Fifty years ago, we embarked on a journey for the first time in all of history \u2014 an exploration of the final frontier: outer space. Now, having been to the moon and back, we are still exploring the unknown. In the 21st century, we have pioneered genetic cloning and made other unprecedented biotechnological advances. Similarly, artists have ventured into their own frontier, branching out of their own narrowly defined areas and breaking down barriers \u2014 barriers between art and science, between the concert hall and the outdoors, between manmade instruments and the sounds of nature. At first glance, it seems that music and science have little in common. But upon closer inspection, one will discover that there are similarities and intersections between these two fields that deserve attention. Interest in the correlation between music and science can be traced back at least as far as Ancient Greece; since Pythagoras, mathematicians, physicists, acousticians and many others have addressed connections between the two fields in manifold ways. It is becoming increasingly obvious that art and science are not at the opposite ends of the spectrum, where conventional wisdom has traditionally located them, but at the opposite sides of the same coin. In my thesis, I seek to explore the connections between music and the sciences by examining the field of acoustic ecology. I will first provide an overview of music as an interdisciplinary field. Then I will undertake two case studies of musicians whose endeavors have been significant to the field of acoustic ecology, and consider the benefits that can be drawn from their work. These artists are David Dunn and Andrea Polli. I will draw on their philosophy, writings and art as well as on secondary literature. I will take a philosophical approach to the intersections between the two areas and identify heretofore little explored aspects of the interdisciplinary potential of these two fields.

Biofeedback music is the integration of physiological signals with audible sound for aesthetic considerations, which an individual’s mental status corresponds to musical output. This project looks into how sounds can be drawn from the meditative and attentive states of the brain using the MindWave Mobile EEG biosensor from NeuroSky. With the MindWave and an Arduino microcontroller processor, sonic output is attained by inputting the data collected by the MindWave, and in real time, outputting code that deciphers it into user constructed sound output. The input is scaled from values 0 to 100, measuring the ‘attentive’ state of the mind by observing alpha waves, and distributing this information to the microcontroller. The output of sound comes from sourcing this into the Musical Instrument Shield and varying the musical tonality with different chords and delay of the notes. The manipulation of alpha states highlights the control or lack thereof for the performer and touches on the question of how much control over the output there really is, much like the experimentalist Alvin Lucier displayed with his concepts in brainwave music.

Labyrinths is my Capstone/Honors Creative Project, blending my proclivity for music composition and the inspiring stories of Jorge Luis Borges. Originally, the project was outlined as a collection of five to eight songs named for and based on stories in Borges' collection Labyrinths, to be written, recorded, and performed by me. Over time other aspects were included, making me a director of a large-scale creative project which now included three other musicians and two artists. In this paper, I give a brief overview of Borges' life and the context surrounding his collection Labyrinths, an in-depth description of the project as a whole, liner notes for each song, credits, and three appendices. The liner notes are broken into four sections: a summary of the story, an analysis of the story and my interpretation of it (including my musical ideas for the resulting song), an effects list, and performance notes which include the text I read from each story in the performance and recordings. The first appendix is a collection of the sheet music scores for each song and the text document I used for the performance readings. The second appendix shows the art I was given permission to use, and how I modified them for my thesis. The third appendix contains my primary sources, secondary sources/suggested readings, and suggested websites and videos. Attached are the recordings of each song I made in Logic Pro 9, a video of the live performance, and an unedited audio recording of the same performance.

Since the early 1990's, researchers have been looking at intersections between education and music. After a highly popular study correlating listening to Mozart to temporary increases in spatial reasoning, many other researchers tried to find a link between different musical genres and learning outcomes. Using three musical treatments (Pop, classical, silence), this study had subjects (N=34) complete a reading-based task whereupon they were tested on their comprehension. Using a suite of sensors, data was collected to analyze the participants' emotions and affect while they read from an educational psychology textbook. The present study has two major focuses: They detail whether (1) changes in musical condition affect learning outcomes and (2) whether changes in musical condition affect emotional outcomes. The popular conception that listening to classical music makes you smarter was proven false long ago, but there may actually be some merit to using music to assist one in studying. While there were no significant changes in test scores depending on musical condition; frustration levels were significantly lower for those who listened to classical instead of pop music.

This research covers the relationship between popular electronic dance music (EDM) and the seasons and climate. The precedence and relevance of the research is outlined through prior research initiatives by Karen Aplin and Paul Williams on the effect of weather on classical music. The hypothesis is that the climate will affect how music by artists residing within the climate and the seasons will affect the popularity of certain genres. Warmer climates will produce songs that are more upbeat and energetic while colder climates will result in songs that are more complex and heavy. The analysis of this hypothesis will be performed in two parts. The first will be a data driven analysis from Beatport.com's Top 100 EDM charts to observe the season's impact on genre popularity. The second will be a case study analysis of a number of artists from around the world to observe climate impact on EDM. From the analysis, we are able to draw the connection that climate does in fact have an impact on the types of music produced. Likewise, we are able to conclude that there is a distinct variation in deep house, techno/tech house, and house as a result of the seasons shifting. Techno/tech house is more popular in the warmer spring and summer months and house and deep house have a higher standing in the colder fall and winter months.

When dancers are granted agency over music, as in interactive dance systems, the actors are most often concerned with the problem of creating a staged performance for an audience. However, as is reflected by the above quote, the practice of Argentine tango social dance is most concerned with participants internal experience and their relationship to the broader tango community. In this dissertation I explore creative approaches to enrich the sense of connection, that is, the experience of oneness with a partner and complete immersion in music and dance for Argentine tango dancers by providing agency over musical activities through the use of interactive technology. Specifically, I create an interactive dance system that allows tango dancers to affect and create music via their movements in the context of social dance. The motivations for this work are multifold: 1) to intensify embodied experience of the interplay between dance and music, individual and partner, couple and community, 2) to create shared experience of the conventions of tango dance, and 3) to innovate Argentine tango social dance practice for the purposes of education and increasing musicality in dancers.

Samuel Máynez Prince (1886-1966), was a prolific and important Mexican musician. Prince’s musical style followed the trends of the nineteenth-century salon music genre. His compositions include lullabies, songs, dances, marches, mazurkas, waltzes, and revolutionary anthems. Prince’s social status and performances in the famed Café Colón in Mexico City increased his popularity among high-ranking political figures during the time of the Mexican Revolution as well as his status in the Mexican music scene.

Unfortunately there is virtually no existing scholarship on Prince and even basic information regarding his life and works is not readily available. The lack of organization of the manuscript scores and the absence of dates of his works has further pushed the composer into obscurity. An investigation therefore was necessary in order to explore the neglected aspects of the life and works of Prince as a violinist and composer. This document is the result of such an investigation by including extensive new biographical information, as well as the first musical analysis and edition of the complete recovered works for violin and piano.

In order to fill the gaps present in the limited biographical information regarding Prince’s life, investigative research was conducted in Mexico City. Information was drawn from archives of the composer’s grandchildren, the Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Conservatorio Nacional de Música de México, and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional. The surviving relatives provided first-hand details on events in the composer’s life; one also offered the researcher access to their personal archive including, important life documents, photographs, programs from concert performances, and manuscript scores of the compositions. Establishing connections with the relatives also led the researcher to examining the violins owned and used by the late violinist/composer.

This oral history approach led to new and updated information, including the revival of previously unpublished music for violin and piano. These works are here compiled in an edition that will give students, teachers, and music-lovers access to this unknown repertoire. Finally, this research seeks to promote the beauty and nuances of Mexican salon music, and the complete works for violin and piano of Samuel Máynez Prince in particular.

The Sonata for Cello and Piano (1915) was one of the last three sonatas written by Claude Debussy (1862–1918). When Debussy composed the sonata, France was involved in World War I and Debussy was influenced by political dogmas that sought to advance nationalism as well as the use of French traditions in musical compositions. By discussing the political impact of World War I on French music, this paper will place the Sonata in a context that strengthens the understanding of the work.

Debussy, who participated in the political project of seeking out tradition as the protector of French culture, also presents his understanding of what French tradition is in this sonata. An analytical description of the structure, thematic materials, harmonies and intervallic relationships of the Sonata reveals Debussy’s approach of combining the elements that he observed from his French predecessors, as well as his own innovations in the work as he negotiated musical world that was controlled by political dogma

Voicing, as it pertains to saxophone pedagogy, presents certain obstacles to both teachers and students simply because we cannot visually assess the internal mechanics of the vocal tract. The teacher is then left to instruct based on subjective “feel” which can lead to conflicting instruction, and in some cases, misinformation. In an effort to expand the understanding and pedagogical resources available, ten subjects—comprised of graduate-level and professional-level saxophonists—performed varied pitch bend tasks while their tongue motion was imaged ultrasonographically and recorded. Tongue range of motion was measured from midsagittal tongue contours extracted from the ultrasound data using a superimposed polar grid. The results indicate variations in how saxophonists shape their tongues in order to produce pitch bends from F6.

“by my death...” is a composition in three movements for chamber ensemble and

laptop ensemble, with the instrumentation of clarinet in Bb, French horn in F, percussion, violin, double bass, and at least three laptops. The total duration of the piece is approximately twenty minutes. However, since the timing of the first and third movement is flexible, the total duration may vary.

“by my death...” is the creative culmination of my research into representations of

the Holocaust in music. More specifically, it corresponds to my analysis of three

Holocaust-based works by the Israeli composer Arie Shapira (1943-2015): Gideon Kleins Marterstrasse (1977), Gustl in Theresienstadt (1998-9), and Achtung Rapunzel (2007). I applied findings from the analysis in my own music, resonating Shapira's style, techniques, and expressive means. In a sense, “by my death...” is a homage to this composer, who had a strong influence on my path to dealing with the Holocaust in music.

My composition, however, is not necessarily about the Holocaust alone. It

concerns the larger Jewish historical narrative that is characterized by destruction and construction, with the Holocaust as a central, pivotal event. It reflect about the Holocaust within links between tradition and innovation, past and future, death and life, that are inherent to any aspect of Israeli culture, and that are intertwined within the Jewish narrative of extermination and resurrection.