One of the similarities between the ideas and philosophies underlying the musical compositions of John Cage and Hands Percussion Malaysia (HANDS) is their desire to explore musical sounds beyond the conventional and cultural norms of their time. Cage utilised Asian philosophy as inspiration for his aleatoric and chance music compositions, while HANDS fused sound art with movement. Founded on shi gu (shi: lion, gu: drum) drumming, movement and choreography, HANDS now experiments with a variety of musical instruments from various cultures to expand on the sounds and timbres produced in their performances. They merge extracts of musical elements from selected musical cultures, rhythmic drumming, and synchronised creative movements into their concert pieces. Some aspects of HANDS compositions are based on interculturalism, but many are new creations that decontextualise the musical instrument from its essentialised cultural-musical context. Based on interviews with HANDS_ artistic director.....

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Early exploration of the use of computers in Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI), somehow allowed me to venture further into the domain of sound. Nothing much was known or noted in terms of the notion or historical perspectives of electroacoustic music in Malaysia. Unlike in the West, our music industry accommodated Western music, particularly popular music, but not experimental or electroacoustic music. The advancement in computer technology in music applications introduced new creative ideas, and its democratization permitted more creative exploration, technically and aesthetically. This paper is a recollection of the long journey of a Malaysian composer venturing into electroacoustic music...

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Kajian ini bertujuan untuk menilai pelaksanaan program keagamaan terhadap pengimarahan Masjid Angkatan Tentera Malaysia (ATM). Objektif kajian yang ditetapkan bagi mencapai tujuan tersebut iaitu: (1) mengenal pasti tahap penerimaan anggota tentera berdasarkan elemen konteks, input, proses dan produk dalam pelaksanaan program keagamaan terhadap pengimarahan Masjid ATM; (2) menganalisis perbezaan berdasarkan demografi anggota tentera dengan hasil pencapaian program; dan (3) menganalisis hubungan di antara elemen konteks, input dan proses dengan hasil pencapaian program. Kajian ini telah mengadaptasi satu model penilaian iaitu model CIPP dari Stufflebeam (1971). Rekabentuk kajian ini adalah pendekatan kuantitatif berbentuk tinjauan dengan menggunakan borang soal selidik sebagai instrumen. Sampel terdiri daripada 380 anggota tentera dari tiga Masjid ATM yang terdapat di Pangkalan Tentera Laut Diraja Malaysia. Data kajian ini di analisis dengan perisian Statistical Packages for Social Scien.....

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This study aims to examine the relationships between stress and depressive symptoms on job performance. The role of emotional intelligence (EI) was used to determine whether it has a moderating effect on relationships. Stratified sampling was utilized to select 282 secondary school teacher in Kelantan. Stress, depressive symptoms, EI, and job performance were measured using the Job Stress Scale, the Major Depression Inventory, the USM Emotional Quotient Inventory, and the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire 1.0, and all of these were translated back-to-back. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analysis methods were used to analysed the data. The results indicated that there was a significant positive relationship between stress and job performance r = .169, whilst there was a significant negative relationship between depressive symptoms and job performance among those secondary school teachers r = .-174. In addition, it found that there was no significant effect of EI on .....

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The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the overall perception of the musical expressiveness of a piano performance is affected by the mode of presentation - audio, visual, or audio/visual combination - and whether or not mistakes made by the performer affect expressiveness scores. Subjects (N=90), were undergraduate music majors, randomly selected from two large state universities. A professional pianist performed an excerpt of a piece in three perceptual modes: audio only, visual only, and audio/visual combination, with and without mistakes. Subjects only saw, heard or heard and saw performances with and without mistakes and then rated each presentation for its musical expressiveness using a seven-point Likert scale. Two One- Way ANOVAs with repeated measures were used to analyze the data of audio only and audio/visual combination performances. A t-test with dependent variables was used to analyze the visual only mode. There were significant differences between the expre.....

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Developing an expressive and beautiful tone is one of the essential accomplishments to which instrumentalists and singers of all levels and styles aspire. Many tone instructional methods and concepts have been prevalent worldwide since Quantz_s time (1697-1773) and remain influential. Tone quality is considered as the most important basic attribute of all music and the most vital concept in the evaluation of the goodness or badness of a tone, although in musical literature the concept and its pedagogy are most unexplored and misinterpreted. In this research, primal sound is used as a natural and holistic element of tone pedagogy that encompasses the emotionally motivated expression and reflexive automatic body responses that engage the whole performer_s body and mind. This research investigates how the reflexive automatic body responses can be used as a facilitator between instrument and instrumentalist to construct the key components of tone and tone pedagogy. This research explores t.....

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This paper is a descriptive study of the creation of a new work that used practicebased and practice-led methodology, birdsong, electro-acoustics and philosophical argument to explore the theories of becoming as representative of the concept of _bring forth_ new truth. The composition which was the focus of the study employed electro-acoustics, live performance and Malaysian avian motifs. Electro-acoustics: to create an accompanying soundscape of bird-calls, and to manipulate particular calls in interplay with the live performer; Live performance with two extra dimensions: extended flute techniques and the application of digital signal processing to create a _more-than-flute_ timbre. The Malaysian avian songs were transcribed into common notation to derive motif material from which some of the melodic, harmonic and rhythmic elements of the composition were created. Based on the case study, it will be argued that the becoming (coming into being) notion of process-relational philosophy v.....

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As a composer, it has always been my intention to produce music which can be listened to, analysed and appreciated for its own sake, without reference to any extra-musical material. However, I have always been acutely aware of the extent to which my compositional process has evolved as a direct result of my engagement with extramusical forms, both as a scholar and a composer. It is my interpretation of these extra-musical forms which both inspires, and finds symbolic expression in, the musical structures and processes contained in my compositions. On one level, these structures and processes function solely as musical entities, and, as such they can be analysed in purely musical terms _ without reference to anything external to my compositions. However, when these entities are examined in relation to the extra-musical forms which influenced their creation, a new dimension of my music is revealed: its symbolic dimension. In this article, I outline the theoretical stances adopted through.....

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This research investigates variables that influence marching band competition scores in Indonesia. By employing Rickel_s (2008) variables, there are several indicators applied in the analysis, such as the number of members in the band, total program budget, number of national competitions participated in, rehearsal hours, and years of experience of the coaches. The sample involved includes 66 marching bands competing in an Indonesian national competition, the Grand Prix Marching Band. Most of the samples participants have made regular appearances in this event during 2006-2009. A questionnaire was given to band directors and/or home coaches. Multiple regression is was used to test the variables. This research has found that not all variables in the model have had a strong influence to on the competition score. Amongst the variables, the coach_s years of experiences hadve the strongest influence to on competition results, followed by the other variables, namely such as the numbers of me.....

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Negeri Perak merupakan sebuah negeri yang kaya dengan khazanah seni dan mempunyai pelbagai bentuk kesenian seperti tarian, silat dan sebagainya yang masih diwarisi sehingga kini khususnya di kalangan orang-orang Melayu. Oleh itu satu kajian perlu diadakan berkaitan muzik tradisi tari rakyat negeri Perak. Tujuan penyelidikan ini adalah untuk mengkaji jenis, bentuk dan fungsi dalam muzik tradisi tari negeri Perak. Berasaskan kepada tujuan ini pengkaji telah melaksanakan kajian menggunakan pendekatan kualitatif dari sudut etnomuzikogi. Kaedah pemerhatian berserta telah diguna pakai semasa pengumpulan data di lapangan. Lokasi kajian yang menjadi tumpuan utama adalah di Tanjong Bidara, Mukim Pulau Tiga, Kampong Gajah, Teluk Intan, Perak. Pengumpulan data di lapangan menggunakan instrument temu bual, rakaman video, rakaman audio multi-tracking dan imeg pegun. Hasil penyelidikan mendapati tiga jenis tarian yang masih dipersembahkan di negeri Perak iaitu Tarian Dabus, Tarian Bubu dan Tarian Lo.....

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