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Noise at work regulations for performers
No full textA guide to noise at work regulations for performing artists, including how to adhere to them and protect performers' hearing health. Developed as a collaboration between the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine and Healthy Conservatoires
Sound objects: exploring procedural audio for theatre
No full textThis chapter discusses two practical projects that explore the nature and possibilities of sound in theatre and generative audio in particular. The first of these projects, RayGun, is an augmented prop prototype that has potential advantages related to the responsiveness to user interaction and sound localisation. The second project, INTERIOR, consists of a generative audio play embedded in a tangible, radio-like artefact intended to offer an accessible, bi-modal (audio and haptic) experience in a self-contained and portable package. The authors' approach is informed by two bodies of theory: discourse around sound in theatre and related areas such as film and video-game sound; and research in procedural generation and specifically, procedural audio. It is useful to make explicit a distinction between sound effects related to props and more environmentally orientated ambient sounds. This implies that there are four possible categories of sounds in theatre: dialogue, sound effects (prop sounds), ambience, and music. ***** An open access version of this chapter is available on WIRE (Wolverhampton Intellectual Repository and E-Theses) at https://wlv.openrepository.com/handle/2436/623059. ****
Performers’ discourses on listening to recordings
Get PDFHow we listen to music and respond to its media and contexts have changed significantly since the invention of sound recording. Today’s musicians have countless opportunities to listen to others’ interpretations given the vast availability of past and contemporary repertories through the global reach of recordings. This study investigated the extent to which the growing archive of recordings provides a valuable resource for performers’ creativity. Although musical performance is a particularly porous domain for influence through either deliberate or spontaneous assimilation of expressive variation from other aural sources, little empirical research exists on influence in performance and specifically on the influence of recordings. Qualitative data were obtained via an online questionnaire to identify how and in what ways the use and influence of recordings has changed over the course of classical performers’ training or professional careers. Respondents’ (N = 130) comments were analysed using a thematic inductive approach. The emerging themes reveal an overall increased level of use of recordings now relative to the past, a largely positive contribution of recordings in shaping musical development, including the role of recordings in self-regulated learning, a largely positive attitude to the influence of others’ interpretations, a means of developing expressions of self-identity in relation to others, and a route to acquiring a more critical and discerning mode of listening to recordings. Implications for music education are discussed in terms of how listening to recordings, in both formal and informal learning contexts, could support advanced musicians’ learning through trial and error, enhance creative insight, strengthen self-efficacy, foster metacognitive skills, and nurture individuality
Prevention of performers' musculoskeletal issues
No full textA guide to preventing musculoskeletal issues for performers. Developed as a collaboration between the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine and Healthy Conservatoires. Featuring: Sarah Upjohn, Physiotherapist
Hafiz between nations: song settings by Daumer/Brahms and Peacock/Beamish
Get PDFConsciously ‘othered’ cultural practices have long allowed musicians and poets to express different national identities to varying extents, without having to relinquish a geographically rooted sense of home. As Steven Vertovec put it, ‘Practices and meanings derived from specific geographical and historical points of origin have always been transferred and regrounded.’ More specifically, Michael Howard has argued: 'The arts are an important component of transnational relations. They may serve as a reminder of links across borders, as symbols of ties to another place or society, and as a means of promoting a feeling of being part of a transnational community. In addition to such symbolic aspects of the arts, artists themselves may lead transnational lives as they move between locales where their art is appreciated or in demand.' My aim is to examine such transnational links, symbols, and ties through a consideration of the songs ‘Wie bist du, meine Königin’ by Johannes Brahms (1833–97) and ‘Fish’ by Sally Beamish (b. 1956). Both are settings of translations of poetry by the Persian poet Hafiz (variously ‘Hafis’, or ‘Hafez’), made respectively by Georg Friedrich Daumer (1800–72) and Jila Peacock (b. 1948). I hope to offer insights into changing attitudes to Hafiz over time (the nineteenth and twenty-first centuries) and place (Germany, Persia/Iran, and Great Britain). I employ text- and score-based analysis, supplemented by interviews with Peacock and Beamish carried out in early 2019. In these interviews, I probed approaches to translation, text setting, and music, as well as issues of biography and national identity
What is the effect of active music participation on well-being among adults with Down's syndrome?
Get PDFAll known cultures experience music and the healing properties have been acknowledged for over 30,000 years. Research has indicated that music participation has the potential to support a range of well-being benefits, for example among older adults, people with dementia and people experiencing mental ill-health. Despite encouraging anecdotal reports, however, adults with learning disabilities have typically been under-represented in well-being research and there is very little literature examining music participation within this community. Those studies that do exist have tended to focus on separate components of well-being, which has presented an incomplete picture.
This multiple methods research investigated how music participation can support the well-being of adults with learning disabilities, with a particular focus on adults with Down’s syndrome. The research was conducted via three studies: (1) an ethnographic case study of four students attending regular music sessions via the Music Man Project UK, (2) a survey study exploring the prevalence of music usage within the UK Mencap network, and (3) a within-subjects intervention study to investigate the impact of a 10 week programme of music-making, delivered and supported by the Music Man Project UK, on well-being among adults with Down’s syndrome.
The results indicate that active music participation can indeed enhance positive well-being and reduce negative well-being for adults with Down’s syndrome. Study 1 highlighted the wide ranging well-being benefits experienced by participants and their families, for whom music-making was a regular ongoing activity. Four overarching themes emerged: positive emotions; educational development; meaning; and, accomplishment. Study 2 provided an insight into how Mencap (the largest UK charity supporting people with learning disabilities) used music as part of its programme and identified barriers that potentially inhibited music-making. Study 3 demonstrated improved well-being scores following a 10 week intervention programme of music-making with participants who had not participated in regular music sessions previously. Implications from the research could inform accessible music intervention strategies to support and enhance well-being in this often marginalised group in society. In so doing, this research contributes to providing equal opportunities to music-making and its associated well-being benefits to people with learning disabilities, comparable to their non-learning disabled counterparts
Musculoskeletal health for young performers
No full textA guide to musculoskeletal health for those working with young performers. Developed as a collaboration between the British Association for Performing Arts Medicine and Healthy Conservatoires. Featuring: Sarah Upjohn, Physiotherapist
Applying deep learning techniques to estimate patterns of musical gesture
Get PDFRepetitive practice is one of the most important factors in improving the performance of motor skills. This paper focuses on the analysis and classification of forearm gestures in the context of violin playing. We recorded five experts and three students performing eight traditional classical violin bow-strokes: martelé, staccato, detaché, ricochet, legato, trémolo, collé, and col legno. To record inertial motion information, we utilized the Myo sensor, which reports a multidimensional time-series signal. We synchronized inertial motion recordings with audio data to extract the spatiotemporal dynamics of each gesture. Applying state-of-the-art deep neural networks, we implemented and compared different architectures where convolutional neural networks (CNN) models demonstrated recognition rates of 97.147%, 3DMultiHeaded_CNN models showed rates of 98.553%, and rates of 99.234% were demonstrated by CNN_LSTM models. The collected data (quaternion of the bowing arm of a violinist) contained sufficient information to distinguish the bowing techniques studied, and deep learning methods were capable of learning the movement patterns that distinguish these techniques. Each of the learning algorithms investigated (CNN, 3DMultiHeaded_CNN, and CNN_LSTM) produced high classification accuracies which supported the feasibility of training classifiers. The resulting classifiers may provide the foundation of a digital assistant to enhance musicians' time spent practicing alone, providing real-time feedback on the accuracy and consistency of their musical gestures in performance
The effects of COVID-19 lockdown 1.0 on working patterns, income, and wellbeing among performing arts professionals in the United Kingdom (April–June 2020)
Get PDFThis article reports data collected from 385 performing arts professionals using the HEartS Professional Survey during the COVID-19 Lockdown 1.0 in the United Kingdom. Study 1 examined characteristics of performing arts professionals’ work and health, and investigated how these relate to standardized measures of wellbeing. Study 2 examined the effects of the lockdown on work and wellbeing in the respondents’ own words. Findings from Study 1 indicate a substantial reduction in work and income. 53% reported financial hardship, 85% reported increased anxiety, and 63% reported being lonelier than before the crisis. 61% sought support on finances while only 45% did so on health and wellbeing. Multiple regression analyses, using the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Social Connectedness Scale, and Three-Item Loneliness Scale as outcome variables, indicate that perceived financial hardship was associated with lower wellbeing and higher depression and loneliness scores. Higher self-rated health was associated with higher wellbeing and lower depression scores. More physical activity before lockdown was associated with higher wellbeing and social connectedness scores, as well as lower loneliness scores, and an increase in physical activity during lockdown compared with before, as well as older age, were associated with higher wellbeing and social connectedness scores, and lower depression and loneliness scores. Thematic inductive analysis of 341 open responses in Study 2 identified five overarching themes characterizing the effects of Lockdown 1.0: lost or uncertain work and income, including canceled work, financial concerns, and uncertainties for the future; constraints of lockdown working, including challenges of working at home, struggles with online work and skill maintenance, and caring responsibilities; loss and vulnerability, including reduced social connections, lack of support, vulnerability, feelings of loss and grief, and concern for others; detrimental effects on health and wellbeing, including anxiety, low or unstable mood, poorer physical health, and lack of motivation; and professional and personal opportunities, including coping well or living more healthily, more time and less pressure, new possibilities and activities, enhanced social connections, and new skills. Lockdown 1.0 had profound effects on performing arts professionals, but our findings reveal some opportunities and compelling links between positive wellbeing and physical activity
HEartS Professional survey: charting the effects of COVID-19 lockdown 1.0 on working patterns, income, and wellbeing among performing arts professionals in the United Kingdom (April–June 2020)
No full textThese data were collected using the HEartS Professional Survey from performing arts workers in the United Kingdom in April–June 2020. HEartS Professional was designed as a multi-strategy data collection tool with two main purposes: (1) to chart working patterns, income, sources of support, and indicators of mental and social wellbeing in order to identify trends in the effects of the lockdown at the time and (2) to explore the individual work and wellbeing experiences of performing arts professionals in their own words, in order to identify the subjective effects of lockdown in terms of challenges and opportunities. The survey covers six areas: (1) demographics, (2) information on illness or self-isolation related to COVID-19, (3) work profiles and income, (4) changes to work profiles and income as a result of the pandemic, as well as sources of support, (5) open-response questions about work and wellbeing experiences of lockdown including challenges and opportunities, and (6) validated measures of health, wellbeing, and social connectedness. HEartS Professional is an adaptation of the HEartS Survey which charts the Health, Economic, and Social impacts of the ARTs (https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.3r2280gdj)