The singer faces some significant challenges in learning to read music, namely that their instrument has no physical domain for pitch and they must sing two languages simultaneously. When those challenges are combined with the fact that they often arrive in college with less well-developed literacy skills compared with instrumentalists, and that musical literacy instruction is often linked immediately with theoretical analysis before literacy has been established, it is not surprising that singers graduate with graduate degrees with poor musical literacy skills. Using principles of second language acquisition and reading theory, this paper seeks to present a case for the separation of theory and literacy in college curricula, and proposes that such a development will not only see the musical literacy skills of singers improve, but can be seen as the foundation for the connection of performance and theoretical streams of musical study in higher education.

Original exercises based on the work of Sanford Meisner (as well as Viola Spolin, Jeffrey Agrell and others) are presented in a hypothetical voice studio to address truthfulness, point of view, and "reality of doing" on the vocal recital stage. The exercises present a way of addressing work on the "self" before work on the "role."

The American Dipper (Cinclus mexicanus), an inhabitant of rapidly flowing mountain streams, is an aquatic passerine whose vocalizations have previously been undescribed. This study examines the spectrographic characteristics and contexts of calls and song in a color-banded population of Dippers. calls of adults are the Jih, Weep and Grawk calls; calls of nestlings and fledglings are the Chip and Beg calls. Adult Dippers have a limited number of call types which occupy a middle range of frequencies (3 to 6kHz) and have structural characteristics which enhance detection of vocal signals. Gradation is present between call types. Possible explanations for similarities in characteristics of the Weep call of the adult female and the begging vocalizations of nestlings are discussed. The song is variable and complex, characterized by repetition of notes, contrast between adjacent note types and a wide range of note types. Vocal and social adaptations to the stream environment are considered. Post-feeding singing (PFS) is song given by adult birds immediately following the feeding of fledglings. Females sang following 29. 6% of feedings whereas rrales sang following 14. 6%. Average duration of singing by males (15.4 sec) was almost twice that of females (8.4 sec). Feeding bouts and other contexts of adult singing are discussed. Evidence for the functional significance of PFS and speculations on selective forces shaping its evolution are presented.

This dissertation explores the complex and intuitive elements of the author’s musical compositions. It investigates the concept of a composer’s ‘compositional voice’ by looking at the aesthetic and compositional techniques that are used to express it. In particular, it looks at the author’s expression of astronomy through his music, along with its realisation through both advanced and elementary performers. The aesthetic is examined by looking at astronomy and its relation to music. It observes the intricate ways that concepts to do with astronomy can be expressed through music, as well as the instinctive act of self-expression that arises from emotionally engaging with these astronomical concepts. The techniques used by the author to express these aesthetical ideas are generally found to be either complex or intuitive, and in turn can result in music that is difficult or simple. The complex techniques are found to be mostly process-based, using canons and subtractive and additive repetition in a similar manner to Olivier Messiaen, Steve Reich and György Ligeti. The intuitive techniques are made of instinctive creative decisions and use elements of performer improvisation and aleatory. The performer is the physical manifestation of the compositional voice; this relationship is developed through the application of both advanced and elementary performer techniques are used to reflect the author’s engagement with complexity and intuition. Due to their advanced technique, the advanced performer is found to be especially fit to realise the multilayered processes. These processes are used by composer Brian Ferneyhough, who appears to use the notion of ‘difficulty’, especially in terms of notation, as being an aesthetic technique itself. Other composers, including Johann Sebastian Bach, Béla Bartók and Benjamin Britten have written music for elementary performers. Furthermore, Britten and Peter Maxwell Davies have also written pieces for ensembles that include both advanced and elementary performers. All of these pieces that involve elementary performers have generally been found to be written either with the intention of being a didactic tool or with the intention of contributing to the composer’s immediate community. The aim in my aesthetic, however, is to combine the complex and intuitive aesthetic with both advanced and elementary performers towards a compositional voice that can embrace the elementary within complex processes. In short, the music aims towards being not only a service to the community but also an elementary-complex compositional voice capable of being relevant to the composer’s astronomy-related aesthetic. An analysis of the author’s compositions reveals evidence of the collaboration between complexity and intuition in the astronomy-related aesthetic, which is complexly realised in Messier 7 and intuitively realised in Stellar Meditations and Celestial Dances. It can also be found in the complex techniques in Celestial Shadows and the intuitive techniques used in the first two movements of Pale Blue Dot, and the interaction between the elementary and advanced performers that occurs in the IONS suite. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Master of Music (Music Education) / This thesis documents an investigation of the selection procedures relating to Australian vocal repertoire for mid-adolescent and Higher School Certificate (New South Wales) performers, as used by private singing teachers, school music teachers and singing students. It explores the similarities and differences in the criteria employed in these selections. Semi-structured interviews were the source of data and were conducted with participants from these three categories as well as two composers. The participants evinced highly disparate views. The private singing teachers believed that repertoire should be dictated by the technical ability and physiological constraints of mid-adolescent students and that their role in selecting repertoire was related to the long term vocal growth of each individual. They felt that the school music teachers vetted their repertoire choices with no useful explanation of their reasoning, while the school music teachers noted that students frequently presented repertoire that was too difficult or that was not readily communicated with the audience. The ability of mid-adolescent singers to communicate with and engage an audience was the prime concern of the school music teachers. The students wanted to impress their examiners and believed that infrequently heard repertoire was the best choice, though this was not endorsed by the teachers. There was a perception that the students would perform at their best when they chose repertoire to which they could relate emotionally. Many private singing teachers and school music teachers are not aware of the very broad range of contemporary Australian music and its divergent characteristics. However, there is a shortage of appropriate Australian repertoire that addresses the physiological and emotional needs of mid-adolescent singers.

Doctor of Philosophy(PhD) / Communication is a fundamental process that allows animals to effectively transfer information between groups or individuals. Recognition plays an essential role in permitting animals to distinguish individuals based upon both communicatory and non-communicatory signals allowing animals to direct suitable behaviours towards them. Several modes of recognition exist and in colonial breeding animals which congregate in large numbers, acoustic signalling is thought to be the most effective as it suffers less from environmental degradation. Otariid seals (fur seals and sea lions) are generally colonial breeding species which congregate at high densities on offshore islands. In contrast to the other Arctocephaline species, the Australian fur seal, Arctocephalus pusillus doriferus, along with its conspecific, the Cape fur seal, A. p. pusillus, display many of the behavioural traits of sea lions. This may have important consequences in terms of its social structure and evolution. The acoustic communication of Australian fur seals was studied on Kanowna Island, Bass Strait, Australia. Analysing the acoustic structure of vocalisations and their use facilitates our understanding of the social function of calls in animal communication. The vocal repertoires of males, females, pups and yearlings were characterised and their behavioural context examined. Call structural variations in males were evident with changes in behavioural context, indicating parallel changes in the emotive state of sender. For a call to be used in vocal recognition it must display stereotypy within callers and variation between them. In Australian fur seal females and pups, individuals were found to have unique calls. Mutual mother-pup recognition has been suggested for otariids and this study supports the potential for this process to occur through the use of vocalisations. Call structural changes in pup vocalisations were also investigated over the progression of the year, from birth to weaning. Vocalisations produced by pups increased in duration, lowered in both the number of parts per call and the harmonic band containing the maximum frequency as they became older, suggesting calls are changing constantly as pups grow toward maturity. It has been suggested through descriptive reports, that the bark call produced by males is important to vocal recognition. The present study quantified this through the analysis of vocalisations produced by male Australian fur seals. Results support descriptive evidence suggesting that male barks can be used to discriminate callers. Traditional playback studies further confirmed that territorial male Australian fur seals respond significantly more to the calls of strangers than to those of neighbours, supporting male vocal recognition. This study modified call features of the bark to determine the importance to vocal recognition. The results indicate that the whole frequency spectrum was important to recognition. There was also an increase in response from males when they heard more bark units, indicating the importance of repetition by a caller. Recognition occurred when males heard between 25-75% of each bark unit, indicating that the whole duration of each bark unit is not necessary for recognition to occur. This may have particular advantages for communication in acoustically complex breeding environments, where parts of calls may be degraded by the environment. The present study examined the life history characteristics of otariids to determine the factors likely to influence and shape its vocal behaviour. Preliminary results indicate that female density, body size and the breeding environment all influence the vocal behaviour of otariids, while duration of lactation and the degree of polygyny do not appear to be influential. Understanding these interactions may help elucidate how vocal recognition and communication have evolved in different pinniped species.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Florida State University, 2006. / Advisor: Jeffrery Kite-Powell, Florida State University, College of Music. Includes biographical sketch. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in printed format.

Teachers are considered professional voice users because they depend on the regular and uninterrupted use of the voice. The nature of teaching requires more extensive use of the voice than other professions. Therefore, teachers are faced with a greater risk of developing voice problems. In addition to using the voice to present content to students, teachers must also manage the classroom and student behavior. All of these activities have potential to compromise vocal integrity. The purpose of this study was to examine the vocal health of selected middle school and high school choral directors. Specifically, it explored relationships between vocal health condition as determined by the modified Voice Handicap Index (VHI) and self-report vocal health rating and (a) age, (b) gender, (c) years of teaching, (d) level of teaching, (e) vocal health education, and (f) fundamental frequency and intensity ranges of the voice as indicated by the voice range profile (VRP). This study also sought to determine the relationship between VRP, and age, gender, years of teaching, and level of teaching. Results indicate choral directors' vocal intensity range is significantly smaller than the trained and untrained populations, choral directors' minimum vocal intensity is significantly higher than the trained and untrained populations, and choral directors are able to produce significantly fewer semitones resulting in a smaller vocal frequency range than trained and untrained populations.

Very little is known about red-legged seriema (Cariama cristata) vocalizations and behavior. The focus of my research was to analyze the structure of red-legged seriema primary calls and to begin to test hypotheses related to their function. Captive red-legged seriema behavior, both vocal and non-vocal, was recorded at 7 institutions located in the United States from May 2007 through November 2008. To test whether calls serve a predator alarm function, seriemas were presented with a large stuffed dog, representing a predator stimulus, and 2 control stimuli, a large, stuffed penguin and a large, flowering potted plant. Baseline recordings with no manipulations were also made throughout the day, during the course of the study. All recordings of seriema vocalizations were assessed using sound analysis software to generate sound spectrograms for comparison. I identified three different note types within the seriema primary call: upsweep notes (U), ladder notes (L), and two-part notes (T). Each call begins with a set of U notes that increase in rate and lead into the main part of the call, which is made of L and T notes. Each note type was assessed for duration, frequency, energy, and entropy measurements. These measurements were reduced using factor analysis into two relevant factors. There were substantial differences across individuals for note type acoustic structure. Group differences in note types, including sex, location, and age, were not found. When presented with the dog model, vocal responses were given by only 3 individuals. Overall, it may be possible to identify individual seriemas by analyzing the structure of their primary call, which may allow researchers to identify individuals without physical markers.