Divriği Hospital - Medieval Healing Venue and Its Acoustic Characteristics

Divriği Great Mosque and Hospital as one of the World heritage monuments on UNESCO’s list was the subject of research. More precisely, the focus was on the architecture and the acoustic characteristics of the hospital built in 1228/1229 by Mengüjeck dynasty, a branch of Anatolian Seljuks. For the analysis purposes, a 3D model of the hospital was created, and the acoustic simulation was conducted. The results of the acoustic analysis show that the architectural characteristics of the hospital fulfill the acoustic standards for the good reception of the sound for the audience, and that it can be concluded that Divriği hospital venue supports the hypothesis of being suitable for the healing purposes. Hospital was designed to support the sound realization and to support the environmental soundscape in conjunction with the sounding makams, which supports the music therapy healing effect. It can be concluded that music therapy had acoustical support in the construction of Anatolian Seljuk hospitals, which have characteristics of concert halls and were built as acoustic (music) venues.

Listening Space

Classical music venues in the Netherlands and throughout the world are struggling to attract new audiences. Especially younger visitors are underrepresented. Previous research emphasizes the importance of providing new, potentially interested audiences with more means to consume the music. This paper presents an exploratory case study with the persuasive game Listening Space which we developed to help attract new audiences and thus preserve Western classical music heritage. In particular, we studied to what extent this game could promote more varied ways of listening to classical music and thus enrich the experience of visiting a classical music concert. We designed and executed a controlled randomized trial with surveys before and after the experiment as well as a series of in-depth interviews with participants after the experiment. Our treatment group consisted of 139 participants (both new and existing visitors). They played our digital game at their own convenience, followed by a visit to a concert in a renowned classical music concert hall. A control group of 165 participants only visited the concerts. We measured the effects of the game – changes in the ways participants listen to classical music – through self-report in questionnaires before and after the experiment. Results show that Listening Space seems most effective for new audiences: the game promoted more varied ways of listening in the treatment group and thus enriched their experience of visiting a classical music concert. The control group of new visitors did not show an effect and also no differences were found between the treatment and control groups of regular visitors of classical music concerts We employed regression analysis to identify predictors of the game's effect on listening styles: participants’ age and their level of appreciation of the classical music genre were negatively related to the effectiveness of the game. The way in which participants experienced the game also significantly influenced the effectiveness. This case study shows the potential of using games to promote classical music concerts: games seem to be valuable in attracting new, young audiences and, therefore, represent powerful instruments to help preserve Western classical music cultural heritage.

The Value of Small Live Music Venues: Alternative Forms of Capital and Niche Spaces of Cultural Production

Small live music venues rely on complex systems of cultural and social capital to bring revenue into each venue space. Although these intangible forms of value are quickly exchanged for economic capital over the bar or through the ticket vendor, their initial state conveys the intrinsic value of small venues as spaces of sociality and cultural production. Throughout this article I demonstrate the intrinsic value of small venues through an analysis of how alternative forms of capital – social, cultural, and symbolic (Bourdieu, 1984, 1986, 1997, 2002) – are generated and mobilised by individuals working in small venues, and the venue spaces themselves. This utilisation of Bourdieu and his theoretical apparatus forms the conceptual framework of this article, as I assert that much of the ‘work’ that small venues ‘do’ is intangible, and thus difficult to measure in quantitative terms. However, Bourdieu’s alternative forms of capital allow us to qualitatively assess the intrinsic value of small live music venues, demonstrating the significance of this value whilst also prompting a discussion of the nature of intrinsic and instrumental value. This article is both a review of the literature connecting Bourdieu to the study of small live music venues and an analysis of how theories of value and Bourdieusian capital(s) play out in niche spaces of cultural production such as small live music venues.

Open Data Based Urban For-Profit Music Venues Spatial Layout Pattern Discovery

The spatial pattern of music venues is one of the key decision-making factors for urban planning and development strategies. Understanding the current configurations and future demands of music venues is fundamental to scholars, planners, and designers. There is an urgent need to discover the spatial pattern of music venues nationwide with high precision. This paper aims at an open data solution to discover the hidden hierarchical structure of the for-profit music venues and their dynamic relationship with urban economies. Data collected from the largest two public ticketing websites are used for clustering-based ranking modeling and spatial pattern discovery of music venues in 28 cities as recorded. The model is based on a multi-stage hierarchical clustering algorithm to level those cities into four groups according to the website records which can be used to describe the total music industry scale and activity vitality of cities. Data collected from the 2018 China City Statistical Year Book, including the GDP per capita, disposable income per capita, the permanent population, and the number of patent applications, are used as socio-economic indicators for the city-level potential capability of music industry development ranking. The Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient and the Kendall rank correlation coefficient are applied to test the consistency of the above city-level rankings. The results are 0.782 and 0.744 respectively, which means there is a relatively significant correlation between the scale level of current music venue configuration and the potential to develop the music industry. Average nearest neighbor index (ANNI), quadrate analysis, and Moran’s I are used to identify the spatial patterns of music venues of individual cities. The results indicate that music venues in urban centers show more spatial aggregation, where the spatial accessibility of music activity services takes the lead significantly, while a certain amount of venues with high service capacity distribute in suburban areas. The findings can provide decision support for urban planners to formulate effective policies and rational site-selection schemes on urban cultural facilities, leading to smart city rational construction and sustainable economic benefit.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Global Pandemic on the Cuban Tourism Industry and Recommendations for Cuba’s Response

Cuba has been affected by the COVID-19 global pandemic as has most countries. The pandemic has all but shut down the tourism industry, with global flights being cancelled and governments taking drastic actions to stop the spread of the virus. The impact will especially hurt developing countries without strong economies and those heavily reliant on the tourism industry, such as Cuba. Government initiatives have included stay at home orders and temporarily closing businesses, restaurants, sports, and music venues as well as manufacturing facilities. With these shutdowns, there exists the probabilities that many businesses will not survive, but for those with sufficient cashflow, this presents opportunities for organizations and governments to re-tool, re-balance and alter their methods of operations. Cuba is different, in that they have a centralized planned economy and do have an opportunity to make significant changes to their industries which can improve the future of Cuba. The present paper looks to evaluate the impact of this on the country and the tourism industry and make economic recommendations in order for the Cuban government to move forward.

“The Atmosphere Was Entirely Good Humoured”

This chapter considers the use of cinemas as venues for live performance of pop music in 1950s and 1960s Britain. Following the “rock ‘n’ roll riots” that took place at showings of Blackboard Jungle and Rock Around the Clock, it is often assumed by music historians that cinemas were inappropriate settings for the new kinds of youth music that emerged in this period. In fact, this chapter argues, cinemas played a central role in the development of British popular music in this period. They provided both a space for young people and a space for the live performance of young people’s music; British teen pop music can therefore be understood as an aspect of cinema culture. The emergence of rock in the 1970s led to cinemas losing their central role as live music venues, though rock concert films continued to be significant for the rock economy.

Los Tres Grandes

This chapter examines the different manifestations of mambo in Havana and New York to demonstrate the musical connections between the big bands, son conjuntos, and charangas across three decades of regular Cuban dance music performance. The Palladium, in addition to the music venues in the Bronx, provided various opportunities for New York-based musicians to create their own versions of Cuban dance music. Recordings by mambo big bands are analyzed alongside Arsenio Rodríguez’s mambo diablos and Antonio Arcaño’s charanga composition “Mambo” to outline the historic connections between these formats.