The purpose of this project is to understand how it is that women become electronic/dance music (E/DM) DJs and intervene in the dominant discourses and practices of cultural production in E/DM and DJ culture. The three main areas I address are: the impact of the socialization of gender and technology relations, the various ways that women use the Internet to access knowledge and create supportive communities, and finally, the hegemonic representation of women in dominant E/DM culture and how this representation has led to women creating their own communities of practice. I take a cultural studies approach to understanding the communicative strategies women adopt to become DJs. Adopting this methodology requires an examination of the relationships between people, places, practices, and texts. Such an interdisciplinary approach also necessitates drawing on literature from various "studies" areas, including cultural studies, popular music, women's studies, technology, and cyber culture studies. The result is a group of interconnected case studies linked by the ways that each of them addresses distinct aspects related to my central question of how women become DJs. It is clear from my research that the increased integration of women in E/DM is the result of women building face-to-face social networks and creating their own communitiesboth on and offline. In the spirit of the Women's Music movement that started in the 1970s and Riot Grrrl culture in the early 1990s, women in E/DM are increasingly taking on the roles of bookings agents, event planners and promoters, website developers, listserv managers, DJs, producers, and record label owners. Online forums are used to organize offline events like monthly potlucks and public performances, in addition to providing spaces where women can ask questions or share knowledge about all things DJ related. Overall, this project highlights the ways that cultural assumptions, discursive and material practices affect the roles that men and women adopt in E/DM culture.

PhD (Linguistics)) / Department of Communication and Applied Language Studies

Untune the Sky is a collection of ten original preludes, dances, and songs for microtonal viola da gamba in 7-limit just intonation with voice and live electronics that incorporates elements of Baroque music, traditional Irish dance music, extended just intonation tuning theory, and live electronic audio processing techniques. This thesis thoroughly describes the work and contextualizes its relationship to its historical and contemporary influences. The first sections explain why extended just intonation and viola da gamba were chosen as the central elements of the work. This is followed by a description of the structure, instrumentation, notational conventions, and intended performance practice of the work. The final section contains a musical analysis of the form, harmony, and structure of each piece in the collection. For researchers and interested performers, Appendix A contains a brief catalog of existing microtonal viol repertoire listed with a description of the microtonal techniques used.

The following thesis documents the collaboration process behind Idle Flux, a collaboration between Samuel A. Montgomery, a graduate composer at University of North Texas, and Emily Jensen, a graduate choreographer at Texas Woman's University. Comprising an 18-minute stereo fixed media composition and choreography for seven dancers, Idle Flux seeks to challenge the traditional spatial relationship between audience members and performers through restructuring seating and stage arrangements while featuring immersive sound design in multiple venues. This thesis considers multiple sources of inspiration, including Immersive Van Gogh® Exhibit Dallas, John Jasperse's Canyon, Zoe | Juniper's BeginAgain, Francisco López's installations, Alexander Ekman's A Swan Lake, Imagine Dragons' "Enemy," Son Lux's "Dream State (Dark Day)," and Ryan Lott's dance compositions. This thesis also examines the interdependent collaborative relationship between composer and choreographer by considering the issues of autonomy and creative control, examining previous collaborative models proposed or implemented by Van Stiefel, José Limón and Norman Lloyd, John Cage and Merce Cunningham, Doris Humphrey and Norman Lloyd. In addition, this thesis discusses the creative process and foundational concepts behind the fixed media composition, including the use of sound samples, exploration of timbre through synthesizers, development of motives and musical language, and the spatialization of sound in multiple venues. This thesis further considers the advantages and challenges associated with creating an immersive experience at each venue as well as an interdependent collaborative process that facilitates the autonomy and creative independence for both the composer and choreographer.

No description available.

Due to the increased importance of music in everyday life, the expanding enrollment in most colleges brought on by the return of war veterans, and the ever increasing popularity of dance music, more and more schools are incorporating dance bands as part of their musical program in connection with their recreation and college promotion activities. Since this is more or less a new development, it is of interest to all school administrators to see just what is being done in regard to dance music in the schools. Therefore, it is the purpose of this study to determine the extent and usage of popular dance bands in colleges at the present time, and to present certain problems which are apt to confront the administrator of such an organization.

The purpose of this study is to analyze and codify the basic principles and techniques of composition and arranging as used in ten selected published dance band stock orchestrations of popular ballads.

This thesis argues that the work of the artist David McDiarmid is to be read as an enactment of late twentieth century gay male and queer politics. It will analyse how both the idea and the cultural specificity of ???America??? impacted on the work of this Australian artist resident in New York from 1979 to 1987. The thesis examines how African American music, The Beats, notions of ???hip??? and ???cool???, street art and graffiti, the underground dance club Paradise Garage, street cruising and gay male urban culture influenced the sensibility and the materiality of the artist???s work. McDiarmid???s cultural practice of dress and adornment, it is proposed, forms an essential part of his creative oeuvre and of the ???queer worldmaking??? which is the driver of his creative achievements. The thesis proposes that McDiarmid was a Proto-queer artist before the politics of queer emerged in the 1980s and that his work, including his own life-as-art practices of dress and adornment, enact a mobile rather than fixed gay male identity.

This thesis documents the artistic connections made between composers and choreographers in Australia during the period 1960-2000. These 40 years saw a growth in the establishment of dance companies, resulting in many opportunities for composers to write original music for original dance works. The findings of original dance-music are tabulated in an extensive database giving details of 208 composers and over 550 music compositions written specifically for dance. Examples of choreographer and composer collaborative relationships and attitudes to each other???s artforms are discussed. Further examination of how these relationships have affected the sound of the music is detailed in four case studies. These concern the works The Display (music by Malcolm Williamson, choreography by Robert Helpmann, 1964), Poppy (music by Carl Vine, choreography by Graeme Murphy, 1978), Ochres (music by David Page, choreography by Stephen Page, 1994), and Fair Exchanges (music by Warren Burt and Ros Bandt, choreography by Shona Innes, 1989). These case studies look at dancemusic collaborated in different styles: ballet, modern dance, dance-theatre and experimental dance. This discussion is carried out through the analysis of the context of the collaborative relationships, and the temporal and interpretive aspects of the original dance-music. It is found through the investigation of collaborative relationships and discussion of these case studies, that similar methods of writing are used when composing music for theatrical dance, regardless of the type of dance. These methods show that composers have intentionally crafted scores that fulfil needs in the dance works and that are suited to choreographers??? intentions. Importantly, it is also found that involvement with dance has influenced some composers??? styles, aided musical innovation and added significantly to the corpus of Australian music.

Electronic dance music is a genre that has been long in the making. Starting with disco in the 1970s, dance culture genres evolved into house, acid house, techno, garage, 2-step, hardcore, gabba, san frandisco, electro, and many others. This paper studies the transformation of electronic sound, and the contributing/impeding factors involved. Drug use is heavily related to the creation and enjoyment of music, and features prominently in the history of dance culture. Starting with the use of acid in the 1960s and progressing to the use of acid, Quaaludes, poppers, speed in the 1970s, with MDA featured in clubs toward the end of the decade. The 1980s began the recreational use of MDMA, but not until the late 80s in UK acid parties did it become known as the party drug that it is known as today. MDMA use then spread rampantly throughout the US as the UK culture was exported and emulated. UK acid parties were the precursor to raves, which were illegal, and the backlash from the law was incredible and organized. Slowly licensing laws became more relaxed, and permits became easier to obtain, making future raves more legal, but according to ravers, less fun, ending at 2am instead of 8am, and forcing the drugs scene underground, rather than having them openly solicited. Organized crime in the UK got much worse as gangs realized the potential profits of selling drugs, and the scene forever changed because of this in the early 90s. The raves of the early 90s in New York, the Midwest, and San Francisco, were paradise in comparison. San Francisco enjoyed the most freedom, and beach raves became common. The electronic dance culture found a home in large festivals, and perhaps because of this the future of electronic music remains uncertain, especially with the casualties that have recently happened relating to ecstasy use, and complications in organizing such massive events.