Popular music of the 1980s is remembered today as having a “sound” that is somehow unified and generalizable. The ’80s sound is tied to the electric piano preset of the Yamaha DX7 synthesizer. Not only was this preset (E. PIANO 1) astonishingly prevalent—heard in up to 61% of #1 hits on the pop, country, and R&B Billboard charts in 1986—bu…[Read more]

https://www.ispsconference.nl/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/AbstractBook-def-red.pdf

Abstract number 10

To further promote the performance of African American spirituals and art songs, this article offers a different perspective – direct response from collegiate voice students, voice teachers, vocal coaches, and professional singers. In the spring of 2005, “The African American Art Song Survey” was developed and disseminated through the Internet to…[Read more]

Of the 762 brass bands I have records of from County Durham, around 130 were colliery bands (and more of them would have been directly connected to the local colliery, even if not specifically named after the mine or mining company). This article looks briefly at the history of the Durham Miners’ Gala and the colliery bands that performed at it.