Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2024, Music Composition

Through the Cracks is a ten-minute work for Hypercube Ensemble (tenor saxophone, electric guitar, piano, and percussion) with fixed media electronics. The singlemovement piece is inspired by the decrepit landscape of abandoned factories in my hometown of Hamilton, Ohio. Through the Cracks is written in four loose sections. The introduction depicts the abandoned factory landscape, opening with a sparse texture using percussive sounds. Layered rhythmic accelerandi and ritardandi obscure any sense of pulse, portraying the landscape's disintegration. The second section gradually becomes more texturally and rhythmically dense, with pitch content emerging. Eventually, a minor-mode melody is presented by the saxophone. The third section becomes more rhythmically regular, featuring an ostinato pattern in the electronics, representing the steady rumble of machinery in the factories' past. The final section returns to the desolation of the present day, with airy and pitched sounds overlapping within a sparse, arhythmic texture. Rhythmic accelerandi and ritardandi form significant aspects of the piece and are often used to create fluctuating textures and connecting gestures. During pulse driven sections streams of sixteenth notes move between the ensemble and electronics to create a consistent grid. Nonstandard subdivisions of beats and syncopation help blur meters and downbeats. The ensemble employs a variety of extended techniques to help portray the abandoned factories. The tenor saxophonist uses several multiphonics along with slap tongue and bisbigliandi. The pianist applies light preparation on D6, E6, F6 G6, and A6, using a small iv amount of tack tape applied to the strings to create a muted sound with very little pitch. The percussionist bows several notes on the vibraphone and uses wire brushes on the drums. In some sections, the guitarist mutes the strings with their strumming hand to remove pitched content, creating a highly percussive sound (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elainie Lillios DMA (Committee Chair); Christopher Dietz Ph.D (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Music Composition

The Inconsistent Continuities is a single movement chamber piece with fixed media. The Inconsistent Continuities was composed for Hypercube Ensemble, whose performing forces include saxophone, electric guitar, percussion, and piano. An additional fixed media component is being controlled over time by one of the performers. The piece's theme is inspired by my personalized perception of living and coping with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The Inconsistent Continuities aims to sonically portray my personalized experiences living and coping with ADHD. Each ensemble member, plus the fixed media, personifies one or multiples of the three main ADHD traits: fixation; distraction; and inattentiveness. The single-movement piece comprises three sections. The first section establishes the four ensemble members as a theoretical “brain” attempting to formulate a musical melodic gesture or “idea.” This idea loops, signifying the characteristics of fixation. An external distraction from the fixed media then attempts to distract the ensemble from their original melodic thought. The musical content introduced by the fixed media is distant and obtrusive compared to the fixated thought from earlier. The remaining role (inattentiveness) is introduced during this section and attempts to bypass the first thought and the distraction. This section represents the mind being overly stimulated and the traits of ADHD that are more prevalent and controlling. The second section begins as a collective dialogue between all three characteristics that eventually reaches critical mass, followed by an abrupt breath inhale by the ensemble. This represents the mind being overwhelmed during social situations and everyday life while desperately seeking a moment of clarity. The final section unites each member, but the melodic idea of the piece changes, representing the mind solving the task or completing its thought through the tangential ADHD thought process.

Committee: Elainie Lillios Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Mikel Kuehn Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2023, Music Composition

Towards an Absurdist Semiological Syncretism (A.S.S.) is a composition for chamber ensemble and fixed media. The work will receive its premiere in April 2023 by the Hypercube ensemble as part of the Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts Klingler Electroacoustic Residency. The instrumentation consists of saxophones (soprano and baritone), electric guitar, piano, and percussion (vibraphone, large tom, and snare drum). The work's title is both a farcical rendering of academic language and a description of its narrative: the subject (portrayed by the instrumentalists) attempts an establishment of existential meaning among emotional distress at a culture of increasing dependence on social media and the amorphous dictates of consumerism (portrayed by the fixed media). The composition comprises three large formal divisions. In the first section, five discrete sets of intervals populate a field of pitches. These interval sets are gradually restricted from their field towards a climactic hexachord (6–20[014589]). The second section employs single-line-staff notation to express pitch-agnostic gestures written for slide whistles. The third section consists of totalistic rhythmic and tonal constructs, the gradual simplification of which seeks to recontextualize a similar process in the opening section. The fixed media component of the work is sourced from recordings of public domain literature, popular soundbites from social media (in accordance with U.S. fair use doctrines), and various objects being broken.

Committee: Elainie Lillios (Committee Member); Mikel Kuehn (Committee Chair) Subjects: Music

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Cleveland State University, 2021, Washkewicz College of Engineering

Throughout this thesis, evidence is shown that suggests the existence of subharmonic frequencies in the Classical Spanish Acoustic Guitar and Fender Squier Electric Guitar spectra. The classic subharmonic undertone series mimics that of the harmonic overtone series, except that the fundamental frequency is divided by integer values instead of multiplied by integer values. Subharmonics that do not fit the classic subharmonic undertone series criteria are still classified as subharmonics, although subharmonics that do fit the criteria are emphasized. Throughout this manuscript, the author's original experimental procedures and results are presented. Individual tones were recorded on both guitars on every string from frets zero to twelve and were analyzed for subharmonics via Audacity software. The fundamental and subharmonic frequencies were recorded on Excel and the fundamental frequencies were divided by the subharmonic frequencies, thus yielding ratios. These ratios were used in two different charts that were color-coded based on value and if the ratios were within ten percent of an integer value. These charts suggest the frequent presence of the first and second subharmonics in both guitars, which is especially observed in the higher strings (G, B and high E strings).

Committee: Majid Rashidi (Advisor); Majid Rashidi (Committee Chair); Asuquo Ebiana (Committee Member); Michael Gallagher (Committee Member) Subjects: Acoustics; Mechanical Engineering; Physics

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2019, Music Composition

Stream of Consciousness is a fifteen-minute one-act opera scored for solo soprano, three voices, piano, electric guitar, and electronics. It is based on an original libretto by Rachael Smith (MM Composition, University of Louisville) that focuses entirely on the fictional character Liv_Is_Live, a young woman who is a full-time video game streamer. The work showcases some of the struggles that streamers face: isolation, constant questioning of their chosen profession, and interaction with a chat room full of anonymous viewers who are often rude or abusive. Beyond that, it addresses the more universal theme of being a woman working in a male-dominated industry.

Committee: Marilyn Shrude PhD (Advisor); Elainie Lillios PhD (Committee Member); Katherine Meizel PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2018, Musicology

Historians have repeatedly looked to popular music as a window into American culture, especially of the 1950s and 1960s. Elvis Presley, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan have all been canonized as icons whose music reflected pivotal shifts in youth culture. Yet recent scholarship has complicated standard narratives of popular music history by emphasizing the wide spectrum of musical experiences that produced such acts (Wald 2009, 2015). Even so, critics and scholars continue to treat the era's musical genres in isolation, analyzing “rock `n' roll,” “rhythm and blues,” and “jazz” as separate phenomena. As a result, the myriad connections among them have been minimized in favor of uncluttered historical narratives. In this dissertation, I demonstrate the benefit of analyzing American musical culture not through a specific genre, but rather an instrument: the electric bass guitar. From its invention in 1951 through the height of the British Invasion in the mid-1960s, the electric bass weathered substantial shifts in musical styles and audiences. In turn, the stories of the musicians who played it shed new light on the social and economic issues that defined this era, including constructions of race and gender, the rise of middle class consumerism, and the increasing autonomy of youth culture. The benefit of re-examining history through the lens of this particular instrument is thus twofold: first, it redresses weaknesses in the standard historical narrative by embracing the interconnected experiences of musicians and audiences that lived through this era; second, it provides a new window into American culture itself.

Committee: Robert Walser (Advisor); Daniel Goldmark (Committee Member); David J. Rothenberg (Committee Member); William Deal (Committee Member) Subjects: History; Music

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2013, College-Conservatory of Music: Composition

"Biomes" is a 45-minute sound structure composed for electric guitar and electroacoustic soundscape. The debut performance of the work occurred on April 22, 2013 (Earth Day) within the Meyers Gallery at the University of Cincinnati. During this presentation, as well as on the debut recording of the composition, I functioned as electric guitarist and electroacoustic soundscape composer / performer. The electric guitar presents 6 songs during the electroacoustic soundscape. The melodic / harmonic material utilized within each song is primarily "fixed". The rhythmic / pulse material utilized within each song is primarily "fluid". The electroacoustic soundscape is comprised of 7 shifting biome soundscapes. The following biomes are represented: urban, desert, tropical forest, grassland, temperate forest, tundra, and aquatic (freshwater / marine). The complete soundscape incorporates 104 audio files (many of these audio files were accessed via the Macaulay Library at Cornell University). 52 of these audio files have been electronically processed in some fashion often utilizing MacPOD (developed by Chris Rolfe and Damian Keller). The remaining elements of the soundscape were constructed utilizing Logic Pro 9 (developed by Apple Incorporated). My initial creative intention was to compose music that I needed to hear (and hopefully music that needs to be heard). This creative intention has been realized through the completion of "Biomes". I have been intensely involved with music for over 27 years - sacrificing many other aspects of my life in order to pursue what I am deeply passionate about and to live fully as an artist. This extensive experience as an artist has informed my conclusion that "Biomes" is possibly the best work I have ever completed. The only way to understand my composition "Biomes" is to literally experience my composition "Biomes" (similarly, the only way to understand the taste of an apple is to literally experience the taste of an apple). Th (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mara Helmuth D.M.A. (Committee Chair); Mike Fiday Ph.D. (Committee Member); Joel Hoffman D.M.A. (Committee Member) Subjects: Music