ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: THE OOMPAH-PULOR TUBA: AN EXAMINATION AND PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO INCORPORATING POPULAR AND COMMERCIAL MUSIC ELEMENTS IN SOLO TUBA LITERATURE Samuel Ryan Ambrose, Doctor of Musical Arts, 2022 Dissertation directed by: Professor Michael Votta, Wind and Percussion Division, School of Music This dissertation traces the history of writing for the tuba in a variety of musical realms and examines pedagogical approaches to studying the instrument in an attempt to create more works and solo performance opportunities, specifically through a lens of popular and commercial music. The recorded project features a sample of works for solo tuba featuring various elements of popular and commercial music. The recorded selections include works written for tuba and adapted for tuba, all specifically arranged to encompass a particular popular or commercial style and sound. All arrangements are original to this project and adhere to the proposed model for inclusion of musical elements that performers and educators can implement in their studies, as well as their pedagogical justifications. THE OOMPAH-PULOR TUBA: AN EXAMINATION AND PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH TO INCORPORATING POPULAR AND COMMERCIAL MUSIC ELEMENTS IN SOLO TUBA LITERATURE by Samuel Ryan Ambrose Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts 2022 Advisory Committee: Dr. Michael Votta, Chair Dr. Luz Martinez-Miranda, Dean?s Representative Professor David Fedderly Professor Chris Gekker Dr. Stephanie Prichard ? Copyright by Samuel Ryan Ambrose 2022 Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................ ii List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ iii Chapter 1: An Overview of Tuba Literature ....................................................................................1 Tuba in Orchestral Literature ...............................................................................................1 Tuba in Brass Bands ............................................................................................................7 Tuba in Jazz .........................................................................................................................9 Tuba in Popular Culture .....................................................................................................10 Chapter 2: Pedagogical Justifications ............................................................................................12 Approaches to Studying Popular Music ............................................................................13 Innovative Tubists and their approaches ............................................................................17 Model for Inclusion ............................................................................................................20 Chapter 3: The Program .................................................................................................................23 The Morning Song .............................................................................................................23 Minuano .............................................................................................................................26 I Can?t Go for That ............................................................................................................29 Chapter 4: Elements of Popular Music ..........................................................................................33 Creating ..............................................................................................................................33 Performing .........................................................................................................................37 Responding ........................................................................................................................40 Chapter 5: Conclusions ..................................................................................................................42 Appendix 1: Equipment .................................................................................................................44 Appendix 2: Exemplar for Academic Use .....................................................................................45 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................46 ii List of Figures FIGURE 1: TUBA PART FROM BERLIOZ?S MARCH HONGROISE, FROM LA DAMNATION OF FAUST, MM. 95-108 .......................................................................................5 FIGURE 2: TUBA PART FROM BERLIOZ?S MARCH HONGROISE, FROM LA DAMNATION OF FAUST, MM. 128-END ..................................................................................5 FIGURE 3: TUBA SOLO FROM GERSHWIN?S AN AMERICAN IN PARIS, FOUR MEASURES AFTER REHEARSAL 67 TO 68 ..............................................................................9 FIGURE 4: CR-78 ROCK-1A PRESET DIAGRAM ...................................................................31 iii Chapter 1: An Overview of Tuba Literature A musical instrument expresses different ideals with varying gravity: a manufacturer may choose to sell particular instrument types and brands depending on which market best appeals to them. A performer may choose an instrument that most aligns with their imaginative timbre, personal desires, or be dictated by their musical environment and upbringing. A composer may choose to employ an instrument for a separate set of various reasons, also depending on their compositional desires and environmental challenges. To summarize or encompass a single linear direction of instrumental musical development would prove both impossible and foolhardy, as our academic standards of use for practicality have hindered many innovations for musical voices. Instrument hierarchy has existed through the developments of every instrumental musical landscape, given the benefits and drawbacks of each instrument, and thus each ensemble, and their capabilities. How are decisions made by instrument consumers when the limitations lie not on the players and operators themselves, but on the imaginative landscape in which a particular musical voice lives? How much of an instrument?s environment, and consequently an instrumentalist?s environment, determine or predispose a player to a narrow track of musical performance and expression? This chapter examines the history of literature for the tuba through the development of the instrument, tracing how the instrument was used and viewed by notable composers, tubists, and music critics. Tuba in Orchestral Literature A general timeline of tuba development and manufacturing does carry vital information when examining repertoire and compositional choices for the instrument. The conical 1 characteristic of tubas and their predecessors tend to make the largest distinction between other brass instruments, though bugles have been dated to exist well before the fourteenth century1. Just as keys and valves influenced modern versions of trumpets, horns, and trombones, so too did the bass bugle family expand. Ophicleides began to fill a role in the orchestral brass section, creating a low brass quartet often acting as the fourth trombone.2 Though conical in nature via the bore, ophicleides tend to use a mouthpiece resembling that of a trombone, and thus matching the trombone?s brighter color. It is not until valves are common practice for brass instrument manufacturing do true bass and contrabass tubas appear with a notable contribution to their distinct sound, both in timbre and tessitura. Established music critic, historian, and writer Arthur Elson notes that ?the tuba has a distinctive color of its own that is of great value. It lacks the smoothness of the trombone, but its harsh, gruff quality strikes the ear at once.?3 Elson comes from a long line of musicians and historians, most notable for his works The Musician?s Guide and The Book of Musical Knowledge. An argument against this statement may be possible toward modern-day tubas, as the progression of manufacturing and valves has surpassed the earlier predecessor?s shortcomings. However, consideration must be given to the gravity of these opinions during the time period Elson was writing, as these similar statements were commonplace towards early tubas. Elson offers some optimism, stating, ?although more limited in their effects than the other brass instruments, tubas are still useful members of the orchestra.?4 1 Clifford Bevan, The Tuba Family (New York: Scribner, 1978), 23. 2 Arthur Elson, Orchestral Instruments and Their Use: Giving a Description of Each Instrument Now Employed by Civilized Nations ? and an Explanation of Its Value and Function in the Modern Orchestra (Boston: L. C. Page & company, 1903), 245. 3 Ibid., 249. 4 Ibid. 2 Much like any new experiment, whether it be completely new or an expansion of a standard, information must be collected in order to fully realize the potential of the invention. Arthur Elson?s writings provide a glimpse of early introductions to the tuba in a field of music that had previously existed through many generations and artistic movements. Musical scholar Edwin Hall Pierce further asserts in a 1927 article in The Musical Quarterly that: To maintain a permanent existence, an orchestral instrument must fulfil several different requirements: 1. It must be of good tone, efficient mechanism, and capable of being played in tune. 2. It must fill a real and essential need in the make-up of the orchestra. 3. The need which it fills must be one of a constant or at least frequent nature, so as to offer promise of adequate employment for the player. 4. It must be capable of certain effects which cannot be obtained from other instruments in standard use. 5. It must not have been superseded by newer instruments which fulfil the same functions in a musically superior manner. 6. It must not be so easily deranged in tuning or mechanism as to be unreliable in use. 7. It must not be so deficient in power of tone that it cannot be heard when combined with reasonable freedom with other instruments of the orchestra.5 Agreeing with these criteria, to which Pierce goes into detail using examples of instruments that the bass and contrabass tuba has replaced including the lower woodwind sounds of the oboe d?amore via the serpent and following successors, a notable shift in the development of the tuba solidifies its role and place in the orchestra, while maintaining its individuality as an instrument. Serpents were seen and heard as far more crude instruments than its valved followers. Naturally so, since the bright timbre coupled with drilled tone holes made for questionable intonation and offered little to help balance different sections of the orchestra. With the first point of Pierce?s criteria subject to ridicule, the Serpent acts more as a stepping stone for the Ophicleide and 5 Edwin Hall Pierce, ?Orchestral Tone-Color, Past and Present,? The Musical Quarterly 13, no. 4 (October 1927): 607. 3 keyed bass bugles. The Ophicleide was patented in 1821 in France, and was employed by the Paris Opera as early as 1912.6 The invention of valves - piston in 1815 and rotary in 1835 - addressed many of the intonation and efficiency concerns of these bass bugles, allowing them to find their home in standard instrumental practices while catching up to modern innovations. Although the first versions of valves on brass instruments did cause many other intonation issues, primarily due to the introduction of various new harmonic series, their implementation on brass instruments in the early nineteenth century allowed for the tuba to break away from the rest of the brass sections in the orchestra, thus expanding its capabilities. Hector Berlioz, one of the tuba?s earliest and greatest proponents, recognized the early stages of tuba possibilities after a review of his overture Les Francs Juges: The bass tuba, which I have mentioned several times in previous letters, has completely dislodged the ophicleide in Prussia, if indeed the latter was ever prevalent there, which I doubt. He continues: The lowest notes of all are a little blurred, it is true, but when doubled an octave higher by another bass tuba, they take on an amazing richness and resonance, and in the middle and upper registers the tone is impressively noble, not at all flat like the ophicleide?s but full and vibrant and well matched with the timbre of trombones and trumpets, to which it serves as a true bass, blending perfectly with them.7 Berlioz?s credit to this new ?true bass? of the brass section explains his use in the ophicleide writing in many of his commonly-performed overtures. For instance, the Marche Hongroise from La Damnation de Faust, (originally scored for one ophicleide and one tuba, but will henceforth be referred to as the tuba part due to common practice) demonstrates Berlioz?s confidence that 6 Harvey Phillips, Mr. Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012), 76-77. 7 Hector Berlioz, The Memoirs of Hector Berlioz, trans. and ed. David Cairns (London: Victor Gollancz, 1969), 47. 4 the tuba can provide both robust melodic lines in unison with the trombones and a bass that can support the entirety of the ensemble (Figure 1). Figure 1: Tuba part from Berlioz?s March Hongroise, from La Damnation of Faust, mm. 95-108. The iconic climax featuring the low brass that leads the piece to completion employs a tuba part outlining harmonic detail with great trombone-like agility while maintaining the bass and upper contrabass tessitura not represented elsewhere in the orchestration (Figure 2). Figure 2: Tuba part from Berlioz?s March Hongroise, from La Damnation of Faust, mm. 128-end. Elson?s statements lie in direct contrast to the possibilities Berlioz felt the tuba could promise. Though Elson refers more toward the solo passages for tuba in Wagner?s Ring Cycle orchestration, Berlioz?s scoring and memoirs provide insight to the future of tuba writing as a whole. Wherein Berlioz found a smoothness and blend that the tuba supported the trombones with, Wagner?s solo tuba voice lends itself to the idiosyncratic nature of the contrabass tuba. Wagner?s orchestral works required more musicians than previous practice, yet maintained less tubas in performance in comparison to Berlioz performances due in part to larger, more refined 5 horns that were much wider in sound and could provide resonance to fill larger spaces. Both composers do, however, contribute to the expansion of orchestral scoring, particularly in breaking three-choir mold of Classical composers.8 Though Elson?s writing dismisses the potential of the tuba, his statements cannot be taken as debilitating, for virtuosic players were many generations yet to come. The programmatic voicing of the newest and arguably most profound instrument of the Romantic Era became niche, placing the tuba voice into an unfortunate box. Recognizing the futile comparison between two legendary composers of different backgrounds, both culturally and musically, and their treatment of an up-and-coming instrument, I believe the stark contrast in tuba writing between the two make up a recipe to build upon; the brighter music of Berlioz and much darker, bass-supporting sounds of Wagner help to combine the vast array of colors the tuba has to offer as a solo voice. This, however, is primarily in the orchestral realm, and is expanded further by great composers such as Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Stravinsky, Brahms, Bartok, and Copland.9 Consequently, solo tuba writing ? that is, the use of the tuba to the primary deliverer of a melody voice ? does not come into prominence until the latter half of the twentieth century. Composers such as Ralph Vaughan Williams, Paul Hindemith, Vincent Persichetti, Halsey Stevens, and Alec Wilder receive many credits regarding a significant turning point in bringing a spotlight to the tuba as a solo voice.10 Edwin Hall Pierce wrote an article for The Musical Quarterly in 1923 stating that the musical elements in emerging popular music ?represent a gradual growth toward real artistic 8 Edwin Hall Pierce, Orchestral Tone-Color, Past and Present,? The Musical Quarterly 13, no. 4 (October 1927): 610. 9 Harvey Phillips, Mr. Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012), 397. 10 Gary Bird, Program Notes for the Solo Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), xi. 6 value in popular music itself; second, because it is not impossible that certain elements coming from popular music may have unexpected and important influence on art-music of the not distant future.?11 Citing interests in harmonic, rhythmic, and new orchestration ? using the saxophone as an example - Pierce presents a path to inclusion for discovering a new voice for instruments such as the tuba. Tuba in Brass Bands One cannot simply fault a lack of creativity or innovation as a point to blame past persons who have been overcome by the modernization of an instrument and changing musical landscape. It is a logical conclusion that the freshness of the bass and contrabass tuba as an evolutionary instrument caused composers to orchestrate primarily as a supporting role of any ensemble by way of doubling, octave displacement, or novelty writing. The British brass band writing for tuba demonstrates potential in the future of the instrument. Traditional scoring in a brass band calls for E flat and B flat basses, the more common keys for bass and contrabass horns in the band setting. Denis Wright outlines common practice in the book Brass Band Scoring, where he expands on the intervallic benefits and drawbacks to four-part bass writing. Wright disapproves of most innovative suggestions, offering limited counterarguments that feed the idiomatic narrative of the tuba. Using a passage from Keighley?s Merry Wives of Windsor Suite, Wright suggests that ?Although this is very effective, as a novelty, it should not be regarded as a usual way of employing these instruments.?12 While Wright recognizes that ?the 11 Edwin Hall Pierce, ?In Behalf of the ?Popular? Elements in Musical Art,? The Musical Quarterly 9, no. 4 (October 1923): 474. 12 Denis Wright, Brass Band Scoring (Lancashire: J. Duckworth, 1935), 31. 7 basses can play rapid scale passages almost as fluently as the cornets,?13 he only spends a small page?s worth of effort to write about the basses as a whole, compared to over five pages devoted to the solo cornet part alone. Perhaps the homogenous nature of the brass band does not lend itself well for bass voices to carry melodies in conjunction with the upper brasses. Edward Gregson, Professor of Composition at the Royal Academy of Music in London, addressed this issue through his creation of his Tuba Concerto. Written for legendary tubist John Fletcher, the piece originally calls for the soloist to be accompanied by a brass band. Gregson provides the following program notes that explain how he cleverly composed on of the biggest masterworks in solo tuba literature: This was a difficult task, mainly because of the problems of balance in such a medium. I wanted to produce a work which was accessible for audiences, although I was distinctly aware that such a combination was difficult enough without making the music highly modernistic. Also, I wanted to exploit the lyrical characteristics of the tuba, which I hope I have done. Essentially I wanted to write a piece of music that would stand the test of time.14 Although the piece was first with tuba and brass band, Gregson later publishes a version for orchestra, wind band, and soloist with piano. Gregson himself states that the orchestral version is his favorite, ?as its clarity of texture and lush string sound set off the tuba in a much more effective manner.?15 Here, Gregson introduces the notion that the tuba holds a claim as a soloistic instrument, yet may need more careful and special attention in regards to scoring. As there are no instruments that fit every scenario or situation - this instance regarding 13 Denis Wright, Brass Band Scoring (Lancashire: J. Duckworth, 1935), 3. 14 Gary Bird, Program Notes for the Solo Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), 43. 15 Ibid., 44. 8 accompanying voices - the solo tuba yearns to surround itself with sounds and colors that highlight the unique timbre of the instrument, while complimenting its seemingly negative idiosyncrasies. Tuba in Jazz The inclusion of tuba in jazz mimics the tuba?s orchestral and wind band upbringings. The earliest jazz bands tended to use the string bass rather than the tuba or another low wind instrument. There is very little literature to suggest that tubas were used in their most natural capacity ? as a bass ? until the 1920s. The excess of post-Civil War marching brass instruments connects the tuba to the New Orleans street bands, with their parts often matching the bass in unison. Sousaphone and helicons were in fashion, but primarily included throughout the first half of the Twentieth century of jazz bands for bass-doubling or visual appeal. The use of the tuba as a double to the bass section had influence on notable American composer George Gershwin, whose writing for tuba modeled the music of popular dance bands. In his monumental work An American in Paris, we find one of the few examples of composers connecting the classically- trained musical world to popular music through the tuba. The five-measure exposed solo demonstrates the tuba?s ability to sing with agility, yet gracefully (Figure 3). Figure 3: Tuba solo from Gershwin?s An American in Paris, four measures after rehearsal 67 to 68. As jazz begins to evolve throughout the Twentieth century, band leaders began to involve the tuba, alongside other wind instruments, in roles beyond the ?oompah.? Legendary trumpeter Miles Davis produced the Birth of the Cool in 1957, featuring the tuba and the French horn, in addition to trumpet, trombone, alto and baritone saxophone, and a rhythm section of piano, bass, 9 and drums. Bill Barber was the tubist for Miles Davis?s nontet, and is credited as one of the first tuba players playing modern jazz styles. The innovative instrumentation highlighted the tuba ?in its own right, related to the French horn, capable of playing quickly or slowly, a member of the brass section not the rhythm section.?16 Clifford Bevan?s writing states that there was not much happening in these regards for the tuba until the 1970s, where mention of tubists such as Howard Johnson of the Gil Evans Band were able to break from the mold of ?sighing orchestral cushions deployed by French horns and bathtub bound tuba sounds.?17 However, tubists such as George Sylvester Callender, known as ?Red,? had been producing band-leading albums as early as 1956. Red Callender?s 1957 album Red Callender Speaks Low also features the French horn as a soloist on several tracks, proving that conical instruments have capabilities beyond their most popular use. Red, along with many studio musicians at the time, often played multiple instruments to support their careers while rewarding their talents. His bass playing brought his tuba playing to many legendary band leaders, film recordings, and pop music. Tuba in Popular Culture In the early days of the music recording, tubists were in higher demand due to the ease of recording brass and woodwinds over strings. Tubist began to double more bass and cello parts to assist in orchestral recording. Film composers began to use the tuba as a solo voice around the same time the tuba branched out of the accompaniment roll in jazz, and cartoons exploited the instrument?s unique voice in idiomatic ways. Bevan?s writing addresses the tuba?s poor adoption 16 Clifford Bevan, The Tuba Family (New York: Scribner, 1978), 184. 17 Ibid., 183. 10 in the pop music realm, as the role of the instrument is in doubling of bass lines and other supporting roles. The expansion of the trombone family in studio recordings allowed for the tuba to double the fourth, or bass, trombone parts, implying that composers? tendency was to shy away from innovation. 11 Chapter 2: Pedagogical Justifications As more tubists emerged with higher aspirations of artistry, a catalogue of repertoire for the tuba was completed in 1973 under the direction of R. Winston Morris entitled Tuba Music Guide. While this guide is by no means comprehensive of all literature for tuba, multiple other encyclopedias, guides, and source materials move to serve as edits and more extensive versions of this repertoire list. Part of the cataloguing issues the tuba source material writers faced was how information on music, and art music specifically, had been transmitted. As technological enhancements improved communication on a local, national, and international scale, tubists in the United States began learning about tuba culture and literature across the globe. Morris quotes Xiang-yu Zhang in regards to the tuba in Eastern culture, specifically China: Before 1966, tubas were only played as bass in military bands. There was certain amount of tuba players at that time, but they did not recognize the characters of tuba enough . . . to ask high-level per- forming techniques . . . so no one could play solo with tuba at that time in China.18 This account correlates with the previous assertion that limited repertoire created limited-ability players. During the Great Cultural Revolution of China, the effort by the Communist Party of China to maintain power, political leaders attending performances by the Central Symphony of China did not care for the tuba and disapproved of its presence in the orchestra. Xiang-yu goes on to state: Since 1980, the reforming and opening policies have not only brought back great vigor to the economy of China, but also brought a new life to tubas?The important function of tuba in orchestra is gradually recognized by the Chinese people. In recent years, more and more tuba players emerge from the band of factories and farmers. But, the pity is that there is still not one professional tuba teacher in China?That?s the reason why high level 18 R. Winston Morris, ?Acknowledgments,? In Guide to the Tuba Repertoire: The New Tuba Source Book, ed. R Winston Morris and Daniel Perantoni (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), xviii. 12 tuba players are still rare in China up to now.19 Musicians of the United States did not suffer from outright political silencing of cultural practices and possible invention. However, technological enhancements from the latter half of the twentieth century and beyond support the case that information, whether it be directly related to music, culture, or otherwise, can be accessed readily by the general public. It is difficult to understand why the implementation and practice of popular musical trends is traditionally not found in instrumental music education. However, it is apparent that, due to the Germanic influence of the orchestra and British influence of brass bands, literature for the tuba was slower to evolve or incorporate nationally popular music. In this chapter, we will examine several different philosophies and approaches to studying popular music, how influential tuba artists have encouraged these philosophies, and how to include these findings into the study of the tuba voice. Approaches to Studying Popular Music Studying music through an academic viewpoint lags behind contemporary innovations of music. A standard musicology approach offers advantages by comparison of past perspective ? history, science, and cultural aspects ? yet falls short to offer a systemic one-size-fits-all formula of proper analysis of music. Philip Tagg asserted in an article of Popular Music journal: Indeed, it should be stated at the outset that no analysis of musical discourse can be considered complete without consideration of social, psychological, visual, gestural, ritual, technical, historical, economic and linguistic aspects relevant to the genre, function, style, (re-)performance situation and listening attitude connected with the sound 19 R. Winston Morris, ?Acknowledgments,? In Guide to the Tuba Repertoire: The New Tuba Source Book, ed. R Winston Morris and Daniel Perantoni (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), xviii-xix. 13 event being studied.20 The distinction between ?art?, ?folk?, and ?popular? music holds predispositions that popular music?s purpose, roots, and dissemination come through capitalist and consumerist needs. This qualification is shallow in nature, as it must accept a Western-centric timeline of music history as the epicenter of musical understanding, given its comparison to what ?art? music is. Many of these deep-seeded roots have altered classically-trained musicians? ability to look at popular music, both past and present, through an artistic lens. A holistic approach in analysis of current and new music allows music to categorize itself, if necessary, as well as establish credibility within the academic community. Robert H. Woody writes to the vernacular nature of music by stating that, ?Most teachers have come to understand the importance of using authentic recordings, performance practices, and instruments whenever possible when working with the music of another culture.?21 He includes popular music as a ?subculture within American music,? and that, under the same considerations, deserves authenticity in order to maximize the educational outcomes.22 Whereas understanding of any music comes through exposure, a Western-classical approach tends to analyze through a practical, theoretical lens. Woody argues that the understanding of emotional and societal contents and contexts of popular music is where the breadth of subject matter, and therefore value, lies.23 Although a broad issue in the realm of music education, one can continue to assert that the limited exposure of musical styles and forms of expression justly limits the finer 20 Philip Tagg, ?Analysing Popular Music: Theory, Method, and Practice,? Popular Music 2 (1982): 40. 21 Robert H. Woody, ?Popular Music in School: Remixing the Issues,? Music Educators Journal 93, no. 4 (March 2007): 33. 22 Ibid. 23 Ibid. 14 details instrumentalists gain exposure to. The upcoming suggested model for inclusion addresses some of these concerns. Popular music is often connected to an idea of standardization as reason to distinguish the genre from art music, most apparent in form, melodic range, song-types, and harmonic progressions.24 However, many examples of master composers of every era in Western musical history suggest a similar standardization ? Haydn, Mozart, and many Renaissance examples come to mind. Richard Middleton, musicologist and founder of the journal Popular Music, asserts that the term ?formulae? best serves the analysis of popular and folk music, in order to avoid the segregation of music through a negative codification of standardization in music. Identifying correlating principles across communicative avenues in human life is a natural approach of any analysis. However, Middleton notes that ?this strongly ?culturalist? angle is related to the fact that within [this] picture of culture,? the assumption ?that music?s principal roles are expressive and functional.?25 These Western-centric approaches to studying music attempt to ground music academia in objectionable truths, yet end up homogenizing cultures and people. Middleton offers three suggestions to guide studies when engaging in popular music: 1) Different social groups using the same music have cultures containing sufficient similarities to make homologies possible in both cases; 2) The ?secondary? group hears the music differently from the way the ?primary? group hears it, and so a new homology can come into being; 3) the musical form is more or less autonomous, and its essential meaning and deep patterns produce and structure cultural responses; thus, they are available quite widely, to 24 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 45. 25 Ibid., 152. 15 any individuals able to acquire the syntactic and interpretative codes.26 There are exceptions to these suggestions. For example, to assume cultural similarities between different cultures using the same music, and that a new homology can come into being, ignores the complexities of culture as a whole. The history and significance of blues to black culture cannot be assumed homogenous to the middle-class white male who is a blues enthusiast. However, this highlights the growing need to clarify all forms of music in academia, as their importance in any repertoire should strive to have a holistic understanding of methods of interpretation, in order to avoid cultural appropriation. Given the previous considerations, Robert Larson, Director of Jazz Studies at Shenandoah Conservatory and author of numerous journal articles about jazz, music education, and pedagogy, offers four justifications for the inclusion of popular music in all music academia: Popular music is as valid as any other music, especially in terms of the creative aspect; The music results from a combination of composition (songwriting), instrumental and vocal performance, production, and marketing; the music is by its nature ?popular? and thus a needed addition in the competitive world of music employment options where classical and jazz graduates struggle to find meaningful work performing the music they studied in college, and; music education students at many institutions require the preparation to successfully work with young people who would participate in the school music program if there were alternate offerings to traditional concert band, jazz ensemble, orchestra, and choir experiences.27 This approach addresses some of the missions of academic institutions that offer music. Coupled with an ethnomusicological approach that covers the non-expressive and non-functional traits, music educators of all levels can find value in popular and commercial music if they decentralize how music should be studied. 26 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 153. 27 Robert Larson, ?Music in Higher Education: Finding the Balance,? College Music Symposium 59, no. 2 (September 2019): 2. 16 While all of these approaches offer many considerations towards the integration of popular music in music education, institutions, K-12 or higher education, rarely offer instrumentalists an experience outside of the band, orchestra, or choir. Jazz bands may be the closest thing students can participate in that remotely resembles popular music, and an outdated example at best. Musicians must be exposed to popular and commercial music elements in order to integrate them into their studies. As the history of the tuba explains the limited stylistic repertoire, approaches to music education in the United States must challenge the hierarchal systems imposed on instrumentalists, while teaching a holistic view of music and its significance. Innovative Tubists and their Approaches Harvey Philips, legendary tubist and pioneer of tuba literature, accounts for some of the previous questions and assertions through his career that influenced all aspects of the tuba. He credits himself for the influx of literature written for the tuba. Rightfully so, as Mr. Phillips holds responsibility for over one hundred solo works written for the solo tuba voice.28 He refused to accept the substandard literature for the solo tuba voice written during his time, stating: I find it surprising that apparently, none of the great tubists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries took the initiative to commission new solo repertoire from the great composers of their time ? they were already writing challenging and rewarding orchestral tuba parts?Speaking from my own experience, I will forever find it difficult to believe that great tuba musicians could be satisfied by solo repertoire about the devilish Beelzebub and pachyderms.29 Philips not only commissioned many new works for the tuba, but taught and exposed a generation of students who became leaders in all fields of professional tuba playing and teaching. 28 Harvey Phillips, Mr. Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012), 399. 29 Ibid., 397. 17 His addition to the New York Brass Quintet established the tuba in brass chamber music. Their tenure included many concerts for young audiences, further demonstrating Mr. Phillip?s commitment to music education through the tuba.30 Arnold Jacobs is another name recognized by many brass musicians as one of the most influential figures in brass pedagogy. Harvey Philips himself stated, Into the next millennium, ad infinitum, Arnold Jacobs will stand as an icon of music pedagogy for all teachers and performers of vocal, wind, and brass instruments?As a master teacher, I believe it can be said that Arnold Jacobs never met a musician he couldn?t improve; his teaching and personal example inspired a better understanding of themselves, their art, and their instrument. He provided logical comprehension and artistic application of his ?Song and Wind? philosophy and pedagogy.31 Jacobs?s ?Song and Wind? approach focuses on the musical message or thought to determine what sounds a player should use or strive to achieve. This concentration focuses on the stylistic aspects of music to inform the decisions a player makes. The song then informs the wind, which refers to the breath. Many of Jacobs philosophies were backed by his personal studies on respiratory and brain functions. One of Jacobs guiding principles was the use of imitation in playing. He states ?A young child learns to produce sounds, first by hearing them, then by producing them. So, the phenomenon of imitation is one of our very powerful learning tools.?32 This is a common tool in beginning band classrooms and lessons, as even the most elementary of students can work to imitate sound. This approach is indicative of elementary or emerging skill, and thus can be used towards an approach to new styles of playing. This approach supports the need for the inclusion 30 Harvey Phillips, Mr. Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2012), 121. 31 Brian Frederiksen, Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind (United States of America: WindSong Press, 1996), 192. 32 Ibid., 146. 18 of popular, commercial, and non-traditional music elements of study in order form total musicians. Through imitation and communicative aspects of music, Jacobs stresses that ?it is very important that we study emotions in music, style characteristics in music, the art form of music.?33 In other words, the conveying of a musical message weighs more on musical study and performance than mechanical or correctness of playing. Roger Bobo influenced the tuba community through his innate musicianship and technical prowess. He was the first tubist to give a recital in Carnegie Hall, and appeared on national television performing on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Bobo embraced many of the values the pioneers such as Phillips and Jacobs showed in their craft, accounting for countless other original and adapted works for the tuba. His solo albums were the first introductions to many pieces that are considered standards in solo tuba repertoire, and are often used as barriers for academic study. Several of these pieces were works Bobo commissioned, much like Phillips, to expand the possibilities of the instrument. William Kraft wrote about his Encounters II, I wanted the challenge of writing a set of variations for a solo instrument which would create the illusion of accompanying itself, by using various dynamic levels, varying pitch registrations, and especially utilizing the voice while playing. Much of what resulted was due to Roger Bobo?s remarkable virtuosity as well as his creative intelligence.34 Bobo?s curiosities led him to Fred Tackett and the creation of The Yellow Bird, an exciting tuba solo with bass, drum, electric guitar, and electric keyboard accompaniment. The original recording featured Bobo dubbed over himself in a four-part harmony toward the end of the piece, 33 Brian Frederiksen, Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind (United States of America: WindSong Press, 1996), 139. 34 Gary Bird, Program Notes for the Solo Tuba (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1994), 64. 19 again demonstrating his endless pursuit for new and bold. Model for Inclusion The National Association for Music Education (NAfME) is a world leader in arts education. Founded in 1907, the organization exists to support music educators around the world, particularly K-12 education, by hosting professional development for educators, providing resources and opportunities for students, parents, community members, and general music advocacy in communities and schools at large. To support their stated mission to promote both understanding and making of music by all, NAfME released a position statement regarding inclusivity and diversity in music education: A well-rounded and comprehensive music education program, as envisioned in the 2014 National Music Standards, should exist in every American school; should be built on a curricular framework that promotes awareness of, respect for, and responsiveness to the variety and diversity of cultures; and should be delivered by teachers whose culturally responsive pedagogy enable them to successfully design and implement such an inclusive curricular framework.35 A comparison of the 1994 standards and the 2014 update shows attention to a broadening acceptance of more areas and levels of music education.36 Specifically, the shift from performance and skill-focused learning to artistic engagement allows us to see where popular and commercial music has its place. Using the 2014 NCCAS standards, the inclusion of popular music in instrumental 35 National Association for Music Education, ?Inclusivity and Diversity in Music Education,? National Association for Music Education, https://nafme.org/about/position- statements/inclusivity-diversity/ (accessed March 1, 2022). 36 National Association for Music Education, ?Music National Standards Comparison: 1994 versus 2014,? National Association for Music Education, https://nafme.org/my- classroom/standards/core-music-standards/ (accessed March 1, 2022). 20 musicians? repertoire should answer the following questions: ? Did the musician create? ? Did the musician perform? ? Did the musician respond to music by conveying a message? These questions address the artistic processes of demonstrating understanding and independence in music and music literacy. Differentiating from quantitative industrial production of music, or the academic understating that popular music allows for mass reproduction due to its simplicity, technological advancements in the music industry encourage new sonic ideas in acoustic performance. Popular and commercial music allows for the creation of new soundscapes for the tuba, inviting a vast array of performance opportunities and skills, as well as conveying a new musical message or idea. Musicians can perform in new and accommodating ways, including live and recorded performance. And, perhaps most importantly, the inclusion of popular music in any repertoire allows musicians to use the most authentic styles of music available to them to make more distinctions in the art of popular music. Professor of Music Education Randall Everett Allsup claims that bridging the gap between classical and popular music requires an introduction to minimalist and hybrid styles, creating new context of overplayed music, and resisting the dichotomy of high and low art or music.37 With the understanding that classical music education and popular music education (and its inclusion to the latter) lack the fundamental cohesion in modern educational and commercial practice, innovative composers, performers, educators, and musicians alike must continue to explore the limits of the tuba sound using popular music elements to reach a wider audience to make the instrument more accessible. Allsup supports this when he claims that ?the intent?is 37 Randall Everett Allsup, ?Popular Music and Classical Musicians: Strategies and Perspectives,? Music Educators Journal 97, no. 3(March 2011): 32. 21 not to ?make? popular musicians out of classical musicians, but to introduce students to new ways of learning, composing, and interacting musically.?38 The repertoire for the solo tuba suffers through a systemic issue linked to the freshness of need and necessity, both artistically and educationally. In order to expand the repertoire, one must recognize and acknowledge the tuba?s swift rise in ensemble inclusion measured against the lack of imaginative solo voice writing with the instrument in mind. 38 Randall Everett Allsup, ?Popular Music and Classical Musicians: Strategies and Perspectives,? Music Educators Journal 97, no. 3(March 2011): 32. 22 Chapter 3: The Program In an effort to support these examinations of literature for tuba and pedagogical approaches to innovation and inclusion for the instrument, the following pieces were selected to incorporate various popular and commercial music elements. Each piece, arranged by this author, was created in a specific fashion in order to support the ideals of the performance. The Morning Song reimagines a piece long in the repertoire for tubist in a modern way, while paying homage to its history and Roger Bobo?s spirit. Minuano represents a pioneer in the world of progressive jazz, while acting as an exploration in a style not common for many tubists. I Can?t Go for That acts as a model that combines the pedagogies and musical strategies for inclusion in order to create a new arrangement for the tuba, accomplishable in a wide skill set. The Morning Song Roger Kellaway symbolizes the potential of the musician who embraces a multitude of styles. An accomplished pianist and composer, Kellaway recorded over 100 albums and holds compositions in many mediums, including film score and ballet. He composed The Morning Song for the Roger Kellaway Cello Quartet album of the same name in 1972. Kellaway rewrote the piece at Roger Bobo?s request in 1978, and performed it with Bobo on the album Gravity is Light Today, which featured other works from Kellaway and more jazz. The first live performance of The Morning Song was in July 1979 at the Third Special Course for Brass Players in Moudon, Switzerland.39 Given Roger Bobo?s popularity in the tuba community, many tuba recitals have featured The Morning Song, most often with Tuba and piano. The arrangement published by Editions 39 Roger Kellaway, The Morning Song (Switzerland: Editions BIM, 1980). 23 BIM was used in this project. The article describing the piece in Guide to the Tuba Repertoire states ?For Roger Bobo. Composed in 1978. Almost commercial sounding, this solo is a great crowd pleaser?Morning Song has a ?new age/country? feel to it with an extremely lyrical solo part. Strong, flexible accompanist. Great recital material.?40 Ironically, many of the most recent recordings feature tuba and acoustic grand piano. Several euphonium soloists have included The Morning Song in their albums as well. Yet none seem to capture that commercial sound as well as Bobo. The use of synthesizer instead of piano on Gravity is Light Today matches the tuba repertoire book?s description of a commercial or new age sound. The head of the tune is a rounded binary form, followed by a written piano solo, then new melodic material over familiar chord progressions. The piece returns to the beginning for a final reprise, skipping the piano solo to quickly introduce all thematic material again, and finishes with a short three-bar coda. The repeated sections offer some variation in color, with some countermelody writing in the right hand of the piano during the first theme. Otherwise, performances tend to stagnate without interpretive freedom ? Bobo even improvises some licks at the cadences of the piano solo. In an attempt to embrace both Kellaway and Bobo?s innovative minds, the arrangement created for this project uses a blend of electronic instruments, editing, and mixing techniques to represent popular music of today. The drum part resembles a common dance-pop beat. The part grows in density throughout the repeated themes in order to layer the ensemble sound and provide subtle variation. The bass part reinforces the harmonic rhythm, as well as providing 40 Joseph Skillen and Edward R. Goldstein, ?Music for Tuba and Keyboard,? In Guide to the Tuba Repertoire: The New Tuba Source Book, ed. R Winston Morris and Daniel Perantoni (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2006), 58. 24 depth to the keyboard part. There is an extra 808 Bass that further increases the depth on both the bass line and the bass drum. The piano solo is replaced with a section for tuba and rhythm section to create a more interactive interlude section. The transitionary and looping material is borrowed from Jacob Collier?s Do You Feel Love, the bombastic fourteenth track to his 2019 album Djesse, Vol. 2. The sporadic sixteenth notes leading into the looping section is a transcription from legendary guitarist Steve Vai?s solo on the track. This proved to mimic the activity of Kellaway?s piano accompaniment, yet offering a portion of more modern writing. A funk bassline sets up a section of looped thematic fragments, eventually tumbling into the next section of the piece. What results is mashup of Kellaway?s melodic writing with Collier?s playfulness of sound and groove. Collier is a masterful composer and arranger himself, gaining recognition at a young age for his harmonically complex song covers and virtuosic instrumental playing, often playing every instrument on the recording. This change to the original composition provides opportunity to demonstrate the multitude of sonic environments and styles the tuba voice benefits. The da capo was also slowed down to resemble a yearning ballad version of the first theme previously heard, immediately juxtaposed when the piece jumps back into the electro-dance groove. The total range required to perform The Morning Song is E-flat1 to B-flat4, regardless of arrangement. While this project promotes a sense of adventure and bravery, consideration towards the lip tissue and emotional well-being must be taken before embarking on this journey of a piece. The increase in tempo helped ease tension off sustained pitches in the upper registers. Playing alongside electronic instruments, samples, and MIDI expose intonation and timbre inconsistencies instantly. 25 Minuano The Pat Metheny group, founded in 1977 by guitarist Pat Metheny and keyboardist Lyle Mays, challenged the genre of jazz for more than three decades. Their influence reached beyond the traditional scope of jazz, being the only group or nominee in history to ever win ten Grammy Awards in ten different categories. The diverse blend of musical styles is rooted in Metheny and Mays?s exposure to music from around the world, both through collaborations and their travels. The members of the Pat Metheny group, virtuosic instrumentalists in their own right, used the latest in music technology including electronic instruments and processed sounds, both live and recorded. These practices in innovation of jazz, rock, and many related subgenres shaped Metheny?s drive to constantly ?evolve the improvisational and sonic potential of his instrument.?41 Minuano (Six Eight), the opening track to Pat Metheny Group?s sixth album Still Life (Talking), was written by Metheny and Mays in 1987. The word ?Minuano? comes from the Portuguese language, and represents a cold, howling wind found following rains in the southwestern region of South America. The piece opens with a ballad that quickly introduces the hemiola heard throughout: the piano part strict in its off-beat ostinato in three, while the bass and harmonic structure move along the duple feel of the time signature. This feel shifts when the head of the tune is introduced: the bass walks on the pulse of three while the melody is primarily in the six-eight meter. The head, an even simple binary structure of thirty-two bars total, is immediately followed by an improvised section, where the B section of the melody returns at the end of the solo. The tune immediately jumps into an interlude that features a more expansive 41 Pat Metheny, ?Bio,? PMTours, Inc., https://www.patmetheny.com/bio/ (accessed March 1, 2022). 26 percussion section, where a new ostinato is introduced by marimba. The interlude orchestration thickens as it builds, then unravels into the recapitulation of the same head, followed by a shouting outro that ends the piece at maximum intensity. The Pat Metheny Song Book, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation, and the album Still Life (Talking) were used as reference in order to make the arrangement for this project. The important figures, such as the melody, harmonic structure, and ostinatos, are provided in the song book?s lead sheet. Metheny hailed bassist Steve Rodby as the group?s ?essential and often unheralded guide,?42 so careful consideration to transcribe the Rodby?s performance was employed. The full instrumentation consists of tuba solo, keyboard, bass, drum set, congas, castanets, and marimba. All percussion parts were recorded remotely, while the keyboard and bass parts are MIDI. Individual mics for each drum kit part helped in mixing the percussion to provide a realistic depth to the sound, and allowed for more detailed mixing. Pat Metheny is recognized for his ?trademarked playing style, which blended the loose and flexible articulation customarily reserved for horn players with an advanced rhythmic and harmonic sensibility.?43 This is evident in his vibrant sound that can cut through the ensemble, but can be tender enough to fade into the background. The mellow articulation yields to a clear and distinctive sound that adapts to every sonic environment. The voice of the tuba in the recording aims to reflect the adaptive ability of this sound. For example, the tuba in the introduction aims to blend in with the texture of the ensemble, and increases intensity while adding more clarity in the repeat by playing the melody up an octave. These decisions are meant 42 Pat Metheny, ?News: Further reflections from Pat,? PMTours, Inc., https://www.patmetheny.com/news/full_display.cfm?id=138 (accessed March 1, 2022). 43 Pat Metheny, ?Bio,? PMTours, Inc., https://www.patmetheny.com/bio/ (accessed March 1, 2022). 27 to reflect the growing howl of wind blowing. This also models what Metheny plays on the album, a consideration taken throughout the performance. For the improvised section, homage is paid to Pat Metheny by transcribing his guitar solo for the tuba solo. This not only accurately compares the versatility of the both instruments, but provided insight and a guide to Metheny?s approach to improvisation. The interlude showcases a variety of skills for the soloist. The melody in the bass during the first repeat allows the tuba to be in its comfortable voice range. The bass solo that follows was treated more as a duet in this arrangement, to allow the tuba to continue to blend with a different role, aiding with the change in timbre for this section. As the interlude continues, and the bassline becomes more active, the tuba voice comes forward as the lead melodic voice again, gaining a boost from some layered harmonies. The overall range performed on this recording spans from B1 to A4. This range lies well with the euphonium, and it is common for tubists to benefit from wielding both instruments in their arsenal. While only a bass tuba was used in this project, other low brass instruments will find the arrangement performable without need for octave adjustments. It is possible to also perform the head and outro of the tune for a more expedient performance, though the piece loses its diversity in timbres. The transcribed guitar solo is not necessary for a performance, however, an understanding of improvising over a non-functional chord progression is helpful. Norwegian tubist ?ystein Baadsvik recorded a version of Minuano (Six Eight) on his 2013 album Chameleon. Baadsvik collaborated with Fanfare Band of the Royal Netherlands Army ?Mounted Regiments? for the album, and the arrangement of Minuano (Six Eight) was by Ray Farr. Though impressive in its performance for the size of sound and technical mastery, in my opinion the recording lacks the depth and color changes of the Metheny original. There are also portions of the interlude, as well as repeated sections, that are skipped, most likely to offer a 28 more expedited performance. The Pat Metheny Group often skipped the ballad introduction in live performance, though this was to change the pace of the set ? often preceded by ballads. A rhythm section track was exported from the arrangement used in this project to allow for live performances using the same sound sets and stems, thus enabling ease of access the full spectrum of the composition. Metheny mentions: with the recording of this piece, we began a new and important era for the band, one in which we were able to focus much more extensively on the details of the recorded sound and performances; we finally felt free to really explore the studio and what it had to offer us on a more complete musical level.44 Ultimately, the recorded performance for the project embodies the sonic spectrum that this piece stands for. I Can?t Go for That After finishing a recording session for their upcoming Private Eyes album, Darryl Hall, John Oates, and sound engineer Neil Kernon remained in Electric Lady studios to sketch out one of the band?s most recognizable tunes. I Can?t Go for That (No Can Do) started with the Roland CompuRyhthm?s ?Rock 1? preset. Hall states: ?I pushed the button and out came a rhythm. Then I played the first bassline that came into my head, followed by some chords, and thought: ?Oh man! There?s something happening here!??45 This spontaneity led to Darryl Hall and John Oates?s fourth number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. The lyric?s subject matter is vague. Surprisingly, that was a planned notion, according to John Oates in a 2014 interview with The Philadelphia Inquirer: 44 Pat Metheny, Pat Metheny Songbook (Milwaukee: Hal Leonard, n.d.). 45 Dave Simpson, ?Hall and Oates: how we made I Can?t Go for That (No Can Do),? The Guardian, 2018, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/02/hall-and-oates-how-we-made- i-cant-go-for-that-no-can-do-interview (accessed March 5, 2022). 29 That song is typical of a lot of the lyrics we?ve written over the years. It seems like it?s about one thing, but it?s really not. What we have always tried to do, and if we have any kind of philosophy for our lyrics over the years it was to try to take a universal subject and somehow make it seem personal so that people could relate to it as if it was a personal thing. The underlying subject matter is actually not. That song is about the music business. That song is really about not being pushed around by big labels, managers, and agents and being told what to do, and being true to yourself creatively. That?s what the songs about. People take it and impose their own personal ideas about what it?s really about.46 I Can?t Go for That (No Can Do) serves a dual purpose in this project. First and foremost, the piece demonstrates the benefits of using a variety of popular and commercial music elements in music study. This author connects to Oates?s statement about personal creative fortitude, and chose this piece to make light of the sterilization of music in academia. The arrangement for this project followed the creation of the original piece. While a Roland CR-78 was not used, this diagram of the Rock 1-A pattern provided the entirety of the drum part (Figure 5). The nearly minute-long introduction is transparent in its layering of voices, offering a glimpse into Hall and Oates writing process. The groove is built from the bottom up: drums, bass, guitar riff, harmony. The song follows the popular music formula of verse-bridge- chorus with an introduction and an outro/fade. Transcribing the music in Sibelius and exporting a MIDI file excused the absence of the Roland CR-78 or a Korg synthesizer. Studio One, as well as other music notation software and digital audio workstations (DAW), have comparable, if not more extensive libraries of electronic instruments and audio samples. 46 Leah Kauffman, ?John Oates on his new album, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, and what ?I Can?t Go for That? is really about,? Philadelphia Inquirer, 2014, https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/music/John_Oates_on_his_new_album_Rock_an d_Roll_Hall_of_Fame_induction_and_what_I_Cant_Go_For_That_is_really_about_.html (accessed March 5, 2022). 30 Figure 4: CR-78 Rock-1A preset diagram.47 The performance of this piece addressed a common issue in popular music of rhythm. The melody was transcribed to match the inflections and ornamentation of Darryl Hall?s performance on the album Private Eyes. As with any live performance, there is a bit of variation between the same melodic fragments in all sections of the song, interpreted as improvisation. The first saxophone solo is a direct transcription, while the outro has some original improvisation. These decisions were made to show a sampling of how either would function for the tuba. Many instrumentalists and educators may find that not all arrangements and transcriptions of popular music will be accurate in regards to rhythm, yet the overall forms and norms of the styles should identify when liberties may be taken. These discrepancies and decisions are further discussed in the following chapter. 47 Jesus Diego Olivas, ?Machine Rhythms: Roland CR-78 CompuRhythm,? ZZounds Music Blog. https://blog.zzounds.com/2018/03/02/machine-rhythms-roland-cr-78-compurhythm (accessed March 1 2022). 31 Chapter 4: Elements of Popular Music Popular music?s ability to challenge the norms of music in academia hold its greatest strength. While the three pieces used for this project do not represent all of popular music, they do highlight the essence for the need to study popular music traits and materials. In this chapter, the specific popular and commercial music elements used in the production process are dissected to further their intent and showcase educational possibilities. Each element correlates with the 2014 NCCAS Standards, attempting to answer the essential questions for the three artistic processes in our model for inclusion (creating, performing, and responding). Creating In Chapter 2, the model for inclusion first asserts that creation is necessary when considering a new work. Creation outside of performance becomes challenging with a constructed composition, especially if improvisatory or optional elements are absent. The assembling of new arrangements for each piece does constitute creation at its most prime understanding, yet each creation models different forms of popular and commercial music production. The recordings created for this project address two key issues concerning the validity of popular music: is the creation inherently new, and if so, in what way? Minuano addresses the nature of facsimile in recording, causing organizational and conceptual decisions to guide the performance with more structure. Middleton asserts that ?specific media certainly impose limits and constraints, and they channel, even force, production in particular directions.?48 Recordings offer more concrete evidence than folk or popular music of a pre-industrialized era, particularly when oral and aural dissemination were the only means of 48 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 77. 32 production aside from literacy. Both written and oral techniques perhaps inform one another into creating arrangements and compositions that best reflect an outcome of popular traditions through commercial means. The original Still Life (Talking) recording used in this project was referenced between several accounts of live performance by the Pat Metheny Group, to understand differences in performance and venue, in order to capture the correct soundscape for the tuba. These were juxtaposed with Baadsvik?s recording of the same piece. The original recording was the only recording presented in full matching the lead sheets provided by Pat Metheny. In live performance, the Pat Metheny Group often skipped the slower introduction: ?We stopped doing the intro portion around the time of Secret Story to just keep the show moving ? usually the tunes just before that have been ballads, so I always felt we needed to kind of wrap things up by that time and ?cut to the chase? so to speak.?49 Similarly, Baadsvik removes several repeats in the tune, including the one in the ballad, improvisational section, interlude, and recapitulations, most likely to cut to the chase as well. This project presents the tune in full in order to capture the subtle orchestration differences displayed in the performance to assert that the voice of the tuba is capable of these differences as well. As previously mentioned, the ballad opening features the tuba played first in a lower octave to blend with the minimal accompaniment, then up an octave to provide more clarity and a sonic shift, supported in the additional auxiliary percussion and rhythmic movement. Orchestrating the interlude presented several new challenges to demonstrate the tuba?s flexibility in roles. As the bass presents a rhythmic motif after the marimba ostinato/melody is introduced, the tuba both supports and drives the tune forward to a written bass solo. The choice to keep the solo in the bass and add 49 Pat Metheny, ?Question and Answer,? PMTours, Inc., https://www.patmetheny.com/qa/questionView.cfm?queID=117 (accessed March 1, 2022). 33 tuba as harmony helps transition the interlude into the thicker harmonic section, where the bass voices hold a countermelody to the chordal ostinato in the keys. These layering effects model both Metheny and Mays?s compositional styles for the piece, as well as demonstrate ideas a la Roger Bobo by using the tuba as a means of color alongside its virtuosic ability. Music engraving represents an important skill of the commercial music world. A practice that has been around for centuries of music, the ability to communicate musical notation and dictation to a wider audience has allowed increasingly complex music to reach many audiences. With the use of software such as Sibelius, music notation can not only be reproduced, but modified and translated through electronic instruments. The Morning Song was engraved from the original arrangement Kellaway wrote for Bobo, implying a set of understanding of musical literacy and structures. The additional instruments (percussion, bass, and extra harmonic elements) were a result of the planned soundscape that models electronic dance-pop music. No recording of The Morning Song implies this style difference. As previously stated, Bobo?s recording on Gravity is Light Today featured synthesizer, being the most innovative factor in terms of orchestration. Live performances ? Bobo or otherwise ? tend to feature the acoustic piano, distancing the original feel of the piece from this project?s version. However, the process of engraving revealed the compositional elements Kellaway used in The Morning Song that blend jazz, rock, and classical styles, particularly through repetitive harmonic and structural elements that reflect modern popular music commonly distributed to the masses. It was through this discovery that the engraving process led to an orchestration of the piece that not only included different sounds and voicings, but a completely reimagined middle section that favors the melodic instrument ? tuba ? over the traditional piano solo. Rather than provide another improvisational section, the section replaced with a looped sequence of tuba creates a new 34 environment reflective of this digital age where live sound can be captured and used for immediate composition and orchestration. The creation in arranging, orchestrating, and engraving expose issues of notation, both in the practical sense of transcribing notes to page and the social constructs of oral dissemination. Middleton continues in his writing that: it is difficult to write down a Jimi Hendrix guitar solo, and still harder to play it from such a notated version. It would be equally difficult to create a Beethoven symphony without notation. Non-literate music-making almost demands repetitive or traditional frameworks?these stimulate improvised nuance and inflection; yet transcribed into notation, with the nuances missing, it tends to look banal. 50 The academic study of popular music allows musicians to connect the literate intricacies of composition with the spontaneity and nuance of improvisation and dialect. The transcribed guitar solo in Minuano reflects the marriage of these two concepts. First and foremost, the rhythmic dictation compared to what Metheny plays are not exact. His interplay of the two-against-three hemiola is present throughout all solo sections. Additionally, Metheny often plays toward the back end of either pulse, a commonality in jazz performance to elicit a smooth and nonchalant style of performance, further complicating the exactness of transcription. There is an extended run of impressive sixteenth notes Metheny plays leading into the second play of the form that were simplified in this performance in order to outline the rhythmic and harmonic gesture of the line while admitting that this author does not have the total virtuosic performance package that Metheny displays. Certain octave displacements are left off the notation, causing the aural study of Metheny?s improvising to further inform the performance aspects on the recording. The creation of the arrangement for I Can?t Go for That addresses all three areas of consideration for its inclusion as acceptable repertoire. Both decision in arrangement and 50 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 77. 35 performance hint upon the commercial market?s struggle between reaching musically trained or literate audiences and the perceived ?amateur? production of music through electronic equipment and instruments.51 The tuba represents the former, as a certain level of study and therefore skill are required to operate acoustic instruments at any rate. The electronic ensemble provides a skilled tubist, or other instrumentalist for the sake of argument, the ability to exist in an infinite amount of spaces, and thusly may introduce any number of new skills, styles, or musical qualities found across genres. As mentioned in Chapter 3, the rhythmic and pitch inflections of Darryl Hall?s voice demonstrate the improbability to accurately transcribe from performance, yet do introduce to acoustic instrumentalists a need to be able to play in-between realms of exact pitch, sound, and style. Articulation begins to mimic speech and voice, rather than represent technical norms. Addressing the vocal component to the translation of instrumental music is a topic worth deep consideration across genres, one that this project admittedly glosses over but acknowledges is one of the many elements of popular music that deserve its own dedicated study. Performing The second consideration for inclusion ? the factor of performing ? is the most commonly recognizable facet to making music. Middleton asserts that it is important to remember that in one sense, music, being a performed art, always has an ?oral? dimension, even when being notated; writing a score certainly affects how the music is conceived, but not absolutely, for performance may restore some inflectional, intuitive elements.52 51 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 80. 52 Ibid., 81. 36 However, the performance art of music in our educational systems reflect the systems established in Western music as a whole, and do not take into account the cultural aspects of all music. Middleton draws conjecture between potential confusion of ?mechanical reproducibility? and ?electronic producibility.?53 Avant-garde composers embrace the latter in their inclusion of electronic elements, as is apparent in the tuba community with new compositions for tuba and electronic media ? enough to constitute its own chapter in the Guide to the Tuba Repertoire and formal study. The acoustic element of tuba performance, recorded or otherwise, support the producibility of new music through electronics, while addressing the reproducibility in this project. All of the arrangements in this project are reproducible using the same fixed and recorded media, while representing two areas of popular and commercial music. Minuano relates to mechanical reproducibility, as the exact same soundscape of this edition?s recording may be extracted for live performance. Live processing of the tuba voice must be considered if an exact replication is sought, yet can alternatively be completely performed acoustically using the same instrumentation with human performers. The Morning Song addresses the electronic producibility of music for the tuba, and ultimately changes the sonic environment in order to introduce the voice of the instrument in new regards. There is no correct model either way, but both understandings of performance environment should challenge the inclusion of a piece of popular music. I Can?t Go for That is recorded to reflect both arguments: the reproducibility of late 1970s pop-rock and soul electronic sounds with the producibility of a new acoustic voice. The practice of recording challenges the performance viabilities of the tuba. Though editing and mixing after performance may enable any instrument to exceed their possibilities, 53 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 83. 37 this project sought to demonstrate the sound as natural as possible, in order to protect the counterargument of mechanical reproducibility that relates to amateurism. Microphone type, placement, and room sound alter recorded performances on acoustic instruments. As mentioned in chapter 1, tubas in the recording studio were common alternatives to recording strings. Although bell-front instruments were created to assist in recording, the performance remained linked to the bass voice and supporting roles of the instrument. Bevan writes that: It was not until after the Second World War that with the interest in ?new sounds,? shown at the same time by jazzmen, there came a general awareness that the voice of the tuba had a distinctive character.54 In addressing the performance of a piece, the arrangements in this project not only allow the tubist to perform the solo or melodic voice, but introduce performing considerations traditionally found in commercial and popular music. The study of how to perform with particular recording setups serves both the outcome of the product, as well as informs the process of study. Ultimately, the decision to record I Can?t Go for That similar to the Hall and Oates original reflects Arnold Jacobs?s philosophy of imitation. As he states: It is perfectly legitimate to imitate characteristics from a wide variety of fine musicians and absorb their abilities. Your own creativity must be built on top of this as well. The point is, you do not consider the tuba, you consider music.55 Though improvisational aspects of all three recordings address different forms of non-literate performance, I Can?t Go for That demonstrates a basic outline of situational imitation that exposes the instrument to new abilities and skills. Improvisation is commonly broken down into harmonic progression sets and corresponding scale or tonal outlines, but the deciding factor of when and what to improvise goes beyond the understood theory of instant composition. The tune 54 Clifford Bevan, The Tuba Family (New York: Scribner, 1978), 189. 55 Brian Frederiksen, Arnold Jacobs: Song and Wind (USA: WindSong Press, 1996), 146. 38 allows a tubist with limited or elementary improvisational skills to both analyze performance norms and create new ideas and skillsets in a controlled, yet simplified, environment. Responding While the creation and performing aspects of this project provide concrete evidence of valuable skills to the medium of tuba performance and performers alike, the ability to respond to music remains subjective. The justifications of the former two ideals allow for pragmatic discussion in regards to inclusion of these styles of music and their elements. In order to comment on the value of music, the discussion and analysis of music must go beyond understanding and address the enjoyment and personal use for music. Music broadly represents time periods, cultures, languages, politics, phenomenal functions of emotion and thought, as well as other categories of valuation. Middleton offers several considerations in order to decipher value from music: 1. How many positions, ?voices?, identities are engaged in the music practice in question? 2. Does the practice provoke debate? 3. Does it provoke shock, not necessarily of the new but in relation to prevailing norms and self-images? 4. How deep is the potential or actual response? 5. What is the music practice?s mobilizing power? What amount and kind of activity is provoked? 6. To what extent does the practice engage a sense of agency? 7. What is its connective power? 8. What order of desire is in play?56 These considerations suggest a type of participation in music in order to be assessed. Participation itself does not validate music, but certainly allows for the determination of substance for the performer. It is then up to the performer to challenge their creation and 56 Richard Middleton, Studying Popular Music (Philadelphia: Open University Press, 1990), 254- 255. 39 performance and any piece of music, new or otherwise, and create value that may be seen pragmatically, whether that be understood or simply appreciated. The response this project has towards music for the tuba comes to this: the history of the instrument, the field of academic music, and innovation of musical creation and performance all point towards embracing non-traditional roles in music, in order to create a holistic music and educational experience. Rather than rejecting schools of thought, the integration of all forms of music is the true demonstration of inclusivity, allowing the scope of music education to address the ability to communicate through all art forms. Furthermore, allowing musicians, artists, and creators alike to justify their works allows for conversation that leads to more understanding. An example outline for a project that allows for students of any skill level is included in the Appendix of this project. 40 Chapter 5: Conclusions The integration of popular music for musicians trained through academia covers a wide range of skill sets and ideals that are often found in traditional Western classical music training. While working on this project, the model of inclusion allowed me to create new arrangements and material for solo tuba, perform in styles typically unstudied in tuba repertoire, and use music as a response to the educational environment I have been immersed in for a decade, both as a student and an educator. New commissions for the tuba and imaginations using these elements of music and more will allow more students at all skill levels to use the tuba as a medium of expression that will hopefully not be limited due to what is perceived as possible on the instrument. There are many pedagogical benefits toward this approach of studying music. Aside from exposure to new music and unfamiliar styles, performers have the opportunity to create ensembles or sound environments that best match their performance or creative goals. Recording equipment such as microphones, DAWs, and other music industry standards expose instrumentalists to a basic understanding of the production of music in mainstream media, as well as provide tools to enhance practice sessions. The use of popular music in music academia connects more instrumentalists and musicians to cultures around the world in addition to their own. Educators and musicians alike then have more opportunities to address any social, philosophical, or musical issues through new and innovative methods of delivery. Some musicians in the tuba world are embracing this approach, two of which being S?rgio Carolino and Thomas Leleu. Carolino is well known for his experimental projects, most recently releasing Below 0 (2022), a thirty-four-minute composition for a newly invented instrument called the Lusophone. The piece was designed to ?create soundscapes never before 41 explored,? employing an abundance of improvisational and extended techniques, coupled with masterful recording effects and effect pedals. French tubist Thomas Leleu?s latest album Born to Groove (2021) is an homage to popular music that he listens to, and explores realms similar to those explored in this project. These are only two examples of the ever-changing landscape possible for tuba as a solo voice, with hopefully more to come through the inclusion of all music types in our educational systems. It is my opinion that the ability for musicians to respond to their world will be hampered without a holistic approach to music. My personal upbringing did not support much tuba playing, as I found my younger self gravitating towards jazz bass playing and creating music for myself and colleagues to play that could not be found in our ensembles or classes. In fact, there were many moments in my musical journey when tuba playing was not encouraged as a career. My hope is that this project may inspire upcoming musicians to lean on their artistic passions and desires to guide them in using whatever instrument they chose as their medium of expression. Throughout this project, I learned that I am capable of more than I imagined possible or gave myself credit for. The self-confidence I gained in completing this project has helped me to realize a path to build a similar confidence or trajectory for students of all instruments. I believe the aspects of this project can be extracted by any instrumentalist in order to justify and create a new sonic canvas from which they can deliver new artistic messages. This project supports freedom of creation by the performer in order to address the skill levels necessary or desired for performance. The appendices of this project were created to provide a guide for any educators or musicians to begin the processes necessary to accomplish a project of this nature. A baseline of skillsets should be evaluated in the initial stages of a new project, but should not determine the 42 possibilities of the creations. It is my plea that educators begin to integrate these elements into their own studies and curriculum, using any method or program that matches their experience. Even those who may exploring some of the options used in this project can find affordable and user-friendly equipment, software, and other means to introduce new methods of musical study. 43 Appendix 1 ? Equipment Shure SM7B A cardioid dynamic microphone with slotted response select switches for bass rolloff and mid-range emphasis. Advertised as a vocal microphone, this piece is commonly found in media outlets such as podcasts and talk shows. I find the flat response setting allows for a clean yet natural tuba sound across all registers. Cloudlifter CL-1 The Cloudlifter is a mic activator that provides additional power to support peak performance from dynamic and ribbon microphones. The product boost the gain in a clean fashion that eliminates feedback. This activator also allows for the use of phantom power, acting as a filter to protect dynamic and ribbon microphones that may not support phantom power. Focusrite Scarlett Solo (Second Generation) This USB audio interface has one XLR input and one quarter-inch cable input and supports phantom power. These microphone preamps are user friendly with simple tools and connection options. Unfortunately, they do not produce enough power for more complex microphones, so additional equipment may be necessary to avoid using the phantom power on microphones that would suffer damage. Focusrite does offer preamps with more input and power options, at a higher cost. Avid Sibelius A musical notation software used to create all arrangements for this project. This digital sketchpad allows for composers, arrangers, and engravers to efficiently produce scores with fairly accurate virtual instrument representation. PreSonus Studio One (version 5.4) The digital audio workstation (DAW) used to record, mix, and master all pieces in this project. Song sessions were created using the MIDI files exported from the Sibelius notation software. Sessions had all necessary musical information built into the system, allowing any importation of stems to be added or subtracted to the piece. 44 Appendix 2 ? Exemplar for Academic Use Inclusion of Music Project: Popular/Commercial Music Project Overview: This project will answer the following questions in order to include non-standard repertoire or genres in an instrumental music performance: - Did the student create? - Did the student perform? - Did the student respond to music by conveying a message? Create ? What was created in this project that is new? ? How was this project created? ? Why was this project create? Perform ? What are the basic performance details? o Who is performing? o What is being used for performance? o Where is this performance taking place? o When is this performance happening? Live or recorded? ? What are the expressive elements of music demonstrated in this music/performance? ? What are the technical elements of music demonstrated in this music/performance? Respond ? What is the reason for choosing to include this music? ? What are the technical elements of music demonstrated in this music/performance? ? 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