Autobiography and Invention: Towards a Critical Understanding of Identity, Dialogue and Resistance in Improvised Musics

In this article I will argue that acts of improvisation are not productively understood in opposition to other practices which form our wider musical culture. Improvisation might be better understood as both rooted in, but not limited by, personal and cultural memory. Improvisational activities are legible to the performer and audience through a shared understanding of social norms, but only become a singular instance of improvisation through unique performative actions. This tension between experience and invention is played out in a dialogue between performer and listener, demanding a response that crucially takes the form of self-articulation, or autobiography. Finally, I contend that it is from this position that improvisation offers the possibility to transgress established personal and cultural identities.

Jamming the Law: Improvisational Theatre and the 'Spontaneity' of Judgment

Modern ‘nonscripted’ theatre (NST) clearly owes much to improvisation. Perhaps less obviously, and more surprisingly, so too does modern law. In this article I will contend that, despite all the rules of evidence and procedure, statutes and legal precedents that fundamentally govern the decisions and actions of a judge, it is only through ‘spontaneity’ that judgment can take place. This claim may appear strange to those well-versed in the common law tradition which proceeds on the basis of past legal decisions, or reason where no precedent exists. NST, on the other hand, is assumed to rely heavily on the unprecedented and unreasoned. Therefore, when the public watches a NST production, it places its faith in the belief that what is being observed is entirely new and is being produced ‘on the spur of the moment’.

Improvising (Il)legality: Justice and the Irish Diaspora, NYC, 1930-32

The Seabury Commission, 1930-32, probed allegations of corruption made against, amongst others, the Irish-American Mayor of New York City, James J. ‘Jimmy’ Walker, and the Irish-dominated Tammany Hall, the Democratic political machine that had supported Walker. Taking the Seabury inquiry as its focus, this article explores these allegations from the perspective of Critical Studies in Improvisation (C.S.I.) fused with postcolonial critique. Improvisation, in accordance with C.S.I. principles, is not a lawless or extempore event; it is, instead, lawful, or full of law. The laws of improvisation may appear impenetrable to those unfamiliar with the practice. However, when read through a hibernocentric postcolonial perspective, their meaning and form become more understandable. As will be argued in this article, diasporic communities are inherently improvisatory; that is, they utilise improvisational techniques to help adapt and respond to new situations and social contexts. To be queried is whether the law and politics practiced by Tammany and Walker, taken together, constituted a markedly Irish approach to justice, one that entailed not scripted or planned illegality, as was alleged by Judge Seabury, but improvisations on Anglo-Protestant law as a response to the displacement of and discrimination against the Irish Diaspora in early twentieth century America.

The Biomuse Trio in Conversation

The Biomuse Trio (R. Benjamin Knapp, Eric Lyon, Gascia Ouzounian) was formed in 2008 to perform computer chamber music integrating performance, laptop processing of sound and the transduction of bio-signals for the control of musical gesture. The work of the ensemble encompasses hardware design, audio signal processing, bio-signal processing, composition, improvisation and gesture choreography. The Biomuse Trio has performed and lectured across North America and Europe, including at BEAM Festival, CHI, Diapason Gallery, Green Man Festival, Issue Project Room, NIME, Science Gallery Dublin, STEIM and TheatreLab NYC.

Fauna

Stapleton’s self designed instrument, the BoSS (Bonsai Sound Sculpture, 2010) combines with Rose’s circular breathed baritone, multi-phonic and harmonic textures, to explore other sound worlds through real time interaction/composition. The method of exploration commits to a free improvisation aesthetic whereby the music is created at the point of performance. Encountering one another’s music while performing at the ‘Call them Improvisers’ performance at SARC, an ensemble directed by Evan Parker (November 2010) an affinity to the possibilities of one another’s particular approach became immediately apparent. This strongly identified connection led them to further explore the musical possibilities within the parameters created by the duo setting. Duo activities include concerts at Ausland (Berlin), SARC (Belfast), Sowieso (Berlin), Wendel (Berlin), and a recording with Elmar Susse in Hoffnungskirche, Pankow released by the California-based pfMENTUM record label in 2013.

This output is published in the form of an audio CD on the pfMENTUM record label.

Dialogic Instruments: Virtuosity (Re)Located in Improvised Performance

This paper introduces a series of new musical instruments that have been designed to
address questions relating to performative virtuosity in the area of ensemble-based
improvisation. The intentionally exploited inconsistent nature of these instruments
raises questions around traditional notions of instrument mastery and opens up
possible methods of recon?guring the performer-instrument relationship.

Playing free: an ethnography of Brazilian free improvisers

In this article I investigate the practice of free music improvisation in Brazil. The reflections and findings presented here are derived from research conducted as part of a four months Higher Education Academy (HEA, UK) Fellowship, carried out between February and June 2014. The aim was to enquire whether or how the practice of free improvisation is taught in the Brazilian higher education system.
As part of this ethnographic study visits to the following universities were scheduled:
The Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ
The Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO)
The University of São Paulo - USP
The Federal University of Minas Gerais – UFMG
The Federal University of Bahia – UFBA.
The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte in Natal (UFRN) and
The ELM, the Escola Livre de Música in Unicamp.

I discuss here some general background thinking to the research process, specifically recalling the work of French composer and educator Alain Savouret. I proceed to examine the improvisational spirit, the improvisatory worldmaking approach (the ‘jeitinho brasileiro’) that is often considered to be integral to the Brazilian way of life. In the final part of the article I discuss applied ethnographic methodologies, including the design of questions that were used for over 50 video interviews with Brazilian musicians during the research. I conclude with a final reflection on the video interviews with a specific focus on whether free improvisation can be taught, and the importance of listening in the context of free improvisation practices.

Barely Cool

This CD was recorded in Rio de Janeiro, May 2014 as part of the HEA International Scholarship work. It includes some of Brazil's most foreward and current improvisors and received a one hour radio play in June 2014 on Rio's Radio MEC station. It is released on the specialist improvisation label 'pfmentum' (San Diego).

Instrumental Parasites: Interfacing the Fragile and the Robust

The parasitical relationship between the grand piano and the myriad objects used in its preparation as pioneered by John Cage in the late 1940’s is here discussed from a perspective of free improvisation practice. Preparations can be defined as the use of a “non-instrument” object (screws, bolts, rubbers etc…) to alter or modify the behaviour of an instrument or part of an instrument. Although also present in instrumental practices based on the electric guitar or the drum kit, the piano provides a privileged space of exploration given its large‐scale resonant body. It also highlights the transgressive aspect of preparation (the piano to be prepared often belongs to a venue rather than to the pianist herself, hence highlighting relationships of trust, care and respect). Since 2007 I have used a guitar-object (a small wooden board with strings and pick ups) connected to a small amplifier to prepare the grand piano in my free improvisation practice. This paper addresses the different relationships afforded by this type preparation which is characterised by the fact that the object for preparation is in itself an instrument (albeit a simplified one), and the preparation is ephemeral and intrinsic to the performance. The paper also reflects on the process of designing an interface from and for a particular practice and in collaboration with a guitar luthier.

Cidade Museu

Through the concept of sonic resonance, the project Cidade Museu – Museum City explores five derelict or transitional spaces in the city of Viseu. The activation and capture of these spaces develops an audio- visual memory that reflects architectures, stories and experiences, while creating a sense of place through sounds and images.

The project brings together musicians with a background in contemporary music, electroacoustic music and improvisation and a visual artist focusing on photography and video.

Each member of the collective explores the selected spaces in order to activate them with the help of their respective instruments and through sound projection in an iterative process in which the source of activation gradually gives way to the characteristics of each space, their resonances and acoustic characteristics. The museum city (a nickname for the city of Viseu), in this performance, exposes the contrast between the grandeur and multi-faceted architecture of Viseu’s Cathedral with spaces that spread throughout the city waiting for a new future.

The performance in the Cathedral (Sé) is characterised by a trio ensemble, an eight channel sound system and video projecting audio recordings and images made in each of the five spaces. The audience is invited to explore the relations between the various buildings and their stories while being immersed in their resonances and visual projections.

The performance explores the following spaces in Viseu: the old Orfeão (music hall), an old wine cellar, a mansion home to the national road services, a house with its grounds in Rua Silva Gaio and an old slaughterhouse.

Forma e memória na improvisação

O presente trabalho propõe-se abordar os problemas mais significativos da improvisação da música contemporânea. Tendo como foco principal a procura do pensamento do improvisador durante a performance, assim como, a exploração dos diferentes constrangimentos que regulam a abertura da improvisação, a tese é composta por duas partes: na primeira apresenta-se os modelos teóricos da improvisação e suas principais características, assim como, uma reflexão sobre o papel da memória no processo de criação no decorrer da performance. Explora-se ainda a temática da organização do discurso musical improvisado em relação aos problemas da Estrutura e do controlo da Forma. A partir dos pressupostos teóricos, apresenta-se na segunda parte, uma vasta compilação de performances improvisadas desenvolvidas sobre os diferentes constrangimentos da criação em tempo real, explorando-se os vários conceitos de abertura. Desenvolve-se ainda um estudo empírico baseado na retrospecção da improvisação de onze instrumentistas sobre um motivo comum, no sentido de recolher uma compilação dos termos e dos processos mais usados na sintaxe da improvisação, representativos do pensamento do improvisador. Os dados obtidos permitem concluir que o comportamento da improvisação assenta maioritariamente num discurso Associativo, fortemente apoiado na biografia musical do improvisador e no controlo da Memória. Conclui-se também que a improvisação varia consoante a exposição do processo às diferentes categorias de abertura.

Estratégias educativas para a improvisação do tento de meio-registo de baixo

Esta investigação visa a criação de estratégias educativas para o ensino/aprendizagem da improvisação do tento de meio-registo de baixo, modelo composicional específico do repertório organístico da Península Ibérica nos séculos XVI a XVIII. Estas estratégias educativas concretizam-se numa proposta de manual de improvisação que deverá constituir-se como contributo didáctico, no âmbito do sistema de ensino, e como agente impulsionador da improvisação em órgão ibérico.

L'adoption d'une innovation technopédagogique par une communauté enseignante universitaire

Résumé: L'adoption d'une innovation technopédagogique par une communauté enseignante universitaire La thèse traite de l'adoption d'une innovation technopédagogique par une communauté enseignante universitaire. Cette étude longitudinale, réalisée dans le cadre d'une recherche-action, vise à comprendre la dynamique globale du processus d'adoption d'une innovation. Le cadre de réflexion théorique de l'étude provient de la recherche en management, en systèmes d'information et en éducation. Il tient à la fois compte des motivations et des besoins des individus (dimension individuelle), de la compatibilité des technologies de l'information selon les théories usuelles de l'apprentissage (dimension pédagogique) et du type de soutien à offrir aux utilisatrices-utilisateurs (dimension organisationnelle). Le modèle d'accompagnement émergeant de cette recherche se compose de cycles itératifs au cours desquels un groupe définit et résout un problème, puis réfléchit successivement aux enjeux émergents d'un cycle à l'autre. Le modèle tient explicitement compte des trois éléments clés suivants: l'individu, la pédagogie et l'organisation qui forment une dynamique systémique indissociable et en interaction les unes les autres pendant toute la durée du processus d'adoption de l'innovation. Il met aussi en lumière la nécessité de stimuler une réflexion critique grâce au concours de ressources externes crédibles pour déterminer la compatibilité des technologies à partir d'expériences concrètes. Une telle démarche participative systématique permet d'accroître la cohésion des idées du groupe par le dialogue et les débats d'opinions_ Par ailleurs, la proximité avec notre milieu de recherche sur une période de deux ans offre la possibilité de saisir plusieurs facettes de la dynamique organisationnelle. Lorsque l'on réalise une étude longitudinale qui met en évidence l'incidence d'événements concomitants, on constate la fragilité du processus et la réversibilité de la décision d'adoption. L'intention d'adoption évolue constamment au gré des expériences des individus et du contexte qui évolue lui-même. L'établissement de relations partenariales avec les groupes intéressés représente une activité essentielle pour pallier ou neutraliser les effets indésirables d'événements concomitants.||Abstract: This thesis deals with a university teaching community adopting a technological/pedagogical innovation. This longitudinal study--part of an action-research study--aims at gaining understanding of the overall dynamics involved in adopting an innovation. The study's conceptual framework derives from management, information-systems, and teaching research. It takes into account the motivations and needs of individuals (individual dimension), the compatibility of information technologies according to current learning theories (pedagogical dimension), and the type of support to be offered to users (organizational dimension). The companion model issuing from this research work comprises iterative cycles during which a group defines and solves a problem and then successively reflects on the issues emerging from one cycle to the next. The model takes explicit account of three key elements: the individual, pedagogical approach, and organization form an indissociable system dynamic in which all dimensions interact during the entire process of adopting innovation. It also sheds light on the need to stimulate critical reflection about the combination of credible external resources so that tangible experiences can be used to determine technology compatibility. This kind of systematic participative process yields greater cohesiveness of group ideas through dialogue and discussion. Moreover, the proximity to our research setting over two years provides the opportunity to seize the many facets of organizational dynamics. During the course of a longitudinal study that highlights the incidence of concomitant events, the fragility of the process and reversibility of the adoption decision become apparent. The adoption intention constantly fluctuates through the experiences of individuals and the context, which also changes. Establishing partnership relations with interested groups stands out as an essential activity in attenuating or counteracting the undesirable effects produced by concomitant events.