David Bashwiner

David Bashwiner is an Associate Professor of Music Theory at the University of New Mexico with degrees in music theory (PhD, University of Chicago), music composition (MMus, University of Illinois), and psychology (AB, Cornell University). His doctoral dissertation, “Musical Emotion: Toward a Biologically Grounded Theory,” explored the biological foundations of emotional responses to music. His recent work has extended these explorations to the realms of multimedia and creativity.

Published works:

Bashwiner, David. Submitted. “Have No Fear: The Amygdala in Music Theory.” (Available from the author upon request.)

Bashwiner, David. Forthcoming. Review of Brain and Music, by Stefan Koelsch. Music Theory Spectrum. 39 (2). https://doi-org.libproxy.unm.edu/10.1093/mts/mtx013

Bashwiner, David. Forthcoming. “The Neuroscience of Musical Creativity.” In The Neuroscience of Creativity. Ed. Rex E. Jung and Oshin Vartanian. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bashwiner, David, Christopher J. Wertz, Ranee A. Flores, and Rex E. Jung. 2016. “Musical Creativity ‘Revealed’ in Brain Structure: Interplay Between Motor, Default Mode, and Limbic Networks. Scientific Reports 6 (20482): 1–8.

Bashwiner, David. 2014a. “Attention.” In Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia. Ed. William Forde Thompson. 92–94. Los Angeles: Sage Reference.

Bashwiner, David. 2014b. “Modularity.” In Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia. Ed. William Forde Thompson. 704–06. Los Angeles: Sage Reference.

Bashwiner, David. 2014c. “Tension.” In Music in the Social and Behavioral Sciences: An Encyclopedia. Ed. William Forde Thompson. 1113–15. Los Angeles: Sage Reference.

Bashwiner, David. 2013. “Musical Analysis for Multimedia: A Perspective from Music Theory.” In The Psychology of Music in Multimedia. Ed. Siu-Lan Tan, Annabel J. Cohen, Roger Kendall, and Scott Lipscomb. 89–117. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Bashwiner, David. 2011. “Lifting the Foot: The Neural Underpinnings of the ‘Pathological’ Response to Music.” In A Field Guide to a New Meta-Field: Bridging the Humanities-Neurosciences Divide. Ed. Barbara M. Stafford. 239–66. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Bashwiner, David. 2010. “Musical Emotion: Toward a Biologically Grounded Theory.” Ph.D. diss., University of Chicago.

Selected Presentations:

“Casino Royale’s First Chase Sequence in ‘Multi-Score’: Music, Drama, Camerawork.” Presented at the Society for Music Theory’s Film and Multimedia Interest Group meeting in St. Louis in Oct. 30, 2015.

“Musical Creativity ‘Revealed’ in Brain Structure: Interplay between Motor, Default Mode, and Limbic Networks.” Presented at the Society for Music Theory’s Music Cognition Interest Group meeting in St. Louis in Oct. 30, 2015. This was a report of the research accepted for publication under the same name by Scientific Reports, as well as on the NEA grant award that funded the research.

“Complex Emotions in Score-Based Multimedia Analysis: Case Studies from Platoon and The King’s Speech.” Talk presented at SMPC 2015 in Nashville, TN (Aug. 1–5, 2015).

“On Scary Music: The Amygdala and Music Theory,” presented to the Society for Music Theory, Charlotte, NC, Nov. 1, 2013.

“Musical Creativity and STEM Creativity: A Questionnaire and Structural Imaging Study,” presented to the Society for Music Perception and Cognition, Toronto, Aug. 10, 2013.

“Musical Manipulation in Film: A Theory of Mechanism,” invited talk presented April 12, 2012, at the Neuro-Humanities Entanglement Conference, Georgia Institute of Technology, hosted by emeritus professor and art historian Barbara M. Stafford.

“The Syntactic and Statistical Parameters Engage Differently with the Affective Apparatus.” Paper presented at the International Conference on Music and Emotion, Durham, UK, September 2, 2009.

“What is Musical Syntax? An Evolutionary Perspective.” Paper presented at Music Theory Midwest, Minneapolis, May 15–16, 2009. Winner of an Honorable Mention for the Arthur J. Komar Award.

“Interaction of Speech and Music in the Film Soundtrack.” Paper presented at the conference Music and the Moving Image, NYU, Steinhardt School, May 18, 2007

Selected Grants:

NEA Research: Art Works, 2013. “Transfer Effects of Music on Brain Structure and Function.” Applied for with Rex Jung (UNM Neurosurgery and Psychology.) Award Amount: $15,000.

In the News:

KRQE, UNM Study Reveals Musicians’ Brains Are Different (March 5, 2017, http://krqe.com/2017/03/05/unm-study-reveals-musicians-brains-are-different/).

Weekly Alibi: “David Bashwiner: A Theorist” (Dec. 27, 2015, http://alibi.com/music/50341/David-Bashwiner-A-Theorist.html).