukrainian folk song tradition in modern variety vocal art.
 The purpose of the article is to identify ethno-aesthetic value components in the performance of O. Mukha as a personification of the uniqueness of the Ukrainian national expression.
 The methodology consists of scientific works of prominent Ukrainian scientists devoted to the study of ethno-aesthetic ideas and criteria in the traditional songs of Ukraine (Y. Harasym, T. Orlova, V. Lychkova), as well as genre-style and performance specifics of Ukrainian musical folklore (K. Kvitka, F. Kolessa, A. Ivanytskyi, S. Hryts).
 The results. The artistic imagery of the iconic folk songs of O. Mukha repertoire, which is a part of the ethno-aesthetic fund of the Ukrainian folk song tradition, is considered. The general features of ethnoaesthetics of the folk song performing tradition of Ukraine, including its vocal and technical component are outlined.
 The novelty. The article considers the performance of O. Mukha for the first time and reveals ethnoaesthetic value components in it.
 The practical significance. The study of the essence of folk singing as an art with its own artistic and value component, based on an established system of qualitative components of ethnoaesthetics, as well as the study of performing experience of prominent Ukrainian folk singers are the necessary practical material for creating a scientific basis and general methodology of folk vocal art.
 The conclusions. Musical ethnoaesthetics as a component of traditional culture covers the semantic field of songs, concentrating on the structure, rhythmics and size of a poem, the richness of national melos, its intonation and tonality basis. Ethnoaesthetics of the folk song tradition of Ukraine is manifested in the uniqueness of the national expression, namely: vocal-timbre color of sound, in the peculiarities of intonation, freedom of metro-rhythmic movement, variability and melismatic richness.
 In O. Mukha’s works, the creation of the sound matter of the modern performance version of a folk song is based on the perception of song intonation as sound emotion and understanding of the boundless ocean of ancient symbols of the national musical language, which during centuries has crystallized in the folk song tradition. Her works grow out from the reflection on the national song culture and traditions of her family. Work on each ancient relict of tradition is based on discovering the potential of the power of its aesthetic, spiritual and emotional impact on listeners, perception of the stock of expressive possibilities.

This section presents an appendix of the book Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan Sources, Sentiment and Society which is divided into three divisions. The three divisions are translations of the texts of Shin-Min'yō from the 1920s to 1970, Shin-Min'yō from 1977 to 1981, and popular songs with a significant relation to folk song, respectively. The last entry of each heading shows the poetic metre of the text and the scale structure. The Japanese say that 'folk song is the heart's home town'. Traditional folk songs (Min'yō) from the countryside are strongly linked to their places of origin and continue to play a role there. Today, however, they are also taught as a quasi-art music, arranged for stage and television, quoted in Westernized popular songs and so forth.Keywords: Modern Japan; quasi-art music; Shin-Min'yō; Traditional Folk Song; Westernized popular songs

It is said that folk song is dead. And if under folk song we understand what Gottfried Herder, the creator of this word, had in mind, then this may be applied at least to large parts of Europe. Herder called folk songs “the true, veritable, characteristic songs of a people,” and made a clear distinction between street ballads, art songs, and the popular products of the educated classes. Even if one sees in real folk song, as did Béla Bartók, only the songs of tradition, that is, those songs transmitted orally among the less educated classes (as especially among the peasantry in former times), and if one acknowledges only that product as being real folk song which adapts a new form when transmitted from generation to generation, then we can well assert that this true folk song no longer exists, at least with us. We should not however think of the peasantry as the sole class who cultivated folk song, as Bartók did. Folk song has flourished at all times, even within the compass of urban civilization. In former times, as today, it was created there and was then picked up and transmitted by the country folk.

Background and Aim: This study investigates the evolution of the “New Folk Song” in Yunnan and analyzes how historical, cultural, and social changes have influenced their development. Yunnan folk songs are a cultural product with local characteristics and close to the development of the working people in Yunnan that is close to the people's daily life. The "New Folk Songs" of Yunnan is a musical form combining “nation” and “modern” innovation. In the process of development, it is constantly endowed with new definitions and connotations and presents the situation of diversified development. Due to the special historical and social environment of Yunnan, a large number of “New Folk Songs” with rich themes and excellent quality have emerged in Yunnan during the period of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, the Revolutionary War, the “Cultural Revolution”, and the era of peace and development in recent years. The results show that Yunnan's “New Folk Songs” evolved through the integration of modern and traditional elements, reflecting the unique social and cultural dynamics of Yunnan over the past hundred years. To study the development of “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan, this study is not only a record of musical life in different periods, but also the development trajectory of different musical works in Yunnan across the century, but also a study of the development history of music creation in Yunnan. Materials and Methods: This Article aimed to study related literature to find out the development of Yunnan's “New Folk Songs”. The instrument for collecting data was documentary research. Relevant journals, academic papers, books, magazines, and online information related to the development of Yunnan's “New Folk Songs” are reviewed and organized. From the perspective of creation and music ontology, the style characteristics and creation characteristics of Yunnan "new folk songs" in different periods are analyzed, to explore the development of Yunnan “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan. Results: Throughout the development of “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan, its creation characteristics are contemporary, national, and regional; music works have the style characteristics of Yunnan minority elements. This paper will analyze and study the above characteristics in depth. This study is beneficial to improve the reader's understanding of Yunnan's “New Folk Songs” and understanding, through the development of “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan, to explore the development prospect of “New Folk Songs”, Yunnan for music workers can provide certain reference and reference, also for the Yunnan “New Folk Songs” and singing practice, teaching practice provides reference way, also further promote Yunnan traditional folk song inheritance and the sustainable development of “New Folk Songs”. At the same time, through this study, it is hoped to help the exploration of Yunnan's “New Folk Songs” style, and also to promote the inheritance of the existing Yunnan traditional folk music culture and establish awareness of the exploration and protection of Yunnan local music materials. Conclusion: The development of “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan is reflected in the creative characteristics and style characteristics changing with the changes of the times. The social environment, economic situation, and policy system of a country in an era will often affect the artistic creation of the creators with subjective or objective factors. Therefore, In this paper, the horizontal melody and vertical harmonic layout of music works in the budding period of Yunnan “New Folk Songs” (The Late Qing Dynasty and The Early Republic of China), The War Period (1931-1949), The 17th years of the Founding of the People's Republic of China (1949-1966), The Ten Years of the “Cultural Revolution” (1966-1976), and The Innovation and Development period (1978-2020), Relying on the musical activities in various historical periods, Analyzing the common and personalized creation characteristics of creators and the formation process of Yunnan local ethnic creation concept. Thus, the different purposes of creation, the different contents of the times, the different style characteristics, the different forms of expression, and then to understand the development of “New Folk Songs” in Yunnan.

Almost 130 years after the publication of Adolf Hauffen's ethnographic study and collection of Gottscheer songs, the book Pesemsko izročilo Kočevske ('The Folk Song Tradition of Kočevje area') has made the treasure trove that is the folk song tradition of the wider Kočevska region, mostly written in the Gottscheer dialect, available in Slovenian. In addition to the translation of the book Die deutsche Sprachinsel Gottschee. Geschichte und Mundart, Lebensverhältnisse, Sitten und Gebräuche, Sagen, Märchen und Lieder ('The German Language Island in Kočevska Region. History and Dialect, Living Conditions, Customs and Habits, Folktales, Fairy Tales and Folk Songs', 1895), the work also contains an article by the aforementioned author (from 1896), in which he published additional folk songs and information he received after the publication of his book. This is followed by nine scholarly-critical studies by seven authors, Peter Lozoviuk, Anja Moric, Marija Klobčar, Marjetka Golež Kaučič, Zmaga Kumer, Saša Babič and Helena Ložar-Podlogar, who examine the Gottscheer folk song tradition from ethnological, folkloristic and historical perspectives. They focus on the collection of Gottscheer folk songs that formed the core of Hauffen's monograph, but also offer broader critical reflections. The book is also the first translation of the entire folk song collection from any foreign language into Slovene.

Background. The article is devoted to the scientific-methodical analysis of the phenomenon of a folk songs assimilation into the multicultural vocal tradition. A folk song is presented in the aspect of national self-consciousness and plurality of modern performing traditions in the conditions of multi-stylistic cultural attitude. The relevance of the topic is the theoretical comprehension of the role of a folk song and singing in multicultural context. The purpose of the research is a comprehension of the phenomenon of the folk songs assimilation in multicultural vocal traditions under the new wave of interest in national dimension of “West – East” and necessity of quality vocal education of rising Chinese students-vocalists. The article based on the studies of materials of curriculums, methodical elaborations and manuals developed in the department of solo singing at Kharkiv National I. P. Kotlyarevsky University of Arts. Research results. Modern multicultural performing traditions in conditions of expanding geography of creative experience exchange needs in new philosophical and scientific-methodical comprehension. Based on variety international cultural programs there are traineeship groups, exchange of students and teachers, presentations of common creative projects. The modern cultural background of Ukraine is enriched with unique concerts of Chinese students performing not only classical repertoire, but Chinese folk songs as well. Methodical comprehension of stylistic layers and ways of formation of multicultural traditions occurs according to the methods of comparison of general intonations in folk songs. Vocal methodic of sound extractions is founded on general grounds, regardless of national specificity, however, the comparison and plurality make the process of performing reproduction of vocal styles more accessible for comprehension by students. The issues of national certainty and vocal-technical skills, interpretative experience in the concert forms and singing genres are considered in the research. The innovative aspect of the topic disclosure is the involvement of Chinese folk songs and pieces by Chinese composers in interaction with pieces by Italian and Ukrainian composers in the repertory of the learning vocalists. The practical task is to reveal the multi-national potential of musical mindset of contemporary singers in the context of the steady tendency to the mental-stylistic plurality in the art of the 21st century. It is proved that the vocal-technical learning of general world experience occurs through the recognition of the plurality of stylistic features of folk songs. The folk song is the “cornerstone” of the performing tradition, the basis of the vocal repertoire of any national school. It is included in a composition of compulsory pieces for participation in national and international vocal competitions. Thanks to the folk song what is the carrier of the ancient information and performing features included by previous singer generations, a deep connection of the artist with folk-song traditions occurs. The category “folk singing” is a coherent entity that contains the minimum set of information what includes distinctive harmonic figures, instrumentation, texture, acoustic features of rendition. The traditional Chinese song, based on pentatonic scale, becomes an illustration of the national “general intonation”. "Sense" of an entire tone for the formation of the purity of vocal intonation assumes an exclusive meaning. The success in acquisition of pentatonic melodies is provided due to similarity of intonation sets what are typical for musical cultures of different nations over the world. The folk song in the repertoire of the learning vocalist is a reflection of the multicultural traditions in the conditions of the domination of academic vocal culture. The study of the melodics of the song and its harmony and form peculiarities contributes to the adaptation of the singer’s mindset to the alternative mental principles of vocal art and to the universalism of mindset in the forming of professional academic performing. The Chinese folk song, the Ukrainian duma, East mugham singing and other similar reflect the spiritual world of folk reproducing historical antiquity. Therefore, the folk song as an integral part of the modern repertoire in vast enriches the intonation, spiritually-aesthetic and cultural fund of a vocalist. The conclusions summarize the complexity of the problem, the components of which are the adapting of mindset to the alternative mental bases of vocal art and rising of universalism in conditions of multi-stylistic plurality. The bases of formation of multicultural traditions are generalized: the comparison of stylistic layers; exploring the general world experience through the national certainty (basic vocal repertoire as a synthesis of stylistic plurality); vocal-technical equipment, the comparison of melodic, harmonic and tempo-rhythmic principles of differrent folk songs; rendition of the folk song in the original language. All of these bases reveal the content of the movement to the formation of multicultural performing traditions in order to advance of the professional academic background.

The Yugurs (裕固族) are a minority nationality with a long history and ancient cultural tradition. In the past forty years, due to the rapid development of China’s economy, the production and lifestyles of Yugur people have undergone tremendous changes. Yugur concepts of folk song have changed markedly. Some old folk songs have died out, with compositions called “new folk songs” coming into being. Yugur people realize that the preservation of their traditional culture is of fundamental importance in their national existence, and the preservation of traditional folk songs is a vital part of the maintenance of their traditional culture. Therefore, much has been done to preserve their traditional folk songs and culture.

This section of the book Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan Sources, Sentiment and Society contains a list of musical works, both Japanese and Western, that are referred to in the text and Appendices. The entries are listed in alphabetical order. The Japanese say that 'folk song is the heart's home town'. Traditional folk songs (min'yō) from the countryside are strongly linked to their places of origin and continue to play a role there. Today, they are also taught as a quasi-art music, arranged for stage and television, quoted in Westernized popular songs and so forth.Keywords: min'yō; modern Japan; quasi-art music; traditional folk song

This appendix section of the book Traditional Folk Song in Modern Japan Sources, Sentiment and Society contains about seven LPs of 'genre poems' arranged regionally, with narration linking recorded examples and also briefs about why min'yō became the property of the older generations. The Japanese say that 'folk song is the heart's home town'. Traditional folk songs (min'yō) from the countryside are strongly linked to their places of origin and continue to play a role there. Today, they are also taught as a quasi-art music, arranged for stage and television, quoted in Westernized popular songs and so forth.Keywords: 'genre poems'; min'yō; Modern Japan; quasi-art music; traditional folk song