It may seem ironic or even slightly absurd to discuss silence in a context where the sound is art. Perhaps even more absurd is the fact that we are engaging in a kind of dialectical exchange about silence which inevitably materialises in sound. Paradoxes and contradictions aside, for a musician to ask, ‘what is silence?’ is for a painter to ask, ‘what is a canvas?’ or an actor to ask, ‘what is an empty stage?’ Silence has a necessary interrelationship with sound be it music, speech or noise. It also has potential to be translated to space, body and existence – our physical being in the world. Silence has often been construed as nothing, a void or completely disregarded. Instead of speculating the is-ness of silence, by objectifying it as a thing in the world that has positive or negative ontology and dismissing it as merely no-thing, the attempt here is to investigate the experience of silence in music and music performance, as it is as much an expressive gesture as music and sound and it gives light to the experience of listening and performing. An awareness of silence will hopefully be an invitation to a different perspective, regard and respect for its place and space in music and our own minds.

none

No description available.

The area of early music, especially of its performance, is yet young. Classes in early music performance are offered in only approximately a quarter of the nations colleges and universities, and these are found to vary widely in levels of both faculty and student proficiency, and in the authenticity achieved, resulting from available instruments and knowledge of styles and performance practices affecting interpretation. Although standard sources exist on performance practice, their information on the baroque period highly outweighs that on the Middle Ages or Renaissance. All three periods are encompassed by this writer within early music. Sources regarding practical concerns of an early music program are quite rare., and it is primarily in the few schools granting degrees in early music that a student might learn administrative skills. The lack of funds for instruments or for a faculty specialist often deters the inception of such a program. This guide is intended to serve as a resource tool for the non-specialist already on a faculty, who may happen into the position of collegium director., as well as the interested early musician who cannot attend one of those specializing schools, and who may not have the background to pursue the interest authentically. The hope is to fill a perceived need for a single source, treating both practical matters of directing a program and performance practice of all three.Each of the chapter topics is riled with conflict., both from early and modern writers, so that often concrete solutions cannot be given., and many questions remain unanswered. This work is meant to be a compendium of the many ideas and interpretations,, offering suggestions where possible, otherwise directing the reader to further sources for his own pursuit of solutions. It is hoped that through this work and its reference directions, readers may gain information to help recreate the sounds of early music with as much efficiency., and particularly, authenticity as possible.

This thesis takes as its starting point the observation that the authorship of the creative product of orchestral performances has been, and continues to be, over-attributed to the conductor. This is reflected both in popular perceptions and in the scholarly attention given to the conductor's leadership role, as well as in orchestral practices which privilege the conductor's artistically superior position within the orchestra through rehearsal and performance rituals and in remuneration and marketing. Although existing research has challenged the perception that the authority of the conductor is absolute, none has offered alternative explanations for how best to attribute the authorship of orchestral performances. Through a three-phased mixed-methods empirical study including an online questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and a newly developed method of data collection utilising an online variation of video-stimulated recall to capture musician experiences in real-life rehearsal and performance settings, this research contributes to an understanding of the social psychology of orchestral performance by identifying what prompts musicians' decision-making regarding how and when to play their parts. The analysis of the data has resulted in the development of a theoretical Framework of Influence and Action in Orchestral Performance that offers a new way of conceptualising authorship in performance through a 'theory of influence'. It concludes with an exploration of the implications of this revised view of authorship for existing orchestral practices, group creativity research, and our understanding of how the relationships enacted in the micro-socialities of orchestral performance reflect larger social formations.

As a performer of firstly acoustic and latterly electronic and electro-instrumental music, I constantly seek to improve my mode of interaction with the digital realm: that is, to achieve a high level of sensitivity and expression. This thesis illustrates reasons why making use of haptic interfaces—which offer physical feedback and resistance to the performer—may be viewed as an important approach in addressing the shortcomings of some the standard systems used to mediate the performer’s engagement with various sorts of digital musical information. By examining the links between sound and touch, and the performer-instrument relationship, various new compositional and performance strategies start to emerge. I explore these through a portfolio of original musical works, which span the continuum of composition and improvisation, largely based around performance paradigms for piano and live electronics. I implement new haptic technologies, using vibrotactile feedback and resistant interfaces, as well as exploring more metaphorical connections between sound and touch. I demonstrate the impact that the research brings to the creative musical outcomes, along with the implications that these techniques have on the wider field of live electronic musical performance.

A student's sight-reading ability directly affects the speed and quality of their learning, especially for those at the beginning and intermediate levels. Sight-reading on keyboard percussion instruments is typically very challenging for percussionists because percussion instruments are the only kind of instruments that the player doesn't physically touch when they play them. The player is removed from contact with the instrument through the use of mallets. This document will cover the topics of body movements, kinesthetic sense, music pattern recognition, sight-reading strategies in different levels, and music resources for instructors. Students who develop better sight-reading skills will learn new music faster, improve accuracy on the instrument, and increase their level of self-confidence.

The commercial genre of trumpet playing has been overlooked by educators for years. The goal of this project is to author a book, A Progressive Guide to Commercial Trumpet Playing, to address this issue. Commercial music can be defined as music for the mass consumer audience with the intent to produce monetary profits. This approach will take a student stylistically from blues through the popular music of the 21st century. The ultimate goal of this book is to fill the pedagogical void in trumpet performance study material, providing a more complete foundation for the trumpet performer. Each chapter will deal with a specific commercial genre and will include a brief history, musical examples, etudes, and a duet. This information will show students how to approach a given style through musical listening and performance and will provide a structure for effectively learning each commercial genre. This resource will also provide classical trumpet professors the tools for teaching genres of music with which they may be uncomfortable.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

MMus, School of Music, Faculty of Humanities / The Development Works Report (2004:28) described the role played by live music performers in the sub-Saharan region as a military force, a ‘musician corps’ of foot soldiers out in the field of the music industry. Musicians have a vital role to play in defining the industry in which they work. The phrase ‘musician corps’ (2004:28) implies a well-trained, well-informed body of musicians, prepared for the terrain of the music industry. Locally this corps was unfortunately a fragmented body of soldiers, often ill equipped for its task. As a means to better understand how the South African musician corps was performing this vital role of growing the local music industry, research was conducted via interviews and surveys among local musicians in order to collaborate the experience of local performers. Other sources consulted in this research process included local music business conferences and reports and literature sources relevant to live music studies. This research aimed to uncover the state of the local musician corps, to assess the level of industry-relevant skills and knowledge that are required for effective troops and to reveal the attitudes and activities of local musicians. Through this process of data gathering, the question that this research aimed to uncover was whether or not local live performers were sufficiently skilled to develop the live music sector. The majority of the research findings were based on interviews and surveys conducted in the city of Johannesburg.