Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Research Publications

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    "We've got a special connection": qualitative analysis of descriptions of change in the parent-child relationship by mothers of young children with autism spectrum disorder
    Thompson, G ; McFerran, KS (GRIEG ACADEMY, 2015-01-02)
    Young children with autism spectrum disorder face many developmental challenges, most notably in the area of reciprocal social interactions with family and peers. Collaborating with the families of these children in therapy sessions is fast becoming best practice in many countries. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 11 mothers who participated in family-centred music therapy sessions along with their child. The interview questions focussed on changes to the nature of the parent–child relationship. Analysis of the interviews identified three aspects of positive change to the parent–child relationship, namely: the quality of the relationship; the parents’ perception of the child and the parents’ response to the child. The changes in the relationship with their child were valued and cherished by all of the mothers, and understanding the impact a family-centred approach might have on the nature of the parent–child relationship needs further exploration.
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    Dichotic Listening Can Improve Perceived Clarity of Music in Cochlear Implant Users
    Vannson, N ; Innes-Brown, H ; Marozeau, J (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2015-08-26)
    Musical enjoyment for cochlear implant (CI) recipients is often reported to be unsatisfactory. Our goal was to determine whether the musical experience of postlingually deafened adult CI recipients could be enriched by presenting the bass and treble clef parts of short polyphonic piano pieces separately to each ear (dichotic). Dichotic presentation should artificially enhance the lateralization cues of each part and help the listeners to better segregate them and thus provide greater clarity. We also hypothesized that perception of the intended emotion of the pieces and their overall enjoyment would be enhanced in the dichotic mode compared with the monophonic (both parts in the same ear) and the diotic mode (both parts in both ears). Twenty-eight piano pieces specifically composed to induce sad or happy emotions were selected. The tempo of the pieces, which ranged from lento to presto covaried with the intended emotion (from sad to happy). Thirty participants (11 normal-hearing listeners, 11 bimodal CI and hearing-aid users, and 8 bilaterally implanted CI users) participated in this study. Participants were asked to rate the perceived clarity, the intended emotion, and their preference of each piece in different listening modes. Results indicated that dichotic presentation produced small significant improvements in subjective ratings based on perceived clarity and preference. We also found that preference and clarity ratings were significantly higher for pieces with fast tempi compared with slow tempi. However, no significant differences between diotic and dichotic presentation were found for the participants' preference ratings, or their judgments of intended emotion.
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    Constructing optimal experience for the hospitalized newborn through neuro-based music therapy
    Shoemark, H ; Hanson-Abromeit, D ; Stewart, L (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2015-09-03)
    Music-based intervention for hospitalized newborn infants has traditionally been based in a biomedical model, with physiological stability as the prime objective. More recent applications are grounded in other theories, including attachment, trauma and neurological models in which infant, parent and the dyadic interaction may be viewed as a dynamic system bound by the common context of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The immature state of the preterm infant's auditory processing system requires a careful and individualized approach for the introduction of purposeful auditory experience intended to support development. The infant's experience of an unpredictable auditory environment is further compromised by a potential lack of meaningful auditory stimulation. Parents often feel disconnected from their own capacities to nurture their infant with potentially life-long implications for the infant's neurobehavioral and psychological well-being. This perspectives paper will outline some neurological considerations for auditory processing in the premature infant to frame a premise for music-based interventions. A hypothetical clinical case will illustrate the application of music by a music therapist with an infant and family in NICU.
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    Cicatrices Intérieures
    van der Schyff, D ; Kaufmann, A ; Muller, T (Whirrboom! Records, 2015)
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    Music as a manifestation of life: exploring enactivism and the 'eastern perspective' for music education
    van der Schyff, D (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2015-03-27)
    The enactive approach to cognition is developed in the context of music and music education. I discuss how this embodied point of view affords a relational and bio-cultural perspective on music that decentres the Western focus on language, symbol and representation as the fundamental arbiters of meaning. I then explore how this 'life-based' approach to cognition and meaning-making offers a welcome alternative to standard Western academic approaches to music education. More specifically, I consider how the enactive perspective may aid in developing deeper ecological understandings of the transformative, extended and interpenetrative nature of the embodied musical mind; and thus help (re)connect students and teachers to the lived experience of their own learning and teaching. Following this, I examine related concepts associated with Buddhist psychology in order to develop possibilities for a contemplative music pedagogy. To conclude, I consider how an enactive-contemplative perspective may help students and teachers awaken to the possibilities of music education as 'ontological education.' That is, through a deeper understanding of 'music as a manifestation of life' rediscover their primordial nature as autopoietic and world-making creatures and thus engage more deeply with musicality as a means of forming richer and more compassionate relationships with their peers, their communities and the 'natural' and cultural worlds they inhabit.
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    Music-listening in everyday life: Devices and choice
    Krause, AE ; North, AC ; Hewitt, LY (SAGE PUBLICATIONS INC, 2015-03-01)
    Utilizing the Experience Sampling Method, this research investigated how individuals encounter music in everyday life. Responding to two text messages sent at random times between 8:00 and 23:00 daily for one week, 177 participants completed self-reports online regarding their experience with any music heard within a two-hour period prior to receipt of the message. Overall, the radio, mobile MP3 players, and computers featured prominently. Detailed analyses revealed significant patterns in device usage based on time of day; ratings of the music in terms of choice, liking, arousal, and attention; mood; and the perceived consequences of the music. While feeling lethargic associated with recorded music broadcasted in public, in contrast personal music collections promoted contentment. Similarly, devices allowing for personal input were met with positive consequences, like motivation. The current findings imply that the greater control that technology affords leads to complex patterns of everyday music usage, and that listeners are active consumers rather than passive listeners.
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    Goya and Spanish Musics
    CHRISTOFORIDIS, M ( 2015)
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    Thump Presents: Honeysmack
    HABERFELD, D (Vice, 2015)
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    The Hispanic Grainger: Encounters with the Modern Spanish School
    Christoforidis, M ; Murray, K ; Robinson, S ; Dreyfus, K (ASHGATE PUBLISHING LTD, 2015)