Musical Space Research Articles

Anthropological turn in musical culture of the XX century

The anthropological turn in the system of cultural and musicological reflection determines the transformation of the image of man in the culture of the XX century. The ontological and phenomenological dimensions of the presentation of a person in the media space are changing. If the semiological turn was defined as a movement of structuralist and post-structuralist studies, and the visual turn is associated with the transformation of visual practices, the emergence of a certain visual environment, then the anthropological turn in music touches on the deep psycho-physiological foundations of the formation of a musical image. The purpose of the article is to determine the cultural characteristics of these turns as an aesthetic and anthropological phenomenon. The methodology is presented with comparative and systemic approaches, which makes it possible to determine the integrity of performance in music as a meta-cultural and meta-artistic integrity. The scientific novelty. The anthropological turn occurs as a systemogenesis of cultural paradigms. Systemogenesis is the uneven development of system components (subsystems). A person as a cultural phenomenon can be considered as a system, albeit in a certain context, from a certain point of view. Systemogenesis of reflection as an anthropological turn characterizes the change of the image of a person in different realities of reflection — philosophical, cultural, and art. These paradigms, in fact, musical, creative, and artistic become ecological, because they are lifesaving in terms of preserving the integrity of a person, culture, in particular musical and performing culture. The anthropological turn indicates the artist-performer behind the realization of the musical space, music as the integrity of culture. Semiological is related to notation systems, information transmission and understanding of music as a symbolic phenomenon. The visual turn characterizes the communicative aspects of performance in musical culture as a whole. The results. Cultural genesis in performance is a system genesis of paradigms dominated by either a symbiotic or a monistic paradigm, focused on authenticity, creativity, deconstruction, decomposition, etc. All this can be noted as paradigms of creativity in general. The integrity of the modeling of the modern musical space is being formed, in particular a genetic algorithm with all the properties of sound and other configurations of a synthetic vision of an artistic image. The practical significance of the article. The practical significance of the work lies in the fact that practicing musicians and musicologists join the modern cultural reflection focused on the ecosystem approach. In particular, performing activities in music are oriented both on the anthropological constants of the performer and on preserving the traditions of national performing schools. In post-classical musical cultural studies, performing activity is interpreted as a certain systemogenesis. The creation of new systems of performing culture arises as a self-sufficient synthesis based on an appeal to the origins of national musical culture, and the entire corpus of problems of performing art is presented in the context of premodern, modern and postmodern types of reflection.

Compositional Rheology: Drafting Musical Flux through Fluid Mechanics and Drawing

Abstract This article explores the fluctuating relationship between the concepts of the “smooth” and “striated” musical space and time introduced by French composer Pierre Boulez and further developed by philosopher Gilles Deleuze, as well as its connection to rheology. The study focuses on how the understanding of the Reynolds number (Re), a parameter that characterizes the way a fluid flows in a duct, might provide a new approach to investigating the aforementioned musical concepts and visualizing them through drawing. This article also introduces a way of studying and visualizing musical compositions by establishing analogies between compositional parameters and the molecular and inertial forces that exist within the stream of a fluid.

Metropolitan Cathedral Choir. 100 Years Since Its Foundation

In 2022, the Choir of the Metropolitan Cathedral of Cluj-Napoca celebrated 100 years of uninterrupted activity in the field of church music. The centenary of the Cluj choir can be considered a particularly important event, both for the Transylvanian musical space and for the tradition of Romanian choral music. Founded in 1922, the Metropolitan Cathedral Choir has had an outstanding musical career, having performed countless religious concerts, cultural and missionary activities, and participated in religious and secular ceremonies. The recognition of the artistic contribution of the Metropolitan Choir is largely due to its prolific activity in the musical field, which has led to increased visibility, both locally and nationally. With a constant activity of 100 years, the Cathedral Choir has had at the conductor’s desk, but also among the choristers, outstanding personalities of Romanian music. Among those who have led its musical destiny we remember: Gheorghe Dima, Vasile Petrașcu, Augustin Bena, Sava Golumba, Ioan Brie, Vasile Stanciu. Through the prestige it has acquired over time, the Metropolitan Cathedral Choir has become a benchmark for church choirs in the Diocese of Vad, Feleac and Cluj, being a benchmark of mastery and virtuosity. Keywords: diocesan choir, choral music, church choir, conductors, cathedral, centenary

M. Ravel’s vocal cycle “Chansons madécasses” and its role in the development of French chamber-vocal music of the first half of the twentieth century

Statement of the problem. Chamber vocal genres attracted Ravel throughout his career, from his first opuses (his first song belongs to Op.4) to his last, which was the vocal cycle “Three Songs of Don Quixote to Dulcinea”. The vocal works fully embody the main features of the composer’s style and creative interests. This sphere of Ravel’s work corresponds to the leading trends in the development of chamber vocal genres in the French culture of the twentieth century. At that time, composers had gravitated toward symbolism, elegance and refinement of music expression, the impressionistic reflection of fleeting moments, elusive images of nature or shades of human feelings. The cycle “Chansons madécasses” (“Madagascar Songs”) attracts primarily by a mixture of colonial themes and exoticism, which is realized in a combination of speech expressiveness and musicality, recitative melody and plastic rhythm. The cycle poses a number of difficult tasks for performers, the solution of which lies in the plane of historical accuracy and technical precision. These aspects are examined in the article. Discussion of the historical, social and textual specifics of music and poetry will help to renew the traditions of the cycle’s performance that were formed in the last century. Objectives, methods, and novelty of the research. The purpose of the article is to examine Ravel’s vocal cycle “Chansons madécasses” in the context of the development of French chamber music of the first half of the twentieth century, with an emphasis on content and stylistics. Theoretical analysis and systematization of scientific sources on the topic helped to outline certain traditions of musicological presenting the cycle “Chansons madécasses; historical and comparative research methods have made it possible to consider the historical and cultural context of the poetic component of the cycle –“poems in prose” by E. Parny. Holistic and comparative musicological analysis contributed to the coverage of ways of realizing the poetic and musical spaces of the cycle. M. Ravel’s vocal cycle “Chansons madécasses” remains poorly researched in domestic musicology, which determines the scientific novelty of this study. Research results and conclusion. Based on the analysis of M. Ravel’s chamber-vocal cycle, it can be concluded that the composer continues the best traditions of French art with its refined and impressionistic features, while demonstrating an innovative approach to vocal genres. Particularly interesting are his creative searches in recent years, when Ravel reached a new understanding of musical and poetic synthesis. The main features of his chamber music, including vocal cycles, were the daintiness and elegance of the figurative sphere, the refinement of the musical style, the inclination to the recitative manner of vocalization, and elements of sound painting In the cycle “Chansons madécasses” M. Ravel not just embodies the text in music; he tries to make the music itself convey the text. Emotions and conflicts present in the words receive an active dramatic musical embodiment; the erotic play of dynamics and tempos in “Nahandove”, the clash of tonalities in “Aoua!” and the quiet mysterious sounds in “Il est doux” serve as an example of an attempt to achieve a “direct” reproduction of the text in music. Thus, the songs of the cycle “Chansons madécasses” represent the composer’s complex relationship with the very idea of a “voice”. M. Ravel “appropriates” the voice of an exotic “other” in order to address provocative themes that he avoided in the rest of his vocal works; but instead of remaining in this “safe space”, he constantly undermines its stability: avoiding the conventionality of musical exoticism, looking for a strong dramatic support of the text capable of making an impression on the listeners, M. Ravel puts us into a confrontation with the various emotions presented in these songs.

Sonic Signals and Symbolic “Musical Space”

Sonic Signals and Symbolic “Musical Space”

Intermediate forms of musical art and new information technologies

The development of technology at the turn of the 20th century draws attention to the issues of connecting art with scientifi c achievements in the fi eld of acoustics, artifi cial intelligence, electronics, and sonorics. In the modern era, with the intensive development of science and technology, unexpected synthetic forms of combining genres are quite possible. The use of computer technology enriches the sound of the orchestra's acoustic instruments, exerting a strong psychoacoustic eff ect on the audience. Changing ideas about timbral sound and the desire to hear new intonations in the aesthetics of the 21st century expand the boundaries of the very concept of musical sound. The computer age has created a new aesthetic paradigm, which is based on the synthesis of technology and art. Modern ideas and experiments have created a sound space where acoustic tonal sounds, electronic sound timbres, and noises without a tonal basis coexist. Therefore, the boundaries of musical space in the sound fi eld also become very unstable and uncertain, and modern possibilities of theatricalization and visualization make the external boundaries of musical art even more unstable. Such genre fl exibility of boundaries is clearly manifested in the work of many modern composers. The materials of the article can be used in the educational process in areas of training related to the art of music.

Dalit Echoes, Green Stories: Understanding the Caste-Environment Nexus in South Indian Raps

The southernmost Indian state of Kerala has recently experienced a massive engagement with rap music, unlike another region in the global south. These raps have been at the forefront of addressing social, ecological, and political issues. In India, caste is a significant social, political, and ecological issue that greatly hinders cultural sustainability. Caste, a deeply ingrained social hierarchy, significantly influences access to natural resources, living conditions, and environmental health, perpetuating social inequalities. Though caste and nature are interwoven inextricably, their discussions in the academic space are limited. However, discussions on the ecology of caste have found their space in the rap music of Kerala. This paper focuses on how this new-age digital manifestation explores human and intra-human relationships within the context of caste and has generated a discourse of resistance in the process of reclaiming Dalit rights and agency as ecological beings. The theoretical framework of Dalit hip hop ecology devised through the integration of ‘hip hop ecologies’ and ‘Dalit ecologies’ aids in conceptualising the relationship between caste, environment, and rap music. This brings in a new dimension of reading Dalit environmental politics through the lens of music, exploring its resistive and transformative potential as these raps not only reflect but also challenge and resist caste-based environmental injustices.

Artificial Intelligence and Musicking

Artificial intelligence (AI) deployed for customer relationship management (CRM), digital rights management (DRM), content recommendation, and content generation challenge longstanding truths about listening to and making music. CRM uses music to surveil audiences, removes decision-making responsibilities from consumers, and alters relationships among listeners, artists, and music. DRM overprotects copyrighted content by subverting Fair Use Doctrine and privatizing the Public Domain thereby restricting human creativity. Generative AI, often trained on music misappropriated by developers, renders novel music that seemingly represents neither the artistry present in the training data nor the handiwork of the AI’s user. AI music, as such, appears to be produced through AI cognition, resulting in what some have called “machine folk” and contributing to a “culture in code.” A philosophical analysis of these relationships is required to fully understand how AI impacts music, artists, and audiences. Using metasynthesis and grounded theory, this study considers physical reductionism, metaphysical nihilism, existentialism, and modernity to describe the quiddity of AI’s role in the music ecosystem. Concluding thoughts call researchers and educators to act on philosophical and ethical discussions of AI and promote continued research, public education, and democratic/laymen intervention to ensure ethical outcomes in the AI music space.

Immersive technologies in the formation of musical audio space

Immersive audio technology is increasingly used in music, with devices like cell phones and televisions replicating formats. The increasing adoption of immersive audio technologies by both consumers and professionals in the music industry has made this topic more relevant. The purpose of the research is to analyse immersive technologies that contribute to the creation of the musical audio environment. The research employed methods: literature and historical review, technical analysis, practical cases, statistical method, and the author’s personal empirical experience. The article examines the function of audio space in relation to the perception of musical art and the characteristics of musical audio space. The proposed classification categories musical audio spaces into two distinct types: natural and artificial, as well as offline and online. The article’s statistical data illustrates the changing patterns of growth in online audio consumers and the rivalry between radio stations and streaming platforms to enhance their impact on shaping listeners’ audio spaces. The research demonstrates that streaming platforms actively encourage the incorporation of musical content in immersive formats as a means to expand their market share and evoke heightened emotional and perceptual responses in customers. The article outlines techniques used in immersive music spaces to provide a distinct aural experience for the listener. The article’s practical analysis of immersive audio technologies encompasses the examination of requisite microphones and digital audio workstations that facilitate the transition from two-dimensional audio space formation to threedimensional. In contemporary circumstances, the distribution of musical items is progressively employing threedimensional immersive technologies. The article enumerates audio technologies that guarantee the creation of an immersive auditory environment for both listeners and musicians: Ambisonics, KLANG: technologies, and DPA 5100. The practical significance of this work rests in examining the perceptual attributes of users of immersive technologies and exploring the potential for developing immersive technologies, such as immersive musical instruments or immersive radio stations

When worlds collide: How a classically trained cellist integrates a heavy metal music camp into her learning ecology

The creation of connections between learning spaces is a central dimension of music learning. However, these connections do not arise automatically, but require specific efforts from the learners. In this article, we look at these efforts, focusing in particular on the conflicts that can arise, often due to the association of places with certain genres. As an example, we attend to a classically trained cellist participating in the Wacken Music Camp, a learning space for heavy metal music. Among other things, our findings can help music educators to understand the alienation many students feel from school music lessons, and we also offer perspectives on how to address this alienation productively.

Listening to the structure: Mass-timber construction at the Groton Hill Music Center

Historically, Western music spaces were built with massive masonry-bearing walls. While these designs offer structural and acoustical benefits, today’s construction culture is conscious of more fluid forms and embodied carbon, which influences how consultants think about the design of spaces for music. The recently completed Groton Hill Music Center is unique for its use of mass timber’s sculptural capabilities to shape performance space acoustic volumes forthrightly, with little additional finish treatment. The center features studio classrooms for students of all ages, an orchestral rehearsal space, a 300-seat recital hall for soloists and small ensembles, and a grand 1000-seat concert hall that opens to view for a 500-seat lawn audience. Structure and architecture are largely unified, with one’s acoustic experience defined by the sculpted mass timber structure. The comparatively light-weight timber/concrete composite structure represents a significant and somewhat acoustically risky reduction in mass to provide an acoustically warm environment. This presentation will explore how the structure was optimized to provide stiffness and multi-scale diffusion, taking the ideals of classic concert hall design, and embracing contemporary construction technologies and acoustical analyses.

Poeme Elecroniqe fusion concept of nationalism in “Feel the Sounds of Kenya”

This study sought to find out Poeme Elecroniqe fusion concept of nationalism in "Feel the Sounds of Kenya". Edgar Varese, a French composer, is hailed as the pioneer of electronic music with his signature Poeme Eletronique composition, which was performed in 1958 in Brussels. Attributes of similitude with Edgar Varese's Poeme Electronique style have come to identify certain African contemporary music idioms. Transcending conventional sonic boundaries that have long defined the Kenyan music space, the piece "Feel the Sounds of Kenya” by CeeRoo exemplifies this innovative fusion concept of electronic elements with social-cultural schemas akin to the Kenyan nationhood, a blend of native nuances with technological progress. Using the content analysis method, the researcher analyses Poeme Electronique concepts in ‘Feel the Sounds of Kenya’ with the aim of establishing the intersection between artistry and technology within the broader discourse of nationalism while propagating national consciousness. This is achieved by using Sofia’s model approach to examine CeeRoo’s ‘Feel the Sounds of Kenya’ on both descriptive and conceptual analysis levels. From the analysis, it is clear that CeeRoo’s “Feel the Sounds of Kenya” exemplifies a perfect union of definitive cultural nuances with electronic music in a space that has long been defined by conventional musical schemas. This information provides a model of how music composers, listeners and performers in Kenya can use normative cultural schemas to augment the conventional musical parlance, grammar and vocabulary. The researcher recommends a contextual-conscious approach for music making, practice and education in Kenya for relevance.

토니 윌리엄스의 재즈 드럼 연주 특징 분석

This study aims to identify the jazz drumming characteristics of Tony Williams, a drummer who represents the post-bop era. To this end, we first examined the characteristics of postbop era playing, and then compared Tony Williams' and Jimmy Cobb's performances of Miles Davis' representative song So what to derive Tony Williams' playing characteristics. To analyze the performance comparison, we transcribed Jimmy Cobb and Tony Williams' performance of Miles Davis' So what. Next, we analyzed Greg Bizonet's interviews to identify his original performance. The analysis revealed that Tony Williams uses hi-hat feet and combination articulations to create a sense of musical space. He also developed the blush method. We hope that this study will help many drummers to improve their performance and provide audiences with higher quality music and a more comprehensive musical perspective.

Acoustic analysis of a well-preserved Renaissance music space: The Odeo Cornaro in Padua

Acoustic analysis of a well-preserved Renaissance music space: The Odeo Cornaro in Padua

About Sacred Music by the Composers of the Gnesins’ House

The author of the article delineates as a special scholarly issue the study of sacred music by composers of the Gnesins’ House. The diverse aspects of its solution potentially include historical motives, subject matter and genres, content and form, meaning and its expression, etc. We can consider Sergei Trubachev (1919–1995), who was the head of the Conducting Department at the Gnesins’ State Musical-Pedagogical Institute, to be one of the founders of the present-day sacred musical creativity in Russia in the post-Soviet period. While examining the sacred music created rather recently by the composers from the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music — Kirill Volkov, Alexei Larin, Vladimir Dovgan, Andrei Mikita, Andrei Golovin, Valery Pyankov, and Valery Kikta, the author observes that there is a predominance of non-liturgical genres in it. The artistic approach of the composers in the sphere of the sacred musical space is characterized in the article as the interaction of the classical and non-classical, the traditional and the non-traditional elements. On the examples of sacred works by Kirill Volkov, Vladimir Dovgan, Alexei Larin and Andrei Mikita, the author highlights its concrete features: first of all, the connection of canonic and secular texts, traditional writing and contemporary intonational language.

A study on Bernard Herrmann’s science fiction film music

The early sound film and “classical-style” Hollywood film periods were important representatives in the history of Hollywood films, producing many classic films as well as many famous film music composers. Among them, Bernard Herrmann was a unique and distinctive representative with his own personal compositional style, and was also the representative composer for thriller, horror, mystery and science fiction films during this period. When analyzing film music, especially Bernard Herrmann’s works, using tonal music analysis, many harmonic progressions cannot be accurately expressed. Harmonic function analysis emphasizes the principles of tonality, while neo-Riemannian theory breaks away from the framework of tonality and harmonic functions, emphasizing the spatial progression between chords. For Bernard Herrmann’s music, using neo-Riemannian theory can reasonably analyze the characteristics and patterns of musical progression, and explain many chord progressions that harmonic functions cannot. One of the films that can be given as an example of this situation is The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). The Day the Earth Stood Still is a Hollywood science fiction film made in 1951. This work played an important role in the development of later science fiction films. Bernard Herrmann chose to abandon the traditional orchestral instrumentation and used a specific instrumental ensemble to form Herrmann’s unique science fiction film music space. Transformational analysis shows that the music uses modes, hexatonic scales and octatonic scales to form melodies and harmonies with ambiguous characteristics, and the use of these modes and scales also provides important color elements for film music of specific styles. Neo-Riemannian theory has been around for less than 50 years. As an emerging music theory system, it is not yet mature and complete, and is still expanding and improving. However, as an analysis tool for nonfunctional tonal film music, it can provide a brand new perspective. This researcher also believes that neo-Riemannian theory can provide theoretical basis for analyzing various styles of film music as an analytical tool.

Context and Content Analysis of the History of Female Composition in Eastern Galicia in Light of Gender Theories

For a long time, the profession of the composer was undeservedly on the periphery of the world of music and was considered not only few in terms of female representation in performance, music education and musicology, but also low-value and not worth discussing. The relevance of the article is due to the rethinking of the attitude towards female composers, including in the light of gender ideas. It is necessary to research the stories of the life and work of Ukrainian female composers from Eastern Galicia, S. Turkevich and O. Olshanetska, in order to fully return their figures to the national musical space, both in the performance and research spheres. The purpose of the article is to highlight the stories of the creative achievements of Galician female musicians. In the course of the research, the works of music critics, historians and psychologists related to the topic were analyzed. Content analysis and context analysis (biographical method), as well as analytical method, methods of comparison and systematization were chosen as the main research methods. As a result, it was established that due to ethnic gender stereotypes, gender-professional prejudices and socio-cultural features of the society of Eastern Galicia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the creativity of the mentioned female composers did not gain the necessary publicity. Despite the fact that female musicians had the opportunity to get an education and engage in creativity, the Ukrainian-Galician musical elite belittled their achievements compared to their male colleagues. While women's writing in Galicia developed rapidly and caused a public outcry, despite the innovation and boldness of ideas, traditional views on the gender issue continued to prevail in the musical sphere. Thus, the achievements of S. Turkevich went beyond the boundaries of traditionality as "too ambitious", while the works of O. Olshanetska did not have actual support for publication. The practical significance of the study is that it helps to demonstrate the influence of the socio-cultural context and stereotypes on the development of women's creativity in the musical sphere and to change the modern attitude towards them by increasing their recognition.

Música del Mariachi: Conservator of Mexican Culture and Heritage

Mariachi music, its profound texts, rhythms, and mestizaje (racial mixture) preserve Mexican culture and heritage. Mariachi music is synonymous with Mexico. Both birthed through a violent beginning of forced assimilation and mestizaje, mariachi is one of the foremost symbols of Mexican national pride. Mariachi’s lyrics and distinctive rhythms, share and preserve a story of survival, cradle ancestral epistemologies, all that is Mexico, its Indigenous, Spanish, and African roots and history pre and post 1821. And just as in the study of any other music, language, or culture, it is consequential that precise, literal, translations (scores) of mariachi music, research, and other scholarly, cultivated resources are accessible to all Mexican descent people, especially Chicana/x/o students and those who teach them. Culturally relevant curriculum fosters identity and inclusivity and promotes academic success. However, as it pertains to music education, western European music history, theory, notation, and praxes dominate. With over 62 million Hispanics living in the United States, 62% of Mexican descent, it is dire to create decolonized music spaces that offer more than a single narrative. And within these spaces, it is crucial that quality resources are provided equitably. Because of its popularity and adoption as core curriculum in schools around the United States, amassing quality mariachi educational resources, musical scores and transcriptions, and other curricular materials is central to Mexican descent student success. In this article, I describe common mariachi song forms, their region of origin, meter, text structure and offer rhythmic analyses and examples for notating them.

The Sound of Swarm. Auditory Description of Swarm Robotic Movements

Movements of robots in a swarm can be mapped to sounds, highlighting the group behavior through the coordinated and simultaneous variations of musical parameters across time. The vice versa is also possible: Sound parameters can be mapped to robotic motion parameters, giving instructions through sound. In this article, we first develop a theoretical framework to relate musical parameters such as pitch, timbre, loudness, and articulation (for each time) with robotic parameters such as position, identity, motor status, and sensor status. We propose a definition of musical spaces as Hilbert spaces and musical paths between parameters as elements of bigroupoids, generalizing existing conceptions of musical spaces. The use of Hilbert spaces allows us to build up quantum representations of musical states, inheriting quantum computing resources, already used for robotic swarms. We present the theoretical framework and then some case studies as toy examples. In particular, we discuss a 2D video and matrix simulation with two robo-caterpillars; a 2D simulation of 10 robo-ants with Webots; a 3D simulation of three robo-fish in an underwater search-and-rescue mission.

전주 ‘학인당’의 판소리 지역자원문화와 에코뮤지엄적 가능성 고찰

The purpose of the study is to apply the function of the Eco Museum to the local resource culture of Pansori and to examine its possibility. In particular, this study focused on Jeonju's ‘Hagindang’, and derived the value of the Pansori Eco Museum as a way to revitalize the Pansori local culture in Jeonju, and the results of the study are as follows. First, ‘Hagindang’ is an old house of more than 100 years and a historical space as the first Pansori performance hall. Second, it is a town with the reputation of traditional music called “Jeonju Daesaseup”. Third, it includes “museum activities” in which both local residents and tourists participate. Fourth, if the infrastructure of Jeonju Hanok Village, the home of traditional culture and sound, is utilized, it has a utility value as a sustainable cultural salon space. Fifth, in order for Hakdang to function as an eco-music museum, the participation and service of the region and residents are important. Through this study, it is hoped that research on eco-museums related to more diverse Korean traditional music spaces will be conducted.