Fausto Romitelli (1963-2004), one of the most inventive composers of his generation, created a musical language that draws inspiration from a multifaceted array of sources, including the technological landscape of daily life, the visual arts, poetry, literature, and philosophy. Furthermore, from early in his career, Romitelli incorporated elements in his...
This paper discusses the role of the Secondary Rainbow Synthesizer in Catherine Lamb’s composition Prisma Interius IX. This instrument is a MIDI keyboard that controls a computer program consisting of a bank of resonant band-pass filters, which are tuned to specific frequencies and can be opened or closed to varying...
In this dissertation I leverage new data from the global music recording industry to study the social foundations of creativity and the relationship between product novelty, gender, and commercial success. In Chapter 1, I investigate how different kinds of social connection influence the creation of novel cultural products. Using data...
In the wake of Hurricane Katrinas dramatic demographic changes, scholars, journalists, and politicians have discussed Mexican migration to New Orleans as a new phenomenon and an unwelcome threat to the citys social order, rich culture, and tourist economy. This dissertation challenges these ideas and demonstrates some of the myriad ways...
Learning to play an instrument requires the progressive tuning almost all of a student's senses. He trains his ears to hear consonance and dissonance and eyes to read sheet music or read other musicians' body language, for example. The protracted training that is required to become a musician has been...