Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2005. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded Apr. 15, 2002, Mar. 10, 2003, Feb. 16, 2004, and Apr. 25, 2005. Includes bibliographical references (p. 89-90).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Montana, 2007. / Title from title screen. Description based on contents viewed July 24, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 96).

This paper explores an approach to building electronic musical instruments for use in improvised music that I have found to be particularly effective for developing flexible, dynamic, and versatile instruments well adapted to the improvised context, and a resultant set of suites of solo improvised character pieces. The lessons learned from this research can be useful beyond the scope of this particular instrument design philosophy. In Part I, I present the foundations of my approach to instrument design, based on my past experience and the technological environment in which electronic music has developed. I discuss the values that guide me in the creation of instruments for use in improvised performance, and describe the development tools iRTcmix and Nikl, and Dixey, an instrument I have created with those tools and hardware devices using the Apple iOS operating system. Part II discusses the musical issues related to the creation of Character Weekend, a set of solo recordings produced with the tools described in Part I.

This dissertation examines aspects of the creative practice of Muhal Richard Abrams, composer, improviser, pianist, and cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Abrams’s work intersects with various facets of creative music. I focus on free improvisation, both as a stand-alone performance and in conjunction with through composed music, his engagement with writings by theorist Joseph Schillinger, and his work as a composer. This study provides an historical overview of Abrams’s life and output, supplies analytical accounts of his music and creative practice, contributes to critical issues in music theory and analysis through these examinations, and diversifies the music, musicians, and topics that comprise the discipline of music theory. My examinations position Abrams as an important figure in twentieth century music, both improvised and composed, and expand studies in music theory and analysis. I offer new perspectives on and a framework for the analysis of free improvisation and intra-ensemble interaction, challenge traditional binaries between music theory and black experimental music, explore the influence of Schillinger’s theoretical treatise, The Schillinger System of Musical Composition ([1946] 1978), on Abrams’s work as a composer, explicate a set of idiosyncratic theoretical publications to suggest an underground genealogy of music theory, and posit an analytical vista that sits at the intersection of music performance, disability, and critical race studies. My overview of Abrams’s life and work draws on historical scholarship to tease out details of his development and practice in Chicago and New York, and analyzes contemporaneous articles from magazines, newspapers, and journals in order to provide a snapshot of the reception of Abrams’s work and the various scenes that he traversed. In response to Abrams’s individual approach to interactive free improvisation, which functions as either a stand-alone performance or alongside composed music, I employ the concept of affordances from ecological psychology. My affordance based analytical framework facilities a reappraisal of musicians’ interactions during free improvisation and also theorizes the relationship that emerges when free improvisation is preceded and/or followed by composed material. I analyze Abrams’s improvised duet with Fred Anderson, “Focus, ThruTime…Time—>” (2011) and his quartet rendition of “Munktmunk” (1987) to illustrate my framework and elucidate the richness of these performances. I perform a close reading of Schillinger’s theoretical treatise to suggest resonances between Abrams’s creative practice and the text. I do not aim to elect Schillinger as a kind of fountainhead for Abrams’s practice. Rather, I argue that the numerous resonances between Schillinger’s text and Abrams’s practice connote reasons why the treatise strongly appealed to Abrams, such that he employed it both compositionally and pedagogically for a large portion of his life. I extrapolate from this discussion to outline and theorize an underground genealogy of music theory that represents a more diverse set of music theoretical practices than is often discussed in the discipline. Finally, I analyze composed portions of four works by Abrams: “Inner Lights” (1985), “Charlie in the Parker” (1977), “Hearinga” (1989), and “Piano Duet #1” (1987). My analyses of the first three of these pieces intimate the presence of some of Schillinger’s theoretical principles. Abrams does not simply realize Schillinger’s theoretical method in his work, but rather maintains artistic agency by selectively filtering those suggestions through his own pluralistic aesthetic. Finally, I combine recent work on disability in music and critical race theory to analyze “Piano Duet #1,” in which the two pianists’ bodies are restricted in performance. This analysis offers a generative reappraisal of music performance and disability studies in light of race while also elucidating some of the richness of Abrams’s composition.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 350-359). Investigates the influence of Coltrane's music on the improvising of post-Coltrane saxophonists by inspecting selected improvisations of Jerry Bergonzi and David Liebman and comparing them to improvisations by Coltrane on the same repertoire piece. The comparision also demonstrates how two current jazz saxophonists have drawn on the past - the legacy of Coltrane - to create innovative music in the present.

Experiences as a composer and performer in Australia involve a number of significant collaborations with musicians from diverse cultures and musical backgrounds. The musical result incorporates a number of world music elements in the form of drones, rhythms and the use of instruments such as modified guitars and the tabla. But it is distinctly different in content and approach from the generic term, World music, because it deals almost exclusively with music traditions where improvisation is central to collaborative processes. The application of the term ‘intercultural improvisation’ is a more useful descriptor of the process in which musicians from diverse backgrounds cross the boundaries of their music and step into ao zone of experimentation. This is explored through composition and improvisation that cross musical boundaries / Master of Arts (Hons.)

Jazz musicians traditionally learned jazz improvisation by transcribing other musicians they admired in order to absorb, assimilate and retain important stylistic elements of jazz. Indeed, many famous jazz musicians have testified to the importance of transcribing as part of their jazz education. By the latel960's, jazz increasingly gained acceptance as a legitimate American genre within academia. As jazz studies programs became more formalized in colleges and universities, a plethora of methods and materials have followed suit. Lately, critics of these programs claim that many of the procedures, methods and materials used have abandoned the aural-imitative tradition. This study examines the current use of and the viability of future jazz education methods based primarily on aural-imitative procedures.Forty-one jazz faculty from universities and colleges throughout the United States participated in an interview process. An open-ended questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses. Each was asked a series of questions directly related to transcribing. The responses were recorded via cassette and were transcribed verbatim. In addition, four music teachers at schools at four schools for the blind were asked a similar series of questions. Their interviews responses were analyzed for similarities and differences.The results suggest that current methods do not contain adequate aural representations and that transcription could be a viable alternative to current methods. A practical system based on the transcription paradigm could and should be developed. Current digital technologies and Internet developments may help facilitate an all-transcription based methodology. Certain recordings and solos have become recognized as `masterpieces' that deserve to be transcribed and studied. The insights gained from school for the blind suggest that certain musical aspects may be beet gained from an aural-centric perspective. / School of Music

Laptop performance---performance on a standard computer system without novel controllers, usually by a solo musician---is an increasingly common mode of live computer music. Its novelty is diminishing, however, and it is frequently described as being uninteresting. Laptop performance often lacks the sense of effort and active creation that we typically expect from live music, and exhibits little perceivable connection between the performer's actions and the resulting sound. Performance software designs tend to constrict the flow of control between the performer and the music, often leading artists to rely on prepared control sequences. Laptop performers become "pilots" of largely computerized processes, detracting from the live experience. / This thesis project presents an alternative software interface that aims to bring a sense of active creation to laptop performance. The system prevents the use of prepared control sequences and allows the live assembly of generative musical processes. The software resembles a freehand drawing interface where strokes are interactively assembled to create looping and cascading animated figures. The on-screen animation is mapped to sound, creating corresponding audio patterns. Networks of strokes are assembled and manipulated to perform music. The system's use of freehand input infuses the music with natural human variability, and its graphical interface establishes a visible connection between the user's actions and the resulting audio. / The thesis document explores the above issues in laptop performance, which motivated this research. Typical examples of performance software are presented, illustrating the interface design patterns that contribute to this situation. The thesis software project is presented, describing its goals, design and implementation. The properties of the interface are discussed in light of the project's initial objectives. It is concluded that the system is a solid step toward a novel approach to laptop performance software.

Thesis (M.S.)--Rochester Institute of Technology, 1992. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1993. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.