Musical Material Research Articles

Musical Design of the Film in the Structure of Film Composer’s Professional Competencies

The purpose of the article is to define the main components of the film music scoring process and the corresponding professional competencies of a film composer. The methodology of research is based on the integrated application of systemic and competency-based approaches, methods of theoretical analysis, specification, synthesis, and generalisation. The scientific novelty. Based on the analysis of art criticism and the author's own practical experience, the author of the article has determined: the main components of the film scoring process; the essence of compositional innovations in the best soundtracks of Ukrainian and foreign films; the main professional competencies of a film composer required to create a film soundtrack. The musical and creative competence of a film composer reflects the level of their compositional skill and the ability to creatively adapt musical material. Artistic and communicative competence characterises the ability to communicate creatively with the film's directing team, understanding the artistic intent of the film and the means of its implementation in musical images. Technical and technological competence is realised in the possession of modern technologies of sound recording and sound processing and the ability to work with studio equipment. Conclusions. Film scoring is a complex creative process that includes several stages (familiarisation with the general concept and dramaturgy of the film, creation of a score with a system of music themes and leitmotifs, studio recording of music, editing and synchronisation with the video sequence, sound design, creation of the final version of the soundtrack). The success of this process depends on the professional skill of the film composer, which is manifested in the formation of musical and creative, artistic and communicative, technical and technological competencies.
 Keywords: film music, soundtrack, musical design of the film, film composer, professional competencies.

CURRENT PROBLEMS OF MODERNIZATION OF MUSIC EDUCATION OF THE PRC IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN CHALLENGES

The scientific review article presents an analysis of the current problems of music education in the People's Republic of China, which are caused by the contradictions between the urgent need to preserve and multiply the national cultural potential and the requirements for the reorganization of the education system in accordance with the tasks of integration into the cultural and educational world space. The role of Chinese musical art in the historical, cultural and philosophical excursion is characterized. The main problems of music education in the People's Republic of China, which are determined by the music-pedagogical community, are presented. They are the following: orientation of Chinese music education on the training of performers, improvement of their technique; insufficient use of interdisciplinary connections with humanitarian disciplines to form a holistic view of musical art as a spiritual phenomenon; insufficient level of professional training of teachers of musical art; conservative approach in the organization and implementation of the educational process. The views of Chinese scientists, teachers, and art critics regarding the modernization of music education in the People's Republic of China are highlighted: updating and expanding the content of education by disciplines, topics of a national nature; the use of modern methods, techniques, organizational forms of training; raising the level of training of music teachers. The importance of building a national music school for the implementation of the state national cultural strategy is revealed. Among other important factors are solving the problems of national unification of the country, consolidation of the people, harmonization of relations in the society on the basis of cultural cohesion of the nation; elevation of the national identity of the Chinese nation. Prospective directions for the development of the national music school are outlined: updating the performing repertoire, supplementing the musical material studied in music lessons with examples of folk art; creating a historical and cultural context when teaching musical disciplines; promoting the spread of traditional Chinese music, its popularity and prestige in public consciousness; improvement of the process of teaching Chinese traditional music in educational institutions of all levels; defining and reconstructing the subjectivity of Chinese music, using the unique spiritual experience of national music.

Performance problems: presence, memory and fabulation in live music

This article discusses a set of “performance problems” (Madri 2009) in live music from the enshrinement and emptying of music “lives” in the context of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020. Beginning with the notion of presence, we recognize “live” as a status with a long tradition in mediatic configurations (Auslander 2008, Pires 2019) and present the aesthetic impasses brought about by their archiving in digital culture. We debate speculative zones between memory, invention, and simulation in three experiences created by live music materials: the presence of holograms and music performances, the retransmission of archived shows on digital platforms in the context of the pandemic, and the creation of new sound environments for pre-recorded materials.

Methodical Aspects of Stylistic Attribution Arrangement of Pop-Vocal Composition

The purpose of the research is to theoretically develop methods of characterisation and attribution of the style of arranging a pop-vocal composition. Based on the task of identifying active means of music expression, the most suitable methods for determining the characteristic features of style were used; the specific features of form, textural, temporithmic, timbre, melodic-thematic, and ladoharmonic organisation of the musical material of arrangement were analysed. As a result, the algorithm of analytical actions in the process of hearing expertise on the specific features of the musical language of arrangement is aimed at identifying the genesis of the stylistic profile of pop-vocal composition, which usually has features of genre-style synthesis of different areas of popular, jazz, folk, or academic music. In this regard, the parameters of temporithm and phonism are defined as basic criteria for recognising the stylistic dominant of the instrumental component of the song genre. The scientific apparatus of stylistic analysis methods, along with conventional musicological research methods, were used, as well as definitions of constant and aconstant types of the sound image of arrangement as operational criteria of stylistic differentiation of recyclic and through-dramaturgical principles of development of the sound idea of pop-vocal composition. During the comparative hearing analysis of the sound recordings of the famous Ukrainian song «I will go to distant mountains» in the original author's performance of Volodymyr Ivasyuk and its cover version performed by Kvitka Cisyk and arranged by Jack Cortner, the method of comparative stylistic characteristics of arrangements was carried out on the principle of contrasting comparisons or comparisons on the similarity of creative methods of instrumentation, formation, tempo-rithmic, melodic-thematic, and ladotonal organisation of musical material of instrumental accompaniments. The result of the study was the systematisation of the procedure of stylistic attribution of cover versions arrangements of works of popular song genres. The conclusions substantiate the need to consider the criteria of musical novelty and aesthetic value in evaluating the results of stylistic rethinking by the arranger of the original song musical text, which in the new version can appear as a unique, individualised concept that has actual artistic importance for modern listening audiences.

Pemanfaatan Gamelan Digital sebagai Upaya Peningkatkan Kreativitas Mahasiswa PGMI

Purpose: This study aims to see the increase in student creativity in SBDP courses on music art material. Involving 45 PGMI FITK UIN Sunan Kalijaga students consisting of 2 rombel, and grouped in 1 experimental class and 1 control class. Method: The method used is quantitative discretive t test to see the comparison of experimental and control classes. Result and Discussion: Based on the results of the analysis and research hypothesis, it shows that learning SBDP digital music material has been proven to increase student creativity. Observation data obtained that before the action was taken there were 45% of students who had not increased their creativity and there were 55% of children who began to develop their creativity abilities. After taking action in cycles I, II and III, it was obtained that the increase in creativity ability in the experimental class was 67.45% and 22.12% in the control class. The results of this study can see the differences and creativity abilities of students in using smartphone technology in SBDP courses on the theme of digital gamelan music.

WORKSHOP TARI KHAS PAMEKASAN SEBAGAI PENGUATAN SUMBER BELAJAR LOCAL WISDOM DI SEKOLAH DASAR

WORKSHOP TARI KHAS PAMEKASAN SEBAGAI PENGUATAN SUMBER BELAJAR LOCAL WISDOM DI SEKOLAH DASAR

Гайст-тема как значимое отсутствие музыки фильма

The article is devoted to the specifics of films in which music may not form an essential part of the soundtrack, sometimes appearing only in a few seconds of sound, or may not be present in the soundtrack at all, but have a strong influence on the creation of a cinematic image. The author of the article refers to a musical sound (melody, fragment of a musical piece) as an impulse for the director’s creative search for the artistic image of a film character and the film as a whole, its “inner sound” and rhythmic movement. For some directors, this stage of the creative process is the initial and largely decisive in the formation of the aesthetic atmosphere, artistic stylistics, and features of the dramatic development of a film. In these cases, studies on film music require corrections to the traditional terminology of film studies and the introduction of new terms that adequately reflect the intertextuality and contextuality of visual and musical material and the features of the director’s aesthetics and inner world. Thus, the concept of “leitmotif” becomes insufficient to understand the role of a recurring musical theme in a film in which it exceeds its traditional functional and semantic significance in the development of the drama of a film. The article proposes and justifies the introduction of the concept of geist-theme (from German geist — “spirit”). The material giving the basis for its introduction is the creative work of Belgian directors Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne. The performed analysis allows us to state that the use of the concept of geist-theme in the research on the music of auteur cinema, the expansion of the field of analysis in the hermeneutic approach, and attention to the intertextuality of borrowed musical quotations can give a deeper understanding of the essence of the artistic image of a film.

Оперное творчество Майкла Наймана: художественные идеи и принципы их музыкального воплощения

The article makes a study of the artistic concept of several of Michael Nyman’s operas and the formation of their semantic space within the immanent musical structure of the text. It is noted that the composer’s works pertain to post-minimalist musical theater and are often based on documentary sources. Despite the variety of issues involved — cloning and scientific racism in Facing Goya, copyright issues in Letters, Riddles and Writs, a distorted perception of reality in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Love Counts, and differences of worldviews in the opera Man and Boy: Dada, — the metatheme of Nyman’s opera work is music itself and, more broadly, art and its transformative power. The article pays special attention to the composer’s work with “derived” material. The deconstruction technique is singled out as the leading artistic means, it is shown how it contributes to the identification of artistic meanings. Thus, the free recombination of the segments of Schumann’s song Ich grolle nicht leads to the effect of “erasing” the original, revealing the essence of Professor P’s illness in The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. The verticalization of the segments of a chorale by Bach in the opera Love Counts embodies the impossibility of building syntagmatic connections in Patsy’s mind. The elaboration of musical material by Mozart in Letters, Riddles and Writs reveals its inner kinship with minimalism, which makes the problem of plagiarism irrelevant. The collage of stylistically diverse musical material in the opera Man and Boy: Dada serves as an analogue of the concept Merz, developed by the artist Schwitters.

Reflections on the Lived, Endured, Overcome... (for the 80th birthday of Bohdan Yaremko)

In the article outlined the life path of Professor Bohdan Ivanovych Yaremkо as a researcher of traditional Hutsul and Boyko panpipe-type instruments, a performer, an innovative educator in high school, and a representative of Ukrainian and European organological science. After graduating his studies at the Lviv Conservatory in the clarinet class, Yaremkо began his career in the Department of Wind Instruments of the Rivne Art University. Over the 41 years of his work at this institution, B. Yaremkо evolved as a panpipe (“sopilka”) music performer and, from 1977 onwards, as a researcher of Hutsul and Boyko traditional music. From 1979, he also became the founder of the “sopilka” class. In the article identified key milestones in the perfor- mance activities of Yaremkо’s panpipe class students, who, in different years, became laureates and diploma winners of international, national, regional competitions, and festivals, leaving a lasting impact on their artistic careers. A significant result of 29 B. Yaremkо’s research activity, involving meticulous transcription work, systematic folklore expeditions mainly in the Carpathian region, creative interactions with folk musicians and folklore experts at various scientific events, and laboratory experiments, is his doctoral dissertation “The Role of Performance in the Formation of Musical Tradition (based on the material of Ukrainian sopilka music of the Carpathians)” and the publication of several dozen scientific articles and three study books: “Utorop Sopilka Improvisations”, “Boyko Sopilka Music”, and “Ethnoorganology”. In the article is characterized the final period of B. Yaremkо’s work in Rivne, marked by the same circle of scientific interests, as evidenced by over 20 publications dedicated to “sopilka”, violin, and “trembita” вthemes. From 2013, the Lviv period of B. Yaremkо’s career began, associated with his work at the T. Shevchenko Kremenets Regional Humanities and Pedagogical Academy and the publication of the monograph “Sopilka Music of the Hutsuls”, numerous scientific articles, and participation in online scien- tific conferences.

Complexity of Vocal Vibrato in Opera and Jazz Recordings: Insights From Entropy and Recurrence Analyses

Vibrato is an oscillation in frequency, intensity, and timbre of the singing voice. Previous studies have found a relationship between its periodicity and perceived quality. The diversity of vibrato enriches the music and singer's performances but create challenges for quantifying and capturing the characteristics that contribute to achieving these expressive goals. Vibrato tones have been addressed using rate, extent, jitter, and shimmer; however, these do not necessarily capture relevant complex time-varying features. This paper applies techniques from disciplines that specialize in periodicity and complexity to provide insight into vibrato characteristics not yet understood. This study aimed to assess whether nonlinear metrics are relevant features in characterizing and illustrating differences in vibrato behavior in opera and jazz singing, as well as considering the relationship of nonlinear metrics to other vibrato parameters. Vibrato tones from published music material of world-class singers from opera and jazz were analyzed with entropy, recurrence, and the established parameters of rate, extent, jitter, and shimmer. Dimensionality reduction was employed to consider the relationship and significance of each of the metrics in collectively characterizing vibrato. The principal component, explaining 40% of variability, had positive weights of determinism and line length derived from recurrence while having negative weights of rate, shimmer, and sample entropy. Using these components, the vibrato tones from opera compared to jazz singing were found to be more regular and had lower rate and extent, and it was possible to spotlight singers and notes with high periodicity. Our study shows that nonlinear metrics applied to vibrato tones provide a valuable tool for observing and quantifying regularity in vibrato tones. The results of this study highlight the potential for more detailed descriptions of vibrato characteristics that may support categorization of individuals, genres, or musical expression in the future and could be applicable to pedagogical techniques.

Струнные квартеты С. И. Танеева в аспекте взаимодействия фактуры и жанра

The article is devoted to the analysis of texture as the most important constituent of the style of Sergei Taneyev’s string quartets. Up to the present time in Russian musicology texture in the composer’s chamber instrumental music has not formed a subject for special study, which is what especially stipulates the relevance of the chosen theme. The aim of the article is to define the specificity of the genre revealing itself on the textural level of the quartet’s artistically organized integrality, which may shed light on the sphere of its evolution in Taneyev’s music. The following issues are resolved in correspondence with the aim: to establish the correlation of the texture with the form, to research the means of this interaction with the thematicism, to disclose the most characteristic indications of the individual authorial style, having examined them in the aspect of the processes of form-generation. The author arrives at conclusions about the formation of the styles of the quartets. It is indicated that the compositions absorb into themselves various types of polyphonic and homophonic expounding of the musical material, the varieties of its strata, as well as the modulation processes in the sphere of texture based both on the suppleness of its transitions and on the effects of suddenness and unexpectedness. Both types of textural modulations present a distinguishing feature of Taneyev’s artistic manner that is connected with the stages of formation of form.

Reimagining Formal Functions in Post-Tonal Music

Modernist concepts of temporality (“non-linear time”) are variously cross-related to conventional concepts and qualities of time (“linear time”) (Kramer 1988, 20–65). This is exemplified by Salvatore Sciarrino’s creative method, which reconciles more conventional elements of discursive organicist design (processes of accumulation, multiplication, and transformation) with strategies of rupture and formal deterioration (“little bang,” “window form”). This unique mixing of “linear” and “non-linear” strategies is staged within a soundscape of mostly minimal dynamics and reduced activity at the edge of silence, sensitizing the listener toward micro-alterations. This article introduces key strategies in Sciarrino’s temporal form based on analytical investigations of three works that differ substantially in duration, density, and genre: Quintettino no. 1 (1976, ca. 3 min.) for clarinet and string quartet, Efebo con radio (1981, ca. 11 min.) for voice and orchestra, and the music theater work Da gelo a gelo: 100 scene con 65 poesie (2006, ca. 110 min.). My analyses are framed by a discussion of the relationships between musical beginnings or endings and constellations of duration and density. Sciarrino’s works prominently feature a semanticization of musical material by metaphorical, agential, or paratextual means that is also evident in his interpretation of Anton Webern’s orchestral piece op. 6, no. 4 (1909). The analyses demonstrate how the composer’s explicit and implicit semanticization of his material allows the listener to understand Sciarrino’s works as reimaginations of conventional formal functions in which the familiar appears unfamiliar.

Musical Architectonics: A Methodological Aspect

The importance and functions of musical architectonics in the creative process of a composer and performer are considered in the paper. The conceptual basis of the work is the definition of musical architectonics and classification of its types by V. Moskalenko. Specific features of musical architectonics compared to musical composition are revealed. The functions of architectonics in the musical-creative process of a composer and performer are defined. A method of studying the architectonics of a musical work is proposed. It consists of the study of indirect data, the features of musical material, the definition of the basic composition model and the dramatic relief of the work. It is emphasized that musical tempo-rhythm is an important means of materializing the “virtual” image of architectonics. In the sheet music, the composer fixed a certain tempo-rhythmic solution that clarifies the architectonic project of the work. Performers embody it in different ways, so the comparative analysis of performance versions is of particular importance. By identifying the differences in tempo-rhythmic solutions, the composer’s architectonic project is clarified, and the artistic potential of the musical work is revealed. Musical architectonics is an indicator of the composer’s and performer’s styles.

The Domestic Music Market and Musical Circulation in Two Late-Georgian Binders’ Volumes from the North-East of England

ABSTRACT This article introduces two late-Georgian binders’ volumes of printed vocal and keyboard sheet music held at Newcastle upon Tyne’s Literary and Philosophical Society. Both volumes display connections with the north-east of England, and, as we argue, were most likely compiled in the region in the last decades of the eighteenth century and the opening decades of the nineteenth. These volumes have not received scholarly attention, yet a close examination enables us to expand the scope of previous studies on musical circulation and the music trade, and to contribute new insights to the emerging national picture. They shed light on patterns of the acquisition, circulation, and consumption of music alongside mapping the nexus of print centres—in this case, London, Edinburgh, and Newcastle—on which consumers of domestic sheet music in the north-east of England might have drawn to access the latest musical materials. We begin by examining the physical, bibliographical, and musical features of the volumes to explore questions of dating, ownership, and their connections with the north-east of England, and go on to consider the routes through which the music they contain might have been obtained by music consumers in the region. Finally, we explore the contents of these volumes, setting them against the national picture of domestic music consumption, and consider their contents from the perspective of gendered modes of consumption, local politics and identity, and national polite music culture. In so doing, we elucidate how two domestic musicians in the north-east of England engaged with local and national musical culture in the composition of their personal music books and the fashioning of their social and musical identities.

FORMATION OF CONDUCTING AND ORCHESTRAL COMPETENCE OF FUTURE TEACHERS MUSICAL ART

The article proves the formation of conducting and orchestral competence of future music teachers. The formula for the successful performance of an orchestra largely depends on the professional training of the leader of the group, the formation of his conducting and orchestral competence, which includes certain qualities, among which are communication skills, which perform many important functions in the development of the individual. It is proven that several types of communicative skills are distinguished in the scientific environment, namely: informationalcommunicative, regulatory-communicative and affective-communicative. It has been established that the conducting and orchestral competence of future music teachers is formed in the process of working on an orchestral score under the conditions of introducing certain qualities into the rehearsal and stage-performance process. In the process of working on an orchestral score, the conducting and orchestral competence of future music teachers is formed in the process: analysis of the orchestral score of a musical work; detailed analysis of a musical work; works on fragments of musical works; improvement of conducting technique skills; reading orchestral parts; fixation of musical material. It has been proven that the formation of conducting and orchestral competence of future music teachers is realized in the process of individual classes and independent work of students of higher education. At the same time, the following teaching methods are introduced, such as: practical classes, counseling, the method of reading from a letter, the method of artistic context, the method of emotional drama, the method of working in an orchestra, the interpretation of a musical piece, the method of working on the orchestral score of a musi

Presenting the SWTC: A Symbolic Corpus of Themes from John Williams’ Star Wars Episodes I-IX

This paper presents a new symbolic corpus of musical themes from the complete Star Wars trilogies (Episodes I-IX) by John Williams. The corpus files are made available in multiple formats (.krn, .sib., and .musicxml) and include melodic, harmonic, and formal information. The Star Wars Thematic Corpus (SWTC) contains a total of 64 distinctive, recurring, and symbolically meaningful themes and motifs, commonly referred to as leitmotifs. Through this corpus we also introduce a new humdrum standard for non-functional harmony encodings, **harte (Harte et al., 2005; Harte, 2010). This report details the motivation, describes the transcription and encoding processes, and provides some brief summary statistics. While relatively small in scale, the SWTC represents a unified collection from one of the most prolific and influential composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, and the under-studied subset of film and multimedia musical material in general. We hope the SWTC will provide insights into John Williams’ compositional style, as well as prove useful in comparisons against other thematic corpora from film and beyond.

Sharing the Joy of Music: A Music Cataloger’s Guide to Training Library Staff with Limited Music Expertise

ABSTRACT Countless academic libraries are unable to commit staff time to handle the multiple workflows required by a music library, such as ordering, procurement, and cataloging. Music librarians often rely on support from staff in other departments with limited musical backgrounds. Drawing from resources offered by the central library, a University of Tennessee music cataloger created guidelines for training non-musical library staff in identifying various musical formats. The training was meant to improve the workflow of music materials from acquisitions, cataloging, and processing departments. The training focused on illustrating the differences between a variety of commonly found musical score formats. The goal was to increase staff effectiveness and reduce errors in ordering and processing music materials. Ultimately, the training enabled library staff to identify best options and apply sound judgment when fulfilling order requests. These guidelines included illustrations with examples of different formats with cover images, title pages, music notation pages, and a brief bibliographic description of MARC fields 100, 245, 240, 250 and 300. By evaluating bibliographic records from WorldCat and showing physical examples of various musical manifestations, non-musical library staff were able to contribute more effectively to the operations of the music library. Furthermore, during the process of training and following up with staff, it became clear that the need for basic music training was greater than initially perceived and that numerous other units within the library needed this training. This paper offers guidelines for music library training from both the University of Tennessee and the music library literature.

Music as Magic

Music as Magic

Influence of Timbral Sound Coloring on the Evolution of the Conductor's Gesture

An overview of the professional aspects of conducting as a process of managing a performing team was carried out. The main directions of the development of the conductor's performance skills from the noisy type to the silent type are revealed. The dynamics of changes in the forms and methods of conducting have been traced while preserving the priority of gesturing as the main type of influence on the collective during the performance of a musical piece. It was found that the conductor controls not only the logic of the development of the musical material, but implements it by using a specific complex of real physical movements (gestures) organized in time. The essence of the conductor's orchestral thinking is analyzed, which is a synthesis of his logical and procedural thinking, which ensures the development of the timbre dramaturgy of the musical work. The dependence of the timbral coloring of sound on the involvement of various types of orchestral instruments in the reproduction of musical material is substantiated. It has been established that orchestration is the basis of the conductor's timbral thinking. Composers are divided (conditionally) into two main types of timbral thinking, where the first includes those for whom orchestration is a means of expressing musical thought (L. Beethoven, R. Wagner, P. Tchaikovsky, D. Shostakovich, and others), and the second includes those for whom orchestration is a means of expressing sophisticated imagery by creating an orchestral color and multi-colored sound (H. Berlioz, M. Rimskyi Korsakov, K. Debussy and others). It has been proven that: timbral coloring and the conductor's manual technique have a reciprocal relationship; The elements of the conductor's gesture reflect not only the metro-rhythmic structure, stroke realization, dynamic shades, emotional and figurative content of the musical work, but also reflect the quality of the new timbre, its modification and development; the timbre auditory imagination of the conductor develops in classes on orchestration (instrumentation) and in the process of conducting directly with the orchestra; the conductor's gesture, which is not supported by timbral feeling, leads to a formal gesticulation that does not reflect the emotional and figurative content of the musical work.

The ecological dynamics of trumpet improvisation.

The nature of music improvisation continues to provide an interesting showcase of the multifaceted and skilful ways we engage with and act within our environments. Improvising musicians are somehow able to generate musical material in real time that adaptively navigates musical situations. In this article I explore the broader aspects of improvised activity-such as our bodily interactions with the instrument and environment-as they relate to improvised music-making. I do so by drawing upon principles from the embodied cognitive sciences, namely ecological and dynamical systems approaches. Firstly, I introduce the concept of affordances to illustrate the bidirectional relationship between improvisor and environment. I then take a dynamical view, exploring the ways that a trumpet player coordinates their body with their instrument and engages with trumpet affordances in order to navigate musical situations. I continue this dynamical view, taking the improviser to be an adaptive system whose behaviours are self-organised responses to a set of constraints. To conclude, I situate my research within the wider 4E approach. I advocate that 'E' approaches, which take seriously the role of the body-instrument-environment relationship, provide an insightful perspective on the nature of improvisation.