Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2009. / "Graduate Program in Music Theory and Composition." Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-47).

This thesis is about composing music which originates from the possibilities of the voice. With the different qualities of the voice in focus one can discover how the musical choices you make have a direct impact on the direction and meaning of the music itself. The purpose of this project is to deepen the understanding of the voice as an instrument and further uncover how to use the qualities of the voice as inspiration in composing music and lyrics. By mapping the qualities of the voice I realized how techniques, sounds, expressions and skills are connected and was able to create an artistic framework on which I could base my compositions. I wrote five new compositions, all with different vocal focus points. As a result, I discovered how my extended awereness of my instrument contributed to the energy and direction throughout the concert performance of the compositions.

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This research project addresses the problem of scoring non-narrative film work. Deprived of a narrative content to follow, the composer faces the fundamental problem of deciding what other elements should be considered for establishing a meaningful relationship between the screened events and the music soundtrack. In order to mitigate the problem, this research project investigates the possibility of applying cross-modal principles to soundtrack composition, and systematically exploits the human ability to experience or interpret the information channeled through one sense modality in terms of another. After the Introduction which explains the research aims and methods, the thesis is structured into subsequent chapters. Chapter two considers cross-modal relationships in music and other expressive arts along with a brief consideration of Reception Theory and its relation to my work. Chapter three provides a set of four case studies of contemporary compositional approaches to non-narrative film. Chapter four demonstrates a new and systematic approach to soundtrack composition through a specially devised Table of Audio-Visual Correspondences, mapping parameters from one domain to another. This method is then applied in Chapter five in relation to a portfolio of original composed soundtracks. A detailed analysis is provided of each piece and the application of crossmodal logic to the scoring of non-narrative video is discussed and evaluated. Finally, Chapter six offers conclusions, recommendations, and outlines the scope for further research. An explanation is given of how work on this thesis has affected my own practice and compositional voice. A suggestion is also provided on how this thesis can benefit the wider film music academic and practitioner community.

In diesem Artikel wird das Konzept des Tonsatzseminars an der Technischen Universität Dortmund vorgestellt, das Brücken zur Komposition bauen will. Jedes Semester endet mit einem Tonsatz-Konzert, das von Studierenden mit eigenen Kompositionen bestritten wird. Die Stücke entstehen in den Tonsatzseminaren. Seminar und zugehöriges Konzert sind jeweils einem bestimmten Thema gewidmet. Die Tonsatzseminare wurden umfassend dokumentiert: Die Stücke aller Teilnehmer*innen liegen schriftlich vor, wurden im Konzert aufgenommen. Begleitet wird der Kurs in den letzten Jahren von musikpsychologischen Tests zum Kreativitäts-Selbstkonzept, die Datenmaterial für statistische Auswertungen geliefert haben. Vor dem Hintergrund musikästhetischer Diskussion im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert hinsichtlich der Anteile von ›Inspiration‹ und ›Arbeit‹ am Kompositionsprozess werden musikpsychologische Untersuchungen zur musikalischen Wahrnehmung (Carl Stumpf) und neurowissenschaftliche Grundlagen der Kreativitätsforschung dargestellt. Diese Forschungen werden im Hinblick auf ihre pädagogische Bedeutung für das Tonsatzseminar reflektiert. / In this essay, we present the concept of the Tonsatz seminar at TU Dortmund University. This seminar aims to include the idea of composition. Each series of lessons concludes with a concert with students performing their own compositions created in the Tonsatz seminars. The seminars and the recorded concert are dedicated to a specific topic. All scores and the recordings are available. In recent years, the seminars have been accompanied by psychological tests on a self-concept of creativity providing data for statistical evaluations. Against the background of music-aesthetic discussions in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries regarding the relation between the concepts of »inspiration« and »work« in the compositional process, music psychological studies on musical perception (Carl Stumpf), and neuroscientific foundations of creativity are presented. These insights are reflected in terms of their pedagogical significance for the Tonsatz seminar in compositional techniques.