Measuring mechanical admittance (velocity over force) is a relevant method for analysing the vibration characteristics of mechanical systems. This generally involves exciting the structure with a known force and measuring the resulting acceleration using suitable sensors. The vibration is usually excited either by a shaker using a sinusoidal input force (sine sweep) or by an impact hammer using a force pulse. Depending on the hammer size and the object being measured, it is very difficult to reproduce excitations by hand. Therefore, it has become standard practice to stabilise the impulse hammer by suspending it like a pendulum. If the excitation is also to be automated, the pendulum assembly can be expanded to include a stepper motor. Commercial systems tested by the authors are expensive and, due to the loudness of the drive motor, are not suitable for acoustic measurements. This paper presents a relatively simple method for implementing an automated impact hammer system using commercial measurement technology and audio components. In addition to design proposals, the paper also discusses first measurement results and the potential for further development.

The relation between art and philosophy is highly precarious. To explore this complex connection, the contributors to this volume have structured their texts around key questions such as: What image of thought emerges when artistic practices are integrated into philosophical research? How does the conceptual personae of philosophers change when they become artist-philosophers? And how do writing and working methods shift when crossing the boundaries between art and philosophy? This approach opens up a holistic perspective on strategies, methodologies, and concrete examples of writing and reading by philosopher-artists and artistic researchers who strive toward a genuine crossover between art and philosophy. Mit Beiträgen von Reinhold A. Bertlmann, Arno Böhler, Soumyabrata Choudhury, Susanne Valerie Granzer, Krassimira Kruschkova, Sandra Noeth, Veronika Reichl, Avital Ronell, Tanja Traxler und Violetta L. Waibel.

How are music/sound and dance/movement interwoven in artistic processes? What kinds of models can be identified when studying the relations between them, and which aesthetic intentions correspond to them? Based on these questions, the contributors to this volume map a wide range of performances from different genres and styles, including those that transcend the stage. The aim is to discuss relationships between music, its physicality, and moving bodies in artistic practice. In doing so, they respond to a theoretical challenge: to conceptualize music as an invisible but audible motion from the perspective of perception and on the basis of visible movements that can be staged, choreographed, or improvised. Mit Beiträgen von Birgit Abels, Drake Andersen, Anja K. Arend, Adrián Artacho, Sophie Benn, Ivo I. Berg, Ulrike Brand, Jeremy Coleman, Fabian Czolbe, Leo Dick, Barbara Dobretsberger, Gerko Egert, Philip Feeney, Christoph Flamm, Matthias Geuting, Keir GoGwilt, Florian Heesch, Leonhard Horstmeyer, Winnie Huang, Jin Hyun Kim, Stephanie Jordan, Adrian Kuhl, Markus Kupferblum, Daphne Leong, Barbara Lüneburg, Rainer Nonnenmann, Hanne Pilgrim, Ingo Reulecke, David Roesner, Simon Rose, Marta Rizzonelli, Jan Schacher, Stephanie Schroedter, Julia H. Schröder, Gerald Siegmund, Bobbie Jene Smith, Daniel Suer, John Toenjes, Amy Ming Wai Tai, Dorothea Weise und Leila Zickgraf.

Dirty Dragging contributes to queer retheorizations and explores the ambivalence of transgressive performances under apartheid, Nazism, and Jim Crow through a transoceanic lens. The book takes up the ambivalence of “dirty” performance modes—spanning drag and carnival to propaganda—and extends readings of gender bending by incorporating perspectives on blackface and “racialized drag”. It explores violent, locally specific mobilizations of the transgressive along with the ways in which queer and creolized forms of performance intertwine to oppose identitarian boundaries. Given the current slide into right-wing authoritarianism, the book thereby gestures toward the potential joy of collectively making societal conditions dance.

Based on empirical findings from a qualitative-reconstructive study, this article examines the professional self-conception of instrumental teachers who also identify with the field of music mediation. It analyses how music mediation practices influence professional self-perception, pedagogical orientation, and institutional action. Starting from the ob-servation of increasing institutional ‘schoolification’ of music schools, music mediation is understood as a source of impulses for reflection, creativity, and participatory teaching practices. The research design is based on group discussions, which were analysed using the docu-mentary method. The focus lies on reconstructing collective orientations that provide insights into implicit professional knowledge and the processes of professional transfor-mation. The analysis reveals that music mediation is often perceived as a counterbalance to institutional constraints: it opens up spaces for artistic freedom and supports (re-)alignment with key pedagogical principles such as aesthetic experience, participation, and self-determination. Based on the reconstructed orientations, a typology of professional self-conception was developed, highlighting different ways of understanding musical experience and pedagog-ical objectives. Two interrelated perspectives emerge: one with a stronger artistic-aesthetic orientation, the other emphasizing social and participatory aspects. Both share a focus on musical experience as a central professional value, which is pedagogically op-erationalised in different ways. The findings indicate that music mediation not only stimulates individual reflection, but also contributes to institutional development. It offers perspectives for balancing artistic autonomy, social responsibility, and institutional openness.

Jump into Jazz is a one-year university programme, designed by Corinna Danzer and Ulrike Schwarz, which addresses not only jazz students, but also students in teacher training. Highlight is a jazz concert with children. To reach children regardless of their cultural and socio-economic background, we cooperate with public elementary schools. Jump into Jazz aims to make jazz accessible to a wider audience. We want to achieve this by training jazz musicians for jazz mediation and by supporting both current and future music teachers to incorporate aspects of jazz education into their repertoire. The third edition of Jump into Jazz was staged in 2024, in collaboration with the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and the Frankfurt Radio Big Band. This article outlines the multi-faceted concept and asserts that jazz mediation should join forces with jazz education to obtain lasting effects.

Based on the German term Musikvermittlung, this article highlights the problems of conceptual approaches to music mediation in order to develop suggestions for future directions in jazz. To this end, the article first draws on the specialist discourse concerning the terminological implications of Musikvermittlung, which primarily relates to the field of classical music. Particular attention is paid to the problem that a one-dimensional understanding of “Vermittlung” or “mediation” implies that learning is seen as a passive process, in which cultural hierarchies are reinforced. In the following pages, these findings are reflected upon in relation to jazz and its socio-cultural contexts. Points of orientation are developed for the further conceptual development of “jazz encounters”. Key aspects include a processual understanding of jazz and a power-critical orientation arrived at through encounters in “third spaces”. Finally, suggestions for study programmes and further training of jazz musicians are developed, which aim, among other things, to prompt reflection on one’s own professional self-image.

This reflection on practice is based on an Interview with jazz musician and educator Harald Rüschenbaum and explores his pedagogical philosophy and practice through the lens of his work with the Bavarian State Youth Jazz Orchestra and their concerts in state schools. Rather than viewing music as a fixed curriculum or performance, Rüschenbaum frames it as a process of encounter, openness, and mutual discovery. His approach emphasizes improvisation, both musically and pedagogically. Acting simultaneously as a performer, mediator, and mentor during these concerts, Rüschenbaum creates spaces where children and musicians from the orchestra can engage experientially with jazz. He advocates a learning-by-doing model supported by reflection, where individual curiosity and collective connection are central. This article highlights how his methods aim for genuine engagement and position jazz-oriented music mediation as a dynamic interplay between people, sounds, and context – being less about conveying knowledge and more about enabling shared musical experiences.

This paper is based on a series of immersive listening events, in particular KIKU, an iteration that took place in the Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge in April 2025. The event was created and hosted by photographer and researcher Philip Arneill (in collaboration with HebTroCo and Coin and Club 15 Sound Selectors) and was the latest in a series of music mediation events inspired by his acclaimed Tokyo Jazz Joints project, through which he has been documenting photographically the unique world of Japanese jazz kissa (coffee shops) and jazz bars since 2015. This paper weaves autoethnographic reflections through an explanation of the origins of the project and how it has informed these subsequent immersive listening events, a Japan-influenced manifestation of music mediation with transformative power.

The article provides a theoretical introduction to the topic of jazz concerts for children and offers practical guidelines for jazz musicians interested in performing for children. Drawing on the authors’ personal experiences as well as on relevant literature, it proposes six ‘thought clouds’ – aspects to consider when designing (jazz) concerts for children: interaction & active audience engagement, overarching themes, repertoire & mediation content, people involved, narrative arcs, and venues & atmosphere. The text explores, how these elements can be implemented in a jazz context, highlighting the improvisational and interactive potential of jazz. To illustrate, the authors provide insights into their thought processes during the development of two concert programs. The article concludes by advocating for the integration of music mediation practices into jazz study programs and for closer collaboration between Music Education and Jazz Departments, aiming to unlock new creative opportunities for both musicians and young audiences.