Senior Capstone Experience
The Senior Capstone Experience in music may be fulfilled by writing an extensive research paper or an extended composition; by presenting a research paper in conjunction with a lecture recital; by performing an hour-long solo recital; or by combining a half recital with a research paper.
Past SCE Highlights
Research Paper: "Crab Canons: The Backwards Walking Crustacean with a Twist"
April, 2023Faithlin Hunter's thesis explores the topological phenomenon of Bach’s Crab Canon and whether it is truly a composition on a Mobius strip. Through mathematical concepts such as surfaces and transformations, music visualization can be expanded to aid audiences in understanding the compositional choices of composers.
Original Composition: Orange Moon Luficer
June, 2021Orange Moon Lucifer is about defeat, freedom, hope, and pride. Chris Summers used orchestral instruments to illustrate his understanding of traditional Western music and electronic instruments to represent his abilities as a producer and musician. The project was mostly written using MuseScore 3 and was mixed and edited using Ableton Live 11. The orchestral VST plugin pack that he used is called the Hollywood Diamond Orchestra by EastWest.
Piano Recital: Solo Piano & Rock Keyboard
May 1, 2021Annie Javitt presents keyboard recital featuring both solo piano works and ensemble works with a student rock band. Solo portion features works by Mozart, Chopin, Bach, and Copland. Rock ensemble portion features works by Billie Joel, Allman Brothers, Elton John, Deep Pulrple, and The Who.
Audio Engineering and Original Compositions
May 5, 2021Danny Palmatary developed a thesis that would explore multiple aspect of audio engineering. The work is divided my work into two main categories: Originals and Mixes/Covers. All of the original works were composed, recorded, and mixed exclusively by me. They primarily feature modular synthesis pieces I have composed over the past 6 months. The Mixes/Covers folder consists of pieces that were picked up in various stages after composition. The covers folder features works that I interrupted from other artists. Most mixes have accompanying Pro Tools sessions, however the works that do not are compiled in either MP3 or MP4 formats.
RECENT SENIOR CAPSTONE EXPERIENCE (SCE) TOPICS
Research Papers
Many of our students opt to pursue original research, drawing from their experience with historical musicology, ethnomusciology, and music theory. Independent research can take many forms, including technical musicial analysis, archival work, and ethnomusciological methodoology, including participant observation and ethnographic inteviews. Students who double major are encouraged to seek topics that belnd their disciplnes.
Faithlin Hunter '23 "Crab Canons: The Backwards Walking Crustacean with a Twist" (Advisors: Jonathan McCollum & Kyle Wilson)
Destiny Smith '21 "The Function(s) and Value(s) of Music: According to the Philosophical Approach in Western Music" (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum)
Gabriella Bucci '21 "Music and Propaganda in the Soviet Union.” (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum)
Kalee Schotsch '20 "Personality Types and Their Attraction to Different Music Genres" (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum)
Ana Lopez '19 "The Role of Music in the Survival of Afro-Cuban Santeria/Lucumí and in the Development of the Afro-Cuban Population" (Advisors: Kenneth Schweitzer & Aaron Lampman)
Alyssa Robison '19 "The Hidden Mathematics of Music" (Advisors: Jonathan McCollum & Kyle Wilson)
Megan Stagg ' 19 "Stephen Sondheim: The Impact of his, Early Life on his Musicals and a Vocal Recital" (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum)
Arianna Hall '19 " Killing Me Softly: The Evolution of K-Pop and, its Implications for C-Pop" (Advisors: Ken Schweitzer & Andrew Oros)
Recitals
Students can opt to offer a full recital or lecture-recital (lasting about 60 minutes), or a half recital combined with a research paper. Recitals are a very personal experience, and students work closely with their studio instructor, thesis advsior, and professors, to design a meaningful program.
Berkeligh Fadden '21 Vocal and Koto Recital (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum) Studio Instructors: Carolene Winter & Jonathan McCollum
Annie Javitt '21 Piano Recital (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer) Studio Instructor: Woobin Park
Megan Dietrich '20 Vocal Recital (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer) Studio Instructor: Bennett Umhau
Mikala Herlihy '20 Piano Recital"(Advisor: Ken Schweitzer) Studio Instructor: Woobin Park
Noe Perales '20 Piano Recital (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum) Studio Instructor: Woobin Park
John "Duncan" McRae '20 Tuba Recital (Advisor & Studio Instructor: Jonathan McCollum)
Zhenyang Jin '19 Saxophone Recital (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer) Studio Instructor: John Thomas
Reanna Sherman '19 "Voice Recital" (Advsior: Jonathan McCollum) Studio Instructor: Carolene Winter
Emma Hoey '19 "Trumpet & Voice Recital" (Advisor: Jonathan McCollum) Studio Instructor: Davy DeArmond
Anna Mayes '19 "Voice Recital" (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer) Studio Instructor: Carolene Winter
Compositions & Recording
Students can explore a variety of opportunities to create original works and/or showcase their knoweldge of music production. In this track, students can create original compositions using traditional techniques (supported with software like Finale and Sibelius). They can also take advatage of our extensive production studio, and use Ableton Live, Protools, and Logic, together with extensive array of other hardware and software equipment to compose, create, record, and produce original works.
Austin Martin-Williams '21: Original Album/Compositions with Ableton Live & FL Studio, "On Sale" (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer)
Chris Summers '21 Original full-length Composition with Ableton Live, "Orange Moon Lucifer" (Advsior: Ken Schweitzer)
Danny Palmatary '21 Music Production Portfolio including recordings and original compositions, using Protools & Ableton Live (Advsior: Ken Schweitzer)
Ronnie Hastings '19 Coming of Age: A Concept Album for Rock, Ensemble (Advisor: John Leupold)
Maddie Morton '19 Original Composition, Recording, &, Production" (Advisor: Ken Schweitzer)