Music Research Research Articles

Sound recordings and Karel Strekelj: The initiator of a new approach to folk song research in Slovenia

The Slovenian philologist and folk song researcher Karel Strekelj (1859-1812) was one of the first researchers in Slovenia to recognise the importance and usefulness of a new sound recording method. Based on a detailed study of archival documents and relevant literature, in this article I examine Strekelj?s contribution to folk music research using a new technical device and introducing a new method of sound documentation to field research. By placing his plans and efforts in a broader context of folk song research, one concludes that Strekelj was more ambitious and forward-thinking than many other researchers at the time.

How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell

Reviewed by: How to Train Your Dragon by John Powell Denise E. Finnegan-Hill John Powell. How to Train Your Dragon. Los Angeles: Omni Music Publishing, 2020. [xvi, 384 p. ISBN 9781734507928 (paperback), $85] Rarely does one find a published copy of a film’s score, particularly from a film as recent as 2010. The film How to Train Your Dragon received critical acclaim when it was first released with many reviewers acknowledging the role of the score in the film’s success. The score by composer John Powell, received its own recognition with an Oscar nomination for Best Score and winning Film Score of the Year from the IFMCA Awards. The score is written for full orchestra with a variety of folk and non-Western instruments. The published score is great for anyone studying film music, presenting a unique opportunity to dive deep into a newer score without having to rely on one’s ear and assist in widening the base of film music research. The lack of scholarly research on Powell, limited to only a composition dissertation chapter by Jennifer Dirkes (“Synchretic Analysis and Storyboard Scores: The Musical Rhythm of Filmic Elements,” [PhD diss., University of California-Los Angeles, 2017]) and my own Master’s thesis (“Thematic Development in John Powell’s Score for How to Train Your Dragon (2010),” [MM thesis, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2020]) leaves much room for exploration of Powell and the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. The How to Train Your Dragon score is unique to Omni Music Publishing’s collection as both the only score by Powell and the only score for an animated film, helping to diversify the emerging “canon” brought about by the limited publication of film scores. The published score will allow more scholars to explore Powell’s thematic technique and other aspects of his composition style that have not yet been researched. The thematically driven nature of the score that is in many ways more akin to the classic scores of John Williams, than other scores of the same year such as Oscar nominees The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) and Inception (Hans Zimmer) is possibly why Omni chose this score for publication alongside well-known composers like James Horner, Bernard Herrmann, and Elmer Bernstein. The publication was successful enough that Omni is set to publish the score for the second How to Train Your Dragon film in fall of 2021. Apart from Batman and Batman Returns (Danny Elfman) this is the only other series of scores Omni has published to date. Pending the success of the second score, I’m sure they will consider releasing the score for the third film as well, giving scholars the opportunity to study the entire franchise more easily. The publication is a beautiful edition, clearly laid out for ease of study. Abridged film credits and a relatively short introductory “analysis” of some [End Page 466] main themes and where they appear in the score are included. The film credits page mentions only those involved in the music production apart from the directors and main voice actors. This page is helpful to see everyone involved in the music production besides Powell, including a long list of orchestrators and arrangers, reminding us that although Powell will get credit for every choice made in the film’s music, it is not likely that he made every small decision, an important thing to note when writing about film music. Unfortunately, there is no indication of which orchestrator or arranger worked on which parts of the score. One may assume the names are listed by amount of contribution since they are not in alphabetical order, but there is no confirmation of this idea. At the bottom of the same page are the “book credits” showing that Powell and others from his production company, 5 Cat Studios, were involved in creating this publication. Timothy Rodier from Omni Music Publishing is also listed and credited with the layout and design of the book, but unfortunately there is no indication of how much input Powell had in the publication’s production and could possibly be listed as a courtesy or simply because the publisher went through...

History of popular music research in the Czech lands and Hungary

History of popular music research in the Czech lands and Hungary

Book Review: Review of Performing Music Research: Methods in Music Education, Psychology, and Performance Science by Williamon, A., Ginsborg, J., Perkins, R., & Waddell, G.

Book Review: <i>Review of Performing Music Research: Methods in Music Education, Psychology, and Performance Science</i> by Williamon, A., Ginsborg, J., Perkins, R., &amp; Waddell, G.

Study on the inheritors of ritual music in Weining Guizhou

In terms of Chinese music, where most music genres rely on "oral and heart to heart instruction", inheritance is a major focus of Chinese traditional music research. For the inheritance of dynamic research, it must be a combination of the ontology research of static research and the inheritor research of relative dynamic and static research. Based on the three-level research of American anthropologist Merriam, this paper has an insight into the inheritance of Chinese traditional music from "belief text music", from people to text, from outside to inside, and also understands and digests the interdependence between inheritance and construction of "simultaneous existence, one and two sides, binary opposition, one ebb and flow".

Transnational Chinese Music in the Philippines: Chinese Traditional Music in Binondo Manila

Transnational music refers to cross-border relationships and migration of music beyond state boundaries. The transmission of Chinese music in a transnational context has been of recent interest in the field of music research. However, there has been very little research studies done on Chinese music in the Philippines despite the long history of economic and cultural exchanges between the two nations. Binondo is an economic area in Manila, Philippines that is inhabited mostly by Chinese people. It provides a most auspicious locale in the study of musical transnationalism because of the long history of Chinese presence and is considered as the oldest China town in the world. This paper analyses the sources and types of the music and presents the basic appearance and inheritance authenticity of traditional music in the Binondo. With the transmission of Chinese traditional music overseas, its study and investigation is of great significance to the study of the evolution and development of Chinese music in Manila. At the same time, as an important part of Manila's Chinese community music, the study of Chinese traditional music is helpful for people's understanding of Chinese music culture in Binondo.

Ethnomusicology of Ukraine at The Turn of XX–XXI Centuries (1991–2021):Centers, Pedagogy, Documentation

The restoration of Ukraine’s independence in 1991 created favorable conditions for the powerful development of domestic ethnomusicology. Ukrainian musical folklore research has a long tradition, but for a hundred years the research has been conducted in difficult historical and political realities. This did not contribute to the proper development of folk music research, especially in the Soviet period. The period 1991–2021 is quite interesting, although difficult and ambiguous. The revival of Ukrainian ethnomusicology began in the early 1990s. Unfortunately, not all initiatives have been continued. Many initiatives had to be stopped due to financial difficulties, political circumstances, lack of sufficient specialists and so on.&#x0D; This article was inspired by the need to summarize everything that has been done in Ukrainian musical folklore over the past 30 years, to consider the achievements of Ukrainian ethnomusicology in 1991–2021. Previously, there was no general research on this topic, because various Ukrainian scientists have written about certain aspects of ethnomusicological work and about different time periods in the history of musical folkloristics of the period of independence. The research will be published in two parts: in this issue of the yearbook the main Ukrainian ethnomusicological centers will be presented, the state of domestic ethno-pedagogy will be discussed, documentation (field and archival) of folk music will be considered. The next issue will analyze the scientific, publishing, conference, promotional activities of Ukrainian researchers of folk music.&#x0D; Kyiv and Lviv have been the main Ukrainian centers for the study of folk music since the early twentieth century. The same is true today: the basic Ukrainian ethnomusical centers are the Rylsky Institute of Art Studies, Folklore and Ethnology (IAFE) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, the Tchaikovsky National Academy of Music of Ukraine and the Lysenko Lviv National Academy of Music. Research Scientific Laboratory of Music Ethnology and Departments of musical folklore were opened in both Academies in the early 1990s. Well-known scientists, doctors of science and PhD, and their junior colleagues work in these centers. Publishing activity is developing: encyclopedias, monographs, folklore collections, collections of articles, periodicals are published. Kyiv and Lviv higher music institutions publish the only in Ukraine purely ethnomusicological yearbooks of scientific articles and materials – «Problems of music ethnology» and «Ethnomusic». Regional ethnomusicological centers operate in many cities of Ukraine – Kharkiv, Odessa, Dnipro, Sumy, Rivne, Uzhgorod, etc.&#x0D; During the period of Independence, ethnomusicological education was actively developing. The two main areas are the education of ethnomusicologists-theorists and ethnomusicologists-practitioners, leaders of folklore ensembles. The first ones are prepared mainly by Kyiv and Lviv Music academies, where various specialized disciplines are taught. The second is taught in higher educational institutions of Kyiv, Kharkiv, Rivne, Sumy.&#x0D; An important area of activity of almost all Ukrainian ethnomusicological centers in the period of Independence was the documentation of folk music: the collection of musical folklore, transcription and archiving. Folk music was most actively collected in the early 1990s, but over time this work has slowed down, in part because authentic tradition is dying out and living in the passive memory of performers. Today the largest archives of folk music are in IAFE and Kyiv and Lviv Music academies. Archival collections are actively digitized, some materials can be found on the Internet – both on special sites-archives of folk music, and YouTube channels, which usually refer to the different ethnomusical centers. The main prospect of Ukrainian archivists engaged in musical folklore is the creation of the Central Electronic Archive of Ukrainian Folklore

Exploration of Music Preferences among the Socioeconomic Stereotypes: A Cross-Sectional Study

Music preference is being influenced by various sociological factors. This study was undertaken to investigate music preferences across five different socio-economic classes in selected urban and suburban areas of Sri Lanka. Ten music tracks representing the correspondent musical genres were selected. The single most preferred and the weighted hedonic mean score for the genres in each class were obtained as upper class: jazz, upper middle class: nature music, middle class: popular instrumental, working class: popular instrumental and poor class: rock. The interaction between socio-economic classes and genres was significant (p&lt;0.05). Compelling associations for folk, jazz, and popular instrumental genres were found with the upper-middle class while the upper class has shown a significant association for popular instrumental music. Despite the socio-economic status, the highest preference and the highest weighted hedonic mean score were recorded with popular instrumental. Thus, understanding music preference behaviour is vital for music education and research.

Best versus Good Enough Practices for Open Music Research

Music researchers work with increasingly large and complex data sets. There are few established data handling practices in the field and several conceptual, technological, and practical challenges. Furthermore, many music researchers are not equipped for (or interested in) the craft of data storage, curation, and archiving. This paper discusses some of the particular challenges that empirical music researchers face when working towards Open Research practices: handling (1) (multi)media files, (2) privacy, and (3) copyright issues. These are exemplified through MusicLab, an event series focused on fostering openness in music research. It is argued that the "best practice" suggested by the FAIR principles is too demanding in many cases, but "good enough practice" may be within reach for many. A four-layer data handling "recipe" is suggested as concrete advice for achieving "good enough practice" in empirical music research.

Ethnography in Western Popular Music Research Revisited

In this article, I focus on ethnomusicological and popular music studies’ examinations of Western popular music cultures, and provide a critique of some of their methods. Further, my main aim is not to propose a new method, but to suggest a re-emphasis of some of the fundamental ethnographic approaches in studying Western popular music cultures. These include participatory observation, grounded ethnography, materialism, thick description, and cultural relativism. To substantiate these arguments, I examine my own ethnographic research of American DIY (“do-it-yourself”) venues and scenes as an example of a participatory research of living and touring with DIY participants and studying their everyday lives. I recount my fieldwork methods and experiences and demonstrate how the focus on non-musical and private aspects of American DIY music cultures can produce a better understanding of their musical and public sides. Finally, I also argue how the proposed methodological re-evaluation can help to decolonize music studies.

The Interpersonal Entrainment in Music Performance Data Collection

The Interpersonal Entrainment in Music Performance Data Collection (IEMPDC) comprises six related corpora of music research materials: Cuban Son &amp; Salsa (CSS), European String Quartet (ESQ), Malian Jembe (MJ), North Indian Raga (NIR), Tunisian Stambeli (TS), and Uruguayan Candombe (UC). The core data for each corpus comprises media files and computationally extracted event onset timing data. Annotation of metrical structure and code used in the preparation of the collection is also shared. The collection is unprecedented in size and level of detail and represents a significant new resource for empirical and computational research in music. In this article we introduce the main features of the data collection and the methods used in its preparation. Details of technical validation procedures and notes on data visualization are available as Appendices. We also contextualize the collection in relation to developments in Open Science and Open Data, discussing important distinctions between the two related concepts.

Migrants, Swedes and the unchanging practice of music: discursive representations in Swedish newspapers

Traditional news media is one of the most important sources of information on contemporary society. Media has the power to affect public opinion and alter identities, which in the long run may affect social norms, practices and participative conditions. In traditional news media research, migration is an established topic while music is not. Their combination is lacking in both media and music research. In this study 106 newspaper articles from six major Swedish newspapers, published over a period of five years, are analysed through a discourse theoretical perspective. The discursive representation of ‘migrants’ in the investigated media confirms the picture provided in previous research, according to which the ‘migrant’ is often associated with the alien, the worrying and the problematic – not least in its relation to the ‘Swede’. More surprising is that while ‘music’ is repeatedly described as capable of affecting social relations and processes, it does not lead to a political practice of change. Instead ‘music’ becomes a mythic ritual, according to which subjects turn into conforming and well-integrated citizens.

Music Research and the Sound Archive: A Meditation on Ethnomusicological Engagement with Collection-Oriented Research and Re(p)(m)atriation

AbstractIn this article, I address collecting and re(p)(m)atriation as research orientations. I draw on examples from Métis music to situate the impact of collection-oriented research, to interrogate my own practice as a Métis-music scholar, and to point to possibilities for the future. In presenting a history of collecting alongside an overview of re(p)(m)atriation, I offer readers an opportunity to meditate on the pervasiveness of collection-oriented research and how we might create a new ethnomusicology—meditations encouraged through poetic expressions. I suggest that twenty-first century ethnomusicology needs to turn towards rematriation, not only as an act of returning artifacts, but also as a way of orienting our work as scholars.

Sonic Visualiser: Visualisation, Analysis, and Annotation of Music Audio Recordings

Sonic Visualiser: Visualisation, Analysis, and Annotation of Music Audio Recordings

Daphne Oram

In her book An Individual Note (1972), Daphne Oram developed multiple extended analogies between humans and electronic sound technologies. Oram used these to suggest how “music and information theory, allied to technology” might be applied to mental health; and to support her design for a machine that would preserve human qualities through its interactivity and musical results. This music machine, Oram wrote, “is based mainly on controlled feedback and the computing of resultants.…It is a control system which could be applied to many fields, as well as music.” Analogies between organisms and machines, core concepts of control and feedback, information theory: These suggest a cybernetic cast to Oram’s work. As Dunbar-Hester (2010) has observed, however, some experimental musicians drew directly from cybernetic sources, while others employed cybernetic-sounding language without such explicit engagement. To date, Oram has figured in neither camp, scholarly interests having been directed primarily toward her pioneering position in the male-dominated field of electronic music. Drawing on archival work at the Daphne Oram Collection at Goldsmiths, University of London, this article uncovers sources and conditions that informed Oram’s relationship to cybernetic science and aesthetics. As Oram pursued a program of music research and invention in the 1960s–70s, cybernetics offered a vocabulary, methodology, and ontology that interfaced the worlds of computer art and scientific progress with those of spiritualism and higher sense perception. At the same time, Oram’s commitment to authorial control for the composer put her at odds with the interests in indeterminacy and self-generating systems predominant among artists publicly recognized as cybernetic. The uneasy fit between Oram’s work and music’s cybernetic canon points toward a “scientific-spiritual space” (Pickering, 2010) that existing historiographies of electronic music have not fully recognized, and shows there is far more than Oram as woman that needs to be written back into history.

Review essay: Between the Material and the Ephemeral

Review essay: Between the Material and the Ephemeral

Mainstream popular music research: a musical update

AbstractThis article reviews studies that examine internationally circulating music which has reached the upper echelon of all-genre single charts in the 21st century. The examinations will be used as examples for the analysis of sonic aesthetics that are embedded in a particular frame of cultural debate, which the article conceptualises as ‘mainstream popular music’. The research field is then mapped and discussed with regard to prevailing objectives, methods and findings, including elaborations on how future research might advance understanding of the aesthetics within the discourses of mainstream popular music and, thus, of contemporary culture at large. The literature review focuses on music- and listener-based analytical directions and critically reflects on the frequent absence of theoretically well-founded and empirically underpinned, context-sensitive music examinations, particularly with regard to quantitative and audience research. The concluding section calls for a more integrated perspective on mainstream popular music as a discourse and praxis formation.

Diotic and Dichotic Mechanisms of Discrimination Threshold in Musicians and Non-Musicians.

The perception of harmonic complexes provides important information for musical and vocal communication. Numerous studies have shown that musical training and expertise are associated with better processing of harmonic complexes, however, it is unclear whether the perceptual improvement associated with musical training is universal to different pitch models. The current study addresses this issue by measuring discrimination thresholds of musicians (n = 20) and non-musicians (n = 18) to diotic (same sound to both ears) and dichotic (different sounds to each ear) sounds of four stimulus types: (1) pure sinusoidal tones, PT; (2) four-harmonic complex tones, CT; (3) iterated rippled noise, IRN; and (4) interaurally correlated broadband noise, called the “Huggins” or “dichotic” pitch, DP. Frequency difference limens (DLF) for each stimulus type were obtained via a three-alternative-forced-choice adaptive task requiring selection of the interval with the highest pitch, yielding the smallest perceptible fundamental frequency (F0) distance (in Hz) between two sounds. Music skill was measured by an online test of musical pitch, melody and timing maintained by the International Laboratory for Brain Music and Sound Research. Musicianship, length of music experience and self-evaluation of musical skill were assessed by questionnaire. Results showed musicians had smaller DLFs in all four conditions with the largest group difference in the dichotic condition. DLF thresholds were related to both subjective and objective musical ability. In addition, subjective self-report of musical ability was shown to be a significant variable in group classification. Taken together, the results suggest that music-related plasticity benefits multiple mechanisms of pitch encoding and that self-evaluation of musicality can be reliably associated with objective measures of perception.

An Analysis of Works by BTS &lt;Dynamite&gt;

본 논문은 한국 가수 최초로 빌보드 핫100 1위를 차지한 방탄소년단의 노래 Dynamite의 작품 분석 연구이다. 음악적 분석을 통해 다양한 작곡 기법과 음악 어법을 파악하여 창작자들의 작품 활동에 도움이 되게 하며 한국대중음악의 음악적 연구에 의미 있는 자료를 제공하는 것을 연구목적으로 한다. 이를 위해 작품의 구조적, 리듬적, 선율적, 화성적, 텍스쳐적 특징을 분석 연구하였다. Dynamite는 곡의 형식상 12개 부분으로 나눌 수 있고 각 부분은 특색 있는 음악적 요소를 포함하고 있다. 모티브가 되는 4개의 리듬형이 반복, 축소, 확대, 역행, 변형, 결합되며 악곡 전체로 전개되고 붙임줄로 인한 강세 변화로 다양한 리듬 패턴을 생성한다. 선율은 주로 E음과 C#음이 사용되는데 동음 반복되거나 이 두 음만을 사용한 선율이 <코러스>를 제외한 모든 부분에 나타난다. 코러스는 6개 음으로 구성된 순차진행 선율이 하행과 상행으로 나타나 노래하기 쉬운 선율을 만든다. 이 곡의 화성은 코드 4개가 순환 반복하는 단조로운 진행이 나타나고 있다. 보컬이 주선율을 노래하고 악기가 반주를 담당하는데 12개의 각 부분은 성부 수, 음색, 음역, 편성 방식에 변화를 주어 다채롭고 조화로운 텍스쳐를 만들고 있다. 이 작품은 선율과 화성에서는 대중성과 통일성으로, 리듬과 텍스쳐에서는 변화와 다양성을 반영하여 균형 잡힌 작품의 조화를 만들어 낸다. 본 논문은 그동안 업적과 영향력에 비해 음악적 연구가 부족했던 상황에서 방탄소년단의 <Dynamite>를 음악적 관점으로 깊이 있게 분석 연구함으로써 한국대중음악 작품 연구에 의미 있는 자료를 제공하는데 그 의의가 있다.This study aimed to analyze the work of BTS’s song “Dynamite,” which was the first Korean singer to rank first on the Billboard HOT 100 chart. By musically analyzing this song, various composition techniques and musical grammar were identified. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to help creators create music and provide meaningful data in the field of music research of Korean popular music. For this study, the structural, rhythmic, melodious, harmonious, and textural characteristics of the work were analyzed and studied. Dynamite was divided into 12 parts in the form of a song, and each part contains distinctive musical elements. For the rhythm of this song, four motif rhythmic forms were developed throughout the work, and the method used methods of repetition, reduction, enlargement, retrograde, transformation, and combination. The stress is changed due to the tie to generate various rhythm patterns. E and C# notes are mainly used for the melody, and the same note is repeated, or the melody consisting of only these two notes appears in all parts except for the Chorus part. The Chorus part is a sequential progression melody composed of six notes. This melody consists of descending and ascending, creating a melody that is easy to sing. In the harmony of this song, a monotonous progression appears in which four chords repeat circulation. The vocal part plays the main melody, and the instrument part plays the accompaniment. Each part of the form classified into 12 changes the number of layers, tone, voice range, and organization method. So, it is creating a colorful and harmonious texture. In this work, elements of popularity and unity appear in melody and harmony, and elements of change and diversity are reflected in rhythm and texture, creating a balanced harmony of works. Until now, research focusing on music has been insufficient, focusing only on BTS’ achievements and influence. Therefore, this study is meaningful in providing meaningful data for the musical research of Korean popular music by analyzing and researching Dynamite from a musical point of view.

Are Popular Music Curricula Antiracist?: The CCNY Music Department as a Case Study

In a recent virtual talk at the Hitchcock Institute for Studies in American Music, music theorist Philip Ewell considered how music educators and researchers might begin to “undo the exclusionist framework of our contemporary music academy.” Ewell's enterprise resonated with me not only as one who teaches undergraduate courses in music theory, history, performance, and ear training, but also as an instructor in a recently adopted Popular Music Studies program at the City College of New York (CCNY). The CCNY music department's shift in focus from a mostly white, mostly male, classical-based curriculum towards a more diverse and polystylistic repertory of popular music chips away at the exclusionist framework to which Ewell refers.