Within percussion pedagogy, rudiments serve as foundational components used to develop rhythmic and technical proficiency. While American, French, and Swiss rudimental drumming share common rudiments, there exist nuanced distinctions between these styles. Similarly, hip-hop rapper’s “flow” has evolved amid diverse regional, social, and emotional influences, shaping their rhythmic articulation. This study centers on the “golden age” of hip-hop (1986-1996), aiming to identify recurring patterns of “flow” and potential confluences between percussive rudiments and how rappers’ structure their rhythmic and melodic language. The examination of “flow” represents a relatively recent discourse within music theory, attracting scholarly attention concerning analytical methodologies using computer programs and diverse analytical lenses. Notably, scholars specializing in this domain have laid foundational groundwork, offering comprehensive insights into the nuanced aspects of flow dynamics. Although there exists a substantial body of research on flow analysis, limited scholarly attention has explored the correlation between rap music and the percussive facets inherent in snare drum performance. This study elucidates the connection between the intricacies of hip-hop flow and rudimental snare drum playing, culminating in four snare drum etudes emulating the flow of specific artists and regions.

The Studio Ghibli animated films have achieved international recognition for their cinematic quality and original soundtracks composed by Joe Hisaishi. The music from these films is so celebrated it is performed by symphony orchestras without the movie animations in concert halls worldwide. Film music originally scored for full-size orchestras can be arranged for smaller chamber ensembles and is a popular genre that makes performing these works more accessible. Arranging and rewriting orchestral reductions are skills collaborative pianists use every day when dealing with concertos or arias, and applying these skills to the music of Hisaishi was the foundation of this research. For this project, I created a medley of musical themes from three Studio Ghibli films: My Neighbor Totoro, Howl’s Moving Castle, and Spirited Away. The medley is written for traditional piano trio: violin, cello, and piano. This paper includes a brief history of the relationship between composer Joe Hisaishi and film director Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, and explains the methods of creating this arrangement without access to the original orchestral score. Methods for creating transitions between different film themes, creation of countermelodies, and nuances of voicing are also presented, along with the score of the medley. I hope this project and these methods will inspire other collaborative pianists and musicians to create their own arrangements and medleys.

Since at least the Baroque era, all Western classical woodwind instruments have only used Arundo donax for reeds. This preliminary investigation is one of the first inquiries into alternative natural materials for oboe reeds. The first chapter of this document is an overview of what we currently know about the materials used for reeds from the start of historical documentation until today. The second part of this overview surveys double reed instruments outside of Western classical music for reed materials and candidates for oboe reeds. The second chapter is a survey of some plants in the Poaceae familya group of woody grasses and the family Arundo donax is into determine if there are more candidates for oboe reeds. The third chapter consists of Martin Schuring and I making reeds from two experimental materials: Phragmites and Bambusa textilis. Additionally, Dr. Gardner and I conducted a study involving six participants. I processed Phragmites, Arundo donax, and Bambusa textilis into gouged cane and sent the participants three pieces of each material, which were labeled A, B, and C, respectively. The purpose of the study was to test if oboists with diverse backgrounds could scrape the provided cane into a reed that produces a sound on the oboe. The full study responses are in Appendix B. The last chapter of this document is a scope analysis, courtesy of Professor Jeffrey Kleim, of the plant samples I was able to obtain, which includes Phragmites, Bambusa textilis, and a few other plants. Furthermore, Dr. Lindsey Reymore and I tested the Phragmites and Bambusa textilis reeds Martin Schuring and I made by analyzing spectrograms, extracting audio descriptors from MATLAB, and running a few statistical tests to determine any statistically significant differences. Collective results indicate that eight oboists were able to make functional Phragmites and Bambusa textilis reeds, there are many potential candidates, and there were some statistically significant differences in audio descriptors between the Arundo donax, Phragmites, and Bambusa textilis reeds. Since this is preliminary research and no candidates were deemed unsuitable, future and long-term research is required for more thorough and conclusive data collection and analysis.

With the central focus of making it easier for wind band conductors to find repertoire written by composers from underrepresented communities, this pilot study aimed to incorporate a ChatGPT widget within The Wind Repertory Project database, allowing it to quickly pull accurate information from the corresponding website, www.windrep.org. During this research, I created a custom GPT that is directly linked to The Wind Repertory Project database and am in progress of adding the before mentioned widget. This paper documents how I obtained the knowledge necessary to link ChatGPT with The Wind Repertory Project website as well as provides a brief history of artificial intelligence (AI) and the evolution of ChatGPT.

The organ sonatas of Hans Fährmann are some of the fullest realizations of the orchestral potential of the pipe organ. These works fill a crucial gap in the existing canonic organ repertoire; they allow the organist to engage with the late German Romantic symphonic works of Brahms, Mahler, and Strauss. There is relatively little remaining documentary evidence about Fährmann’s life. This paper provides a biography summarizing what is known about the composer and situates his work historically. Turn-of-the-century Dresden, the so-called “El Dorado on the Elbe,” provided an environment where musical conservatism and radical progressivism lived uneasily side-by-side. The evolution of the German Romantic organ and the organ sonata paved the way for Fährmann’s important contributions to the genre. Fährmann’s own musical language situates him between the organ tradition and broader trends in 19th-century German composition, especially Richard Wagner.Although there is little information on the performance practice of Fährmann’s music, it is possible to derive ideas from German Romantic conducting practices. The study compares the rhythmic interpretive decisions of conductors contemporary to Fährmann with organ-playing in the Straube tradition. The symphonic performance tradition is a better source for organists interpreting Fährmann because of the stylistic similarities between his organ sonatas and the orchestral repertoire, as opposed to the approach of the Straube school, which was at that time laying the foundation for and engaging with the Orgelbeewgung. To elucidate the registration of Fährmann’s organ sonatas, the author investigates contemporary practices and specification of the Johanneskirche instrument on which Fährmann spent most of his time. The study concludes with an analysis of his First Sonata, demonstrating the composer’s craftsmanship and creation of a narrative arch across the form.