Theses and Dissertations from UMD
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New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
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Item AN ANALYSIS OF COMMERCIAL SINGLE REED MICROMETERS IN THE U.S. AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A NEW MANUAL SINGLE REED MICROMETER(2020) Groom, Natalie Elise; DiLutis, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Clarinetists are unendingly frustrated by a lack of consistency in mass produced reeds and the time and money spent searching for a performance-worthy reed. Most clarinetists buy commercial reeds from large companies. In a box of ten commercial reeds, it is fortunate to find even two that would be suitable for performance. A good reed is symmetrical from side to side and maintains a certain slope and proportion towards the center of the reed. When a reed is unbalanced, clarinetists can manually adjust the reed to make it symmetrical, which in turn produces a clear and beautiful tone. In order to identify what areas of the reed require adjustment, clarinetists need to measure the reed’s thickness. These measurements are taken with a single reed micrometer, a precision gauge that measures small distances or thicknesses. There are two single reed micrometers available in the United States: PerfectaReed and the Jeanne ReedGauge. However, these tools have numerous design flaws which make it impossible to achieve accurate and consistent results. When users cannot take accurate measurements of their reeds, they are prevented from being able to make necessary adjustments to poorly performing reeds. Clearly, a new tool had to be invented to solve this market problem. I set out to invent an improved tool which would correct the flaws found in commercial single reed micrometers. After developing a series of prototypes, I invented the Manual Reed Mapper—known as Mr. Mapper—to serve this market need. Mr. Mapper was tested by ten individuals, and the data collected from these tests prove that Mr. Mapper has measurement consistency of 97%, making it the most accurate and reliable single reed micrometer available in the United States.Item Tracing Neoclassical Influences in selected solo and chamber music for the clarinet(2014) Chin, Chung-ah; DiLutis, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The musical period of Neoclassicism began in the 1920's, between the first and second world wars. It was initiated by French composers and eventually spread to other countries. One of the most important themes to emerge from the movement was to escape from the formless, rather emotional music of the Romantic era and instead, emphasize balance, order, objectivity and clarity in musical form. Many popular clarinet repertoires are enjoyed by performers and listeners because the music is enjoyable to play and easy to listen to. In particular, classically influenced clarinet music is quite interesting because it features musical elements from both the past and contemporary musical styles. For instance, some composers have integrated preexisting, more traditional styles of composition with lighter styles of modern culture such as popular music and Jazz. It is difficult to discover purely neoclassical clarinet repertoires even though many composers created their pieces during the neoclassical era. What we most commonly find are both neoclassical and non-neoclassical influences in compositions from that time period. Thus, I aim to trace the influence of neoclassicism in selected clarinet repertoires that exist today. It is my hope that increased awareness and knowledge about accessible clarinet music may encourage the general public to develop a deeper interest in a wider sphere of clarinet music, beyond what is considered popular today. The works performed and discussed in this dissertation are the following: (Recital I) Duo Concertante by Darius Milhaud; Sonata by Leonard Bernstein; Sonata for Two Clarinets by Francis Poulenc; Duos for Flute and Clarinet, Op. 34 by Robert Muczynski; Dance Preludes by Witold Lutoslawski, (Recital II) Sonatine by Arthur Honegger; Time pieces by Robert Muczynski; Suite for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Darius Milhaud; Sonate for Clarinet, Flute and Piano by Maurice Emmanuel; Tarantelle for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Op. 6 by Camille Saint-Saëns, (Recital III) Sonatina by Joseph Horovitz; Suite from L'histoire du Soldat for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Igor Stravinsky; Contrasts for Clarinet, Violin and Piano by Béla Bartók The recitals that took place on December 1, 2012 and on April 25, 2013 were performed in the Ulrich Recital Hall of the Clarice Performing Arts Center in College Park, Maryland. The recital that took place on November 2, 2013 was performed at the Gildenhorn Recital Hall of the same performing arts center.Item Calling Tunes: A Piece in Three Movements for Violin, Clarinet, Violoncello, and Piano(2008-05-02) Lincoln-DeCusatis, Nathan; Gibson, Robert; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Calling Tunes is a seventeen-minute piece in three movements for violin, clarinet, violoncello, and piano. The title refers to the common jam-session activity of "calling tunes", which represents an expression of common knowledge between musicians within an unrehearsed, improvisation-based ensemble. Each individual in the group shares a common repertory that is used as a backdrop to music-making -- a collection of not only melodies and chords, but a world of performance practices, music theory, and cultural memory that is drawn upon to create music without the need of prior rehearsal or planning. Calling Tunes strives to capture this unrehearsed, impromptu quality as if the piece had been created by an informal gathering of musicians extemporizing on some kind of shared musical language. Each movement focuses on a single originating motive that is developed and transformed throughout like an improviser embellishing a familiar tune. The first movement, Montunos, is based on the piano vamp of Afro-Cuban salsa music, which is often characterized by off-the-beat syncopation and harmonization in thirds. The montuno that opens this movement combines these traditional qualities with metric irregularity and an ambiguous harmony that produces an otherworldly, out-of-tune quality. The second movement, Canzone, acts as an introspective, lyrical interlude within the piece that begins as a chord progression without a melody. The long lines in each instrument combine to form three- and four-note chords that imply fleeting diatonic collections that slowly bleed into each other at a glacial pace. The real canzone is saved until the end where the cello channels the previous glimpses of tonality into a final coda-like cantabile statement. The third movement, Variations on a Riff, takes the simple idea of a G major triad (first presented in the clarinet in mm. 34¬-44) and bends it through multiple permutations and harmonic contexts. This movement is framed by two fast sections in a galloping compound meter whose volatile, slightly unfinished texture sums up the attitude of the entire piece -- a composed musical narrative that seems to have been created in the moment out a subconscious musical language.