Music Ensembles Research Articles

Влияние Культурной революции на деятельность национальных оркестров Китая

The paper aims to reveal peculiarities of the Chinese orchestral performance development during and after the Cultural Revolution. The author examines classical musical compositions of the analysed period, identifies their distinctive features and considers the state influence on the Chinese musical ensembles. Scientific originality of the study lies in the fact that the researcher provides a comprehensive analysis of orchestral activity during the Cultural Revolution; this problem remains poorly investigated in the modern Chinese musicology. Contrary to the established opinion, the mentioned period is not considered as a dead-end branch of China development, which allows offering a new interpretation of orchestral creativity. The research findings are as follows: the author proves that the Cultural Revolution is not a stagnation period in orchestral performance development but an epoch of innovations.

Embodied Complexity in Choral Singing

Amateur musical ensembles draw participants from widely varying disciplines into shared artistic activity in a way that few other artforms do; in particular, choral music, in which bodies both create and directly receive sound, raises profound questions of how performers’ uniquely embodied creative approaches interact. Amateur choral singing therefore offers a lens into how musical creativity is distributed among, and emergent from, a diverse group of individuals. This article explores how the performance of indeterminate and improvisatory choral works offers a powerful example of this distributed creative agency via a network of sounding bodies.
 This article centres on a case study (March–October 2017) involving three British amateur choirs in the performance of improvisatory choral scores by Kerry Andrew (2005) and Cornelius Cardew (1968–70). Complexity Theory (Davis and Sumara 2006) offers a useful framework for understanding how creative impulses and constructions interact; both the vocal expression and corporeal receipt of these creative ideas occurs in an embodied way, drawing on dance and embodiment theory (Sheets-Johnstone 2009, Downey 2002). The research process and qualitative-data-processing methodology (Charmaz 2014) of the case study are described, before findings are laid out with a view to how they point towards ideas of embodied, complex interaction. These findings offer an important, and hitherto unexplored, view into how Complexity Theory (a common theoretical framework in other fields across the sciences and humanities) might usefully describe musical performance. In transcending attempts to atomise ensemble interaction according to shared intellectual knowledge and verbal communication, the complex, embodied interaction of diverse singers, through the physical connection of sound, might involve those singers in the distributed authorship of a musical work.

What Best Predicts the Use of Hearing Protection Devices?

AbstractThe use of protective devices to safeguard health in noisy environments is crucial. Intensive exposure to pop, rock, and jazz (PRJ) music leads to irreversible damage to the auditory system. This study analyzed the psychological variables that best predict the use of personal hearing protection devices (PHPD) in professional PRJ musicians and the relative importance of PHPD in general as well as in four different occupational contexts, after controlling for auditory measures and condition. Professional musicians’ attitudes toward PHPD and behavior were assessed. Analyses showed that the best predictor of current usage was the duration of previous use, followed by additional psychological factors that predict usage in the four occupational settings. Researchers can draw on the current findings to explore other psychological factors and mechanisms that may facilitate the use of PHPD. For example, the finding that custom-made PHPD predicts the use of PHPD could be explored further by identifying the underlying psychological mechanisms, such as perception of ownership or identification processes. Studies should examine the other barriers/inducements to the use of PHPD in addition to those examined here, including the social factors connected to particular musical ensembles. Overall, psychological approaches encouraging behavioral change should be implemented, such as reminding individuals about previous use of PHPD, drawing their attention to these devices and the occupational environment, and enforcing PHPD norms to augment occupational health and safety.The questionnaire used in the experiment is available online at https://www.press.uillinois.edu/journals/ajp/media/redicts_the_use_of_hearing_protection/index.html

An Interdisciplinary Conducting Curriculum: Selected Theater Games From Viola Spolin’s “Improvisation for the Theater”

This article presents a series of theater games with clear connections to conducting and rehearsing music ensembles, explaining both how to play them and how young conductors will benefit from the experience. These games are published in Viola Spolin’s seminal text Improvisation for the Theater, which presents a series of exercises that foster communication, creativity, immediacy, and spontaneity. Many games also focus on creating and communicating character through physical movement and posture, awareness of the body in space, and manipulation of “space objects,” which are imaginary props made real in the mind of the observer through understanding of shared human experiences. Theater games are effectively experienced in short periods of time, intended for players of all ability and experience levels, and encourage immediate emotive communication, making them highly effective for young conductors and easily incorporated into undergraduate and graduate conducting classes.

A invenção do regional e a roda como ritual: uma abordagem crítica da tradição do choro

A evocação dos regionais como referência exclusiva de instrumentação vinculada à tradição do choro é recorrente nas narrativas de músicos contemporâneos. Na literatura, porém, nota-se a presença de uma maior diversidade de instrumentos e formatações engajadas na performance do gênero, durante o período de sua concepção. No intuito de compreender o hiato entre ambas as perspectivas, aproximo o choro do conceito de tradição cunhado por Anthony Giddens. Atravessada pela ideia de permanência, a tradição também se sujeita a diversas disputas práticas e discursivas entre seus agentes por domínio de seus sistemas abstratos, podendo, assim, transformar-se. Partindo desta constatação, destaco a subordinação de tais mudanças, no caso do choro, a negociações ocorridas em seu espaço ritual: a roda. Argumento, por fim, que os regionais se firmaram – a partir de negociações rituais diversas – como parte de uma tradição inventada do choro, que contribui para padronizar e particularizar, no presente, a heterogeneidade de formações instrumentais dedicadas à performance do gênero na passagem do século XIX ao XX. Os dados a fundamentar tais percursos e conclusões foram extraídos da literatura, de processo de observação participante em uma roda de choro na cidade de Belo Horizonte e de entrevistas com músicos dedicados à performance do gênero.

STUDI DESKRIPTIF PEMBELAJARAN ANSAMBEL DI SMP NEGERI 29 PADANG

This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The main instrument in this study was the researcher itself and was assisted by supporting instruments such as writing instrument and camera. The data were collected through interviews, literature study, and documentation. The data analysis was conducted by identifying the data, classifying the data, describing the data, and making conclusions. The results show that the learning process for the musical ensemble at SMP Negeri 29 Padang consists of group division, coinciding, selection of musical instruments, and learning of each music / instrument. The music ensemble learning activities are divided into three stages: preparation, practice / process, and evaluation. In the preparation stage, the teacher prepares the teaching document and subject matter while the students prepare musical instruments. In the practice / process stage, the teacher gives apperception in reminding about the meaning of musical ensembles and types of musical instruments, introducing songs to be played, and providing musical scores as well as techniques for playing recorder and pianica. In the evaluation stage, the teacher assesses, reviews, and sees the success and development of students towards learning.Keywords: Descriptive Study, Learning, Ensemble

MOTIVASI BELAJAR SISWA DALAM PEMBELAJARAN SENI MUSIK MELALUI MEDIA AUDIO VISUAL DI KELAS VII D SMP NEGERI 1 PADANG

This research is a qualitative descriptive study. The main instrument in this study was the researcher itself and was assisted by supporting instruments such as writing instrument and camera. The data were collected through interviews, literature study, and documentation. The data analysis was conducted by identifying the data, classifying the data, describing the data, and making conclusions. The results show that the learning process for the musical ensemble at SMP Negeri 29 Padang consists of group division, coinciding, selection of musical instruments, and learning of each music / instrument. The music ensemble learning activities are divided into three stages: preparation, practice / process, and evaluation. In the preparation stage, the teacher prepares the teaching document and subject matter while the students prepare musical instruments. In the practice / process stage, the teacher gives apperception in reminding about the meaning of musical ensembles and types of musical instruments, introducing songs to be played, and providing musical scores as well as techniques for playing recorder and pianica. In the evaluation stage, the teacher assesses, reviews, and sees the success and development of students towards learning.Keywords: Descriptive Study, Learning, Ensemble

PENGGUNAAN APLIKASI BASIC GUITAR CHORDS 3D PADA PEMBELAJARAN SENI BUDAYA (MUSIK) DI KELAS VII SMP NEGERI 3 KECAMATAN HARAU

AbstractThis study aims to describe the activities of Culture and Arts (music) teachers in grade VII of SMP Negeri 3 Harau District, Lima Puluh Kota Regency in implementing music instruction using the Basic Guitar Chords 3D application for learning guitar at school. The use of this guitar playing application provides an opportunity for students to learn guitar playing virtually with a different learning atmosphere from how guitar learning was theoretically and practically conducted before.This study uses references to results from relevant research and several theoretical studies especially those related to learning and instruction, learning methods, guitar learning through application, and Culture and Arts (music) instruction in junior high school.This is a qualitative research with a descriptive analysis approach. The object of research was teachers’ activities in implementing music instruction in grade VII of SMP Negeri 3 Harau. The learning observed involves learning guitar under the topic of playing a string instrument in a musical ensemble. The research instruments used were observation notes, interview notes, and document studies. The results of the study explain that learning guitar using the Basic Guitar Chords 3D application can create new experiences for students in learning music using the android application. However, due to the fact that the use of this application coincides with learning musical ensembles under the Basic Competence of playing simple music, this application conceptually does not support learning musical ensembles by using actual musical instruments.However, the teachers’ thought to explain that playing music can be done through application surely gives a point, and it can be developed by the teachers in learning music at school.Keywords: Android application, guitar, learning, instruction, ensemble

The influence of performing gesture type on interpersonal musical timing, and the role of visual contact and tempo

Bodily gestures play an important role in the communication of expressive intentions between humans. Music ensemble performance, as an outstanding example of nonverbal human communication, offers an exemplary context to study and understand the gestural control and communication of these expressive intentions. An important mechanism in music ensemble performance is the anticipation and control of interpersonal timing. When performing, musicians are involved in a complex system of mutual adaptation which is not completely understood so far. In this study, we investigated the role of performers' gestures in the mediation process of interpersonal timing in a dyad performance. Therefore, we designed an experiment in which we controlled for the use of hand and arm movements in a musical task, in which dyads were asked to synchronously tap out a melody. Next to their comfortable/natural way of tapping, we instructed participants to either perform pronounced expressive hand and arm gestures in between successive taps, or to restrict from any overt body movement. In addition, we looked at effects of visual contact (yes/no) and tempo (slow: 50 beats per minute; fast: 100 beats per minute). The results show that performers' gestures improve interpersonal musical timing, in terms of the consistency and accuracy of onset asynchronies, and of the variability of produced inter-onset intervals. Interestingly, we found that the use of expressive gestures, in regard to comfortable/natural movements, add to these positive timing effects, but only when there is visual contact and at the slow tempo. In addition, we found that the type of gestures employed by musicians may modulate leader-follower dynamics. Together, these findings are explained by human anticipation mechanisms facilitated by gesturing, shedding new light on the principles underlying human communication of expressive intentions, through music.

PELAKSANAAN PEMBELAJARAN DARING SENI BUDAYA DI KELAS VII SMP NEGERI 7 PADANG

Abstract This study discusses the Implementation of Online Learning in SMP Negeri 7 Padang. This research is a qualitative research and it uses the descriptive analytic approach which tends to use theoretical basis analysis used to guide the focus to be in accordance with the facts in the field. The research data were collected through interviews done to informants. Based on the results of the research implemented in two meetings, the author concludes that the implementation of online learning of Cultural Arts in music ensemble material to class VII.1 SMP Negeri 7 Padang is the use of WhatsApp Group media recommended by the assistant principle of Curriculum of SMP Negeri 7 Padang to deal with online learning so that learning activities still can be constructed even in a remote condition. The planning of online learning of music ensemble material is not optimal because the teachers do not create lesson plans specifically for the online learning process. The implementation of online learning in Cultural Arts in class VII is in accordance with the lesson plans implemented during face-to-face learning in the classroom. The online learning of Cultural Arts of the ensemble music material continues to run smoothly despite the simple learning. The learning outcomes of Cultural Arts of music ensemble of class VII are less than optimal because the learning activities are constructed without paying attention to the standards related to the preparation of online learning materials.Key words: Online Learning, Music Ensembless

초등학교 음악 교과서의 국악 합주곡 고찰 및 재구성 방안

초등학교 음악 교과서의 국악 합주곡 고찰 및 재구성 방안

A Comparison of Human against Machine-Classification of Spatial Audio Scenes in Binaural Recordings of Music

The purpose of this paper is to compare the performance of human listeners against the selected machine learning algorithms in the task of the classification of spatial audio scenes in binaural recordings of music under practical conditions. The three scenes were subject to classification: (1) music ensemble (a group of musical sources) located in the front, (2) music ensemble located at the back, and (3) music ensemble distributed around a listener. In the listening test, undertaken remotely over the Internet, human listeners reached the classification accuracy of 42.5%. For the listeners who passed the post-screening test, the accuracy was greater, approaching 60%. The above classification task was also undertaken automatically using four machine learning algorithms: convolutional neural network, support vector machines, extreme gradient boosting framework, and logistic regression. The machine learning algorithms substantially outperformed human listeners, with the classification accuracy reaching 84%, when tested under the binaural-room-impulse-response (BRIR) matched conditions. However, when the algorithms were tested under the BRIR mismatched scenario, the accuracy obtained by the algorithms was comparable to that exhibited by the listeners who passed the post-screening test, implying that the machine learning algorithms capability to perform in unknown electro-acoustic conditions needs to be further improved.

Music and the internet in the age of covid-19

The lives of classical musicians over the last few months have been rather turbulent with diaries being wiped clean and uncertainty remaining on when live music as we know it might be able to return. It has been wonderful to see the innovative and engaging steps that many ensembles have made to keep elements of performance going, thereby both keeping audiences entertained and providing musicians with much needed work in these unprecedented times. These have come in a variety of approaches, from YouTube and Facebook premieres of pre-recorded concerts through to virtual concerts given by solo musicians in isolation. There has also been the creation of multi-tracked, virtual performances from early music ensembles and choirs that have no doubt pushed musicians’ technological skills to the limit! This is of course a situation we would all prefer not to be in. With the summer here and many festivals cancelled it is greatly saddening to see so many wonderful projects put on hold—postponed until 2021, when live music can hopefully begin to return to normal. Musicians have risen to the challenge and it has forced performers to think further outside the box about reaching audiences through the use of digital technology.

Syncphonia: Understanding the value of participatory design in developing music technology to support musical ensembles that use notation

The benefits of ensemble performance are well recognized; notation supports group performance, but cuts in music education and changing musical cultures mean that notation is increasingly perceived as a barrier to entry. In an extended participatory design (PD) project, we co-designed and developed a software system for networked notation called Syncphonia with the aim of enhancing access to and experience of notation-based ensemble performance. In previous work, our formal evaluation and informal observations and feedback revealed a wide range of benefits. In this article, we are concerned with articulating the knowledge generated and insights gained through this extended PD process. To do so, we employ a framework for systematic reflection that has been designed to support investigation into the tacit knowledge generated in participatory design. Through this method, we focus inward and share three insights into the value of networked notation in contemporary musical cultures; we also look outward and articulate five approaches to PD with musical ensembles that might benefit others adopting this rich research method. A pluralistic and inclusive vision of notation is espoused and speculation is submitted that a dynamic, networked notation might ameliorate the boundaries between composing, improvising and performing to the benefit of all three.

Demanding Epistemic Democracy and Indirect Civics Pedagogy: The Performance-Oriented Music Ensemble

The participation of young adults in performance-oriented music ensembles can be seen to enhance democratic capacities and virtues. Much, however, turns on the particular conception of democracy at work. Although contemporary currents in music education tend towards models of liberal and participatory democracy to govern music ensembles, this essay contends that demanding epistemic democracy allows performance-oriented music ensembles the achievement of democratic virtues without sacrificing excellence as a central regulatory ideal. The inclusion of both men and women is shown to be particularly significant in this light. Central to its democratic epistemic ambition, the role of the conductor is considered in the last section of this article.

Оркестр русских народных инструментов в контексте глинкинских традиций симфонизма

The aim of the study is to identify stylistic specificity of a musical ensemble - the Russian folk orchestra. This specificity is accounted for by the task to form a national academic style in music defining a general trend in the culture of the XIX century, which vividly manifested itself in M. I. Glinka’s creative work. The research is novel in that it uncovers new additional features of Glinka’s epic symphonic style, which influenced dramaturgical conception of the Russian folk orchestra’s style as well as the sphere of instrumental-timbre solutions. Having analysed Glinka’s symphonic overtures, the author has proved that principles of his symphonic style that had developed into a set standard of style by the end of the XIX century were further used in the Russian folk orchestra’s music helping to form an instrumental style of this ensemble.

Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, CBSO Centre, Birmingham. Causton, Usui, Žuraj, Saunders. 15 December, 2019

Located at the end of a quiet side street in the middle of Birmingham, the CBSO centre is the venue for many of BCMG's concerts throughout the year. If the venue seems somewhat hidden away, concealed behind a Victorian red brick façade, the music that takes place inside is certainly not insular. As one of the world's leading contemporary music ensembles, BCMG's longstanding commitment to commissioning new work, and to fostering relationships with composers, has continued since 2016 under the artistic directorship of Stephan Meier. The final UK concert of 2019, Migrating Sounds, provides clear evidence of the ensemble's aims. Of the four works performed, Richard Causton's Transients and Vito Žuraj's Tension for two ensembles were world premieres, Rebecca Saunders’ Scar was a UK premiere, and Shiori Usui's Deep was commissioned by BCMG in 2014. The pieces by Causton and Saunders were also ‘sound investment commissions’, part funded by many individuals who, in return for their support, receive various rewards, including rehearsal and reception invitations. The concert was conducted by Michael Wendeberg.

A music literacy-based rationale for popular music ensembles and experiences in music education

The purpose of this article is to utilize new conceptions of music literacy to support and encourage popular music experiences in music education. A new definition of music literacy is presented and authentic popular music resources that function as (newly defined) texts to develop music literacy are identified and discussed. Finally, considerations will be given for music educators on how to select and utilize popular music texts to engage students in meaningful music interactions that promote music literacy development.

Effects of a partner\u2019s tap intervals on an individual\u2019s timing control increase in slow-tempo dyad synchronisation using finger-tapping

In musical ensembles, musicians synchronise their movements with other members of the ensemble at various tempos. This study aims to investigate the extent of tempo dependency of own and partner’s timing information on rhythm production. We conducted a dyad synchronisation-continuous finger-tapping task. First, two participants synchronised with the same auditory metronome at various tempos. Subsequently, after stopping the metronome, the participants maintained the tempo with the presentation of the partner’s tap timing via auditory signals. This task was conducted in six metronome tempo conditions at 700 to 3,200 ms in 500 ms step. It was found that the partner’s previous inter-tap intervals increased as the metronome tempo decreased. The effects of own previous inter-tap intervals and synchronisation errors between own and the partner’s tap timing did not depend on the metronome tempo. Therefore, timing control in dyad synchronisation was affected by the partner’s tempo more strongly in slow than fast tempos. This strong effect of the partner in slow-tempo rhythm synchronisation could be due to stronger attention to the partner’s movement timing in slower tempos than in fast tempos.

The Samjiyon Orchestra as a North Korean Means for Gender Based Cultural Diplomacy

In 2018 it appeared that a peace process on the Korean Peninsula had got underway. Lots of publicity was produced on inter-Korean relations and many types of messages and diplomatic actors started to move across the border with South Korea. One important element in this process was cultural diplomacy, conducted partly by athletes and cheering squads during the Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, and partly by musical ensembles. Selection of the Samjiyon Orchestra for the Pyeongchang events sheds light on the kind of image the North Korean leadership wanted to display of the country on the international stage. This article analyses the characteristics of the orchestra, where it came from, and why was it suitable for cultural diplomacy. Our wider goal is to understand music as an element in North Korean foreign policy. Evidently, music is considered an important tool for specific occasions, though its use is intermittent rather than regular.