TITLE: An Alternative Pedagogical Paradigm for Aural Skills: An Examination of Constructivist Learning Theory and its Potential for Implementation into Aural Skills Curricula INSTITUTION: Indiana University BEGUN: December, 1997 COMPLETED: December, 1998 ABSTRACT: Throughout the twentieth-century, the delivery of academic instruction in many, if not most, disciplines has followed a single epistemological model. Various terms have been used to describe this model--behaviorist, objectivist, positivist--though each may be defined in essentially the same way. Simply put, the goal of instruction in this traditional setting is to help the learner master the important facts, attributes, and relationships inherent in a given knowledge domain. The delivery of instruction in the field of music theory, including the teaching of aural skills, is no exception. Recently, a new epistemological framework has surfaced which stands in stark constrast to the traditional model. This alternative theory of how we come to know is called constructivism, and although it is not in itself an instructional design strategy, it has had significant influence on the design of instruction in many fields and on many levels, from primary school mathematics to medical school curricula. This study will examine three critical issues. First, I will examine the fundamental tenets of constructivist learning theory. Second, once the theory has been laid out, I will illustrate various forms of its implementation through an examination of several instructional models based on its fundamental principles. Third, I will demonstrate that, while the tenets which underlie constructivism have had some impact on traditional aural skills teaching strategies at an intuitive level, in recent years the influence of constructivism has become even more overt. I will attempt to synthesize these ideas and make further suggestions and observations concerning how this theory of learning may lead to an alternative methodology for the teaching of aural skills. KEYWORDS: pedagogy, aural skills, constructivism, learning theory, music theory curriculum TOC: Chapter 1: Introduction; statement of intent Chapter 2: Constructivism: an explanation and review of relevant literature Chapter 3: The implementation of constructivist principles: an examination of three instructional models Chapter 4: Constructivism in music theory pedagogy: a review of recent ideas Chapter 5: Toward a constructivist approach to aural skills pedagogy: a synthesis Chapter 6: Conclusions; suggestions for further study CONTACT: Ted Buehrer 748 Ridge Crest Court Bloomington, IN 47401 (812)334-8409 tbuehrer@indiana.edu
TITLE: Impact of MIDI on Electroacoustic Art Music INSTITUTION: Stanford University BEGUN: 1/95 COMPLETED: 6/97 ABSTRACT: The revolution in the tools for music composition in the mid-1980's caused a major change in electroacoustic music composition itself. MIDI-based music technology provided an entirely new and comprehensive array of composition tools. The flood of MIDI-based hardware and software appearing within two years after the introduction of the standard transformed the concepts of the contemporary electronic music studio, the digital instrument, and the role the computer plays in musical composition. The study is based on the results of the survey conducted by the author in 1996. Forty-five composers from 13 countries in America (including both coasts of the U.S. ), Asia, Australia and Europe, active in the electroacoustic art music before and after introduction of MIDI were interviewed in the course of the study. The collected interviews were sociologically analyzed. The composers personal experiences were dissected along the lines of the similar properties to be reconstituted in this study as an objective collective experience. The methods used for conducting the study make it very likely to encounter the same trends existing in the entire possible population. The dissertation highlights the reception, adaptation, and application of MIDI tools covering a multitude of topics and subtopics related to electroacoustic music composition and performance. It also reconstructs the historical, technological and aesthetic context in which MIDI appeared. Inherent features of the MIDI protocol and design of MIDI devices have had numerous implications for compositional practice. Composers assessment of design of the MIDI protocol as well as design of MIDI-based generation of equipment are given specific focus. The text combines statistical data on a particular topic with extensive excerpts from the interviews. Preservation of art music composers lore: experiences, ideas, practices turned to be one of the most important results of this project. KEYWORDS: Contemporary, electroacoustic, computer, 20th century, technology, MIDI, style, social, sociological, composition TOC: Chapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Design of the Study 2.1 Guarding Objectivity 2.2 Available Sources 2.3 Data Collection 2.3.1 Intention of the Study 2.3.2 The Study Design 2.3.3 The Survey Design 2.3.4 Selection of the Survey Sample 2.3.5 The Questionnaire 2.3.6 The Interview Process 2.3.7 Database Design and Data Classification 2.3.8 Data Privacy Issues Chapter 3 Historical, Technological, and Aesthetic Context of MIDI 3.1 Aesthetic Discourse Relevant to This Study 3.1.1 Introductory Comments 3.1.2 Composer / Performer / Audience Interaction 3.1.3 Tool / Composer Interaction in Music-Making Process 3.1.4 Differences and Similarities Between Electroacoustic and Acoustic Genres of Art Music 3.2 Evolution of the Technology 3.2.1 Mainframe Computers and Analog Synthesizers 3.2.1.1 Analog Synthesizers 3.2.1.2 Computers 3.2.2 All-Digital Music Systems in 1970s-early 1980s 3.2.3 Microcomputers 3.2.4 Pre-MIDI State of Technology 3.3 Demands of Electroacoustic Art Music 3.4 Historical and Technological Context of Development of MIDI 3.4.1 Development and Introduction of MIDI 3.4.2 MIDI Equipment in the Mid-Late 1980s 3.4.2.1 Marketing of MIDI 3.4.2.2 Yamaha DX Series of Synthesizers 3.4.2.3 Spread of MIDI Equipment 3.4.2.4 A New Paradigm of the Musical Instrument 3.4.2.5 MIDI Protocol Extensions Chapter 4 Reception of MIDI in Art Music 4.1 Incompatibility of Pre-MIDI Composition Tools 4.2 Anticipation of MIDI 4.3 Introduction to MIDI 4.4 Reception of MIDI 4.5 Evolution of the Evaluation of MIDI 4.5.1 Positive Evaluation 4.5.2 Change of Valence of Evaluation 4.5.3 Steady Negative Response 4.6 Learning and Incorporating MIDI 4.7 Use of MIDI in Composition 4.8 Transfer of Pre-MIDI Compositional Methodology into MIDI Environments 4.8.1 Successful Transfer 4.8.2 Unsuccessful Transfer Chapter 5 Assessment of MIDI Technology from the Perspective of Composition 5.1 MIDI Specification: Implications for Compositional Practice 5.1.1 Advantages 5.1.2 Limitations 5.2 Design of MIDI Devices: Implications for Compositional Practice 5.2.1 The Positive Aspects of Design of MIDI Instruments 5.2.2 The Negative Aspects of Design of MIDI Instruments 5.3 Social Benefits of MIDI Equipment 5.3.1 Affordability 5.3.2 Democratization 5.3.3 Concert Organization 5.3.4 Personal Computer Music Studio 5.3.5 Negative Social Effects Chapter 6 The Impact of MIDI on the Style and Methodology of Electroacoustic Art Music Composition 6.1 Changes in Musical Style 6.1.1 Composition 6.1.2 The Role of Interaction in the Musical Process 6.1.3 Sound Generation and Sound Control 6.1.4 Timbre 6.1.5 Rhythm 6.1.6 Form 6.1.7 Lack of Change 6.2 Timbre and MIDI 6.2.1 Development of Computer-Based Timbres before and with MIDI 6.2.2 MIDI-Controllable Timbres 6.2.2.1 Use of MIDI Presets 6.2.2.2 Synthesis Implementation 6.2.2.3 New Concept of the Synthesizer 6.2.2.4 Ready-Made Sound Libraries 6.2.2.5 Timbral Quality of Digital Sounds 6.2.2.6 Cited Shortcomings of Presets 6.2.2.7 Positive Response to the Quality of Preset Sounds 6.2.3 Simulated Timbres in MIDI Presets 6.2.4 Role of Software Synthesis after Introduction of MIDI 6.3 Live Interactive Electroacoustic Music and MIDI Tools 6.4 Role of Improvisation 6.5 MIDI Notation Facilities 6.6 Change of Compositional Interest Chapter 7 Conclusions Appendix A. List of Composers Interviewed in the Study Appendix B. The Statistics File Appendix C. Presentations of MIDI-Related Products in the Computer Music Journal Appendix D. Testimonies from Two Composers, Independent in Early MIDI Years Appendix E. Naumann and Wagoner's Sixteen Compositional Projects Appendix F. Eight Cases of the Change of Compositional Interest Bibliography CONTACT: Lane Igoudin P.O.Box 410972 San Francisco, CA 94141-0972 (415) 331-9595 x 333 aledin@ccrma.stanford.edu
TITLE: Rhythmic and motivic procedures in selected late works of
S.C. Eckhardt-Gramatte
INSTITUTION: Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
BEGUN: April 1996
COMPLETED: May 1999 (projected)
ABSTRACT:
Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatte (1899-1974) was an
accomplished composer, pianist, and violinist. Though her
compositions have been performed over the course of the
twentieth century, and some of the works have been
published and recorded, her music as a whole has received
limited analytical attention.
The late-period works, written after her immigration to
Canada in 1953, use compositional procedures which are of
particular analytical interest. Several of the chamber
works from this period feature a device the composer called
a bar row. Also described by Paul Creston as a metrical
sequence, a bar row consists of a fixed series of three or
four meter signatures repeated throughout a work. Eckhardt-
Gramatte's works which incorporate bar rows were composed
between 1955 and 1967. When considered chronologically, a
certain compositional development can be traced in the works
as she became comfortable with this technique.
In this dissertation I will investigate how bar rows are used
in movements from six works. Two works are examples of
Eckhardt-Gramatte's experimentation with bar rows in the
1950s, three works show her complete integration and
mastery of the procedure in the 1960s, and an additional work
from the 1960s combines bar rows with a twelve-tone theme.
In the later works, the bar rows provide a framework for a
rhythmically active surface. Here concise motivic
construction and subsequent development occur, similar to
Schoenberg's technique of developing variation. My analysis
will demonstrate how the framework of bar rows interacts
with motivic development, rhythmic grouping, phrase
structure, and formal design.
I have three main goals for the dissertation: one, to
introduce an analytical framework for understanding the
late works of this talented woman composer; two, to relate
the concept of bar rows to recent theories of rhythm,
meter, and serial composition; and three, to investigate
how the treatment of bar rows functions in relation to
other compositional procedures in Eckhardt-Gramatte's late
works.
KEYWORDS:
rhythm and meter, developing variation, women
composers, Canadian composers
TOC:
I. Introduction, biography of S.C.
Eckhardt-Gramatte, and goals of the study
II. Theoretical and compositional perspectives
on bar rows (literature review)
III. Experimentation with bar rows: Concerto
for Orchestra, Duo Concertante
IV. Consolidation and mastery of bar rows:
Woodwind Quintet, String Quartet No. 3, Woodwind
Trio No. 2
V. Bar rows and a twelve-tone theme: Nonet
VI. Eckhardt-Gramatte's late works in perspective
(summary of bar row functions)
CONTACT:
Lori J. Wacker
907 W. 8th St.
Bloomington, IN 47404
phone (812) 334-1271
e-mail: lwacker@indiana.edu
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