Recordings Of Songs Research Articles

Music and the politics of famine: everyday discourses and shame for suffering.

Understanding the politics of famine is crucial to understanding why famines still occur. A key part of this is how famine is remembered, understood, and discussed. This paper focuses on songs popular among communities that have recently experienced deadly famine. Contemporary famines almost always manifest in armed conflict contexts, where there is limited political freedom. Here, songs and music can be an important way to debate sensitive political issues. This paper focuses on the way that songs and music shape 'regimes of truth' around famine, and who is shamed and held accountable for associated suffering. It is based on long-term ethnographic research, the recordings of famine-related songs, and collaborative analysis in Jonglei and Warrap States (South Sudan) in 2021-24. The paper shows how songs can mock soldiers for their seizing of assets during times of hunger and how they can create familial shame for famine suffering, shifting responsibility away from the real causes to family members.

Lou Reed’s Emotional Geography

Starting with his band the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed wrote songs imbued with nonmoral depictions of people’s emotional experiences with drug use, sex work, marriage, poverty, friendships, and other aspects of life and survival in New York City. This paper presents an interpretation of Reed’s words and music from the twin perspective of geography and psychology. Drawing on materials in the Lou Reed Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the author conducted a comprehensive analysis of song recordings released over three distinct periods of Reed’s music career. Each song was considered within the framework of a psychoevolutionary theory of human emotions and situated in New York’s diverse spaces and places. Reed’s grounded lyrics convey a deep empathy for people’s triumphs, setbacks, and conflicts as they search for love and act on a desire for transcendence and freedom. The paper recommends further research into songwriters who use their biography to tell geographic stories.

Between Magic and Amusement: A Collingwoodian Perspective on Political Art

Abstract In this article I enquire into the notion of ‘political art’, by drawing on ideas from R. G. Collingwood’s often neglected Principles of Art. I show that his characterisation of ‘expression’ reveals what I call the ‘Narrow Aretaic Structure’ (NAS), distinguishable from a ‘Wide Aretaic Structure’ (WAS). Whatever satisfies NAS satisfies WAS, but not vice-versa. Though we have reasons to call ‘art’ anything satisfying WAS, Collingwoodian ‘art proper’ must also satisfy NAS. I then suggest that the distinction between WAS and NAS is more interesting than the distinction between art and non-art and even as a criterion for ‘aesthetic’ (though this is not my main issue). The main issue is articulating a view of when the ‘politicalness’ of ‘political art’ is relevant in light of its being art, or, in Collingwoodian terms, ‘expression’ (under the NAS model). Collingwood allows us to give an alternative answer to these questions; one that does not appeal to ‘messages’ in art and their hypothesised effects on the audience. In other words, an answer that avoids the consequentialist ‘template’, which is restricted to the WAS model. As case studies, I use some of Aleksander Deineka’s ‘Socialist-Realist’ mosaics, as well as other examples of political artworks, and the recording of a work song.

ИНТЕРПРЕТАЦИЯ ДРЕВНЕГО ФОЛЬКЛОРНОГО ТЕКСТА ЯКУТОВ

The author deals with the text of an archival document discovered in the materials of the Second Kamchatka expedition led by Vitus Bering, in the collection of field notes of the expedition member, the German doctor and translator G. W. Steller. This fragment in Latin is a recording of a Yakut folk song of the first half of the 18th century. The purpose of this article is to introduce a previously unpublished archival text into scientific circulation by translating the text and describing its artistic features. As part of the research, the following tasks were set: to study the history of the text, give a description of the manuscript, transcribe and translate it into Russian and highlight the artistic means used. According to the fixation of Yakut folklore in the specified period is known to science the ethnographic work of J. J. Lindenau “Description of the nations of Siberia,” which contains the text of the algys ritual on the Ysekh holiday. There are also recordings of folk songs of northern nations performed by G. W. Steller, but this text has not yet been examined by folklorists. The work uses theoretical and practical research methods as: study of scientific works, the main research method is textual analysis, which uses the method of review, description, interpretation, connection, translation, decoding and analysis of the composition, artistic and visual means of the text. The author concludes that the ancient folk song has a developed syllable. Rhythmic alliterative verse, consonance of line endings close to varieties of rhyme, parallel constructions, constant epithets and comparisons as the main means of depiction demonstrate a fairly high level of development of Yakut folk poetry. The author sees the prospect of research in the discovery of similar texts of the specified period, which would allow more in-depth research in this area.

Pedagogical considerations: Facilitating agency in the vocal recording of early career singer-songwriters

Audio recording is a much anticipated and integral component in the career trajectories of contemporary singers. This article discusses research undertaken through three in-depth case studies, each of which focused on the recording of original songs by early career singer-songwriters. The research examined the ways that recording techniques, associated technologies and studio interactions affect vocal performance during the recording processes. Participants were purposively sampled for their early career interest in songwriting and recording. The findings identified specific educational considerations relevant to those involved in vocal pedagogy, and in artist training and development. The outcomes detail pedagogical parameters and features designed to facilitate agency in the recording of contemporary vocalists.

Globally, songs and instrumental melodies are slower and higher and use more stable pitches than speech: A Registered Report.

Both music and language are found in all known human societies, yet no studies have compared similarities and differences between song, speech, and instrumental music on a global scale. In this Registered Report, we analyzed two global datasets: (i) 300 annotated audio recordings representing matched sets of traditional songs, recited lyrics, conversational speech, and instrumental melodies from our 75 coauthors speaking 55 languages; and (ii) 418 previously published adult-directed song and speech recordings from 209 individuals speaking 16 languages. Of our six preregistered predictions, five were strongly supported: Relative to speech, songs use (i) higher pitch, (ii) slower temporal rate, and (iii) more stable pitches, while both songs and speech used similar (iv) pitch interval size and (v) timbral brightness. Exploratory analyses suggest that features vary along a "musi-linguistic" continuum when including instrumental melodies and recited lyrics. Our study provides strong empirical evidence of cross-cultural regularities in music and speech.

The Different Facets of Love: Exploring Mandaya Love Songs

This study explores the cultural significance of Mandaya literary songs, particularly focusing on themes of love. Set within the context of the Mandaya community in Mindanao, the research aimed to interpret messages conveyed in these songs, describe the cultural expressions of love, and illustrate values through a comprehensive analysis using Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic analysis framework. The researchers transcribed and translated audio recordings of Mandaya love songs to facilitate analysis. Findings revealed a predominant focus on heartbreak, betrayal, unrequited love, and the yearning for reciprocated love. The songs also portray emotional depth, hopefulness, and resilience in the face of heartbreak, providing a nuanced understanding of Mandaya love and romantic indigenous culture. This research contributes to the appreciation of indigenous literature and art, understanding cultural diversity and preserving traditional practices, specifically regarding Mandaya love songs. Further research is needed to explore the discrepancy between expected and actual themes, enhancing comprehension of how romantic love is depicted in Mandaya songs.

The Impact of Non-Lyrical Elements on Undergraduate Students’ Lyric Interpretation

Abstract Much of the extant research regarding lyric analysis centers on lyrics as the primary therapeutic musical element, to the detriment of all other non-lyrical elements. Non-lyrical musical elements, such as musical style, may drastically affect how listeners interpret lyric text within lyric analysis tasks. The purpose of this qualitative heuristic inquiry was to investigate the effects of musical style (instrumentation, vocal timbre, and texture) on lyric interpretation among undergraduate students aged 18–36 via focus groups and individual interviews. Participants listened to and discussed the lyrics and non-lyrical elements of 3 stylistically distinct recordings of one song (“Everybody Hurts”). Focus groups and interviews were transcribed, then coded and analyzed via initial coding and focused coding protocols (Saldaña, 2021). One primary theme emerged from the data: lyric text carried the basic message of the song, though non-lyrical elements influenced the perceived intention and connotation of that message. Three code categories emerged under the primary theme: (1) musical elements around the text gave context and nuance; (2) cohesion of musical elements determined the emotional impact of a given recording; (3) descriptions of musical style occurred in conjunction with multisensory comparisons. These findings provide evidence of a symbiotic relationship between lyrics and non-lyrical musical elements within song recordings, which both support clinical decision-making when choosing repertoire for lyric analysis and provide a foundation for further research into the role of non-lyrical musical elements in lyric analysis.

Hearing Heat: An Anthropocene acoustemology

Abstract‘Hearing Heat: An Anthropocene acoustemology’ is an intermedia composition that meditates on the climate of history, listening to histories of listening from the Papua New Guinea rainforest to nuclear Japan to ancient and contemporary Greece. It proceeds through continual recombinations of visual and sonic media, with photographs, graphics, animation, and cinema dialoguing with ethnographic field recording of Indigenous song, ambient environmental sound, cinema soundtracks, electroacoustic and radio composition, and vocally performed text.

E-Dharmagita Learning Model Innovation with Mobile and Multimedia Technology

Purpose: Yadnya ceremony is a sacred sacrifice performed with sincere and wholehearted devotion by Hindus to God, spiritual leaders or teachers, fellow humans, the ancestors, and Bhuta_Kala. The implementation of the Yadnya ceremony is_usually accompanied by a spiritual chant of the Hindus known as Dharmagita. Nowadays, a lot of young generations do not know and are even more indifferent to the Dharmagita. Using books as a source of Dharmagita information is less attractive since there are no audio examples or recordings of correct songs that can be listened to. The Android-based e-Dharmagita application was built to overcome these problems to facilitate the younger generation in getting more interesting information about Dharmagita.Methods: e-Dharmagita was constructed with the support of mobile and multimedia technology. In addition, the information presented was related to the Yadnya Ceremony by implementing a complex Tree Algorithm.Results: This research produced an e-Dharmagita Application, of which user acceptance testing using the PSSUQ Method resulted in a score incudes in the excellent category. Therefore, the application could be accepted well in the implementation the Information Technology in Balinese Culture and Hinduism, especially the innovation of a more modern and attractive Dharmagita learning model.Novelty: The Dharmagita learning model using a mobile application is a new model that has not existed before.

Migratory singers dynamically overlap the signal space of a breeding warbler community.

Migratory species inhabit many communities along their migratory routes. Across taxa, these species repeatedly move into and out of communities, interacting with each other and locally breeding species and competing for resources and niche space. However, their influence is rarely considered in analyses of ecological processes within the communities they temporarily occupy. Here, we explore the impact of migratory species on a breeding community using the framework of acoustic signal space, a limited resource in which sounds of species within communities co-exist. Migrating New World warblers (Parulidae, hereafter referred to as migrant species) often sing during refueling stops in areas and at times during which locally breeding warbler species (hereafter breeding species) are singing to establish territories and attract mates. We used eBird data to determine the co-occurrence of 19 migrant and 11 breeding warbler species across spring migration in SW Michigan, generated a signal space from song recordings of these species, and examined patterns of signaling overlap experienced by breeding species as migrants moved through the community. Migrant species were present for two-thirds of the breeding season of local species, including periods when breeding species established territories and attracted mates. Signaling niche overlap experienced by individual breeding species was idiosyncratic and varied over time, yet niche overlap between migrant and breeding species occurred more commonly than between breeding species or between migrant species. Nevertheless, the proportion of niche overlap between migrant and breeding warblers was similar to overlap among breeding species. Our findings showed that singing by migrant species overlapped the signals of many breeding species, suggesting that migrants could have unexplored impacts on communication in breeding species, potentially affecting song detection and song evolution. Our study contributes to a growing body of research documenting the impacts of migratory species on communities and ecosystems.

Mapping Early Modern Parisian Sound Worlds

The digital project which forms the focus of this article is the website www.parisiansoundscapes.org. Both the theory and practice of attempting to recreate the sound worlds and particularly the song culture of early modern Paris are discussed in this article, starting with the research-based background to the project, with the publication of two monographs, and moving to the musical collaboration with the period instrument group Badinage. The importance of the Pont Neuf both as an auditory space and as the location where street songs were most often performed is analysed, followed by consideration of the various challenges that we have encountered in attempting to recreate the sound worlds of the 1600s and 1700s. The three major features of the website - transcription of handwritten manuscripts, song recordings, and song tunes - are highlighted, as are the future plans for the development of the project.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF UKRAINIAN ETHNOMUSICOLOGY FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THIS BRANCH OF HUMANITIES IN POLAND

The article is built as a comparative study which demonstrates a similarity of problems and clear parallelism of the Ukrainian and Polish ethnomusicology. The term „ethnomusicology” was invented in the Ukraine (1928) and it functioned in Poland already in the 1930s. The Ukrainians had begun systematic recordings of folk songs still in the Austrian Galicia at the beginning of the 20th c., in Poland the same action was undertaken in the interwar period. The system of analysis of ethnic melodies, elaborated in the Ukraine in the first decades of the 20th c., is echoed in Poland in the 1950s. We need not to speak of the influence or imitation but this wave shows rather a common cultural core and it proves to the fact that in the Ukraine the significance of study on folk music and traditional songs was more crucial for survival of national consciousness than in Poland, and thus the importance of folk song study was in the Ukraine, at least among its intellectual elites, perceived socially earlier than in Poland. Moreover, in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Ukrainian and Polish ethnomusicologists held common interests of and publish contributions to the study on music traditions of cultural bordelands, Carpathian Mountains, music instruments, song repertoires with its precious, unique cartography

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.

Recent Northward Expansion of a Passerine Bird Species, Brownish-Flanked Bush Warbler (Horornis fortipes).

Northward expansions of bird distributions have been commonly observed in the Northern Hemisphere, likely as a result of climate change. The causes and ecological impacts of such range shifts have received extensive attention, but studies on the process of range shifts are still relatively scarce. The Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler (Horornis fortipes) has expanded northward from 35° N to 40° N during the past decade. In this study, we collated 77 records of the species beyond its traditional distribution during the past ten years from citizen science data. Most of the new records were from northeast of its traditional distribution, including the North China Plain, Taihang Mountains, and Taishan Mountain, and a few records from the northern margin of the Qinling Mountains and Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. We concluded that the Brownish-flanked Bush Warbler has bred in this new area in at least six sites. The newly established populations are assumed to belong to the subspecies H. f. davidianus, which can be divided into eastern and western dialect groups based on differences in songs. Song recordings from 10 males from Beijing and its adjacent areas were collected. Bayesian analysis based on the acoustic traits indicated that these males were most likely from the western dialect area, with a posterior probability of 99.975%. Combining topographical data with the habitat preference of the species, we inferred that these individuals spread northeastward from the Qinling Mountains to Taihang Mountains, and further along the Yanshan Mountains. This study is a case study of the distribution expansion of a bird species, which reflects the dynamics of a species in the early stage of its northward expansion.

Iingoma Zomzabalazo in Conversation: An Archival Engagement with Recordings of Liberation Songs

This text is a remix of an archival engagement with recordings/performances of 'freedom songs' or 'liberation songs' in a south or southern African context. The authors began this collaborative research project as part of a course in the Masters in History degree programme at the University of the Western Cape (UWC). The essay includes a re-edited, updated transcript of dialogue the authors shared along with two mix(tap)es they produced together. The conversation speaks of songs as archives, archives of song(s), and memory/ies pertaining to anti-Apartheid struggle and ongoing Fallism.

First song description of the humpback whales, Megaptera novaeangliae (Balaenopteridae: Artiodactyla), breeding off Nicaragua

Introduction: Humpback whales belonging to the Central American (CA) Distinct Population Segment breed off the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. Knowledge on this endangered population and its conservation status is limited.
 Objective: The aim of this study is to provide the first description of the CA humpback whale song off Nicaragua, which helps further understanding on the population’s dynamics.
 Methods: Acoustic recordings of songs were obtained during dedicated boat-based surveys at two locations on the Pacific coast of Nicaragua in 2018. Recordings were made from the boat using a portable system for a total of 23 hours and 56 minutes over 32 days from January to April 2018. A total of nine recordings of high enough quality for the song analysis were identified during this period from three different days at Padre Ramos (PR) (northern site) and four different days at San Juan del Sur (southern site). Song structure was described using standard humpback whale song elements, i.e. themes, phrases, and units.
 Results: A total of seven themes, seven phrases, and 19 unit types were identified. Three of the themes were common and frequently repeated in a song cycle while the others were less common in the repertoire and were recorded only during the middle of the season. Song theme order was variable, both within and across song sessions.
 Conclusions: This study provides the first song description of humpback whales along the Pacific coast of Nicaragua. Comparison of these songs with other datasets from the CA population and other breeding areas in the Northern Hemisphere could help understand the migratory patterns of these animals and the level of connectivity among populations since song can be socially learnt. Future data collection of humpback whale song recordings in Nicaragua is necessary to gain further understanding on the song structure variation within this population and the mechanisms of song transmission and dynamics across populations in the region.

An Analysis of the Dawn Vocalisation of a Male Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica)

ABSTRACT The vocalisations of the Grey Shrikethrush are loud, clear, pleasing to the ear, and a stand-out feature of the bird song in areas in which they occur. However, data on these vocalisations in the literature are sparse, as are any attempts at either quantitative or qualitative analysis. Consequently, almost nothing is known about the character of this very obvious song. We made eight recordings of the dawn song of a male individual at the start of the breeding season on the south-east coast of Australia, in spotted gum forest, 350 km south of Sydney. The song comprised discreet groups of notes which we call syllables. The syllables are sung about every 5-10 seconds, and the individual produced 20 different syllables over the course of the eight recordings. Various analyses revealed that new syllables were added gradually over the recording period, and reached a maximum number at the sixth recording, nine days after the first recording. The frequency of use of particular syllables varied markedly, it was common for some syllables to be used as repeats, particular heterogeneous syllable couplets were commonly used as alternations, and the sequence of syllables could be remarkably similar between different recordings. We suggest a way forward to determine whether these patterns are a common feature of the vocalisations of this species.

Does female choice for song complexity drive sexual selection in humpback whales?

Male humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) sing a long, stereotyped, and culturally transmitted song display. While song likely functions in sexual selection, whether it is primarily directed at females and/or males is still debated. Most males within a single population sing the same, slowly evolving song type. However, multiple humpback whale song revolutions (where a song introduced from a neighboring population rapidly and completely replaces the existing song) have spread across the South Pacific region from the east coast of Australia to French Polynesia. How cultural evolution and sexual selection interact in this complex vocal display is not well understood. We investigated song-mediated female mate choice in humpback whales using 20 years of paternity data and song recordings from individually identified males in the small, South Pacific population of New Caledonia. As mating has never been observed in humpback whales, we assessed male reproductive success (calf paternity) and song complexity (unit repertoire and song length) of individual males. We found that males who successfully sired offspring had on average higher song complexity than males who did not sire offspring. This suggests females may select mates at least partially based on song complexity, and thus, song being primarily directed at females.

‘Filling the void with melody’: Therapists’ reflections on group songwriting using GarageBand in music therapy for adults with depression

Songwriting is widely used in individual music therapy but less often in groups. This article draws on the authors’ experience of facilitating music therapy groups for adults with severe depression using songwriting. This work was part of the SYNCHRONY study, funded by the National Institute for Health Research, to assess the feasibility of conducting a randomised controlled trial of group music therapy with a songwriting component for patients with long-term depression (1 year or longer) within the community. The authors (all music therapists in the study) describe their experiences and reflections on the group processes and use of songwriting, drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted as part of the study. Themes of the work included pre-composed songs as a more accessible way to talk about difficult experiences, musical improvisation enabling an environment for songwriting, the impact of difficulties in attendance on group cohesion and the songwriting process, building confidence through song development and recording, and considerations around the end process and creating the song album. These are illustrated with clinical vignettes. Some recommendations for practice are also offered. The authors hope to identify the potentials and challenges of a songwriting approach in a community mental health context.