Tag Archives: improvisation

Bridging Practices: The Power of the Pedal Board

Leave a Reply

Taking my experiments in improvisation further, I have come to incorporate a loop pedal as an instrument in my set up.

As seen in the image above, there has been more of a focus on using the turntable as an instrument as opposed to my classical instruments, although I am still incorporating them within my experiments. The turntable is the instrument I am most confident in, and therefore is easier to manipulate in a setting where the loop pedal is involved, as the loop pedal requires a presicion of timing.

It is important to incorporate the turntable for conceptual reasoning: this is an instrument that signifies the world and humanity’s relationship with technology, which is where my interest in writing lies at the moment. The turntable is an analogue instrument, relying on electricity, power to be utilised. In this sense it is highly technological, and its invention in the nineteenth century was a key point in the development of humanity’s understanding of technology. Being analogue, it howevever is also very easy to humanly manipulate.

The loop pedal is an intersting device, as not only does it allow the user to record, store, and build on ideas, it fascillitates tempo manipulation, as seen in the video above. This meant that I was able to record at much lower tempos to have more control when playing in basslines and creating the loop of the breaks.

The loop pedal is a great way for me to build a live set where I can build on sounds to create a whole piece of music, as opposed to improvising on one instrument, where I cannot build and creat a whole piece of music.

The granular pedal was an addition to the set up that allowed for variation and more experimental qualities to be added to my performance experiments.

Click image for full video of experiment using BOSS loop station, turntable and live instrumentation.

As seen in the video, the performance piece I am planning uses existing drum and bass records to build on breaks to create my own sounds. However, as I am still experimenting, it trakes a while for the track to build; this could be boresome to an audience and may not translate well in a live setting. There was also complications in incorporating the double bass- in the clip, you can see it fall over. In a live setting, not only would a double bass be impractical to transport to venues, but it may fall over as did in the above practice session. In addition, due to the nature of the double bass being an accoustic instrument, when recording a bassline to add o the piece, it picks up on the sound of the room. This could be combatted by using a contact microphone. In later experiements, I used my housemate’s bass guitar instead, as it could be connected directly to the loop pedal to construct clear basslines undisrupted by the sound of the room. The bass guitar is also smaller, and strapped around my body so as to avoid any damage to the instrument.

Although I heavily enjoyed the process layed out in the above video, the performance so far is still very situated in the realm of UK dance music, and not the art world. To make the performance more experimental, I would like to deviate from the drum and bass DJ style set that the performance currently feels it has. To do this, I am going to start the performance with elements other than percussion, and sample records which aren’t drum and bass. I would love to sample my own soundscapes and percussion textures, however the costs involved with pressing vinyl can be high, and the time to get the pressings back may not coincide with the deadlines of the unit. Nevertheless, it is something I will research to expand the scope of this piece.

In Practice: Instrument jams and breaking musciality

Leave a Reply

My interest in the sonic is rooted in my love for music, which began with playing instruments. I feel as though my instruments are my tools in which I can create, and through my instruments I am able to sonically translate my thoughts and feelings. Through studying sound art, I have become familiar with common tools used in the realm for creating sound, such as tape manipulation and creation of sound sculpture through DIY electronic methods. It is clear that my instrument prcatices are more rooted in musicality than the methods aforemorementioned.

Whilst music is a part of the sound art realm, musical performance and the creation of “genred” music is not concerned with the notion off “sound” specifically, wherein it does not “harness, describe, analyze, perform, and interrogate the condition of sound and the process by which it operates” (LaBelle, 2006). I would argue that Western musical performance (such as classical music, pop and other musics inended for commercialised entertainment) is concerned instead with aesthetics and capitalism. Music made under this branch is intended to please the brain rather than challenge it.

Although I come from a musical background, I am interested in creating art that challenges the brain and society. I want to use sound as a research tool to understand the topics I am interested in: the impacts of technology on the human mind and evolution, the upholding of a community opposed to the neoliberal society we are forced to be a part of, and how we can better our lives and society.

When we look at music from the perspective of the creation and manipulation of sound rather than for its aesthetic qualities, these areas of my interest do not seem so far unrelated from sound. Studying music from a scientific point of view points to it as a key tool for human development in evolution. It also points to music as a communication tool in historic contexts, aswell as displaying its therapuetic and unionising effects.

So how do I incorporate my practices on my instruments into my development of knowledge in these topic areas?

My first mode of inquiry is my initial research into the connection between sound, music and the brain. Through my intrigue in sound system culture, I have learned of notions such as “mind-body dualism”, allowing me to understand the mind and the body as the same entity, with external factors that effect one of these things (the mind or body) inevitably effecting the other. With this knowledge, I have come to analyse dance music through its effects of sound on us as humans as opposed to its musicality.

What would it be, then, to make or perform music that is concerned withs its effects on our minds and bodies rather than musicality?

My first mode of inquiry for this question was to make and perform music that is not reliant on musicality. I achieved this through the technique of improvisation.

Self improvisation on the harp.

In this video above, I am improvising on a harp, which is an instrument I have no prior experience in. Interestingly, I felt that this improvisation felt very musically pleasing, particuarly in comparisson to the later examples of improvisation I provide in this piece of writing. Perhaps my lack of knowledge on the instrument eliminates any boundaries in how I think it should sound pr be played. When playing the eharp, I noted that I felt joyous- I was focussed on the texture of the strings on my hand, and how the physical act of playing the harp made me feel. Through this piece of improvisation, I now understand improvisation to be a big tool when in need of cathartic release or some form of physical stimulation.

Keyboard, loop pedal and SP-404 MK2 improvisation with Wilf Merson, multi-disciplenary artist working with sound, music and words.

In the video above, I am taking part in an improvisation with my good friend and music collabrator, Wilf Merson. Although the whole set up isn’t in camera view, Wilf is using an SP-404 to manipulate sounds that are being played out of the keyboard I am using. There is also a loop pedal in use, allowing me to create layers and textures with the keyboard. Although Wilf and I both come from musical backgrounds, this improvisation session didn’t feel like it was completely wrapped up in musicality.

Saxophone and double bass improvisation with Louie Stickland, someone who is not involved within sound making.

In the video above, I am seen playing saxophone alongside my friend Louie, who is playing double bass. This was an interesting jam, as Louie is someone who doesn’t actually play any instruments. Because of this, the improvisation session was very free flowing, and relied on constant eye contact to ensure we were playing cohesively. It was also interesting as at the time, my saxophone was broken, so I was limited in what I could play. Louie is an animator who sometimes works with sound design in his work, so perhaps this background have him an advanatge in creating sound here.

In these experiments, I have had an advantage of being minimally skilled on my instruments, making it easier for me to break away from musicality than someone who is confident or very skilled on thei instrument. However, this may also hinder me from being able to “read the room” of a group improvisation setting, meaning that performance or creation of sound may not be cohesive.

To develop my research into my inquiry, I feel that I need to understand my instuments more. This is not to say I need to develop my musical knowlege on them, but I would like to understand how best to manipulate the textures of sound to best translate how I would like the sound to be heard.

Improvisation can be thought of as an interaction of our pre-existing knowledge with our cognitive and emotional processes (Williamson, 2015). With this in mind, participating in improvisation as an artist can help us to understand our subconcious mind more cohesively, which in turn will contribute to further understanding of the human brain and conciousness.

Documentation of Creative Project:

Leave a Reply

Before actually conducting the performance I had planned, I decided it was important to even experiment with using multiple mediums at once. I connected one turntable and my laptop (with Logic open) to my mixer. I decided to use each channel as though I was mixing in a DJ setting in terms of EQing and volume levels, and blending into each channel. However, I did not adopt constraints of timing and using tracks of the same genre, or even tracks at all at some points, that there would be within DJing.

I begun my experiment by playing this vinyl I bought in El Salvador a couple months back. This was to signify that the work is about my heritage, a mark of my own sonic mapping. I have Vestax PDX-2300 turntables, which means that I can manipulate the vinyl to slow down and speed up in very large amounts, as well as reverse tracks. I decided to use these functions to manipulate the sound of the vinyl from El Salvador.

I started off by playing with the pitch functions, and then reversing the record where there was a drone-like loop. I thought about how I could apply this as a technique when producing music, as a sort of “live chopping” technique when sampling. I then played with this idea of live chopping, thinking about how I could incorporate splices from other tracks to sample. Using Maria Chavez’s techniques in abstract turntablism, I used my cracked vinyl to add variation of samples used on the one turntable. I then added a second instrument, my laptop, with Logic open, to trigger samples from tracks I created. It was difficult to do so without having pre-organised a set of samples or loading them onto a sampler, I was just attemppting to work with raw audio. I found it was easier to play synthesisers I had created, as there was less ryhthmic clashing, and I had more control over what was being played. I added a third instrument, flute. I thought whilst experimenting, it would be easier to use than a saxophone because it is quieter.

DOCUMENTAATION OF EXPERIMENTATION.

This video displays a “rough sketch” of what my performance would look like. To improve, I will pre-load synths in one project in logic so that I can access them more easily, and switch between them with ease. I thought about how my saxophone is broken, and this is a big reasoning as to why I am reluctant to use it. I then thought about the use of broken vinyl, and how the rhythms of the different elements clashed with each other. The idea of incorporating the broken saxophone then adds to the aesthetic of the work, and allows me to conceptualise it.

Visiting Practitioner: Yan Jun

Leave a Reply

Beijing based musician and poet, Yan Jun, displays in a series of videos the development of his sonic practice. Part of his creative process involves self isolation in his studio space, a space where he hosts bi-monthly concerts, and he now likes to incorporate the use of the body within his performances.

Starting with a background of field recording and electronic music, Yan Jun displays his earlier performances. A table is set up with a range of electronic equipment, cables clearly in view. The audience is invited to take a look at the table; there are speakers facing upwards, their vibrations manipulated by Jun. Even from his earlier works, Jun can be clearly seen to have a likeness for incorporating the audience within his performance. Jun tells us the that the direct translation of “electronic music” in Chinese would be “table music”- appropriate, considering the set up displayed by Jun.

Although Jun’s development of his practice is highly interesting, his explanation of “dirty electronics” is what stuck with me most. The concept of “dirty electronics” encapsulates any artist’s nightmare- a poor sound / monitoring system. I have a recent unpleasant experience with this. At my most prolific DJ gig to date, I was playing the second room, designed to be a quieter atmosphere than the rest of the club. I didn’t want to sacrifice my artistic integrity by adapting to the crowd, especially as I had prepared a vinyl set, and only had what I had planned with me. Mixing vinyl, hearing is the most vital skill, as if I cannot hear properly, the mix will be muddy and out of sync, and unfortunately for me, the monitoring system was significantly poor. So how do we go about dealing with poor speakers and monitoring systems? Jun’s practice allows him to adapt to the given environment, adopting improvisation as a tool. Through improvisation, an artist can adjust their performance to any environment, which would eliminate fears of going against one’s artistic integrity as it is a part of it. Though my sonic practices are very different to Jun’s, I can learn from him to be able to become more comfortable in a performance setting.

Graphic Scores in Practice: “Pi Chart Rivvum”

Leave a Reply

Oftentimes with my friends, we make music. So on Saturday evening when my friends were over, I though it would be the perfect time to experiment with a graphic score I had created:

How the piece would be played is pretty self explanatory; only the notes Db, Eb, Gb, Ab and Bb could be used, it was made to be played by three people, and needed percussion. The rest of the pi chart was created with my friends, and was more just an illustration of the feel of the piece we were creating. Although this gave us pointers as to what to play, I feel as though this is something that could have been easily discussed beforehand. We Improvised on the MIDI keyboard using Logic stock instruments.

I believe that, had we used acoustic instruments and recorded live, we would have thought about the score a bit more instead of just “going with the flow”. I am going to use this base of improvised music based on the graphic score to start my piece, however, will use other techniques discussed using seminars to complete it.

Graphic Scores

Leave a Reply

When listening to Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody a few years ago during a college class, I recall looking into my classmates’ eyes trying our hardest to repress our laughter. It felt like a joke, being made to listen to this shrieking a week before our theory exam. Reading the score was another story- I didn’t understand how it could be read or for what reason it had been created.

Stripsody: Transforming Comics into Vanguard Art - Interdisciplinary Italy

Having been studying sound art, I realised what this was, was a graphic score. Graphic scores are a great tool for expressing ideas that cannot be expressed through traditional music notation. They also serve as a physical art form of the sound piece which it was written for, meaning it can be preserved other than in memory. Graphic scores are also a useful tool for improvisation. One of my strongest sound related beliefs is that anyone has the capability to make music, and graphic scores can help to fulfil that belief.

So, when in lecture we were shown Cathy Berberian’s Stripsody in seminar, I thought I’d see it with a different perspective to a few years ago.

I, however, did not.

I had to question myself- what made traditional music notation so much more palatable than graphic scores? After all, they’re not so different; both of them use symbols to convey musical ideas. I pinpointed where my issue with graphic scores lay, and that was that there is no common language to help ground a consensus of what is about to be played. If I were to then view music notation, traditional or graphic scores, as language, it might help me to better understand the benefit of using a graphic score.

“No other natural communication system is like human language” (Ray Jackendoff). The origin of language and how it initially developed is something that is still being pieced together by science. In Ray Jackndeoff’s FAQ, How Did Language Begin?, gives an explanation of how the origins of language would be studied, and what current research there is- exploring ideas around evolution. Jackendoff’s own observation on protolanguage resonated with me; toddlers and those learning a new language find ways to communicate, creating their own common language, much like pidgin languages, which “are learned as second languages in order to facilitate communication”. Humans somehow find commonality in phrases, using expression cues and gestures to identify meaning.

So, how do I apply this new understanding to graphic scores? My foremost thought would be to differentiate the uses of each one, like how pidgin languages are used secondarily, and therefore don’t convey everything possible within human expression. It could then be said that graphic scores aren’t necessarily useful for conveying full and complex musical ideas, but rather for gaining a general consensus of what the sound should be to those playing the score. With this in mind, I am going to challenge myself to create and use a graphic score to initially create my sound piece for this unit. I am going to use George Crumb’s The Magic Circle of Infinity as inspiration, as it still uses traditional music notation. This means that I can start to get comfortable with creating graphic scores by keeping it to my current understanding, then in future I will be able to create more abstract scores.