Master of Arts, Case Western Reserve University, 2015, Music Education

The purpose of this collective case study was to examine the learning experiences of high school students enrolled in a music technology course. Focused on the unique perspectives of eight students, data were generated through interviews, observations, student journals, audiovisual materials, and field notes. Within-case and cross-case analysis of the data established the themes of (a) building on technological experiences, (b) prior music knowledge, (c) approval of project-based learning, (d) musical dreams for the future, and (e) social categorization through individual musical pursuits. The findings indicated that, while students did not perceive a social identity related to specific characteristics in the music technology class, they were united in their pursuits toward musical autonomy and motivated by their own agency. Potential implications from this study suggest that music pedagogy and curriculum development might be considered as they relate to the knowledge and skills required of contemporary musicians.

Committee: Nathan Kruse (Advisor); Lisa Koops (Committee Member); Matthew Garrett (Committee Member) Subjects: Music Education; Technology

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2013, Music History

The impact of technology upon the twentieth century and the influence it continues to exert upon the present human community is self-evident. The allure and power of technology are broadcast via the grandest media and performance entertainment, while on the opposite spectrum, technology is being continually refined to render its electro-mechanical or bio-technical feats for humans. It is this theme of the increasing growth and import of technology upon every facet of human life that serves as the subject of Three Tales, a twenty-first century documentary digital video opera by composer Steve Reich and video artist Beryl Korot. In this work, Reich and Korot confront society's negligence of particular directions that technological development and application have undergone in the past century, and advise against taking the same paths in the coming era. Even as modern technology is critiqued in Three Tales, the work itself bends to accept the reality of technology's significance upon modern thought and life. In keeping with Reich and Korot's categorization of the work as a "documentary digital video opera," Three Tales is a performance work heavily dependent upon technology for its generation, presentation, and discussion of the interchange between technology and humankind. This thesis will investigate how technology has shaped the course of an artwork whose purpose is to expose and debate the handling of technology in current society. Technology in Three Tales is examined from various perspectives. Chapter one presents the foundational role of technology as "tool," "subject," and "theme." Chapter two considers how visual and audio technologies are used in Three Tales to suggest the effects technology may have upon perceptions of human connectedness and isolation. Chapter three investigates the inherent paradox in Three Tales that occurs from using technological devices for the work's production while its theme critiques modern, technological advances. The chapter als (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Eftychia Papanikolaou (Advisor); Alexa Woloshyn (Committee Member); Mary Natvig (Committee Member) Subjects: Biology; Ethics; History; Information Technology; Medical Ethics; Military History; Minority and Ethnic Groups; Music; Nanotechnology; Robotics; Robots; Spirituality; Technology; Theology

Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, 2019, Musicology

Video games are ubiquitous in American culture, and their sounds have worked their way into the popular soundscape over the past half-century. At the same time, game songs continue to grant musicians and audiences a safe space in which to try out new identities, and a forum in which to engage in critical commentary. Combinations of game concepts and themes with other styles like symphonic music present opportunities for new types of audience experiences. No longer just one part of a video game, these sounds and narratives have influenced numerous musical genres, provided outlets for identity exploration and community building, and become entities unto themselves. Aural aspects of video games are just as important as visual ones in creating feelings of immersion for the player, and many people today share feelings of enthusiasm, nostalgia, and joy for the bleeps and bloops of early consoles as well as for the sound effects emitted from more modern gaming systems. Sonic cues from games weave their ways into popular culture, so much so that Pac-Man's “wacka wacka” sound and Mario's “game over” music take on new meanings. Sometimes they infiltrate dance music or establish platforms for parodies and tributes, providing bases for new musical communities and subcultures. They also work their ways into the realm of contemporary classical music, sparking experiments that combine game-inspired sounds, concepts, and images with various musical forms and genres. Additionally, game sounds give us an aural connection to the expanding relationships between new technologies and popular culture. In this dissertation, I consider what happens to game sound when it is reframed and experienced outside of an in-game context, and examine how musicians have used game sounds to reshape the cultural coding of video games in America. My primary interest here is not the in-game functions of sounds themselves, which have been discussed extensively elsewhere, but how different subcultures (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Daniel Goldmark (Committee Chair); Susan McClary (Committee Member); David Rothenberg (Committee Member); Kurt Koenigsberger (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Cultural Anthropology; Mass Communications; Music

Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA), Bowling Green State University, 2015, Contemporary Music

Telematic music is a little-known sub-genre of telematic art and a new phenomenon in the world of music. This paper seeks to provide aspiring telematic musicians with the necessary knowledge and background that will enable them to participate in this art form by supplying a historical and aesthetic background for the elements of telematic art, discussing commonly used technologies and how they are implemented today, investigating performers who employ telematics, and examining the telematic opera Auksalaq. Additionally, this paper explores the adaptation of telematic art into telematic music. Chapter I reviews artistic and technological precursors of telematic art, centered around its three main aspects: telematics, integration of art forms, and interactivity. Chapter II provides a general guide for the aspiring telematic musician, covering the unique variables associated with performing telematically and giving practical advice relating to topics such as choosing technology, preparing telematic music, and more. Chapter III explores the current state of telematic music and creates a framework for analyzing it. This chapter includes an interview with Scott Deal, an accomplished musician and telematic artist and also discusses Auksalaq, one of the most ambitious telematic art projects to date.

Committee: Roger Schupp (Advisor); Elainie Lillios (Committee Member); Conor Nelson (Committee Member); Bonnie Mitchell (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2008, American Culture Studies/Popular Culture

Icelandic pop star Bjork has spent her career breaking down boundaries, blurring lines, and complicating binaries between perceived opposites. Examining a variety of both primary and secondary sources, this study looks at the ways that Bjork challenges the binary constructions of "high" and "low" art, nature and technology, and feminism and traditional femininity, and also proposes that her uniquely postmodern approach to blurring boundaries can be a model for a better society in general. This study contends that Bjork serves as a symbol of what might be possible if humans stopped constructing boundaries between everything from musical styles to national borders, and as a model for how people can focus on their commonalities while still respecting the freedom of individual expression. This is particularly important in the United States of America, a place where despite its infinite potential for cultural pluralism and collaboration, there are as many (or more) divisions between people based upon race, class, gender, and religion as anywhere else in the world.

Committee: Kimberly Coates PhD (Committee Chair); Robert Sloane (Committee Member) Subjects: American Studies; Mass Media; Music; Technology; Womens Studies

PHD, Kent State University, 2022, College of the Arts / School of Music, Hugh A. Glauser

A new paradigm of music teaching and learning has emerged in secondary schools in the United States. Music educators are taking advantage of innovations in digital technologies by organizing courses in which students learn about and demonstrate music concepts through music technology. Despite the growth of such classes, technology-based music class (TBMC) curricula has not been thoroughly investigated at the national level. Therefore, the purpose of this dissertation was to examine the current state of this emerging paradigm, and to share these insights with a variety of stakeholders including music educators, school administrators, education policymakers, and others who will influence the future of technology-based music classes. This study was organized around three research questions, each of which was formulated to address an area of concern reflected in extant music technology literature. 1. What are the features of technology-based music class (TBMC) curricula? 2. What are music educators' orientations toward TBMC curricula? 3. How do TBMC curricula align with professional music education standards? Data were collected using a researcher designed instrument based on two previously published questionnaires that examine music technology curricula and teacher attitudes toward the curriculum orientations originally proposed by Eisner and Vallance (1974). The Music Technology Curriculum Inventory (MTCI) was distributed nationally through the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) research service and through social media groups interested in TBMC. Data analysis and reporting of the N = 69 eligible responses consisted of descriptive statistics and basic qualitative content analysis of open-ended survey questions. Two exploratory groups were formed to compare agreement with academic rationalism and social reconstruction to select music technology curriculum items. Participants in this study reported high levels of non-traditional music student enroll (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Craig Resta (Advisor) Subjects: Music Education

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2015, Arts Policy and Administration

In the face of declining attendance rates and aging subscriber bases, American symphony orchestras have begun to seek out new ways to market classical music to a younger demographic. This target group includes the Millennial generation, which has displayed a widespread disinterest in classical music alongside a higher level of comfort with (and reliance on) technology than any previous generation. In response, many performing ensembles are experimenting with augmenting their concerts with technology such as social media interaction, projections and smartphone applications. It is important to note that although many new and interesting digital genres are made possible by the advancements of technology, this thesis focuses on classical music as performed by acoustically traditional symphonic instruments. This study explores the current phenomenon of implementing technology in the concert hall as an audience development tool using case studies of the Philadelphia Orchestra, ProMusica Chamber Orchestra, and Elevate Ensemble. The data suggests that these performing ensembles are including technology in three main areas of their audience development strategy: targeting specific niche demographics, programming new and community-based repertoire, and increasing social engagement. These themes point to the conclusion that the injection of technology alone into the concert experience is not enough to make classical music concerts appealing to the next generation. Orchestra administrators must be willing to mindfully consider each part of the traditional concert structure as an opportunity to modernize, while still keeping the celebration of quality classical music central to their mission.

Committee: Wayne Lawson PhD (Advisor); Shoshanah Goldberg-Miller PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Art Education; Arts Management; Music

Bachelor of Science of Media Arts and Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2009, Media Arts and Studies

This thesis examines the relationship between audio recording technology and jazz at crucial junctures in the music's historical development.

Committee: Arthur Cromwell (Advisor) Subjects: African Americans; Communication; Mass Media; Music; Technology

Master of Arts (MA), Bowling Green State University, 2011, German

This study examines Steve Reich's reflections on his early works in the context of Walter Benjamin's thesis in “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility.” While Reich's thoughts as expressed in interviews and selected writings show a similar attitude to Benjamin's toward changes in human perception, Benjamin's notion of auratic demise in the age of technical reproducibility is challenged by Reich's understanding of the role of technology in music and the effects of gradual musical processes. Reich's assertions regarding the aesthetic autonomy of his compositional process are reminiscent of Romantic ideals of art, particularly those embodied by the “poeticized” as defined by Benjamin in “Two Poems by Friedrich Holderlin.” However, the means by which Reich claims to have reintroduced artistic autonomy are those that Benjamin attributes to aura's deterioration, such as impersonality and gradual presentation of the artistic subject. This study determines that, while Reich uses mechanical process to accommodate the change in human perception as Benjamin anticipates, aura is not eliminated as proposed in “The Work of Art in the Age of its Technical Reproducibility.” Although the “here and now” of the original is destroyed, aura survives through the authority and transcendent nature of musical process, and singularity is achieved by the unique reception of individual audience members with each hearing. Reich's work may not politicize aesthetics as Benjamin predicts, but through the authority of autonomous musical process and the decentralization of interpretation, the fascist aestheticization of politics may still be averted in the age of technical reproducibility.

Committee: Edgar Landgraf Dr. (Advisor); Geoffrey Howes Dr. (Committee Member) Subjects: Germanic Literature

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Bowling Green State University, 2010, Communication Studies

As a response to increasingly low rates of participation among university aged students, Christian churches across the country are spending increasing amounts of money on music and technology with the assumption that such expenditures will attract that target demographic. Across denominational affiliations, it is a commonly held belief that such practices must be in place in order to attract and retain this demographic, but this belief has no empirical support. Therefore, this research project investigated the worship preferences of professing Christian students at Bluffton University paying particular attention to the utilization of music and technology. Those who have studied related issues have done so with clearly non-academic objectives, most with pre-existing religious affiliations and/or ties to funding from Christian-based organizations. The participants of this study were traditional-aged undergraduate students who were enrolled full-time at Bluffton University during spring semester, 2009. Bluffton University is affiliated with the Mennonite Church, USA, but represents many Christian denominations with the top three being: Evangelical, Catholic, and Mennonite. This research incorporated survey questionnaires based on the uses and gratifications perspective. The intent of the instrument was to measure three areas, as each relates to university student preferences toward the use of music and technology in Christian worship: relationship between technology use and current preferences; relationship between past worship experiences and current preferences; and, relationship between the on-campus religious activities of students and their current preferences. An instrument was developed based on the population being studied. The total sample was 123 participants, from ages 18-22, with a mean age of 20.00 (SD = 1.21). Of the participants, 43 were male (35.00%) and 80 were female (65.00%). This study produced two key findings directly related to the research quest (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Catherine Cassara-Jemai PhD (Advisor); Peter Vanderhart PhD (Committee Member); Stephen Croucher PhD (Committee Member); Lara Martin Lengel PhD (Committee Member) Subjects: Communication

Master of Music (MM), Bowling Green State University, 2008, Music Composition

Torn Edges, a Work for Five-String Electronic Violin and Tape, was written in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music in Composition at Bowling Green State University. This thesis composition is a ten-minute work that combines the sonic possibilities of pre-recorded sound objects and the timbre of a live electronic violin. Torn Edges is meant to sonically represent the tearing apart of many different elements such as metal, paper and time and the resulting frayed edges that occur when such elements are destroyed. This action can be heard in both the violin and tape part throughout the course of this work. In the violin part, the score calls for the performer to play many long glissandos and sustained notes. When combined with a guitar effects pedal, the resulting sound mimics the sound of notes being torn in half. In addition, the use of distortion via a guitar effects pedal creates a coherent sonic landscape with the tape. The tape part consists of recorded samples of metallic objects, violins, cellos and computer generated noises that are then manipulated using techniques such as convolution and granular synthesis. The linear motion of this work helps to give Torn Edges its form. In the first section, both the violin and tape create a long crescendo that erupts into many tiny pieces of falling metal. Gradually extending the texture of the piece and creating a sense of tension until the above-mentioned climax creates this crescendo. From this point in the piece, the violin takes off into a fast and furious solo that eventually slows down and re-introduces the material heard in the beginning of the piece. In the closing section of this work, both violin and tape create a sense of hesitation and confusion by the miss matching and miss timing of bits and pieces of material heard in the opening section of this work. Torn Edges, was realized using Finale, Logic Pro 7, DSP Quattro, SoundHack, Kontackt and various GRM and Waves (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Andrea Reinkemeyer (Advisor); Mikel Kuehn (Committee Member) Subjects: Music

Bachelor of Science of Communication Studies (BSC), Ohio University, 2013, Media Arts and Studies

In today's society, music is perhaps the most ubiquitous form of entertainment. It surrounds us daily, whether it's the background noise in a television sitcom, an ad played on the radio, or muffled sounds emanating from earbuds worn by the millions of people with iPods. Musical tastes, like the technologies that assisted in their development, have also changed over time. Instead of big band swing, jazz, or orchestral suites, artists such as One Direction, Lady Gaga, and Justin Bieber rule the Billboard charts. Their electronic and over-processed sound bears little to no resemblance to songs from the early 1900s, due in part to the technological innovations used in the recording and production process. Many believe that most current music is sonically unnatural and over-produced. As Ronan Chris Murphy, producer for King Crimson states, “The term `over production' as it is commonly used, describes a record that is perceived as having an over abundant use of processing (reverbs, delays, etc.) or has performances that appear to be fine tuned to death” (Murphy). Innumerable songs played on the radio or streamed online are “victims” of such of over-production. The electronic processing that defines these tracks causes them to feel fabricated or unrealistic. Many modern pop hits could not be performed in a live setting without the aid of plug-ins, samples, or electronic equipment. This raises the question: should recordings feel like they are live and cohesive performances, or something that could only be produced with the aid of digital technologies?

Committee: Eddie Ashworth (Advisor) Subjects: Multimedia Communications; Music