New Horizon
A research study conducted by Tsugawa investigated various attributes associated with music in regard to 2 senior groups of musicians (Tsugawa 4). The evaluation and data collection involved criticizing two cases by interviewing the members of New Horizons and Orchestra situated in two distinct towns. The observations and interviews were recorded as evidence and document for reference during the analysis. The analysis of data approved the existence of musical and social culture with such aspects as preferences of their teachers’ efficacy, a combination of sonic qualities from individual members, and encounter with various musical elements as a group or personally. The two groups were encouraged to participate in a New Horizon ensemble and interact jovially. This participation brought about different suggestions and developments through the idea of changes requested from the Orchestra group. The groups enabled the members to enhance variations in the functions and identifications of the adult. The data elaborated on 3 aspects of development when making the music. First, they were able to develop a self-directed musical session in the long run. Secondly, the members noted that music was more a process of learning new ideas than attaining an objective. Finally, the experiences and challenges faced by the members of the teams made them strong enabling them to control their lives. This evaluation suggested that practices and researches should be performed to attain a long duration of learning music and allowing the chances of making music to senior adult musicians. Furthermore, it would assist to develop a strategy for teaching these senior adults as well as elevate the teamwork between musicians and teachers at the communal and scholar level. The study would also deal with the needs of hobbyists and amateurs as well as improve the future of NH and adult music globally.
Choir and Education
The study performed by Rensink-Hoff exposed the associations amongst character profiling, achievements in music, choral goals, and musical impacts of singing within the adult community choral singers (Rensink-Hoff 4). The evaluation aimed at examining the participation of the community choir in offering chances for educative sessions through leisure and education as well as exploring various inconveniences associated with attaining success in music during the free time. The researcher provided questionnaires to 457 singers from 11 choirs in order to identify the demographic and musical status of the members, establish the causes of their involvement, and determine their rating as groups or individuals. Furthermore, the researcher also involved various judges in reviewing their performance and ranking them accordingly. The data collected from the evaluation was analyzed using a Chi-square, which indicated that most members of the groups were aged from 51 to 70. Two-thirds of the members had degrees whereas the highest population was Caucasians. It was also apparent that almost a half of this population proceeded with their music interests as singers from the high schools. The main motivating factors for these groups were jovial cheering, leisure, and instructors. The researcher conducted a multiple regression analysis to identify whether the benefits provided statistical evidence on rates of achievement. However, the research did not verify this assumption since the perceived benefits did not appear to predict singers, educators, and conductors. On the other hand, there were no patterns identified on individual levels since data varied widely making it too unique. Therefore, there were no trends identified from this point of view. The researcher concluded that retaining a tradition of aged people in the choirs was a potential risk for development. In fact, it was postulated that young people had greater singing capabilities than elderly ones. Finally, the achievements realized at the group level were not more important than the individual ones. This factor implied that self-evaluation could have compromised the mutual achievements of a group.
The Influence of Meaningful Leisure
Cuenca, Alfred, and Maria located a region where a study on the impact of leisure was subjected to meaningful life activities with beneficial outcomes (Cuenca, Alfred, and Maria 120). The study was conducted in Basque Country located in northern Spain where 755 individuals from 3 provinces participated in the survey. Ten males and ten females were assessed through the interview where they revealed how they had planned to use their leisure time in the future. After analyzing the data quantitatively, it revealed that a statistically significant influence would be aroused by serious leisure requirements as well as innovating and volunteering for individual well-being. The qualitative interview informed that the influences were either facilitated or prohibited by the families and variations in the social life. In this regard, such activities demanded family and community consent and approval depending on their outcomes. The researcher recommended the application of mixed research methods when expanding this research in the future.
Nurturing Community
A research study conducted by Gallant, Arai, and Smale (320) incorporated a communitarian framework to evaluate the association apparent amongst individuals and communities. This study evaluated the links between the individual aspects of recognizing personal interests and collectivism, perceiving the voluntary services as part of serious leisure, as well as developing a sense of communal achievements for social development. These researchers interrogated 300 individuals undergoing an active session of volunteering in 10 organizations. These research findings showed that there were strong links between collectivism and individualism towards subjective leisure. This factor was related to the communal sense of participation and development of socially attached people striving to attain a common goal. In this regard, serious leisure came out as an opportunity to provide community coherence and social attention among the members participating within the outside it in order to nurture the subject community (Heo et al. 106). The researchers urge that voluntary services to a community-developed an opportunity to explore voluntary services as a way to spend leisure, improve the overall use of leisure within a community, and know-how people respond to its existence. It established an association of theory and test between serious leisure, the orientation of personality, and identifying the level of strengths within the communities while laying a base for future research studies on the area.
Moving beyond Individualism
Arai and Pedlar (185) performed a research evaluation of the concepts of community and social engagement. The researchers had noted that the capability and participation of social development within the areas of leisure had been replaced by consumption and individualism. These two attributes overtook leisure as well as a recreation of most prevailing notions. Attention has neglected the social needs of people and the development of a community striving towards attaining a common goal. They argue that there would be three forms of crises associated with personal identities, socialization, and politics. If the crises were to be settled, there would be a need to restore the duties, norms, and structure set traditionally. These researchers use social capital to evaluate the structure of a community and how it participates in facilitating trust, cohesion, mutual goals, attention, and honesty. They target to create a conceptual framework for incorporating the social self in a communal operation and facilitate engaging civically. Leisure plays a fundamental role by bringing the mind, body, and power engagement, which facilitate sharing and communal performances. The researchers argue that people use leisure to come together for festivities, hobbies, sports, art, and volunteering. In this regard, leisure stands as a concept of social wellbeing of a community rather than an isolated or private occasion of an individual mind.
Panda Bear
The critical reception of the “Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper” has universal acclaim with its dense, vibrant color, and hip-hop selection. Simms (62) indicates that Stuart Berman Panda Bear ensures the Panda Bear exists in a trippy universe unto itself since it is parallel to his work that pioneers an alternate band Animal Collective with no fraternal organic mysticism. The author uses samplers as well as instruments processed extensively while cobbling them together in a wide range of sunny and kaleidoscopic to melancholic and reverential states. Later on, he glues them together with a simple and sticky singing.
Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper succeeds as the most direct and accessible statement of the author. It does not have austere synch drones, waterlogged pseudo-homage, and Super Mario 64. In the music, vocal melodies are rich and impressive then descend from Mr. Noah Lennox to ping pongs of Boys Latin. The flecked production has a hip-hop genre to influence the popular culture due to the use of contemporary electronic music through indecipherable lyrics. The Butcher Baker Candlestick Maker sparkles with ambiguity since it is not tough to parse the emotions that the artist attempts to evoke.
Ware (40) believes that the recording of Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper (PBVSGR) only uses a minor of critical acclaimed psychedelic pop quartet Animal Collective. The author cites that it is a morbid album with an avert harrowing. The recording is at times rough with the rewarding transition to embody self-made breakbeats that constantly change into beds of sound. PBVSGR invigorates the composer’s long-time love of sample-based contemporary music and his well-established ability to direct controlled chaos in a dense and melodic chorale. The artist learns Tascam techniques that use a software process. In a typical interview, he states that he feels glorified while using a 4 or 8 track recorder. The software allows him to avoid automatic synching while he does not reap the maximum benefits of the software. The author as much as he likes the latest technologies of recording still adores the traditional styles that seem to drag clips. The results of the combination are a human touch where things are not exact. Humanity is at the heart of PBVSGR where the artist makes a concerted effort to expand the music and create a global appeal for the songs. Every artist seems to face the challenge of different wavelengths in the current decade. Songs are a result of inspiration through experiences in life where he has to work hard to design the message so that the audience can understand what he goes through.
Dabbler to Amateur Musician
Another research conducted by Stebbins introduces the development of a musician from casual leisure to an amateur musician (Stebbins 141). This area of music has faced many controversies where people do not understand the main reasons for its existence. It is argued that it can be used for leisure and develop as a profession with time. The author evaluates dabbling as a contemporary explanation in regard to its seriousness in facilitating leisure activities. The author evaluates various resources as evidence for research work. Most researchers argued that it was a leisure activity in music especially for children (Arai and Pedlar 185). This aspect involved learning it and becoming experienced in how it operates as a leisure activity. It explains how it can be developed step-by-step until it becomes a profession. The author argues that causal leisure does not offer any form of career. It involves playing, relaxing, entertaining, conversing, volunteering, and pleasurable aerobic activities among others. Some articles from Gates and Jorgensen were reviewed where dabbling was presented as a way of educating musicians. The author argues that dabblers do not neglect their goal to attain an answer to an issue that makes them curious is resolved. Stebbins finalizes the arguments by presenting a case where a dabbler develops to become a neophyte amateur. A neophyte amateur has serious leisure that is involved and active at most times (Stebbins 14). It is directed towards attaining an objective while using that free time. The researcher recommends the development of research use diverse formal and informal strategies to record data from the dabbler since his research is centered on personal and informal observations.
Works Cited
Arai, S., and A. Pedlar. “Moving Beyond Individualism in Leisure Theory: A Critical Analysis of Concepts of Community and Social Engagement.” Leisure Studies 22 (2003): 185-202. Print.
Cuenca Jaime, Alfred Douglas, Jesus Maria, Danielle Brittany and Nuria Jaumot-Pascual. “The influence of meaningful leisure on the subjective well-being of older adults in the Basque Country of Northern Spain.” World Leisure Journal 56.2 (2014): 120-129. Print.
Gallant, Karen, Susan Arai, and Bryan Smale. “Serious Leisure as an Avenue for Nurturing Community.” Leisure Sciences 35 (2013): 320-36. Print.
Heo, J., B. Culp, N. Yamada, and Y. Won. “Promoting Successful Aging Through Competitive Sports Participation: Insights From Older Adults.” Qualitative Health Research 2.1 (2012): 105-13. Print.
Rensink-Hoff, Rachel. “Adult Community Choirs: Toward A Balance between Leisure Participation And Musical Achievement.” ProQuest LLC 6 (2009): 1-310. Print.
Tsugawa, Samuel. “Senior Adult Music Learning, Motivation, and Meaning Construction In Two New Horizons Ensembles” ProQuest LLC 1 (2010):1-240. Print
Simms, Molly. “Panda Bear.” Entertainment Weekly 1347 (2015): 62. Corporate ResourceNet. Print.
Stebbins, Robert A. “From Dabbler to Serious Amateur Musician and Beyond: Clarifying a Crucial Step.” International Journal of Community Music 6.2 (2013): 141-52. Print.
Stebbins, Robert A. “Educating For Serious Leisure: Leisure Education in Theory and Practice.” World Leisure & Recreation 2.3 (2014): 14-19. Print.
Ware, Tony. “Panda Bear.” Electronic Musician 31.3 (2015): 40. Masterfile Premier. Print.