Music
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Item THE WOMEN AND TAIKO MOVEMENT: QUESTIONING GENDERED LEADERSHIP THROUGH EMBODIED PRACTICE(2021) Coe, Allison Paige; Witzleben, J. Lawrence; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The tradition of North American taiko drumming has been rife with discussion on gender passed down from its Japanese origin. It is known that women, and even more so Asian American women, feel empowered performing taiko. Despite this feeling of empowerment, there has been minimal leadership roles held by female taiko players, roles such as: solo artists, workshop leaders, and composers. Women are also left out of the mainstream narrative of taiko drumming, which centers on masculine performance and performance styles. A coalition formed and launched the Women and Taiko movement—dedicated to solving these issues through webinars and by enhancing the visibility of female leadership. This movement expanded, including the first all-female, professional level taiko performance and women-created compositions. This thesis discusses this movement as a social movement that seeks to disrupt gendered systems of power and embodied knowledge through pragmatic solutions formed through discussions and by performance.Item GOSPEL SINGING IN THE VALLEY: AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE HYMNODY AND CHORAL SINGING OF THE LISU ON THE CHINA-BURMA/MYANMAR BORDER(2015) Diao, Ying; Witzleben, John L; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation is an ethnomusicological study of contemporary musical practices of the Christian Lisu in Nujiang Prefecture in northwest Yunnan on the China-Myanmar border. Among all the changes that the Nujiang Lisu have experienced since the twentieth century, the spread of Protestant Christianity throughout Nujiang’s mountainous villages has existed for the longest time and had one of the greatest effects. Combining historical investigation and ethnographic description, this study uses the lens of music to examine the impact of this social change on the Lisu living in this impoverished frontier region. The Lisu characteristics have never been vital in the music written by the Christian Lisu in Nujiang. Compared with the practices described in other ethnomusicological writings on Christian music around the world that I have read, this absence of incorporation of indigenous musical elements is unusual. There are probably many other cases similar to that of the Lisu, but few ethnomusicologists have paid attention to them. I aim to elucidate this particular scenario of Lisu Christian music in relation to three social and cultural forces: the missionary legacy of conventions; the government’s identification of the Lisu as a minority nationality and its national policies toward them since the 1950s; and the transnational religious exchange between the Christian Lisu in China and Myanmar since the late 1980s. My examination focuses on two genres which the Lisu use to express their Christian beliefs today: ddoqmuq mutgguat, derived from American northern urban gospel songs, the basis of the Lisu choral singing; and mutgguat ssat, influenced by the Christian pop of the Burmese Lisu, with instrumental accompaniment and daibbit dance and preferred by the young people. Besides studying these two genres in the religious context, I also juxtapose them with other musical traditions in the overall Nujiang music soundscape and look at their role in local social interactions such as those between sacred and secular, and majority and minority. This dissertation demonstrates that the collective performances of shared repertoires have not only created a sense of affinity for the Nujiang Christian Lisu but also have reinforced the formation of Lisu transnational religious networks.Item PERSPECTIVES ON THE USES AND FUNCTIONS OF CHENTA ENSEMBLES IN THE RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL PROCESSIONS OF KERALA, INDIA(2011) Morehouse, Katherine Holloway; Witzleben, J. Lawrence; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study seeks to better understand the uses and functions of chenta drum ensembles in the religious festivals of Kerala, India, along with the social structures that must be in place in order for these drummers to move seamlessly between different religious and social contexts. The chenta, a double-headed cylindrical drum that is popular throughout Kerala, is an aural symbol for Keralites that signifies celebration, announcement and royalty. I will analyze two types of chenta ensembles (melams) in terms of instrumentation, repertoire, history/development, and context: traditional chenta melams, which can be further divided into large and small melams, and a new chenta performance style called shinkari melam. I also will look at the ways that status and accessibility of these melams are often determined by larger social structures and concepts that are tied to colonial, post-colonial, and caste realities in India, and how these issues are often most evidenced in discourses that seek to attach genre labels to these performance styles. Although many would say that chenta ensembles are rooted in Hindu temple tradition, and most drummers are Hindus, the churches and mosques have also been using these ensembles in their own processions. I will explore the different ways that religious communities use the chenta to negotiate group identity: specifically, how Hindu, Christian, and Muslim religion-based ethnic groups use the sound and associations of the chenta as a means to create a sense of communitas, building bridges between otherwise divided segments of the population and bringing the people of Kerala together through shared sonic experiences. By intentionally seeking out multiple perspectives regarding caste, appropriateness, preference, and motivation this dissertation sheds light on the uses and functions of chenta ensembles within the festivals of these religious communities. This study also offers insight into the lives of the performers from their own perspectives, and is concerned with how religious festival participants feel and think about the issues currently facing both hereditary and non-hereditary chenta ensemble performance traditions.Item MOZAMBICAN NATIONAL ANTHEMS: MEMORY, PERFORMANCE, AND NATION-BUILDING(2010) Curtis, Katherine June; Provine, Robert C; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis examines the national anthems of Mozambique. Crises in Mozambique's history prompted the search for a new national anthem three times, with only two of the searches ended in a new national anthem--namely, "Viva, Viva a FRELIMO" the anthem adopted at independence and the current national anthem "Patria Amada." Using theory from ethnomusicology, anthropology, political science and others, the role of these national anthems in national unification and cultural solidification are discussed. In order to analyze the anthems of Mozambique, national anthems will be explored as static symbols and performed rituals. The history of Mozambique from its first contact with colonization through the present day will add insight to the associations that make anthems powerful in those roles.Item Research on Music and Healing in Ethnomusicology and Music Therapy.(2008-05-05) Chiang, May May; Witzleben, John Lawrence; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This thesis examines current developments in the research and discourse on music and healing. Ethnomusicology has involved extensive work on documenting traditional music and healing traditions; however, ethnomusicologists have neglected to contribute their knowledge and effort to healthcare-oriented research. Music therapy, on the other hand, has been focusing on the benefit of the patient, but rarely relates its practices to traditional music and healing traditions or non-Western music. Despite the recent establishment of the Medical Ethnomusicology Special Interest Group in the Society for Ethnomusicology and increasing awareness of world music and cultural diversity in music therapy, scholars in the two fields have not yet collaborated with each other extensively. The motivations for this thesis are: to review previous developments in research on music and healing, to find out the reasons for the changes in the research trends of the past decade, and to see possible research directions in the future.Item "Alan Lomax's iPod?": Smithsonian Global Sound and Applied Ethnomusicology on the Internet(2007-05-08) Font, David Octaviano; Dueck, Jonathan; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The phenomenon of digital music on the Internet marks a turning point in the way human beings make, listen to, and share music. Smithsonian Global Sound is, variously: 1) a digital music download service; 2) the central hub of a network of digital music archives; and 3) the Internet branch of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. Like all things vital, Smithsonian Global Sound is also developing rapidly. This thesis synthesizes a brief history of the Smithsonian Global Sound project, explores some of the vital issues related to the project, and offers a series of observations and recommendations for the project's development. Tracing the roots of Smithsonian Global Sound back to early archival efforts by music scholars, Moses Asch's Folkways Records, the acquisition of the Folkways catalog by the Smithsonian, and the development and launch of Smithsonian Global Sound, the project is examined as a example of applied ethnomusicology on the Internet.Item The Nature of Music(1987) Signell, KarlEthnomusicologist Karl Signell proposes a fresh approach to thinking about music. In twelve half-hour programs originally heard on National Public Radio (USA), The Nature of Music series offers new ideas from the experts, from musicians such as violinist Yehudi Menuhin, from scholars such as Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner, and from people in the business such as record producer Amy Horowitz. It attempts a grand synthesis of old truths and recent discoveries about music, from psychoacoustics to biomechanics, from poetry to philosophy. By searching for universals, The Nature of Music asks what it means to be human.Item Music in a New World: America's Ethnic Traditions(1982) Signell, KarlMusic in a new world: America's ethnic traditions, a series of 26 half-hour audio programs, documents musical traditions brought to the United States by first-generation immigrants from around the world. Ethnomusicologist Karl Signell recorded their music and words on location across the country, from New York to Honolulu. Each program concentrates on a single ethnic group. Complete musical performances predominate; brief introductions by the program host and interviews with performers provide context. Further details and short audio samples can be found online: http://www.research.umbc.edu/eol/world/brochure.htmlItem Shred Chicks: Gender and Identity in Female Guitar Players(2006-05-08) Turrill, Amber; Dueck, Jonathan; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Female guitarists in the American rock industry are faced with challenges presented by gender scripts in culture that affect their public reception. In order to negotiate such challenges, women use public performance venues as spaces within which to negotiate power in gender scripts, and to create counter-hegemonic discourse. Public space may take the form of the stage, the internet, or televised media, and women utilize these spaces to render discourse performative in a variety of ways. Thus, counter-hegemonic discourses may be created that celebrate the accomplishments of guitar women.Item The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints/Mormon Children's Music: Its History, Transmission, and Place in Children's Cognitive Development(2005-08-01) Karnas-Haines, Colleen J.; Provine, Robert C.; Music; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a children's auxiliary program for ages three to eleven that meets weekly before or after their Sunday worship service. This auxiliary, called Primary, devotes much of its time to singing. Music is not a childish diversion, but an essential activity in the children's religious education. This study examines the history of the songbooks published for Primary use, revealing the many religious and cultural factors that influence the compilations. The study then looks at the modern methods of transmission as the author observes the music education aspects of Primary. Lastly, the study investigates the children's use of and beliefs about Primary music through the lens of cognitive development. The study reveals that Primary music is an ever-evolving reflection of the theology, cultural trends, and practical needs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Unaware of such implications, the children use Primary music to express their religious musicality at cognitive developmentally appropriate levels.