There are numerous widely varying vocal styles and voice qualities in Western music. Popular music in the 21st century uses a particular voice quality for female voice that is quite different from the trained classical voice quality. Classical voice quality has been the subject of a vast body of research, whereas research that deals with non-classical voice quality and pedagogy is very limited. In order to learn more about these issues, the author chose to do research using a variety of standard voice quality tests to substantiate the existing literature, and perhaps generate new information. This thesis presents a review of the existing literature on voice quality in various different styles of singing: Classical, Belt, Legit, R&B, Jazz, Country and Pop. In addition, this thesis looks at spectral measurements from a small set of voice samples, elicited from a professional soprano. Laryngographic (LGG) data was generated simultaneously with the audio samples. To limit the data set for the scope of this thesis, singing samples using the vowel [i] are selected_ The analysis techniques used in this thesis are Spectrogram, LPC, FFT, and various LGG ratio measurements. The spectral measurements compared include the relative strength of the first two harmonics, the formant locations, relative energy from harmonic strength near the formants, summed energy in two quadrants (0-3000Hz, 3000-5000Hz), and the inharmonic or aperiodic activity seen in each quality. Data from the LGG is used to calculate the contact quotient (the time the vocal folds are in contact divided by the time for one cycle of the vocal fold vibration), speed quotient (the time between maximum contact of the vocal folds and vocal fold separation divided by the time between first contact and maximum contact) and ascending slope (the slope of the contacting phase of the vocal fold wave). The LGG waveform was also visually assessed. The acoustic and LGG data are compared to an auditory analysis by Dr. John Esling (Professor of Linguistics, UVic) and to the subject's descriptions of the physical configurations involved in producing these qualities. Physiological observations obtained from x-ray fluoroscopy & MRI scans of belt and classical voice qualities are included in Appendix B. The intention of the thesis is to reveal more about the workings of these voice qualities. The thesis also serves as a prototype for a series of 10 vowels and running samples that were elicited at the same time. Perhaps, even though this thesis presents a limited data set, it may be useful to pedagogues who are struggling to understand the complexities of the non-classical female voice, as well as to computer programmers and engineers who are developing voice enhancement devices and biofeedback tools.

Physical modeling synthesis has proven to be a successful method of synthesizing realistic sounds, but providing expressive controls for performance remains a major challenge. This thesis presents a new approach to playing physical models, based on multidimensional signals. Its focus is on the long-term research question, “How can we make a computermediated instrument with control intimacy equal to the most expressive acoustic instruments?” In the material world, the control and sounding properties of an instrument or other object are intimately linked by the object’s construction. Multidimensional signals, used as connections between a gestural controller and a physical model, can in principle provide the same intimacy. This work presents a new, low-cost sensor design capable of generating a 2D force signal, a new implementation of the 2D digital waveguide mesh, and two experimental computer music instruments that combine these components using di erent metaphors. The new instruments are evaluated in terms of intimacy, playability and plausibility. Multidimensional connections between sensors and a physical model are found to facilitate a high degree of control intimacy, and to reproduce as emergent behavior some important phenomena associated with acoustic instruments.

This study examines the life of Henry of Winchester (c.1099-1171) and his relation to the development of the English church in the twelfth century. It presents the case for considering Henry's close association to Cluniac monasticism and speaks to some of the tensions which existed between Henry and St Bernard of Clairvaux. It focuses primarily on Henry's contribution to the ecclesiastical reform movement and his importance as a leading figure in ecclesiastical government during the crisis of King Stephen's reign (1135-1154). In addition, it considers Henry's role as one of the twelfth century's most prominent art patrons. By considering his activities as monk, bishop, statesman and art patron, this study shows how Henry of Winchester was a prominent force in religious and secular life during a period of political unrest and ecclesiastical change.

This study is designed as a curriculum-based response to an urgent educational responsibility: How do we understand and respond to our ever-greater roles as audience members in a technologically, politically, culturally and economically performative society? The lived-through experience of the live performing arts offers a powerful medium for young people within which to find relevance and genuine connection with artists and artistic practice that is not generally available through mediatized forms of performance. This curriculum theory study, in implementation, has the potential to greatly improve the cultural literacy of future audiences for the performing arts. The paradigm shift in our culture from predominantly textual to predominantly visual creates a pressing need for aesthetic and critical understandings of the many ways we experience everyday life as audiences in performance. Live performance forms - theatre_ dance, performance art. opera. music - offer a crucial counterbalance to the prevailing forces of film, television and other mass media forms of performance_ These performing arts audiences are generally more challenged - aesthetically, affectively and cognitively - in their reception and interpretation of live performance. Also, due to the inherent nature of shared presence in live performance. the potential exists for authentic, meaningful interactions between performers and spectators in a way that is not possible in most media-based performance forms. A curriculum theory for audience-in-performance (AIP) involves an increased awareness of the presence, attention and witnessing activities of live audience. as revealed in aesthetic philosophy. Performance theory sees the alienation, commodification and dispersement of contemporary AIP, but also recognizes the potential for resistance, collaboration, participation and shared memory and meaning-making with performance. AIP curriculum theory consists of three parts: pre-performance (preparatory/ predictive): performance (attentive/interpretive); and post-performance (reflective/evaluative). The role and function of AIP is akin to that of choruses in Ancient Greek theatre, occupying the liminal space between audience and performance. AIP students prepare for performance as artists do, through the art form itself. and whenever possible in concert with performers. AIP curriculum theory_ also called pedagogy of the spectator, has six key characteristics: aesthetic, improvisatory, performative, critical, political and social. Successful implementation of AIP curriculum in the worlds of education and performance requires a greater understanding of performance by educators and of education by performers. It requires the placing performance studies into educational practice to enhance and improve student/teacher spectatorship of both culture and curriculum.

The goal of this project is to create a new instrument: the E-Drumset. This new interface addresses the lack of expressivity in current electronic percussion devices. The project combines Electrical Engineering for implementing hardware and digital signal processing, Computer Science for implementing musical and mapping software, and Music to devise new playing techniques and ways to combine them into a pedagogy and language of transmission. Like an acoustic drumset, the E-Drumset consists of different components that can be arranged together as a whole. An acoustic drumset can be thought of as a collection of pedals, drums and cymbals. The E-Drumset consists of the E-Pedal, E-Drum and E-Cymbal. The technology utilized in the E-Drumset includes sensor technologies with newly developed technologies such as acoustically excited physical models and timbre-recognition based instruments. These new technologies are discussed and applied to situations beyond the E-Drumset. Just building a new controller is not enough. It needs to be thoroughly tested in musical situations and to take into account feedback from musicians (both the player and other members of the ensemble) during the evaluation of the instrument. Clear and attainable technical guidelines have not been devised for the E-Drumset. In the case of the radiodrum, a spatial controller, improvements can be summarized to be better resolution in space and time. In the case of the E-Drumset the goal is to offer a flexible interface to percussionists where electronic drums are often the bottleneck in bandwidth. There is no clear answer to questions such as how low the latency needs to be to satisfy a drummer; an issue that will be explored through the project. The goals of the project are to provide the percussionist with an interface that they may sit down and use existing skills. Utilizing the great variety of gesture available to the expert, the E-Drumset allows the percussionist to explore all manners of controllers between acoustic instruments and electronic. To provide a smoother transition to the E-Drumset, notation and exercises for E-Drumset specific gestures and techniques was devised. The E-Drumset is a new instrument. Most new interfaces are derived to help lesser players achieve virtuosic ends, while other projects make a controller that is massively configurable where a more static instrument is appropriate. This project provides insight into the theory and practice of new musical interfaces while delivering novel forms of synthesis and gesture recognition appropriate for the E-Drumset.

Films and their images function to disperse representations of the body that encourage viewers to adopt or reject certain represented appearances and actions. Using this proposition, this thesis explores how notions of the body are visualized in filmic images, such as film posters and photographs used for promotional purposes. In particular, this thesis focuses on how German identities from the end of the Weimar Republic through to the early years of the Third Reich were represented in filmic images. This paper questions whether the introduction of Nazi ideals and the establishment of a state controlled film industry led to new representations of the body in filmic images or whether there is continuity between these images and those of the Weimar Republic. Exploring which bodies, taking into account representations of race. class, gender and sexuality, were privileged and which were vilified in filmic images gives one an idea of how bodies were encouraged to conform socially in the years leading up to and during the Third Reich.

This thesis examines the marking of Roman glass and ceramic vessels with stamps in the period from the first century B.C. through the second century A.D. The thesis establishes the context for the study of such makers' marks by first examining the early history of Roman glass. the changes brought on by the introduction of glassblowing, and the organization and working conditions of the industry. Next the thesis examines the roles played by stamps on glass in the ancient world. Then the organization and conditions of the ceramics industry are examined and the same questions are posed regarding the roles of stamps and what they can tell us. These stamps show us how the two industries were organized and reveal that Roman makers' marks served not only as proto-brand identifiers and artists signatures, but also as tools for industrial organization.

This thesis will investigate contemporary Japanese film as a reflection of and commentary on gender relations in Japan. This thesis will discuss two contemporary Japanese films: Love and Pop (1998) and Swing Girls (2004). By employing feminist perspectives we will illustrate that form and content work together in these films to offer both positive and negative critiques of gender relations. Because this thesis examines how these films illustrate high school girls and what kinds of messages they provide, it will apply Mulvey’s (1975) feminist film theory and Morohashi’s (2009) research, which is about visual images of contemporary Japanese women. This thesis will pay attention to specific camera techniques, lighting, and settings, which directly connect with the films’ content. We will analyze the form and content of these two Japanese films to show how the interpretation of a work of art, specifically a feminist interpretation, emerges from the relationship between form and content.

The Constructivists wholeheartedly endorsed the future of Soviet socialism and they took a leading role in shaping proletarian ideology. Drawing on Bogdanov’s theories of tektology and proletarian art, the Constructivists synthesized their artistic vision with the proletarian cultural movement. The Constructivists’ desire to organize the collective as “worker-organizers” through “production” art was indebted to Bogdanov. In this regard, Constructivist work during the laboratory phase is paramount for understanding the role that Bogdanov’s tektology played in the development of Constructivist theory. In 1929, Dziga Vertov produced Man with a Movie Camera, and an analysis of tektological methods used in this film reveal Vertov’s ideological motivations. It is on this basis – building ideology – that tektology furnished a viable solution to the Constructivist pursuit of uniting the theoretical and the practical in their art.

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