Performance recordivity : studio music in a live context

A broad range of positions is articulated in the academic literature around the relationship between recordings and live performance. Auslander (2008) argues that “live performance ceased long ago to be the primary experience of popular music, with the result that most live performances of popular music now seek to replicate the music on the recording”. Elliott (1995) suggests that “hit songs are often conceived and produced as unambiguous and meticulously recorded performances that their originators often duplicate exactly in live performances”. Wurtzler (1992) argues that “as socially and historically produced, the categories of the live and the recorded are defined in a mutually exclusive relationship, in that the notion of the live is premised on the absence of recording and the defining fact of the recorded is the absence of the live”. Yet many artists perform in ways that fundamentally challenge such positions. Whilst it is common practice for musicians across many musical genres to compose and construct their musical works in the studio such that the recording is, in Auslander’s words, the ‘original performance’, the live version is not simply an attempt to replicate the recorded version. Indeed in some cases, such replication is impossible. There are well known historical examples. Queen, for example, never performed the a cappella sections of Bohemian Rhapsody because it they were too complex to perform live. A 1966 recording of the Beach Boys studio creation Good Vibrations shows them struggling through the song prior to its release. This paper argues that as technology develops, the lines between the recording studio and live performance change and become more blurred. New models for performance emerge. In a 2010 live performance given by Grammy Award winning artist Imogen Heap in New York, the artist undertakes a live, improvised construction of a piece as a performative act. She invites the audience to choose the key for the track and proceeds to layer up the various parts in front of the audience as a live performance act. Her recording process is thus revealed on stage in real time and she performs a process that what would have once been confined to the recording studio. So how do artists bring studio production processes into the live context? What aspects of studio production are now performable and what consistent models can be identified amongst the various approaches now seen? This paper will present an overview of approaches to performative realisations of studio produced tracks and will illuminate some emerging relationships between recorded music and performance across a range of contexts.

The Prophetic Sound: a day and night of noise cabaret(symposium of talks and live performances)

'The Prophetic Sound: a day and night of noise cabaret' is the first event hosted by Agency of Noise. This all day event brought together artists and academics whose subject of focus is noise (in creative practice). Artists from across the UK were invited to consider a future post-digital era in which everything with a microchip has malfunctioned, as a thought exercise and starting point for response through sound. In response to Jacques Attali’s claim that music is prophecy, The Prophetic Sound asks us to consider if noise can communicate in an unbridled, unfiltered, way that is somehow not culturally coded -before it becomes sound that is recognised, refined, manipulated and exploited for musical or other cultured purpose. Featuring students from Reading, Brighton, LCC and Goldsmiths alongside more established artists and academics from across the UK, this event brings into focus locations where pattern, timbre, pitch, organisation and sequencing of sounds become distinguishable from noise and asks us to consider, through diversion within such locations, new origins for future communication systems. The Prophetic Sound included talks, films, presentations and performances from: Ryo Ikeshiro / Inigo Wilkins / Neal Spowage / Dane Sutherland / Poulomi Desai / Benedict Drew / AAS / Polly Fibre / Steven Dickie As part of The Prophetic Sound, POLLYFIBRE (Ellison, C.) performed LIVE RECORDING with Amplified Scissors. This industrial activity by POLLYFIBRE short-circuits the complicated chain that is music production. The distinctive roles of consumer, producer, composer, and performer collapse in a series of live ‘cuts’ where vinyl discs are produced with amplified scissors. Production happens through action and action becomes production. A limited edition of 9 flexi discs were produced and available for special collectors at the event.

Performance analysis and analysis for performance : a study of Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9

This study of Villa-Lobos’s Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9 aims at gaining insight into the decision-making processes of translating a score into a musical performance. Chapter I presents a discussion of selected issues related to interpretative analysis. Chapter II is an overview of the approaches to recording comparison deemed relevant to the present study. Chapter III is a comparative study of the vocal and string versions of Bachianas Brasileiras No. 9, while Chapter IV offers a structural analysis of the work. Chapter V compares four recordings: the composer’s own with the Orchestre National de La Radiodiffusion Française—EMI 7243 5 66964 2 6; Odaline de la Martinez and the BBC Singers, LNT 102; Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony —RCA 09026-68538-2; and my own CD, Construção, Orquestra de Câmara Theatro São Pedro- Limited Edition (live recording made on December 11, 1995 in Bayreuth, Germany). This comparison utilizes data obtained with the software Tempo. The tabulation of these results is shown in graphs that compare how matters of tempo flexibility affect each performance. This multi-faceted study shows that although painstaking analysis can lead to insightful solutions, the fleeting nature of musical performance requires an open mind and imagination to deal with the often contradictory directives of the score.

Use of stereo camera systems for assessment of rockfish abundance in untrawlable areas and for recording pollock behavior during midwater trawls

We describe the application of two types of stereo camera systems in fisheries research, including the design, calibration, analysis techniques, and precision of the data obtained with these systems. The first is a stereo video system deployed by using a quick-responding winch with a live feed to provide species- and size- composition data adequate to produce acoustically based biomass estimates of rockfish. This system was tested on the eastern Bering Sea slope where rockfish were measured. Rockfish sizes were similar to those sampled with a bottom trawl and the relative error in multiple measurements of the same rockfish in multiple still-frame images was small. Measurement errors of up to 5.5% were found on a calibration target of known size. The second system consisted of a pair of still-image digital cameras mounted inside a midwater trawl. Processing of the stereo images allowed fish length, fish orientation in relation to the camera platform, and relative distance of the fish to the trawl netting to be determined. The video system was useful for surveying fish in Alaska, but it could also be used broadly in other situations where it is difficult to obtain species-composition or size-composition information. Likewise, the still-image system could be used for fisheries research to obtain data on size, position, and orientation of fish.

SCHUBERT’S WINTERREISE AND THE PIANO TRIO IN Eb; TWO REMARKABLE WORKS FROM ONE REMARKABLE YEAR – 1827: A RECORDING PROJECT

During Franz Schubert’s penultimate year of 1827, he produced two profoundly important and mature works that are the focus of this recording project. The works are, in chronological order: • Winterreise (cycle of 24 songs on the poetry of Wilhelm Müller, 1794-1827) • Piano Trio in Eb Major, Op. 100, D. 929 A unique feature of the project is to present Winterreise in two poetic orders: as traditionally performed and published by Schubert, and in the final ordering published by the poet. The program notes accompanying the dissertation’s three compact discs have extensive information as well as comparative tables of Müller’s and Schubert’s final ordering of the cycle. There are significant differences in ordering, and ultimately the listener will determine which is more dramatically satisfying. Dark melancholy is the central emotion in Winterreise, which Schubert composed at various times throughout 1827 in a mood of corresponding gloom and distress. By contrast, the summer and fall of that year produced, in quick succession, the two glowing and remarkable Piano Trios in Bb and Eb, the second of which is included on these compact discs. The contrast between the trios and Winterreise follows the outward circumstances of Schubert’s life and health, a pattern of sorrow and later consolation and elation. The sound recordings for this dissertation recording project are available on three compact discs that can be found in the Digital Repository at the University of Maryland (DRUM). Winterreise was recorded in August 2009, at the University of Baltimore recital hall in Baltimore, Maryland with University of Maryland Professor François Loup. The trio, recorded in live performance in Baltimore in the spring of 2010, features two members of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra: Qing Li, B.S.O. principal second violin, and Bo Li, B.S.O. section cellist.

Breaking the Intimate Screen: Pre-Recording, Special Effects and the Aesthetics of Early British Television

The technological constraints of early British television encouraged drama productions which emphasised the immediate, the enclosed and the close-up, an approach which Jason Jacobs described in the title of his seminal study as 'the intimate screen'. While Jacobs' book showed that this conception of early British television drama was only part of the reality, he did not focus on the role that special effects played in expanding the scope of the early television screen. This article will focus upon this role, showing that special effects were not only of use in expanding the temporal and spatial scope of television, but were also considered to be of interest to the audience as a way of exploring the new medium, receiving coverage in the popular press. These effects included pre-recorded film inserts, pre-recorded narration, multiple sets, model work and animation, combined with the live studio performances. Drawing upon archival research into television production files and scripts as well as audience responses and periodical coverage of television at the time of broadcast, this article will focus on telefantasy. This genre offered particular opportunities for utilising effects in ways that seemed appropriate for the experimentation with the form of television and for the drama narratives. This period also saw a variety of shifts within television as the BBC sought to determine a specific identity and understand the possibilities for the new medium.
This research also incorporates the BBC's own research and internal dialogue concerning audiences and how their tastes should best be met, at a time when the television audience was not only growing in terms of number but was also expanding geographically and socially beyond the moneyed Londoners who could afford the first television sets and were within range of the Alexandra Palace transmissions. The primary case study for this article will be the 1949 production of H.G.Wells’ The Time Machine, which incorporated pre-recorded audio and film inserts, which expanded the narrative out of the live studio performance both temporally and spatially, with the effects work receiving coverage in the popular magazine Illustrated. Other productions considered will be the 1938 and 1948 productions of RUR, the 1948 production of Blithe Spirit, and the 1950 adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Despite the focus on telefantasy, this article will also include examples from other genres, both dramatic and factual, showing how the BBC's response to the changing television audience was to restrict drama to a more 'realistic' aesthetic and to move experimentation with televisual form to non-drama productions such as variety performances.

Automatically linking live experiences captured with a ubiquitous infrastructure

Ubiquitous computing aims at providing services to users in everyday environments such as the home. One research theme in this area is that of building capture and access applications which support information to be recorded ( captured) during a live experience toward automatically producing documents for review (accessed). The recording demands instrumented environments with devices such as microphones, cameras, sensors and electronic whiteboards. Since each experience is usually related to many others ( e. g. several meetings of a project), there is a demand for mechanisms supporting the automatic linking among documents relative to different experiences. In this paper we present original results relative to the integration of our previous efforts in the Infrastructure for Capturing, Accessing, Linking, Storing and Presenting information (CALiSP). Ubiquitous computing aims at providing services to users in everyday environments such as the home. One research theme in this area is that of building capture and access applications which support information to be recorded (captured) during a live experience toward automatically producing documents for review (accessed). The recording demands instrumented environments with devices such as microphones, cameras, sensors and electronic whiteboards. Since each experience is usually related to many others (e.g. several meetings of a project), there is a demand for mechanisms supporting the automatic linking among documents relative to different experiences. In this paper we present original results relative to the integration of our previous efforts in the Infrastructure for Capturing, Accessing, Linking, Storing and Presenting information (CALiSP).

Brody, Judy, interviewed by Jena Hershkowitz on January 19, 2010: Audio Recording

Some themes discussed are: • Jewish education—Hebrew tutor/Hebrew school(1) • Jewish education—Sunday School(10) • Jewish education—parents (12) • Holidays (1-2) • Civic engagement (1, 5) • Civic engagement—B’nai B’rith and Hadassah (2) • Food—kosher (2) • Colby—Greek life (3-4) • Occupation—law (4) • Dating—marriage (5) • Dating—at Colby (8) • Dating—interfaith marriage (9) • Live in Waterville—attractions (6) • Live in Waterville—school (9) • Colby—Hillel (6) • Colby—classes (6) • Colby—campus life (7-8, 12-13) • Synagogue (11)

Genetic parameter estimates for live weight and daily live weight gain obtained for Nellore bulls in a test station using different models

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Interactive Augmentation of Live Images using a HDR Stereo Camera

Adding virtual objects to real environments plays an important role in todays computer graphics: Typical examples are virtual furniture in a real room and virtual characters in real movies. For a believable appearance, consistent lighting of the virtual objects is required. We present an augmented reality system that displays virtual objects with consistent illumination and shadows in the image of a simple webcam. We use two high dynamic range video cameras with fisheye lenses permanently recording the environment illumination. A sampling algorithm selects a few bright parts in one of the wide angle images and the corresponding points in the second camera image. The 3D position can then be calculated using epipolar geometry. Finally, the selected point lights are used in a multi pass algorithm to draw the virtual object with shadows. To validate our approach, we compare the appearance and shadows of the synthetic objects with real objects.

Anterior eye health recording

Aims: To survey eye care practitioners from around the world regarding their current practice for anterior eye health recording to inform guidelines on best practice. Methods: The on-line survey examined the reported use of: word descriptions, sketching, grading scales or photographs; paper or computerised record cards and whether these were guided by proforma headings; grading scale choice, signs graded, level of precision, regional grading; and how much time eye care practitioners spent on average on anterior eye health recording. Results: Eight hundred and nine eye care practitioners from across the world completed the survey. Word description (p <. 0.001), sketches (p = 0.002) and grading scales (p <. 0.001) were used more for recording the anterior eye health of contact lens patients than other patients, but photography was used similarly (p = 0.132). Of the respondents, 84.5% used a grading scale, 13.5% using two, with the original Efron (51.6%) and CCLRU/Brien-Holden-Vision-Institute (48.5%) being the most popular. The median features graded was 11 (range 1-23), frequency from 91.6% (bulbar hyperaemia) to 19.6% (endothelial blebs), with most practitioners grading to the nearest unit (47.4%) and just 14.7% to one decimal place. The average time taken to report anterior eye health was reported to be 6.8. ±. 5.7. min, with the maximum time available 14.0. ±. 11. min. Conclusions: Developed practice and research evidence allows best practice guidelines for anterior eye health recording to be recommended. It is recommended to: record which grading scale is used; always grade to one decimal place, record what you see live rather than based on how you intend to manage a condition; grade bulbar and limbal hyperaemia, limbal neovascularisation, conjunctival papillary redness and roughness (in white light to assess colouration with fluorescein instilled to aid visualisation of papillae/follicles), blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction and sketch staining (both corneal and conjunctival) at every visit. Record other anterior eye features only if they are remarkable, but indicate that the key tissue which have been examined.

Youth Festival Music Performance : Deception Bay

Research Background - Young people with negative experiences of mainstream education often display low levels of traditional academic achievement. These young people tend to display considerable cultural and social resources developed through their repeated experiences of adversity. Education research has a duty to provide these young people with opportunities to showcase, assess and translate their social and cultural resources into symbolic forms of capital. This creative work addresses the following research question. How can educators develop disengaged teenager's social and cultural capital through live music performances? Research Contribution - These live music performances afford the young participants opportunities to display their artistic, technical, social and cultural resources through a popular cultural format. In doing so they require education institutions to provide venues that demonstrate the skills these young people acquire through flexible learning environments. The new knowledge derived from this research focuses on the academic and self confidence benefits for disengaged young people using festival performances as authentic learning activities. Research Significance - This research is significant because it aims to maximise the number of tangible outcomes related to a school-based arts project. The young participants gained technical, artistic, social and commercial skills during this project. This performance led to more recording and opportunities to perform at other youth festivals in SE QLD. Individual performances were distributed and downloaded via creative commons licences at the Australian Creative Resource Archive. It also contributed to their certified qualifications and acted as pilot research data for two competitively funded ARC grants (DP0209421 & LP0883643)