Melbourne Conservatorium of Music - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableQuadrifoglio(Nailuj Music, 2023-08-25)‘Quadrifoglio’ is a 2023 album release of original compositions by Alex Pertout. The album is the culmination of an extensive original investigation of various Latin American, West African and Carnatic rhythmic and melodic concepts, combined with contemporary electronica via the use of synthesizers, samples and loops, in various collaborative improvisatory settings with four distinguished world percussion master drummers. The album features Pertout both in duo and solo formats, in the former engaging in improvisatory dialogues with four world percussion masters: legendary US conguero Raul Rekow, English multi-percussion expert Pete Lockett, Egyptian tabla master Hossam Ramzy and with Australian master drummer David Jones. Recorded, edited and mixed by Alex Pertout in Melbourne, Australia, with additional recordings by Hossam Ramzy and Pete Lockett in London,England. The album was expertly mastered by Leon Zervos at Studios 301 in Sydney. The recording of ‘Quadrifoglio’ makes an honorable contribution to innovation and new knowledge in the field of contemporary jazz by presenting creative original works and original arrangements informed by traditional and non-traditional sources. ‘Quadrifoglio’ aims to create a unique listening experience, highlighting the art of percussion and showcasing Pertout's virtuosity and creativity as a multi- instrumentalist, improvisor, composer and producer. The works feature landscapes of polyrhythmic performances making use of a vast array of percussion instruments including congas, berimbau, bongos, kanjira, djembe, cajon and udu, as well as melodic and harmonic segments performed on vibes, marimba, glockenspiel, nyunga nyunga mbira, quena, quenacho, electric piano and synthesizers, enhanced by selected loops, electronic textures, soundscapes and personal atmospheric field recordings in various cities across the globe.
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ItemA Day with Michael Shrieve(Musictek Australia, 2023-10-24)A Day with Michel Shrieve addresses the US drummer’s background and identity as a band member, band leader, composer and record producer. I delve into Shrieve’s outstanding career which commenced as the drummer of the legendary San Francisco based band Santana, instantly famed after their ground breaking performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival. Throughout his career he has been praised for his innovative approach to drumming and his ability to blend diverse musical influences seamlessly, his contributions to the drumming world inspiring generations of musicians, myself included. With the recent marking of the 50th anniversary of the iconic Santana album Caravanserai, considered one of the outstanding works in Santana’s discography, Shrieve discusses with me various aspects of recording that remarkable album, his upcoming book on master drummer Elvin Jones, as well as his much-anticipated forthcoming release Drums of Compassion.
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ItemA Day with Bobby Sanabria(Musictek Australia, 2023-05-19)A Day with Bobby Sanabria addresses New York based, Puerto Rican Sanabrias’ background and identity as a band leader, arranger and record producer. I delve into Sanabria’s career in New York and discuss his work, and particularly this latest release by his Multiverse Big Band titled ‘Vox Humana’. Sanabria discusses his approach to the organization and development of this latest album, which apart from his extraordinary big band, also features three remarkable jazz contemporary vocalists; Janis Siegel from the Manhattan Transfer, blues and jazz vocalist Antoinette Montague and multi-lingual vocalist Jennifer Ledesna. The album recorded live in New York City received a Grammy nomination under the Latin-Jazz category.
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ItemA Day with Agustin Diaz(Musictek Australia, 2023-01-09)A Day with Agustin Diaz addresses master drummer Diaz’s Latin American identity, his style and career. I delve into Diaz’s connections with the highly acclaimed Cuban ensemble Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. Diaz discusses percussive development and techniques as applied to Cuban percussion styles, his long tenure as a member of the ensemble and his work in maintaining and further developing Cuban cultural and folkloric musical styles.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableOnline music learning: informal, formal and STEAM contexts(Begell House, 2017)The increased development and learning benefits of online learning technologies have prompted music educators to rethink the possibilities of learning music online (Crawford, 2013). Found throughout the Internet on sites such as Online Academy of Irish Music Online, BanjoHangout.com and MusicTheory.net, online music learning has firmly established a base of informal learning. The informal online music learning context has been built through specific affinity groupings ‑ online communities and websites that promote learning music through identity, community or curriculum skill sets. The innovation of formal online music learning (i.e. post‑secondary credited courses) utilizes the academic learner′s affinity for music. According to preliminary data as identified in this paper, formal online music learning is currently increasing at an exponential rate of inclusion. While formal online music learning is not a fix‑all for niche faculty programs like music, it can present opportunities for offering students flexibility in time and location, community of collaboration, and assistive learning modalities for broader ranges of students (Crawford, 2013; Johnson, 2016). Dove‑tailing on the innovations available in online music learning, we conclude by highlighting the field of audio engineering ‑ a discipline that requires both music and mathematical skills. As a connector to STEAM education, online learning becomes an important learning support for audio engineering students taking physics as they can better experience audio, visual and practical aspects of music and physical mathematics.
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ItemHidden diversity in the conservatoire: A qualitative enquiry into the experiences of higher education music students with disability(SAGE Publications, 2024)Students undertaking higher education music degrees represent a rich tapestry of experiences, cultures and needs. However, equity and inclusion issues related to music students with disability in higher education are frequently addressed in generic ways, and without consultation or consideration of their unique requirements. With limited research available, this qualitative study within an Australian Conservatorium of Music analysed the experiential and situated reflections of 18 music students with disability. Based on our reflexive thematic analysis, we propose that issues related to equity and inclusion for music students in higher education are multi-faceted and interrelated. By foregrounding the participants’ voice, the qualitative themes suggest that enhancements related to disclosure processes, quality of communication and reliability of resources, would fortify equity and inclusion. The findings span the need for reforms at the institutional level, as well as specific professional development for educators and awareness raising amongst the student cohort. Informed by the participants’ lived experience, the findings call for music educators, professional staff and institutional leaders to effectively apply features of inclusive, caring, professional practices so that music students with disability can thrive in higher education.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableImprovisation, Music Education, and the Embodied Mind( 2018-07-24)IICSI colloquium - Sounding Promise in the Present Tense, University of British Columbia, Canada - July 24th, 2018 Presentation given by Dylan van der Schyff at the 2018 IICSI colloquium "Sounding Promise in the Present Tense: Improvising Through Turbulent Times." van der Schyff discusses improvisation in relation to music education and theories of cognition.
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ItemThe dynamics of musical participation(SAGE Publications, 2021)In this paper we argue that our comprehension of musical participation—the complex network of interactive dynamics involved in collaborative musical experience—can benefit from an analysis inspired by the existing frameworks of dynamical systems theory and coordination dynamics. These approaches can offer novel theoretical tools to help music researchers describe a number of central aspects of joint musical experience in greater detail, such as prediction, adaptivity, social cohesion, reciprocity, and reward. While most musicians involved in collective forms of musicking already have some familiarity with these terms and their associated experiences, we currently lack an analytical vocabulary to approach them in a more targeted way. To fill this gap, we adopt insights from these frameworks to suggest that musical participation may be advantageously characterized as an open, non-equilibrium, dynamical system. In particular, we suggest that research informed by dynamical systems theory might stimulate new interdisciplinary scholarship at the crossroads of musicology, psychology, philosophy, and cognitive (neuro)science, pointing toward new understandings of the core features of musical participation.
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ItemPhenomenology, Technology and Arts Education: Exploring the Pedagogical Possibilities of Two Multimedia Arts Inquiry Projects(Inference, 2016)The relevance of phenomenology for arts education is explored through two multimedia arts inquiry projects. I begin by offering a brief outline of what arts inquiry and phenomenology entail. Following this, I consider a phenomenological study relevant to creative multimedia studies, and develop the relationship between phenomenology, critical pedagogy, and creative praxis in the arts. Drawing on these ideas, I then discuss the processes involved in creating the multimedia projects and consider possibilities for similar projects in educational contexts. Most importantly, I attempt to show how such projects might open arts educators and students to more reflective, imaginative and participatory ways of being-in-the-world, while simultaneously developing deeper historical, cultural, technical, and aesthetic understandings of the art forms they are engaged with.
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ItemBecoming [published Score]: for soprano, countertenor, bass voices, shakuhachi and string quartet(Australian Music Centre, 2024)This published score of ‘Becoming’ was published by the Australian Music Centre in 2023. It complements the CD of the same work released by Move Records in 2022. 'Becoming' is a song cycle for 3 voices, shakuhachi, and string quartet (duration of one hour). The work is based on research into two forms of Japanese poetry, haiku and renga, and uses poetry in 3 languages (English, French, and Tibetan). The text is based around the four seasons and explores the human-nature connection. This publication of ‘Becoming’ is the culmination of approx. 20 years of research into different approaches to setting haiku to music. This process began with a study of the Japanese masters of haiku, which I undertook as an undergraduate student at the University of Melbourne studying with Professor Brenton Broadstock. The first movement of ‘Becoming’ formed part of my PhD composition folio (2006). After this, I continued to develop the work through practice-based research via multiple performances (outlined below). The early stages of my research involved experimentation with setting individual haiku for various instrumental combinations and voice. This also incorporated research into different compositional techniques and allowed me develop the knowledge and skills to embark on a full-scale song cycle (5-movement composition) exploring the programmatic and psychological elements of song using a diversity of compositional techniques in a cross-cultural context.