From the Sidelines: an in game look at Johanna Beyer’s Music of the Spheres - Craig Peaslee
In this week's episode, Craig Peaslee reimagines formal music theory analysis and takes the listener to the arena of competitive music performance through the lens of a radio sportscast.This episode was produced by Zach Lloyd along with Team Lead Evan Ware. Special thanks to peer reviewers Nate Mitchell and John Heilig. Additional thanks to Indigo Knecht, Spencer Long, Megan Lyons and Jody Diamond.SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/
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28:54
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28:54
Nicole Mitchell’s Mandorla Awakening II and the Sounds of Afrofuturist Theory - Audrey Slote
In this week's episode, Audrey Slote guides listeners through an analysis of “Mandorla Island” from Nicole Mitchell’s experimental jazz album Mandorla Awakening II from 2017. This episode centers Mitchell’s own Afrofuturist, feminist writings as its primary music-theoretical framework and illuminates how such theorizing productively challenges canonical academic ways of thinking about music and its relationship to society.This episode was produced by Jason Jedlička along with Team Lead Anna Rose Nelson. Special thanks to peer reviewers Jacob Cupps and Caitlin Martinkus. Additional thanks to Steven Rings, Nicole Mitchell, and Jennifer Iverson.SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/
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39:39
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39:39
Reimagine the Sound: Or, How to Improvise a Cecil Taylor Improvisation - Mark Micchelli
In this episode, Mark Micchelli examines the relationship between music theory and creative practice via a firsthand exploration of the formal structure of Cecil Taylor’s solo piano improvisations.This episode was produced by Jason Jedlicka along with Team Lead Matthew Ferrandino. Special thanks to peer reviewers Chris Stover and John Heilig. SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/
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27:06
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27:06
Fuguing Essential Voices: An Informance of J. S. Bach's Prelude and Fugue, BWV 1011 - Daniel Ketter
In this week's episode, Daniel Ketter presents an essential voice analysis arrangement of J. S. Bach’s fugue for solo cello. It traces the composer’s solution to weaving a four-part fugal texture with nearly no chords or double stops through inventive combinations of a subject and countersubject.This episode was produced by Jason Jedlicka along with Team Lead Leah Frederick. Special thanks to peer reviewers Gilad Rabinovitch, Ed Klorman, and Joe Straus. Additional thanks to Jason Orr, Jessie Black, and Royce Diamond at Phosphor Studios.SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/
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17:50
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17:50
“In the Days of Auld Lang Syne”: Stability and Bagpipe Music in Hong Kong (1997-2024) - Samantha Sasaki
In this episode, Samantha Sasaki analyzes three bagpipe performances of “Auld Lang Syne” in Hong Kong in order to uncover why this instrument has retained cultural and political significance in the 27 years post-Handover.This episode was produced by Jose Garza along with Team Lead John Heilig. Special thanks to peer reviewers Larry Witzleben and Jennifer Weaver. Additional acknowledgements to Anna Yu Wang and Gavin Steingo. SMT-Pod’s theme music was written by Maria Tartaglia, with closing music by Yike Zhang. For supplementary materials on this episode and more information on our authors and composers, check out our website: https://smt-pod.org/episodes/
Check out our website: www.smt-pod.org
SMT-Pod is a creative venue for timely conversations about music, with episodes chosen through an open, collaborative peer review process. Audio-only podcasts offer a unique—though non-traditional—way of engaging with music, analysis, and contemporary issues in the field. This new publication medium affords our society both the ability to face outwards, by engaging in public scholarship, and inwards, by hosting meaningful conversations about the activity of music analysis. The variety of episode topics will reflect the diversity of the scholars and their scholarship in our field, making SMT-Pod an invaluable publication for music analysts at any stage. Through its goal of promoting a sense of community and inclusivity, SMT-Pod will reach beyond the boundaries of the SMT at this critical moment of calls for the revitalization of our field.