Exploring musician-educators’ reflections on a collaborative cross-cultural music making encounter in Singapore

Professional musician-educators from a tertiary arts institution in Singapore collaborated on a cross-cultural performance in Beijing as part of their professional development. Through a case study, semi-structured interviews explored the music making experiences of four of the musician-educators involved: the composer, the singer, the pianist and the erhu performer. Their experiences address the concept of cross-cultural music making and its significance in professional development for musician-educators. The experiences shared by the four musician-educators illuminate challenges, tensions and some areas to further resolve and critically question regarding how cultures are engaged in the process of music-making. Through unpacking the narratives of musician-educators and how they experience interactions with culture in music making, there is the possibility to further understand diverse music making encounters in Singapore.

Samoan identity through music composition: The agony of asking

<p>In this thesis, Samoan music and identity are woven together and expressed simultaneously through new composition, critical reflection, and performance. This thesis explores creative practice in both Samoa and New Zealand, and it engages with critical insights in order to produce a body of new creative work in music. Through these efforts, this thesis contributes a new original understanding for how to articulate Samoan identity in current musical composition. In Samoa, cultural practices exist alongside global influences. These are found in song, language, contemporary music and dance in a variety of social contexts, and it is in this space of crossing boundaries where I explore my own identity as a Samoan-born, New Zealand composer, and a broader Samoan communal identity. The two contexts of my journey in Samoa and New Zealand offer sustained influences on my compositions both as a professional musician and educator. They provide very different expectations and cultures that I have negotiated, and have formed the basis of my creative work in this thesis. Adapting the Pasifika-centred framework of Epeli Hau’ofa in “Our Sea of Islands” (1993), in this thesis I provide a personal blueprint for a Samoan interpretation of creative practice in music, based on close readings and interpretations of concepts in new music composition. Through this work I deconstruct my own colonial past to rise above cultural stereotypes, and instead move towards finding connections with local-based styles and values of music. In doing so, my creative output offers an original voice as a composer that is firmly based in Samoan realities, just as it extends to experiences and with a diversity of musical practices. Through my creative work I offer unique musical spaces and mediums that expresses my Samoan identity, in both music and culture. In this way, new composition is a means of navigating and negotiating musical creativity. As I have discovered, I am not the only one moving in and out of these contexts as a Samoan musician and composer. I have worked together, alongside other Samoan composers such as Natalia Mann (based in Queensland, Australia), Metitilani Alo (based in Dunedin, New Zealand), Igelese Ete (based in Fiji) and Maori artists such as Riqi Harawira (based in Kaitaia, New Zealand) and artist BJ Natanahira (based in Kaitaia) sharing ideas and engaging in discussions around process of creativity and identity. In creating our own musical voices, we also take control of the forms and shapes used to express our identities musically and culturally. As Thomas Turino points out in Music as Social Life (2008) this is about navigating and negotiating our identity according to the spaces we move within, and the music we associate with through composition and performance. This is that journey.</p>

Samoan identity through music composition: The agony of asking

<p>In this thesis, Samoan music and identity are woven together and expressed simultaneously through new composition, critical reflection, and performance. This thesis explores creative practice in both Samoa and New Zealand, and it engages with critical insights in order to produce a body of new creative work in music. Through these efforts, this thesis contributes a new original understanding for how to articulate Samoan identity in current musical composition. In Samoa, cultural practices exist alongside global influences. These are found in song, language, contemporary music and dance in a variety of social contexts, and it is in this space of crossing boundaries where I explore my own identity as a Samoan-born, New Zealand composer, and a broader Samoan communal identity. The two contexts of my journey in Samoa and New Zealand offer sustained influences on my compositions both as a professional musician and educator. They provide very different expectations and cultures that I have negotiated, and have formed the basis of my creative work in this thesis. Adapting the Pasifika-centred framework of Epeli Hau’ofa in “Our Sea of Islands” (1993), in this thesis I provide a personal blueprint for a Samoan interpretation of creative practice in music, based on close readings and interpretations of concepts in new music composition. Through this work I deconstruct my own colonial past to rise above cultural stereotypes, and instead move towards finding connections with local-based styles and values of music. In doing so, my creative output offers an original voice as a composer that is firmly based in Samoan realities, just as it extends to experiences and with a diversity of musical practices. Through my creative work I offer unique musical spaces and mediums that expresses my Samoan identity, in both music and culture. In this way, new composition is a means of navigating and negotiating musical creativity. As I have discovered, I am not the only one moving in and out of these contexts as a Samoan musician and composer. I have worked together, alongside other Samoan composers such as Natalia Mann (based in Queensland, Australia), Metitilani Alo (based in Dunedin, New Zealand), Igelese Ete (based in Fiji) and Maori artists such as Riqi Harawira (based in Kaitaia, New Zealand) and artist BJ Natanahira (based in Kaitaia) sharing ideas and engaging in discussions around process of creativity and identity. In creating our own musical voices, we also take control of the forms and shapes used to express our identities musically and culturally. As Thomas Turino points out in Music as Social Life (2008) this is about navigating and negotiating our identity according to the spaces we move within, and the music we associate with through composition and performance. This is that journey.</p>

EEG Correlates of Middle Eastern Music Improvisations on the Ney Instrument

The cognitive sciences have witnessed a growing interest in cognitive and neural basis of human creativity. Music improvisations constitute an ideal paradigm to study creativity, but the underlying cognitive processes remain poorly understood. In addition, studies on music improvisations using scales other than the major and minor chords are scarce. Middle Eastern Music is characterized by the additional use of microtones, resulting in a tonal–spatial system called Maqam. No EEG correlates have been proposed yet for the eight most commonly used maqams. The Ney, an end-blown flute that is popular and widely used in the Middle East was used by a professional musician to perform 24 improvisations at low, medium, and high tempos. Using the EMOTIV EPOC+, a 14-channel wireless EEG headset, brainwaves were recorded and quantified before and during improvisations. Pairwise comparisons were calculated using IBM-SPSS and a principal component analysis was used to evaluate the variability between the maqams. A significant increase of low frequency bands theta power and alpha power were observed at the frontal left and temporal left area as well as a significant increase in higher frequency bands beta-high bands and gamma at the right temporal and left parietal area. This study reveals the first EEG observations of the eight most commonly used maqam and is proposing EEG signatures for various maqams.

Surrounded by Sound: The Impact of Tinnitus on Musicians

AIM: To investigate the impact of tinnitus on professional musicians in the UK. BACKGROUND: Tinnitus is the experience of sound when an external source is absent, primarily associated with the ageing process, hearing loss, and noise exposure. Amongst populations exposed to industrial noise, noise exposure and noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) have been found to be the factors most associated with tinnitus. The risk of NIHL amongst professional musicians is greater than that amongst the general population, meaning they may be at increased risk of tinnitus. METHODS: Seventy-four professional musicians completed an online survey involving closed and open-ended questions, and completed the Tinnitus fuctional Index (TFI) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of open-ended qualitative responses were used to analyse the data. RESULTS: Three themes were generated from the analysis of the responses to the open-ended questions. These themes were: (1) the impact of tinnitus on the lives of professional musicians, (2) professional musician experience of tinnitus services, support, and hearing health and safety, and (3) the support professional musicians want. The mean global TFI score for professional musicians was 39.05, interpreted as tinnitus being a moderate problem. Comparisons with general population data revealed lower TFI scores for the TFI subscales of ‘sense of control’ and ‘intrusiveness’ for professional musicians and higher for auditory difficulties associated with tinnitus amongst professional musicians. CONCLUSION: Tinnitus can negatively impact on professional musicians’ lives. There is a need for bespoke self-help groups, awareness raising, and education to prevent tinnitus and promote hearing health among musicians.

Perception of Nigerian Dùndún Talking Drum Performances as Speech-Like vs. Music-Like: The Role of Familiarity and Acoustic Cues

It seems trivial to identify sound sequences as music or speech, particularly when the sequences come from different sound sources, such as an orchestra and a human voice. Can we also easily distinguish these categories when the sequence comes from the same sound source? On the basis of which acoustic features? We investigated these questions by examining listeners’ classification of sound sequences performed by an instrument intertwining both speech and music: the dùndún talking drum. The dùndún is commonly used in south-west Nigeria as a musical instrument but is also perfectly fit for linguistic usage in what has been described as speech surrogates in Africa. One hundred seven participants from diverse geographical locations (15 different mother tongues represented) took part in an online experiment. Fifty-one participants reported being familiar with the dùndún talking drum, 55% of those being speakers of Yorùbá. During the experiment, participants listened to 30 dùndún samples of about 7s long, performed either as music or Yorùbá speech surrogate (n = 15 each) by a professional musician, and were asked to classify each sample as music or speech-like. The classification task revealed the ability of the listeners to identify the samples as intended by the performer, particularly when they were familiar with the dùndún, though even unfamiliar participants performed above chance. A logistic regression predicting participants’ classification of the samples from several acoustic features confirmed the perceptual relevance of intensity, pitch, timbre, and timing measures and their interaction with listener familiarity. In all, this study provides empirical evidence supporting the discriminating role of acoustic features and the modulatory role of familiarity in teasing apart speech and music.

Waltham Abbey (1540)

The third document of Tallis’s career shows him being sent away from Waltham Abbey, the last monastery dissolved in England, in March 1540. Tallis served the abbey as a professional musician, as he had done at Dover a decade earlier. He was the highest paid of more than sixty lay staff there. The Lady Chapel, where Tallis would have done much of his work, is still intact, including a large wall painting of the Last Judgment with angel musicians. Another precious survival from Waltham Abbey is a manuscript of music theory now in the British Library (Lansdowne 763), which Tallis took with him at his departure and inscribed with his own name. It is a comprehensive pre-Reformation guide to practical music: notation, sight-reading, improvisation, and simple composition.

Dover Priory (1530–31)

Tallis’s first known job was as “player of the organs” at Dover Priory in 1530–31. He was not a monk himself; he was a professional musician hired by the monks to enhance their worship. Dover Priory was a Benedictine monastery known for its hospitality. It was an important stop on the journey across the English Channel, with many visiting dignitaries, ambassadors, and clergy staying there or having their retinue (including musicians) housed there. Lay musicians at monasteries were most often young men, and Tallis’s position as organist was not particularly grand or well paid, but it would have been an opportunity for constant contact with the broader musical world. We do not know if Tallis continued at Dover after 1531 because those records are lost. The priory was dissolved during the first stages of the English Reformation in 1535.