scholarly journals Improvising Inside a House of Cards: New performance and music-making through a collective networked instrument

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-389
Author(s):  
Trond Engum ◽  
Thomas Henriksen ◽  
Carl Haakon Waadeland
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Electroacoustic Music ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
House Of Cards ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Somatic Transformation ◽  
Musical Interaction ◽  
Networked Music ◽  
Musical Communication

This article presents experiences and reflections related to performing improvised, live processed electroacoustic music within a context of networked music performance. The musical interaction is performed through a new collective networked instrument, and we report how the ensemble ‘Magnify the Sound’, consisting of two of the authors of this article, meets the instrument in different networked performance situations, and how this is related to the affordance of the instrument. In our performances the network is inherent to our artistic practice, and we experience a phenomenological and somatic transformation in our roles as musicians, from individual instrumentality to shared instrumentality. The instrument invites new forms of music-making and contributes in fundamental ways to the ensemble’s musical communication and artistic expression. In the present article we outline our methods of working artistically with the networked instrument, and we point at some artistic results. We then discuss how the collective instrument has facilitated new performance and musical practice within the network.

Genre and Capital in Avant-garde Electronica

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-71
Author(s):  
Eliot Britton
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Music ◽  
Electroacoustic Music ◽  
Music Technology ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Tools And Techniques ◽  
Flexible Boundaries ◽  
Structured Approach

This article applies a genre level approach to the tangled discourse surrounding the points of convergence between avant-garde electronica and electroacoustic music. More specifically the article addresses related experimental practices in these distinct yet related fields of electronic music-making. The democratisation of music technology continues to expand into an increasingly diverse set of musical fields, destabilising established power dynamics. A flexible, structured approach to the analysis of these relationships facilitates the navigation of crumbling boundaries and shifting relationships. Contemporary electronic music’s overlapping networks encompass varying forms of capital, aesthetics, technology, ideology, tools and techniques. These areas offer interesting points of convergence. As the discourse surrounding electronic music expands, so must the vocabulary and conceptual models used to describe and discuss new areas of converging artistic practice. Genre level diagrams selectively collapse, expand and arrange artistic fields, facilitating concrete, coherent arguments and the examination of patterns and relationships. Through the genre level diagram’s establishment of distinct yet flexible boundaries, electronic music’s sprawling discourse can be cordoned off, expanded or contracted to suit structured analyses. In this way, this approach clarifies scope and facilitates simultaneous examination from a variety of perspectives.

scholarly journals A Presence- and Performance-Driven Framework to Investigate Interactive Networked Music Learning Scenarios

2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Stefano Delle Monache ◽  
Luca Comanducci ◽  
Michele Buccoli ◽  
Massimiliano Zanoni ◽  
Augusto Sarti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chamber Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Music Practice ◽  
Early Results ◽  
And Performance ◽  
The Many ◽  
Musical Interaction ◽  
Networked Music ◽  
The Impact

Cooperative music making in networked environments has been subject of extensive research, scientific and artistic. Networked music performance (NMP) is attracting renewed interest thanks to the growing availability of effective technology and tools for computer-based communications, especially in the area of distance and blended learning applications. We propose a conceptual framework for NMP research and design in the context of classical chamber music practice and learning: presence-related constructs and objective quality metrics are used to problematize and systematize the many factors affecting the experience of studying and practicing music in a networked environment. To this end, a preliminary NMP experiment on the effect of latency on chamber music duos experience and quality of the performance is introduced. The degree of involvement, perceived coherence, and immersion of the NMP environment are here combined with measures on the networked performance, including tempo trends and misalignments from the shared score. Early results on the impact of temporal factors on NMP musical interaction are outlined, and their methodological implications for the design of pedagogical applications are discussed.

Open Sound Control: an enabling technology for musical networking

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
MATTHEW WRIGHT
Keyword(s):  
Enabling Technology ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Communication Latency ◽  
Control Protocol ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Sound Control ◽  
Musical Interaction ◽  
Networked Music

Since telecommunication can never equal the richness of face-to-face interaction on its own terms, the most interesting examples of networked music go beyond the paradigm of musicians playing together in a virtual room. The Open Sound Control protocol has facilitated dozens of such innovative networked music projects. First the protocol itself is described, followed by some theoretical limits on communication latency and what they mean for music making. Then a representative list of some of the projects that take advantage of the protocol is presented, describing each project in terms of the paradigm of musical interaction that it provides.

Voices on the wind

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Curkpatrick
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Northern Territory ◽  
Musical Performance ◽  
Orchestral Music ◽  
Australian Society ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Musical Interaction

The musical project Crossing Roper Bar (CRB) is based on a collaboration between Wägilak songmen from Australia’s Northern Territory and the Australian Art Orchestra (AAO). Individuals drawn into this collaboration bring their distinct voices and histories to performance, while opening themselves to those of others. A new, malleable approach to orchestral performance in Australia is the result of this collaboration, which places improvisation at the centre of conversational musical interaction. This chapter introduces orthodox narrative elements of Wägilak manikay (song) that are creatively renewed and sustained in CRB. It highlights how the collaboration demonstrates the compelling play of musical performance that can generate nuanced, respectful and ongoing interactions between individuals, and between individuals and traditions. Amidst the vibrant, cultural diversity of contemporary Australian society, CRB suggests new possibilities for productive and relevant orchestral music-making.

Does Chronotype explain Daily Timing of Music Behaviors?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shannon Wright ◽  
Caroline Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Social Interaction ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Sleep Onset ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Sleep Diary ◽  
Sleep Habits ◽  
Sleep Timing ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Daily Changes

We addressed how circadian rhythms influence daily musical activities of performing musicians, who exhibit fine temporal control. Music performances often occur in the evening and late at night; evidence suggests that composing musicians tend to be later chronotypes than non-composing musicians. However, chronotype and daily music-making in performing musicians have yet to be investigated. The current study examined chronotype in actively practicing and/or performing musicians and non-musicians, and whether it was related to the daily timing of music performance. To test influences of daily changes due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, disruptions to musical, athletic, social, and sleep habits were also measured. Performing musicians, active (practicing but non-performing) musicians, inactive musicians, and non-musicians, residing in Canada, completed a 7-day online daily activity and sleep diary in Summer 2020. There were more evening chronotypes than morning chronotypes in the sample. Active/performing musicians tended to be earlier chronotypes than all other groups. Musicians' chronotype, but not nightly sleep timing, predicted the time of day that musicians made music: Late chronotypes made music later in the day and early chronotypes made music earlier in the day. Music performance and practice amount decreased during the COVID-19 period, but the daily timing of these activities did not change. All participants reported later sleep onset during the COVID-19 period; the amount of social interaction decreased during the COVID-19 period, while exercise increased for some and decreased for others. No changes in the daily timing of exercise, social interaction, or morning wake-up were reported. These findings suggest that performing musicians may be slightly earlier chronotypes than non-performing musicians and non-musicians, despite music performances often occurring in the evening. Chronotype was related to the time of day of music-making independent of nightly sleep timing, suggesting that times of day for making music reflect an individual's circadian rhythm.

scholarly journals Temporal Coordination in Piano Duet Networked Music Performance (NMP): Interactions Between Acoustic Transmission Latency and Musical Role Asymmetries

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Auriel Washburn ◽  
Matthew J. Wright ◽  
Chris Chafe ◽  
Takako Fujioka
Keyword(s):  
Joint Action ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
Acoustic Transmission ◽  
Pitch Range ◽  
Internet Technologies ◽  
Relative Independence ◽  
Ensemble Performance ◽  
Coordination Patterns ◽  
Networked Music ◽  
Related Personality

Today’s audio, visual, and internet technologies allow people to interact despite physical distances, for casual conversation, group workouts, or musical performance. Musical ensemble performance is unique because interaction integrity critically depends on the timing between each performer’s actions and when their acoustic outcomes arrive. Acoustic transmission latency (ATL) between players is substantially longer for networked music performance (NMP) compared to traditional in-person spaces where musicians can easily adapt. Previous work has shown that longer ATLs slow the average tempo in ensemble performance, and that asymmetric co-actor roles and empathy-related traits affect coordination patterns in joint action. Thus, we are interested in how musicians collectively adapt to a given latency and how such adaptation patterns vary with their task-related and person-related asymmetries. Here, we examined how two pianists performed duets while hearing each other’s auditory outcomes with an ATL of 10, 20, or 40 ms. To test the hypotheses regarding task-related asymmetries, we designed duets such that pianists had: (1) a starting or joining role and (2) a similar or dissimilar musical part compared to their co-performer, with respect to pitch range and melodic contour. Results replicated previous clapping-duet findings showing that longer ATLs are associated with greater temporal asynchrony between partners and increased average tempo slowing. While co-performer asynchronies were not affected by performer role or part similarity, at the longer ATLs starting performers displayed slower tempos and smaller tempo variability than joining performers. This asymmetry of stability vs. flexibility between starters and joiners may sustain coordination, consistent with recent joint action findings. Our data also suggest that relative independence in musical parts may mitigate ATL-related challenges. Additionally, there may be a relationship between co-performer differences in empathy-related personality traits such as locus of control and coordination during performance under the influence of ATL. Incorporating the emergent coordinative dynamics between performers could help further innovation of music technologies and composition techniques for NMP.

Percussion Theatre: a body in between

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Jennifer Torrence
Keyword(s):  
Contemporary Music ◽  
Music Performance ◽  
The Body ◽  
John Cage ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Art Forms ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
And Performance

What does the musician become when sound and instrumental thinking are no longer privileged as the foundation of a musician's practice? In what ways does an emphasis on the musician's body cause music to approach art forms such as theatre and performance? After a generation of pioneering work from Mauricio Kagel, Dieter Schnebel, John Cage and many others, where is the theatrical and the performative in music today? How do its recent developments shape, alter, constitute a musician's artistic practice? Through her research, Jennifer Torrence argues that this type of music demands the musician assume a different understanding and relation to their instrument and therefore a different relation to their body. This relation calls for new ways of making and doing (new artistic practices) that foreground the body as a fundamental performance material. Through an emphasis on the body, the musician emerges as a performer. This exposition is a reflection on the research project Percussion Theatre: a body in between. This project is comprised of a collection of new evening-length works that approach the theatrical and performative in contemporary music performance. These works are created with and by composers Wojtek Blecharz, Carolyn Chen, Neo Hülcker, Johan Jutterström, Trond Reinholdtsen, François Sarhan, and Peter Swendsen. The exposition contains reflections on recent developments in contemporary music that mark a mutation of the executing musician into a co-creating performer, as well as images, artefacts, videos, and texts that unfold the process of creating and performing the work that constitutes this project. The ambition of this exposition is that through the exposure of a personal artistic practice an image of a larger field may come into focus.

Supporting Everyday Creativity in Ubiquitous Music Making

2016 ◽  
pp. 78-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Damián Keller ◽  
Maria Helena de Lima
Keyword(s):  
Information Value ◽  
Artistic Practice ◽  
Technological Support ◽  
Music Making ◽  
Creative Experience ◽  
Musical Creativity ◽  
Musical Resources ◽  
Music Information ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Musical Activities

The concept of everyday musical creativity is related to non-professional musical activities carried out in venues not intended for artistic practice. Everyday musical creativity demands technological support to provide access to musical resources by non-musicians and by musicians engaging in musical activities in domestic and public spaces. This chapter covers key aspects of the conceptual ubiquitous music framework and its methodological implications for the support of everyday creative activities. We discuss strategies to enhance music information value within the context of two sets of studies, the first set focusing on the development of an interaction metaphor and the second set dealing with the assessment of technological requirements to support creative musical activities in educational contexts. One of the implications of the methodological framework proposed by ubiquitous music studies is the expanded notion of musical information as a product of creative experience rather than as an abstract symbolic system.

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