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    An investigation of groups composing music in a computer learning culture using micro-processor based midi systems : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Education, Massey University
    (Massey University, 1991) Pegler, Philip
    Composing music appears to have been marginalised in many secondary school music programmes. Music research on composition and student learning fares no better. The advent of information processing technologies and knowledge based systems offer powerful compositional tools with the potential for transforming the face of music education. However, if the context for this change is overlooked these tools may be wasted. By themselves micro-processor based MIDI systems can do nothing. When viewed as part of a learning culture, computers, teachers and students interact together to enhance student learning. Cognitive gains may depend on the type, extent, and quality of interaction taking place within the computer learning culture which surrounds the use of educational software tools. The role of the teacher is to create socially interactive and reflective learning environments. This study explores how groups compose music with computers in such an environment. It aims to observe what happens - or can be made to happen - under natural conditions where powerful roles are played by the cultural, social, and institutional contexts. The emotional aspects of student learning, attribution theory and metacognition are discussed in more depth. It is not enough, however, to simply use composition tools in the classroom. Effective thinking and learning should be accompanied by direct teaching of efficient strategies and problem solving techniques. Recently several researchers have drawn attention to the importance of social factors in the development of thinking skills. The following research follows this line of enquiry.
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    The perception of melodic closure : a study of the factors influencing final note choice to achieve melodic closure : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Applied Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 1979) Mills, Bryce Andrew
    This study investigates the notion of closure put forward by gestalt theorists in reference to visual perception but applies it to aural perception of simple melodies. Specifically the study focusses on the final note chosen to effect melodic closure. It addresses the question of the selection of the final note and attempts to ascertain what major factors influence its selection. To achieve this, three basic groups of subjects were tested; (1) children, - two groups of 20 males and 20 females, one group 10 years old and the other 12 years old (2) 20 male and 20 female young adults, 18 - 20 years, and (3) 10 performing musicians with an expressed preference for traditional western classical music and 10 performing musicians with an expressed preference for jazz and non–conventional music. From the first two groups a random sample of 5 males and 5 females was extracted for alternative treatment and the application of the Witkin Embedded Figures test. The first two groups were presented with a recording of four simple melodies each played seven times providing a different final note. Twenty-eight items were therefore provided and subjects were required to indicate whether or not they felt satisfied with the melody as a completed entity. The group of trained musicians were given in conventional notation too first 1 1/4 bars of a simple melody and asked to complete it exercising their own choice as to contour and the instrument used. The random sample extracted from groups 1 and 2 were taught a simple unfinished melody on a metalophone and asked to provide two notes to complete it. They were also tested on the Witkin Embedded Figures Test to ascertain whether cognitive style was a relevant factor or not. The results presented show that subjects do have clear preferences for melodic closure. The tonic of the perceived key is significantly chosen to effect closure but the degree of preference is tune specific and influenced by melodic contour. The research also shows that closure choices are mediated by age, sex, and cognitive style, and the interaction of these factors. Design A provides clear evidence of mediation of closure by melodic contour while Design B demonstrates that the interaction of sex and cognitive style is a significant factor influencing melodic closure. A degree of conflict between results obtained in Design A and Design B suggests that the major factors influencing closure are tune specific. Design C demonstrates that there is a difference in the way musicians of different "styles" affect melodic closure. However the difference was the reverse of that expected - "Jazz" musicians showed greater preference for tonic closure than did "Traditional" musicians. This research demonstrates that people do have a definite preference to effect melodic closure with the tonic of the perceived key but this preference is not uniformly applied. It is affected by tune specific factors, as well as the subject factors of age, sex, cognitive style, and the interaction of all four factors.
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    Expressive musical robots : building, evaluating, and interfacing with an ensemble of mechatronic instruments : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
    (Massey University, 2014) Murphy, Jim
    An increase in the number of parameters of expression on musical robots can result in an increase in their expressivity as musical instruments. This thesis focuses on the design, construction, and implementation of four new robotic instruments, each designed to add more parametric control than is typical for the current state of the art of musical robotics. The principles followed in the building of the four new instruments are scalable and can be applied to musical robotics in general: the techniques exhibited in this thesis for the construction and use of musical robotics can be used by composers, musicians, and installation artists to add expressive depth to their own works with robotic instruments. Accompanying the increase in parametric depth applied to the musical robotics is an increase in di culty in interfacing with them: robots with a greater number of actuators require more time to program. This document aims to address this problem in two ways: the use of closed-loop control for low-level adjustments of the robots and the use of a parametric encoding-equipped musical robot network to provide composers with intuitive musical commands for the robots. The musical robots introduced, described, and applied in this thesis were conceived of as musical instruments for performance and installation use by artists. This thesis closes with an exhibition of the performance and installation uses of these new robots and with a discussion of future research directions.
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    Horizontality : From "Window" to "Ground", Exploring Immersive Auditory Space as an Interactive Participant Medium : a thesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Musical Arts in Composition, New Zealand School of Music
    (Massey University, 2013) Panther, Jon
    My sound-based arts practice is currently concerned with the shift of focus from the materiality of the sonic art object to the conceptual and semantic dimensions involved in interaction within a system. The twentieth century saw the dawn of technologies that could not only mediate the sonic arts in new ways but also inform its techniques and tropes. Over the last few decades we have seen the emergence of the genres Transmission and Telematic Art, the methodology of both often being informed by: 1. new concepts of space. The rise of post-industrial Capitalism situates us in a new epoch of spatial awareness. This seems particularly relevant now that mediated sonic and communication technologies are an integral part of our lives. Transmitting media “punching a hole in space” now ignore acoustic container boundaries: a sound heard and its source can exist separately yet simultaneously. Physical location and distance become less relevant. How does this create a shift in how we perceive the spatial within the practice of living?; and 2. redefining concepts of author and audience. All who participate are involved in authorship creating a form that is impossible to mediate to a passive audience. My work explores how this situation and the aesthetics deriving from it inform me as a practitioner within the medium of sound: the generative and emergent behaviour that arises from relationship as a form of “composition” and, of particular interest to me, the desire to shift focus from the traditional role of sound as an object of aesthetic expression to immersive interactive auditory space as a means of entering into dialogue with the multidimensional environment which humanity inhabits.
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    The application of the teaching methods of Opher Brayer in the compositions of jazz pianist Yaron Herman : developing a portfolio of original compositions based upon these concepts : a thesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Music Performance, New Zealand School of Music
    (Massey University, 2013) Brown, Alan
    Yaron Herman is a talented and influential Israeli-born jazz musician, currently residing in Paris. At the age of 31, he has released six albums, the first when he was 21. What is more remarkable is that he only started learning the piano at the age of 16 (following a sports injury that curtailed his basketball career dreams), under the tutelage of Opher Brayer, who used a combination of philosophy, mathematics and psychology. The intent of this research is to firstly, identify and understand the key concepts of Brayer’s methods as applied by Yaron Herman, and secondly, develop a portfolio of compositions utilising these principles. A recital of these tunes will then be presented.
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    Illusions of liveness : producer as composer : an exegesis submitted to Massey University and Victoria University of Wellington in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Musical Arts In Composition
    (Massey University, 2013) Logan, Sam
    The practise of creating music for the recorded medium has been a fluid and constantly changing enterprise since its inception. Emergences of new studio technologies over the last fifty years have spurred new cultures, philosophies and approaches to music production and composition, ultimately seeing a merging of the once disparate roles of producer and composer. It is this contemporary, technology-informed new role of producer-composer that brings with it discussion - for much of which there is no general consensus - over issues pertaining to perceived liveness, the producer-composer’s control over the resulting sound, and most contentiously the use of music technology itself: its transparency and its legitimacy as substitutions for real instruments. These are all fluid and complex issues and this paper does not attempt to provide answers for, nor take a definitive stance on them other than in the sharing of opinions formed from my own experiences in applying production as composition to the creative aspect of this project. In this paper I seek to share some of the current discussion regarding production-as-composition, in light of my own compositional experiment, which strives to create a simulation of real-performance via almost entirely artificial means within an idealised, hyper-musical sonic environment. By bringing together real musicians and virtual instruments within a recorded track and edited via music production technology, the experiment aimed to produce an illusion of liveness.
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    Contemporary approaches to live computer music : the evolution of the performer composer : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington [i.e. New Zealand School of Music] in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
    (Massey University, 2013) Vallis, Owen Skipper
    This thesis examines contemporary approaches to live computer music, and the impact they have on the evolution of the composer performer. How do online resources and communities impact the design and creation of new musical interfaces used for live computer music? Can we use machine learning to augment and extend the expressive potential of a single live musician? How can these tools be integrated into ensembles of computer musicians? Given these tools, can we understand the computer musician within the traditional context of acoustic instrumentalists, or do we require new concepts and taxonomies? Lastly, how do audiences perceive and understand these new technologies, and what does this mean for the connection between musician and audience? The focus of the research presented in this dissertation examines the application of current computing technology towards furthering the field of live computer music. This field is diverse and rich, with individual live computer musicians developing custom instruments and unique modes of performance. This diversity leads to the development of new models of performance, and the evolution of established approaches to live instrumental music. This research was conducted in several parts. The first section examines how online communities are iteratively developing interfaces for computer music. Several case studies are presented as examples of how online communities are helping to drive new developments in musical interface design. This thesis also presents research into designing real-time interactive systems capable of creating a virtual model of an existing performer, that then allows the model’s output to be contextualized by a second performer’s live input. These systems allow for a solo live musician’s single action to be multiplied into many different, but contextually dependent, actions. v Additionally, this thesis looks at contemporary approaches to local networked ensembles, the concept of shared social instruments, and the ways in which the previously described research can be used in these ensembles. The primary contributions of these efforts include (1) the development of several new open-source interfaces for live computer music, and the examination of the effect that online communities have on the evolution of musical interfaces; (2) the development of a novel approach to search based interactive musical agents; (3) examining how networked music ensembles can provided new forms of shared social instruments.
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    An examination of the chance elements in Witold Lutosławski's music, with particular attention to its function as a model for compositional practice : a thesis and portfolio presented in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of M.Mus. in Composition at the New Zealand School of Music, Wellington, New Zealand
    (Massey University, 2012) Hextall, Pieta
    This thesis studies the use of aleatory techniques in Witold Lutoslawski’s music and the issues that arise when using aleatoricism, a branch of textural composition that has room for exploration. I focused my study on three of Lutoslawski’s major works, analysing his approach to aleatoricism, form, and macro- and micro-rhythm. I wrote three works for the portfolio component. My approach to aleatoricism differed in each work. Through studying Lutoslawski and my own composition, I came across practical issues in creating the score, issues with performers, and compositional problems. However, once these issues were worked though, aleatoricism is a exciting compositional device that is not yet tired.
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