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This dissertation is an ethnographic expository of how Tavirima Traditional Dance Group uses chinyambera traditional dance as a copying mechanism for marginalised communities in Gweru, Zimbabwe. This study contextualises and analyses how Tavirima’s performances of chinyambera reflect the socio-political environment in Zimbabwe and how the music works to bring about social change. It gives further insight into and analysis of how traditional songs metaphorically speak out against the authoritarian government of Zimbabwe led by Robert Gabriel Mugabe, and how dance embodies dissent against the same. The dissertation provides transcriptions and contextual interpretations of chinyambera songs which Tavirima uses as agents for social change focusing on how the songs reflect, contest, resist and mediate in the prevailing socio-political crisis in Zimbabwe. The research also discusses how chinyambera’s roots, expressiveness and energies influence Tavirima to choose the dance over a myriad of other Zimbabwean traditional dances. The theoretical framework for this study is underlined by the African Popular Culture Theory, Alternative Cultural Theory and Positive Deviance Approach creating a vantage point through which the study is framed to analyse the ability of popular arts in bringing about social change and how subalterns take charge of their destiny by defying restrictive and oppressing systems through a metamorphosis of traditional music and dance.

In the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) do-it-yourself (DIY) punk scene, participants attempt to adhere to notions of authenticity that dictate whether a band, record label, performance venue, or individual are in compliance with punk philosophy. These guiding principles champion individual expression, contributions to one's community (scene), independence from the mainstream music industry and consumerism, and the celebration of amateurism and the idea that everyone should "do it yourself." While each city or scene has its own punk culture, participants draw on their perceptions of the historic legacy of punk and on experiences with contemporaries from around the world. For this thesis, I emphasize the significance of performance spaces and the sonic aesthetic of the music in enacting and reinforcing notions of punk authenticity. The live performance of music is perceived as the most authentic setting for punk music, and bands go to great lengths to recreate this soundscape in the recording studio. Bands achieve this sense of liveness by recording as a group, rather than individually for a polished studio sound mix, or by inviting friends and fans into the studio to help record a live show experience. House venues have been key to the development of the DFW scene with an emphasis on individual participation through hosting concerts in their homes. This creates a stronger sense of community in DIY punk performance. Through participation observation, interviews, analysis of source materials, as well as research in previous Punk scholarship, questions of authenticity, consumerism, and technology and sound studies, this thesis updates work on the experience of sound, listening, and the importance of space in DIY punk communities today.

This thesis asks what transcriptions of old-time fiddle tunes might tell us about their underlying purposes and the nature of transcription. How could differing approaches to transcription reflect the intentions of the author, and what are those intentions? What does this suggest about how aural information is prioritized? Through a comparative analysis of three transcriptions of the same recording—Tommy Jarrell’s “Devil in the Strawstack”—this thesis examines how musical information is prioritized and how transcribers have adapted their methods to better reflect the nuances of old-time music. The three transcriptions come from Clare Milliner and Walt Koken (The Milliner-Koken Collection of American Fiddle Tunes), Drew Beisswenger (Appalachian Fiddle Tunes), and John Engle. The analysis of these transcriptions suggests new frameworks for interpreting old-time fiddling, further conversations about the possibilities and limitations of transcription, and provides insight into the underlying purposes of transcription.

This thesis is an ethnomusicological cross-cultural examination of Heavy Metal, Hardcore Punk and Metalcore music-cultures and how the transculturation of two distinct music-cultures, Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk, have resulted in a third unique music-culture: Metalcore. Attention is given to the evolution of the music-cultures through history, with mention of current trends not covered in any other literature. In addition explanations of key tenets of culture-ways and their importance in forming these cultures as separate and distinct will be included. Topics addressed will include headbanging, the sign of the horns and moshing in Heavy Metal; slam-dancing, Straight Edge, and the do-it-yourself principles of Hardcore Punk; the commercial commoditization and establishment of Metalcore as separate and unique from both Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk. In addition, a brief assessment of material culture will be included, covering the importance of musical instruments, art, and fashion. Fashion is especially important in forming ties with respective communities, personal interest groups, and establishing personal identity within the music-cultures. Both secondary source, as well as qualitative research will be used. While much of the history and culture-ways of Heavy Metal and Hardcore Punk have been well documented throughout the 1970s there is a lack of literature concerning either culture since the 1990s and 2000s. With the exception of only a few sources, there is little material addressing Metalcore, or Crossover Thrash music-culture. As a participant within Heavy Metal culture I will offer my own personal observations, as well as those of informants, to extend and support the documentary research findings.

This thesis compares two perspectives on the production of Holocaust memory: a novel that leads up to The Holocaust in Britain and one that reflects the hindsight perspective of a liberator in the Soviet Union. The novels are Virginia Woolf’s BETWEEN THE ACTS and Vasily Grossman’s LIFE AND FATE. The analysis offers a locus of analysis for the diasporic literary energy created by the catastrophe in the 20th and 21st centuries. The project offers a theorized standpoint on the role of literature on official historical archives. Proposing a method through which contemporary readers can engage the diasporic event of The Holocaust, the project adopts both the extended metaphor and literal expression of soundscapes. Soundscapes encompass the immaterial processes of memorialization and the literal sonic textures developed in Holocaust novels. The critical perspective incorporates contemporary notions of narratology, archival practices, and cultural manifestations of language into the notion of literary ethnomusicology.

I had performed a recital of my compositions on April 22, 2016. This thesis is a portfolio of all of my compositions, including the program from my recital, program notes for each piece, and all scores. My senior recital consisted of two distinct halves. The first half was an exploration of abstract, theoretical, and experimental concepts in Western Art Music. The second half was an exploration in synthesizing the Carnatic music system with Western Art Music styles. This half was also an experiment in reversing musical orientalism, which has been historically prevalent in Western Art Music.

Thesis (M. Mus.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2008. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study was undertaken to determine the present state of the musical practices of the youth of the !Xun and Khwe San. The study formed part of the NRF project, Mother’s Milk Mother’s Muse, of which the objective was to document and preserve the music of South Africa’s indigenous cultures. This was done by recording the music of children during a series of mini-festivals. A further aim was to develop a renewed interest in their own traditional musical culture. The writer was chosen in 2003 as the project coordinator of the San people of Platfontein in Kimberley. That project has thus formed the basis of the present study of the current musical practices of the youth of the !Xun and Khwe San. Research was done through literature study and participatory action research. General information on these research methodologies is given in the second and third chapters. The ways in which these methodologies were put into practice in the writer’s own study are discussed in the last chapter. Teachers of the !Xunkhwesa school on Platfontein were asked to give their help with the project. These teachers, who teach the Arts and Culture learning area to various grades at the school, were responsible for completing forms with information on musical items. The children were then asked to bring traditional songs to class in the period before the mini-festival. These items were recorded during the mini-festival in September 2005. Descriptions and analyses of the songs are given in chapter five. Similarities with the characteristics of traditional San music as well as general characteristics of African music are also discussed. The conclusions and proposals are discussed in the last chapter. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie is onderneem om die huidige musikale gebruike onder die jeug van die !Xun en Khwe San in Suid-Afrika te bestudeer. Dit het deel gevorm van die NNS projek, Mother’s Milk Mother’s Muse, wat die musiek van inheemse kulture wou bewaar. Dit is gedoen deur die musiek van die kinders op te neem tydens mini-feeste. Hierdeur is probeer om ‘n hernude belangstelling in die tradisionele musiekkultuur by die jeug te kweek. Die skrywer is in 2003 as projekkoördineerder vir die San by Platfontein, Kimberley aangestel binne die raamwerk van die Mother’s Milk Mother’s Muse projek. Dié projek het derhalwe die basis gevorm vir hierdie studie van die huidige stand van die musikale gebruike onder die jeug van die !Xun en Khwe San. Navorsing het by wyse van ‘n literatuurstudie en deelnemende aksienavorsing geskied. Algemene inligting van hierdie navorsingsmetodes word in die tweede en derde hoofstukke weergegee. Die wyses waarop die skrywer die navorsingsmetodes in haar eie studie toegepas het, word in die laaste hoofstuk bespreek. Onderwysers van die !Xunkhwesa skool op Platfontein is genader om hul hulp te verleen met die projek. Die onderwysers, wat elkeen die Kuns en Kultuurleerarea aan verskillende grade aanbied, moes vooraf sorg dat inligting van verskillende musiekitems op vorms ingevul moes word. In die tyd voor die mini-fees is die kinders dus uitgestuur om tradisionele liedere te gaan versamel en inligting daarvan in die klas te deel. Hierdie items is tydens ‘n fees in September 2005 opgeneem. Beskrywings en analises van die liedere word in hoofstuk drie weergegee. Ooreenkomste met die kenmerke van tradisionele San musiek asook met algemene kenmerke in Afrikamusiek word ook bespreek. Die gevolgtrekkings en voorstelle word in die laaste hoofstuk bespreek.

Thesis (MMus (Music))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / The Libertas Choir occupies an exceptional place in the history of choral music in South Africa, especially in the Western Cape. The research on this choir is presented here in the form of a historical study, tracing the details chronologically from a politically inspired mass choir in 1986 to the founding of the Libertas Choir in 1989, and then following its history until the end of 2006. The first three chapters contain highlights of the first 17 years (1989-2006) while the subsequent chapters contain compositions specifically composed or arranged for the choir, a profile of the conductor, issues that the choir faced as well as an insight into the choir as “ambassador” for South Africa. Documenting the history of this multiracial choir in South Africa, the thesis includes an account of the contribution the choir has made to the development of music in a multicultural society as well as how it has fostered the belief that music sets no social or cultural boundaries. This study also documents the choir’s contribution to the development of multicultural choir performances. The research covers indigenous South African music that has been performed by the choir, as well as new compositions and choral arrangements that were instigated and disseminated by the choir. A selection of programmes sung by the choir during this time is included.