Conference proceedings of the Music Encoding Conference 2020 with Foreword by Richard Freedman and Anna J. Kijas.

Digital methods have begun to make their way into the research practices of music scholars, and most this insurgence can be attributed to the rise of the discipline of music technology. Though music encoding is becoming increasingly prevalent among the research and teaching methodologies of music scholars, evidence gathered from course…[Read more]

In this progress report, we describe the issues encountered during the design and implementation of TabMEI, a new MEI module for encoding instrumental tablatures. We discuss the main challenges faced and lay out our workflow for implementing the TabMEI module. In addition, we present a number of example encodings, and we describe anticipated…[Read more]

Poster

Underground ‘extreme’ styles of heavy metal are marked apart by other sub-genres of metal by their adoption of a punk rock ethos and overt rejection of commercialism. In metal culture being ‘true’ is a by-word for a perceived authenticity of the artist(s) in their commitment to the culture and integrity as composers/performers. Authenticity is a…[Read more]

The music of Soundgarden represents a unique blend of heavy metal power and and art-rock sensitivity, this is clearly displayed in the song ‘Outshined’. The unorthodox harmony, use of odd time time signatures and sectional variation seem to blur genre boundaries within rock music and also lend the music a sense of emotional instability that runs…[Read more]

Guitar solos were a defining foundational aspects in the early formative years of what would become known as heavy metal music. Though Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath has been largely credited as the most influential guitarist on the wider genre, this essay argues that it is the style of Ritchie Blackmore that has been of greater importance and…[Read more]

A somewhat whimsical musing on music videos by Fall Out Boy and Beyoncé, all through the lens of Lucretius by way of John Rahn.

From 1990 to 1999 MTV promoted a series of 288 music videos called “Buzz Clips”, designed to highlight emerging artists and genres. Such promotion had a measurable impact on an artists’ earnings and record sales. To date, the kinds of musical and visual practices MTV promoted have not been quantitatively analyzed. Just what made some videos Buzzw…[Read more]

A consideration of 14 collaborative music videos by Emil Nava and Calvin Harris, closing with a close analysis of their work on Rihanna’s “This is What You Came For” (2016).