Melanesian Popular Music, Local Recording Industries and Copyright. Australia has recently begun to express heightened concern for the social and economic sustainability of its Melanesian regional neighbours. Along with providing aid and peace-keeping forces, we are now exploring the distinctive forms of local socio-economic practices. These practices resist easy incorporation into Australian or broader Western norms. The project aims for informed dialogue and debate to better understand local c ....Melanesian Popular Music, Local Recording Industries and Copyright. Australia has recently begun to express heightened concern for the social and economic sustainability of its Melanesian regional neighbours. Along with providing aid and peace-keeping forces, we are now exploring the distinctive forms of local socio-economic practices. These practices resist easy incorporation into Australian or broader Western norms. The project aims for informed dialogue and debate to better understand local cultural and industrial practices. It will be of significant benefit to Australia in its engagement with the cultures of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and Fiji. Read moreRead less
Music production and technology in Australian Film: enabling Australian film to embrace innovation. Given the increasing tendency of the US film industry to co-opt international talent and production bases into its global operation (New Zealand being a prime example), Australian cinema faces mounting hurdles in its quest for national and international success. While education centres such as AFTRS have contributed to excellence in key aspects of local production, Australian film music has been a ....Music production and technology in Australian Film: enabling Australian film to embrace innovation. Given the increasing tendency of the US film industry to co-opt international talent and production bases into its global operation (New Zealand being a prime example), Australian cinema faces mounting hurdles in its quest for national and international success. While education centres such as AFTRS have contributed to excellence in key aspects of local production, Australian film music has been afforded minimal attention. Consequently, music industry training and production often proceeds on the bases of vague assumptions and inefficient precedents. In-depth research is vital to inform national training, production and policy making so as to allow Australian cinema to embrace innovation and engage creatively with the international market.Read moreRead less
Music and modernity in Osaka during the interwar years. Japan continues to be among our paramount trading partners, and is Australia's proven ally in many contexts. Both Australia and Japan have sought to carve out distinctive musical identities while striving for acceptance according to international standards. Osaka in the interwar period was host to multiple musical subcultures, a situation that is relevant for Australia in its ongoing quest to become a culturally diverse society. Australia s ....Music and modernity in Osaka during the interwar years. Japan continues to be among our paramount trading partners, and is Australia's proven ally in many contexts. Both Australia and Japan have sought to carve out distinctive musical identities while striving for acceptance according to international standards. Osaka in the interwar period was host to multiple musical subcultures, a situation that is relevant for Australia in its ongoing quest to become a culturally diverse society. Australia stands to benefit from a comparative perspective on the construction of national musical identity, the interplay between global and local musical cultures, the balance between modernity and tradition, and the emergence of hybrid cultural phenomena.Read moreRead less
Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamili ....Expecting the Unexpected: Learning Complex Temporal and Rhythmic Relations. Music is one of the most accessible routes to experience, and to learn about, cultures other than our own. A new implicit method for learning complex rhythm and underlying metre promotes inter-group understanding and communication. We hypothesize that implicit learning (IL) of unfamiliar complex metres through music generalizes to spoken language built on similar metres; IL facilitates segmentation of previously unfamiliar spoken language and enhances recognition of English spoken with the stress pattern of a 'foreign' metre. Future intervention programs based on implicit learning of temporal relations will benefit people with reading difficulties or timing problems characteristic of cerebellar and basal ganglia patients.Read moreRead less
When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that ....When the Waters Will Be One: Indigenous Performance Traditions at the New Frontier of Inter-Cultural Discourse in Arnhem Land. This project will examine the emerging roles of Indigenous performance traditions from Arnhem Land as fulcra for the strategic development of new discourses between peoples of the region and the international community. The adaptation of music and dance traditions to new media and performance contexts will be considered as will the hereditary intellectual paradigms that underpin these processes. This project will also investigate historical antecedents to these new developments within the past 50 years, and explore their centrality to current attempts by Indigenous communities in Arnhem Land to achieve cultural and economic sustainability amid a continuing period of radical social change.Read moreRead less
Vocal Quality, Projection and Perception. This project will quantify the vocal features of projection and loudness in experienced operatic soloists and actors and will examine how these features relate to emotional expression and how each of these qualities are perceived by the performers and by others. We will determine which respiratory and laryngeal techniques are associated with the ability to communicate emotional connection and to produce certain sound qualities, in particular associated ....Vocal Quality, Projection and Perception. This project will quantify the vocal features of projection and loudness in experienced operatic soloists and actors and will examine how these features relate to emotional expression and how each of these qualities are perceived by the performers and by others. We will determine which respiratory and laryngeal techniques are associated with the ability to communicate emotional connection and to produce certain sound qualities, in particular associated with the performer's ability to project a powerful voice unamplified within a large theatre, as well as over an orchestra.Read moreRead less
Pocket Gamelan: Tuning Musical Applications for Wireless Internet. This project proposes a new mobile electronic instrument prototype suitable for live performance of music. Recent developments in tuning theory will play an important role in the development of the prototype allowing it become a new live electronic performance medium for music. The prototype will be tested using tuning principles that have evolved in music over many centuries on every continent.
Music, Arousal, and Mood: The Role of Loudness and Loudness Change in Cross-Cultural Music Perception. Despite decades of research into perception of Western music there are no studies applying experimental methods to perception of traditional Australian music. This project investigates a parameter present in all auditory events, from animal songs and alarms to music and speech: loudness. Results concerning the universality of loudness change and effects on mood and arousal will be reported to a ....Music, Arousal, and Mood: The Role of Loudness and Loudness Change in Cross-Cultural Music Perception. Despite decades of research into perception of Western music there are no studies applying experimental methods to perception of traditional Australian music. This project investigates a parameter present in all auditory events, from animal songs and alarms to music and speech: loudness. Results concerning the universality of loudness change and effects on mood and arousal will be reported to academic and local communities. Understanding how people experience loudness has implications for non-musical uses of sound, eg. more effective uses of loudness in non-verbal auditory warnings. Identifying effects of loudness on arousal and mood is also relevant to research on therapeutic or harmful effects of music and other sounds. Read moreRead less
Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. The Western European tradition forms a significant part of Australia's culture, and it is important that Australians are contributors to the extension of this tradition as well as being consumers. This project will discover new music and materials that will be of immense interest to many Australians, and it will make its discoveries known in an accessible way that meets the demand in Austral ....Transformations from Renaissance to Baroque: The Cultural and Musical Significance of Giovanni Gabrieli. The Western European tradition forms a significant part of Australia's culture, and it is important that Australians are contributors to the extension of this tradition as well as being consumers. This project will discover new music and materials that will be of immense interest to many Australians, and it will make its discoveries known in an accessible way that meets the demand in Australian society. My leadership in Renaissance music studies, especially Gabrieli, is contributing to Australia's involvement in the dynamic, international revival of early music, as well as facilitating telecasts, broadcasts, concerts and recordings.Read moreRead less
Modelling expressiveness and generation of affect in baroque and romantic music. The aim of the project is to develop a computational model of expression in music. The model will be able to distinguish between baroque and romantic expressive devices and enable the analysis of what makes one performance more expressive than another. Self-reported responses to the expressive and technical dimensions of music will be measured as compositions unfold. Time series analysis will be used to explain ho ....Modelling expressiveness and generation of affect in baroque and romantic music. The aim of the project is to develop a computational model of expression in music. The model will be able to distinguish between baroque and romantic expressive devices and enable the analysis of what makes one performance more expressive than another. Self-reported responses to the expressive and technical dimensions of music will be measured as compositions unfold. Time series analysis will be used to explain how changes in technical features can be used to explain and predict expressive response. The model will allow us to understand performance techniques and to gain new insights into the dynamic nature of music.Read moreRead less