Crafting a Music Community: Making Music and Musicians in Concert

Authors

  • Joyce Reenste Walker Illinois State University

Keywords:

music, community, Kalamazoo

Abstract

In this webtext the author(s) will explore the process of writing, recording, and producing a song, within a group of musicians & sound engineers who have all be fostered/encouraged in some way through participation in a "music community" in Kalamazoo, MI.  The goal of the project is threefold:  (1) To actually explore the timeline of production (an EP-length set of songs) with the group, who are all working from "amateur" status -- learning the tools, practices, and skills as they compose; (2) to explore (through short video vignettes) how this particular production has been shaped by participation in the community over the last several years; (3) To explore the artifact (one of the songs) in more detail, unpacking how each member of the group adds to not only the overall practice, but to their understanding of the music and their own musical skills.

Author Biography

Joyce Reenste Walker, Illinois State University

Joyce R. Walker is an Associate Professor in Writing Studies and the Director of the Illinois State University Writing Program (www.isuwriting.com).  As Writing Program Director, she has conducted multiple program assessments and research studies specifically designed to focus on the uptake and transfer of writing skills. She has published in Kairos, Computers & Composition, PMLA, Pedagogy, and in multiple edited collections.  Her forthcoming book project, “Mapping the Literate Lifeworld (You are Here): Locating Learning Transfer in Complex Writing Situations†will focus on rethinking ways to understand how “acts of transfer†can be identified in diverse learning settings.  In addition, she is specifically interested in how Narrative Inquiry, as a research method, can be combined with Cultural-Historical Activity Theory to uncover and examine how the diverse activities of communities can work to shape community and personal identities.

Published

2015-10-15

Issue

Section

Issue #14: Craft Rhetoric