Professional Musicians Research Articles

Music as a Third Space? – African musics as a field of collaboration in Finland

ABSTRACT The history of African musics in Finland has specific characteristics because the African diaspora communities in Finland are relatively young and small. Many African professional musicians living in Finland moved there because of their personal connections with Finns rather than because of broader flows of migration. Despite the minimal numbers of Africans living in Finland, a lively scene of African musics began to develop from the 1980s, and this scene has continued to be characterised by collaborations between Africans and white Finns. This article discusses the early history of African musics in Finland, with a focus on these collaborations that have created cultural spaces where ideas of ‘Africanness’ are central but not strictly tied to Blackness or Otherness, thereby resembling Homi Bhabha’s idea of a postcolonial ‘Third Space’ that opens conventional meanings to negotiation and redefinition.

Brain-to-brain communication during musical improvisation: a performance case study

Understanding and predicting others' actions in ecological settings is an important research goal in social neuroscience. Here, we deployed a mobile brain-body imaging (MoBI) methodology to analyze inter-brain communication between professional musicians during a live jazz performance. Specifically, bispectral analysis was conducted to assess the synchronization of scalp electroencephalographic (EEG) signals from three expert musicians during a three-part 45 minute jazz performance, during which a new musician joined every five minutes. The bispectrum was estimated for all musician dyads, electrode combinations, and five frequency bands. The results showed higher bispectrum in the beta and gamma frequency bands (13-50 Hz) when more musicians performed together, and when they played a musical phrase synchronously. Positive bispectrum amplitude changes were found approximately three seconds prior to the identified synchronized performance events suggesting preparatory cortical activity predictive of concerted behavioral action. Moreover, a higher amount of synchronized EEG activity, across electrode regions, was observed as more musicians performed, with inter-brain synchronization between the temporal, parietal, and occipital regions the most frequent. Increased synchrony between the musicians' brain activity reflects shared multi-sensory processing and movement intention in a musical improvisation task.

You Can Tell a Prodigy From a Professional Musician

According to Feldman (1993), musical prodigies are expected to perform at the same high level as professional adult musicians and, therefore, are indistinguishable from adults. This widespread definition was the basis for the study by Comeau et al. (2017), which investigated if participants could determine whether an audio sample was played by a professional pianist or a child prodigy. Our paper is a replication of this previous study under more controlled conditions. Our main findings partly confirmed the previous findings: Comparable to Comeau et al.’s (2017) study (N = 51), the participants in our study (N = 278) were able to discriminate between prodigies and adult professionals by listening to music recordings of the same pieces. The overall discrimination performance was slightly above chance (correct responses: 53.7%; sensitivity d’ = 0.20), which was similar to Comeau et al.’s (2017) results of the identification task with prodigies aged between 11 and 14 years (approximately 54.6% correct responses; sensitivity approximately d’ = 0.13). Contrary to the original study, musicians and pianists in our study did not perform significantly better than other participants. Nevertheless, it is generally possible for listeners to differentiate prodigies from adult performers—although this is a demanding task.

Workplace Social Capital as Buffer for Emotional Demands and Perceived Stress in Symphony Orchestras: A Danish Cross-Sectional Survey.

High workplace social capital (WSC) is associated with improved occupational health in the common occupational areas. However, little is known on WSC and its effect on the emotional demands and stress seen in the work of classical symphonic musicians. To investigate whether WSC moderates the associations between emotional demands and stress in the professional musicians working in Danish symphony orchestras. This cross-sectional study builds on existing data collected on a sample of 341 Danish classical symphonic musicians. An interaction model based on multiple regression with bias corrected boot-strapping was used to assess the moderating effect of low, medium and high levels of WSC on the association between emotional demands and perceived stress. WSC had a significant moderating effect on the association between emotional demands and perceived stress: b = -0.01, t(212) = -2.40, p = 0.018. At low levels of WSC the effect of emotional demands on stress was strongest, declining at higher levels of WSC in a dose response pattern: low-WSC, b = 0.23, t(212) 3.20, p = 0.002, medium-WSC, b = 0.11, t(212) = 2.40, p = 0.017, and high-WSC, b = 0.04, t(212) = 0.75, p = 0.455. The study indicates a buffering effect of WSC on the association between emotional demands and stress in the work of orchestra musicians. Thus, enhancement of WSC could be a potential stress-preventing strategy in symphony orchestras and should be investigated in future studies on musicians' mental health.

The Immediate Effects of Short-term Exercise on Diaphragmatic Breathing over Wind Instruments

A strong diaphragm is critical to wind musicians because it helps produce a steady airstream needed for playing wind instruments. To strengthen the diaphragm, musicians use various methods. One method is exercise because it increases the breathing rate, forces the diaphragm to expand and contract, and allows for longer sustainment of breaths and greater endurance. This raises the question of whether exercise can affect the diaphragmatic breathing rate over wind instruments for wind musicians. The purpose of this research was to draw conclusions that could help rising and professional musicians improve their endurance through alternative means. The initial hypothesis was that as the duration of cardio exercise increases, there would be an increase in breath sustainment because the exercise would impel the diaphragm to expand and, subsequently, allow the lungs to fill to higher capacity. To determine this, human participants were gathered for three trials: no exercise, five minutes of exercise, and ten minutes of exercise. Each participant performed cardio exercises, after which they breathed into a breath builder. The amount of time they could sustain the ball in the air was measured as were the average times for each of the three groups of participants. The results of the ANOVA test demonstrated that F(2, 5.07) = 0.0081, p<0.05, indicating that the null hypothesis­­—that the mean durations of breath sustainment for the three trials were equivalent—could be rejected. The results demonstrated that exercise did not have the hypothesized immediate effect of increasing breath sustainment and diaphragmatic breathing.

Performing musicology in the socio-cultural space of Ukraine of the XXI century: scientific and creative discourse

At the present stage, performing musicology plays an important role in the formation and development of professional musicians. In the socio-cultural space of Ukraine of the 21st century, it continues the historical traditions of research on the formation of performers, but, at the same time, it undergoes serious transformations. The aim of the research is to identify the key, fundamental principles of performance skill in the context of today’s realities, to determine the factors influencing the reformatting of the essential features of the creative activity of musicians. The methods of work were: analysis of scientific literature, systematization of methodological complex, method of analysis and synthesis, method of thematic analysis and critical approach to discretization of musical works. The results of the work allow us to assert about radical changes in the approach to art as such, as well as in the formation of professionals and their creative activity with a change in the basic parameters of the approach to music education. The institutionalization of art currently plays a leading role in the cultural socialization of masters, but today it is not decisive. With the development of progressive methods and approaches to education, modern technologies, globalization, the process of becoming a musician becomes easier, but access to the world of art without mediation opens wide horizons for promising musicians, and, at the same time, increases the level of competition for material and non-material incentives. The study offers a new perspective on performing musicology as a promising field for further scientific work, which will allow a better understanding of the peculiarities of the formation of musicians in the socio-cultural space of the 21st century.

Psycho-sensorial categories: Actions and behaviors of piano practice at different levels of expertise

In the current literature, instrumental practice dealing with elementary levels of expertise tends to be underestimated compared to that of professional musicians. Therefore, the purpose of the present research was to investigate actions and behaviors in piano practice carried out by pianists belonging of different levels of expertise. In a case-study approach guided by phenomenological principles, four participants were selected according to their potential representativeness at different levels of expertise, their received formal piano instruction, and accumulated practice time. The participants were asked to record one practice session of two piano pieces from their current repertoire. They were instructed to select one piece that they considered more challenging (piece 1) and another piece that they considered less challenging (piece 2). Semi-structured interviews provided information about their strategies. Nine categories were proposed as characteristic actions and behaviors of piano practice within the scope of the classical Western music tradition, namely, testing, repeating, isolating, alternating, exploring, adjusting, pausing, straggling, and slipping. Such categories proved to be common for all participants, exemplified by the practices of four participants (precollege, undergraduate, graduate students and professional pianists), and provided evidence of the nuances of deliberation, such as the procedures to approach and improve the repertoire (and their effectiveness), the effort to stay engaged and on task, and some of the limits in attention to practice.

The role of V. Vshelyachynsky and his students in the formation of piano performance in Ternopol

The purpose of the work. The publication is devoted to the presentation of famous personalities who played an important role in the initial stage of the formation of professional piano performance in Ternopil in the late XIX – early XX centuries, on the example of Vladislav Vshelyachinsky and his pupils. The research methodology. The research methodology is to use historical-comparative and personalistic approaches. This allows us to highlight the figure of musician-teacher Vladislav Vshelyachynsky and his pupils associated with Ternopil, in particular Denis Sichinsky, in the context of the cultural and educational life of Ternopil during this period. Scientific novelty. The line of piano pedagogical and performing tradition of K. Mikuly as a student of F. Chopin in the next generations of musicians connected with Ternopil is traced. Among them: Vladislav Vshelyachynsky, Denis Sichynsky, Maria Soltysova (Bibulych), Denis Leontovych. Attention is focused on various aspects of V. Vshelyachynsky's activity, in particular as a teacher, and D. Sichynsky. He entered the history of Ukrainian music as a composer and choral conductor, the first professional Ukrainian musician in Galicia. The example of the analysis of two-piano miniatures by D. Sichynsky (as pupils of K. Mikuly and V. Vshelyachynsky) illustrates the characteristic features of writing associated with the piano style of F. Chopin and, at the same time, with folk song intonation, features of Ukrainian solo singing, song-romance. Conclusions. The role of musician-teacher Vladyslav Vshelyachynsky in laying the foundations of piano performance in Ternopil, on the formation of the creative personality of Denis Sichynsky as the first professional composer-pianist is traced. Keywords: musical culture of Western Ukraine, end of XIX – beginning of XX century, piano performance, Vladyslav Vshelyachynsky, Denis Sichynsky.

Environmental factors affecting classical music concert experience

Based on an online survey, this study investigated the effect of various factors, including those related to performance, acoustic condition, visual condition, price, comfort, architectural design, and social aspects, on participants’ selection of concert, seat, and their experience of attending classical concerts. From 153 valid responses, it was found that the most important factors were related to performance, acoustics, and view; but price, comfort, and social factors were also moderately important. Performance and acoustic factors, comfort and view, social aspects, and architectural design were closely linked in participants’ judgments. More frequent concert-goers focused more on the music itself, including performance and acoustics, whereas less frequent concert-goers cared more for the experience of going to a concert, and were more concerned with price, social aspects, view, and architecture. People who were professional musicians, or had backgrounds in acoustics or architecture, attached more importance to visual factors and acoustics. Differences between groups of participants were generally smaller than differences between attributes.

Soundtrapped? Socio-material perspectives on collaborative teaching within the music classroom

This article draws on a classroom project to explore the complexities of collaborative teaching within the music classroom, where a professional team collaborated to facilitate digital music-making at a lower secondary school in Norway during a student teacher practicum placement. The collaborative team, including in-service and pre-service teachers, researchers, and a professional musician, facilitated a composing project by means of the digital audio workstation (DAW) Soundtrap. The purpose was to shed light on the complexity and emergence of the collaborative music project; how material, structural, and educational conditions impacted the process; and the pre-service music teachers’ ways of handling a complex situation. The study was theoretically guided by a socio-material perspective, more specifically by complexity theory, and an abductive analysis was performed. In keeping with the nonlinearity and complex causality of socio-materialism and complexity theory, the researchers created three reflexive viewpoints: emergence, enabling constraints, and entanglements. The results show that technological and technical issues permeated the classroom work, making it difficult to separate social and material aspects of the project. Awareness of the entanglement of social, institutional, historical, and material dimensions of education thus can provide a useful framework for emerging music teachers’ professional development. In this way, our findings support the claim that music teacher education should aim at helping pre-service teachers prepare for encounters with complex and versatile educational situations.

Effects of intranasal oxytocin on the self-perception and anxiety of singers during a simulated public singing performance: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

Professional musicians experience intense social exposure and high levels of preoccupation with their performance and potential negative reactions from the audience, which favor anxiety. Considering that oxytocin (OXT) has a potential therapeutic effect on anxiety, cognitive processes, and decreased psychosocial stress, this study’s objective was to assess the effects of a single dose of 24 UI of intranasal OXT among professional singers, during a public singing simulation test, on self-rated performance and mood. This crossover, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial addressed 54 male singers with different levels of musical performance anxiety (42% high). The participants took part in different phases of a simulated public singing performance and completed instruments rating their performances (Self Statements During Public Performance- State version) and mood (Visual Analogue Mood Scale). Data were analyzed using ANOVA 2 × 2 for crossover trials. The results show that the use of OXT during the performance and immediate post-stress favored more positive (effect size: d > 1.04) and less negative assessments of musical performance (effect size: d > 1.86) than when placebo was used. No treatment effects were found in any VAMS subscales, indicating no direct anxiolytic effects. The conclusion is that OXT can minimizes social stress, especially during performances. This finding is exploratory and, if confirmed in future studies, may have relevance for musicians, especially those who constantly experience and recognize the impact of negative and catastrophic thoughts on performance and professional activities.Clinical Trial Registration[https://ensaiosclinicos.gov.br/rg/RBR-5r5sc5], identifier [RBR-5r5sc5].

Meaningful Work, Luck, and Resilience: How Gig Workers Navigate the Undervaluing of Their Careers

Professional musicians, the original gig workers, are often not fairly compensated or recognized for the time and effort put into their craft. The current study identifies ways in which musicians make sense of this difficult reality. Some accept the undervaluing of their work and frame their successes as luck to ensure their expectations align with the reality of their careers. Furthermore, musicians find meaning in their work and create an idealized reality of music to endure the undervaluing of their craft. It is these opposing forces, a personal detachment from success and a personal connection to music, which ultimately allow musicians to persevere in their careers. Those who challenge this reality have trouble coming to terms with the undervaluing of their work and attempt to make changes to their careers or to their career expectations. Through this study, we explain how musicians’ experiences shape three interconnected realities of being a professional musician.

Maqam in the context of Islamic musical culture

The maqam, closely connected at first with the cult-ritual practice, absorbed and reflected philosophical and ethical ideas. These ideas, fixed in the system of maqams, despite their clear canonization, changed; they underwent a certain historical transformation due to changes in the social structure of society itself. However, the main aesthetic function of the maqam, the nature of its emotional and psychological impact on a person, a deep connection with the world around him, remained in the view of Eastern thinkers and musicians unshakable until the XX century. Today, macs should be understood on the one hand as a paradigmatic structure, on the other hand, as a compositional form. The subtlest gradation of human feelings, emotional and psychological states also determined a carefully developed (theoretically) mode, intonation, pitch system of images, symbols, signs, their connection with specific manifestations of spiritual experiences and emotional states. Certain universal principles of musical dramaturgy are observed in the makam, based on diverse contrast: fret, timbre-register, dynamic, vocal-instrumental, rhythmic. These internal contrasts are infinitely diverse, but they are outlined so subtly, barely perceptible. Instrumental and vocal-instrumental music in Islamic culture was mainly an environment of professional musicians who mastered the art of maqam thinking. Makam represented the unity of the theory of performing practice for musicians.

Transition between individually different and common features in skilled drumming movements.

Why do professional athletes and musicians exhibit individually different motion patterns? For example, baseball pitchers generate various pitching forms, e.g., variable wind-up, cocking, and follow-through forms. However, they commonly rotate their wrists and fingers at increasingly high speeds via shoulder and trunk motions. Despite the universality of common and individually different motion patterns in skilled movements, the abovementioned question remains unanswered. Here, we focus on a motion required to hit a snare drum, including the indirect phase of task achievement (i.e., the early movement and mid-flight phases) and the direct phase of task achievement (i.e., the hit phase). We apply tensor decomposition to collected kinematic data for the drum-hitting motion, enabling us to decompose high-dimensional and time-varying motion data into individually different and common movement patterns. As a result, individually different motion patterns emerge during the indirect phase of task achievement, and common motion patterns are evident in the direct phase of task achievement. Athletes and musicians are thus possibly allowed to perform individually different motion patterns during the indirect phase of task achievement. Additionally, they are required to exhibit common patterns during the direct phase of task achievement.

Effect of Hearing Protection Use on Pianists' Performance and Experience: Comparing Foam and Musician Earplugs.

Professional musicians are often exposed to high noise levels and thus face the risk of noise-induced hearing loss. Yet, adoption rates for hearing protection among musicians are low. Previous surveys indicate that the chief concern is the effect of hearing protection use on performance. However, few studies have investigated actual changes in performance when wearing hearing protection. We report an experiment investigating differences in pianists’ performance and experience with and without hearing protection. We compare the effect of foam earplugs and musician earplugs, designed to preserve sound quality with a flat frequency response. The analysis revealed that participants performed overall more loudly with the foam earplugs than with the musician earplugs, and in turn performances with the musician earplugs were louder than the open condition, indicating a compensatory effect. However, this effect was stronger for novel excerpts than for familiar excerpts. No effect was observed on dynamic range. Furthermore, we observed an acclimatization effect, whereby the effect of hearing protection use, observed on the first performance, decreased on the second performance. In terms of experience, participants reported changes in coloration, difficulties gauging dynamics and articulation, and increased effort required when performing with hearing protection. These effects were more pronounced when wearing the foam earplugs, and the participants reported finding the musician earplugs more comfortable to wear and play with. In conclusion, hearing protection use affects pianists’ performance particularly in terms of dynamics and their experience more so in terms of coloration. But the effects are less marked for familiar pieces and after repetition, suggesting that pianists can quickly adjust their playing when playing familiar pieces with hearing protection.

An Evaluation of Maximum Safe Practice Time of Iranian Musical Instruments to Protect Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Professionals.

Background: Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) is one of the most common causes of sensorineural hearing loss. The prevention of NIHL in musicians requires a better understanding of its contributing exposure factors. We aimed to determine typical sound exposure levels received by professional musicians during solitary practice and calculate the maximum safe practice time (MSPT) for the main Iranian musical instruments. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study on 185 professional musicians (147 men and 38 women) between April 2018 and April 2019. The MSPT was calculated for each instrument if the mean sound level was below 85 dB in all musicians, and the music was considered a safe instrument; if it was >85 dB, it was considered a high-risk instruments and some other instruments had different mean sound level (in some participants <85 dB and some other players >85 dB), so these instruments were considered as borderline instruments. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.66 ± 0.85 years and their mean daily practice time was 2.89 ± 0.13 hours. The daily practice was significantly higher in plucked string instruments as compared to other instruments (p<0.001). The mean sound level of every instrument varied from 67.77 to 100.77 dB in the right ear and 67.20 to 100.12 dB in the left ear. The highest sound level was in sorna and the lowest one in zanburak. Conclusion: It seems musicians observe the MSPT of each instrument as much as possible. It is recommended to determine the comprehensive protocol for each instrument to prevent hearing loss in musicians.

Musculoskeletal Symptoms in Professional Musicians: Do Self-employed and Employer-employed Musicians Differ?

Concerns have been raised for the health and wellbeing of self-employed workers. Musicians are the ‘original’ gig workers, and musicians have a high prevalence of musculoskeletal symptoms (MSSs). Studies of musicians’ MSSs have typically focused on classical, employer-employed musicians; leaving self-employed musicians under-investigated. We investigated the prevalence of MSS outcomes in all types of professional musicians, and compared the MSS outcomes between self-employed and employer-employed musicians. We conducted a cross-sectional study of professional musicians. Given the large proportion of musicians who were both self-employed and employer-employed, three groups were compared: self-employed only (self-employed group), employer-employed only (employer-employed group), and both self-employed and employer-employed (both group) musicians. Multivariable regression analyses were conducted. A total of 225 professional musicians were included in the study, 87.9% of whom reported MSSs in the last 12 months. For MSSs that impaired musical activity, the 12-month prevalence was 43.2%. Musicians in the self-employed group reported a significantly higher 7-day prevalence of MSSs compared with those in the employer-employed group. Compared with musicians in the employer-employed group, musicians in the both group reported a higher 12-month prevalence of MSSs that impaired musical activity. A higher proportion of symptomatic musicians in the both group reported seeing a health professional for their MSSs, compared with the employer-employed group. Similarly, symptomatic musicians in the both group reported higher ratings of emotional impact from MSSs, compared with symptomatic musicians in the employer-employed group. The majority of musicians have experienced MSSs. Several significant differences were reported between the three groups of musicians, with musicians in the both group generally reporting poorer MSS outcomes, compared with musicians in the employer-employed group. There are several potential reasons for why musicians who are both self-employed and employer-employed appear to have poorer MSS outcomes, including the stress of balancing multiple demands. Further research is required into the risk factors for MSS outcomes in self-employed musicians, including those who are both self-employed and employer-employed, and interventions should be directed towards self-employed musicians to minimise the MSS burden.

Herrman S. Saroni: Paths to Success as a Composer in New York, 1844–52

Herrman S. Saroni: Paths to Success as a Composer in New York, 1844–52

Crumbs by Danie Stirling

Reviewed by: Crumbs by Danie Stirling Danica Ronquillo Stirling, Danie Crumbs; written and illus. by Danie Stirling. Clarion, 2022 [384p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780358467793 $24.99 Paper ed. ISBN 9780358467816 $17.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 7-10 Compared to other seers who can see into the future, Ray can only see things exactly as they are, a unique skill that might help her become the youngest Grand Council of Sorcerers member and fulfill her mother's expectations. When Ray wants to escape that pressure and her strict internship, she visits a bakery that sells goods with unusual powers that can help make dreams come true. There, she meets Laurie, a selfless barista who dreams of becoming a professional musician. As they slowly fall in love with each other, they begin a long-distance relationship only to realize chasing love and dreams can be messy. Ray is conflicted about being part of the Council if it means losing Laurie, and they both try to make things work only to lose sight of what they want for themselves and for each other. Stirling's WEBTOON makes the transition to print easily, with whimsical elements to visualize communication through enchanted mobile devices and a structure that creates lively movement peeking out of the panels. The warm and twilight color palettes of this graphic novel, along with transparent thought bubbles, effectively reflect Ray and Laurie overcoming their feelings of isolation and inadequacy. The diverse cast adds to the worldbuilding, but this is rightly focused on Ray and Laurie, offering a compassionate look at the couple's burnout and its contributing factors, particularly their tendency to feel responsible for everyone else's feelings and neglect their own. Ultimately, though, this is a sweet love story, and readers will want to get cozy and grab a hot tea to go with this delicious slice of romance as the two leads find their way to each other. Copyright © 2022 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Editorial Commentary

Editorial Commentary