Musical coordination in a large group without plans nor leaders

A widespread belief is that large groups engaged in joint actions that require a high level of flexibility are unable to coordinate without the introduction of additional resources such as shared plans or hierarchical organizations. Here, we put this belief to a test, by empirically investigating coordination within a large group of 16 musicians performing collective free improvisation—a genre in which improvisers aim at creating music that is as complex and unprecedented as possible without relying on shared plans or on an external conductor. We show that musicians freely improvising within a large ensemble can achieve significant levels of coordination, both at the level of their musical actions (i.e., their individual decisions to play or to stop playing) and at the level of their directional intentions (i.e., their intentions to change or to support the music produced by the group). Taken together, these results invite us to reconsider the range and scope of actions achievable by large groups, and to explore alternative organizational models that emphasize decentralized and unscripted forms of collective behavior

Cognitive modeling, ecological psychology, and musical improvisation

Understanding novelty and improvisation in music requires gathering insight from a variety of disciplines. One fruitful path for synthesizing these insights is via modeling. As such, my aim in this paper is to start building a bridge between traditional cognitive models and contemporary embodied and ecological approaches to cognitive science. To achieve this task, I offer a perspective on a model that would combine elements of ecological psychology (especially affordances) and the Learning Intelligent Decision Agent (LIDA) cognitive architecture. Jeff Pressing’s cognitive model of musical improvisation will also be a central link between these elements. While some overlap between these three areas already exists, there are several points of tension between them, notably concerning the nature of perception and the function of artificial general intelligence modeling. I thus aim to alleviate the most worrisome concerns here, introduce several future research questions, and conclude with several points on how my account is part of a general theory, rather than merely a redescription of existent work

Five Improvisations: aspetti nonlineari di un’improvvisazione

This article aims to show how it is possible to enrich our knowledge of music through a linear and nonlinear analysis of sound. For this purpose, 1. I conduct a nonlinear analysis of a specific improvised music for winds and percussion, 2. I describe the sound characteristics of the invariants present in the improvisation, and 3. I finally show the relationship between linear and nonlinear properties of music

The Improvising Musician's Mask: Using Musical Instruments to Build Self-Confidence and Social Skills in Collective Free Improvisation

This study explores the idea that musical instruments can function as masks, allowing for greater creative expression and self-confidence, in the context of collective free improvisation. The use of masks has been well documented in various cultures throughout history and is still used in drama today, including in drama improvisation. Masks have traditionally been used to facilitate a deeper expression of the self. Musicians can use their instruments in similar ways, increasing their level of comfort and allowing for connection and communication with others in ways not available through traditional social exchanges. Through a series of interviews, questionnaires, and performances, thirty young instrumentalists and vocalists participated in this study in order to better understand their relationship to their instruments when improvising. All subjects were under the age of thirty, had studied improvisation in university and self-identified as non-professional improvisers. Through analysis of their recorded performances during the study, interview and questionnaire responses, it was discovered that the vast majority of participants identified with the idea that their instruments functioned as masks. Furthermore, most of these individuals believed their instruments helped them express parts of themselves that could not be expressed through other means. Some also believed their instruments allowed for the creation of a persona, in which they felt they could be someone else when performing. While all participants were accomplished performers in a variety of styles of music, the idea of musical instruments functioning as masks was only relevant to them in the context of free improvisation; they did not feel this same relationship to their instruments when performing any other style of music

insígnia, escafandro, sátira e locus: análise de processos criativos em comprovisação

Our objects of analysis in this article are the musical pieces named insígnia, escafandro, sátira and locus, created by the author. These are considered to be experiments in comprovisation, given the characteristics of their creative processes. Comprovisation, as a recent term in the literature, has no consensus so far; therefore, we gather here possible antecedents, the notions about and practices that seek in comprovisation its characterization. We distinguish two theoretical strains on the subject, and we carry out our own considerations aiming at an understanding of the term from an interconnection of the flows of interpretation and improvisation - these linked to notions of generative processes of performance and the understanding of Falleiros (2012) on the pact. Through traditional tools of analysis, and the notational perspective of Bhagwati (2013), we believe that the resignification of improvised gestures in the analyzed pieces points to the understanding of these as experiments in comprovisation.Nosso objeto de análise neste artigo é o conjunto de peças insígnia, escafandro, sátira e locus, criadas pelo autor. Estas são consideradas como experimentos em comprovisação, devido às características de seus processos criativos. Comprovisação, como um termo recente na literatura, não há até o momento um consenso; por isto, reunimos aqui possíveis antecedentes, as noções sobre e práticas que buscam na comprovisação sua caracterização. Distinguimos duas vertentes teóricas sobre o assunto, e realizamos considerações próprias almejando uma compreensão do termo a partir de uma interligação  os fluxos de interpretação e improvisação – estes vinculados a noções de processos generativos da performance e da compreensão de Falleiros (2012) sobre o pacto. Por meio de ferramentas tradicionais de análise, e da perspectiva notacional de Bhagwati (2013), acreditamos que a ressignificação dos gestos improvisados existentes nas peças analisadas aponta para a compreensão destas como experimentos em comprovisação

Fenomenologia dell'improvvisazione musicale. La prospettiva del performer.

L\u2019improvvisazione musicale \ue8 una pratica che ha visto negli ultimi anni il fiorire di numerosi studi che tentano di indagarne le caratteristiche pi\uf9 importanti. L\u2019obiettivo di questo lavoro \ue8 descrivere le caratteristiche fenomenologiche dell\u2019atto improvvisativo dal punto di vista dell\u2019esecutore. In particolare, quali sono le caratteristiche strutturali del processo improvvisativo? Cosa s\u2019intende per nonlinearit\ue0 dell\u2019agire improvvisativo? E in che senso l\u2019atto improvvisativo \ue8 emergenziale? Per rispondere a queste domande si \ue8 adottato un punto di vista fenomenologico incentrato sulla figura del performer. Si \ue8 analizzato il processo improvvisativo comparando esperienze e pratiche musicali eterogenee, descrivendo e analizzando tali esperienze e pratiche. E' per questa ragione che lo svolgimento del percorso di ricerca comporta che la tematica della non-linearit\ue0 (di stampo musicologico) incontri proficuamente il concetto di invarianza (dalla provenienza ancor pi\uf9 ramificata: scientifica, matematica, psicologica e filosofica), e infine quello di emergenza. La visione fenomenologica che caratterizza il percorso argomentativo ha messo in risalto la forza descrittiva di tali categorie e le loro analogie verso una comprensione dell'atto improvvisativo dal punto di vista dell'esecutore. La prima parte della tesi indaga gli strumenti filosofici offerti dalla fenomenologia husserliana, utili per comprendere la nozione di suono in rapporto alla temporalit\ue0 della coscienza. La nozione di invarianza \ue8 utile per comprendere i problemi dell'identit\ue0 sonora e come questa assume importanza dal punto di vista fenomenologico per descrivere i processi improvvisativi. Nella seconda parte della tesi il concetto di invarianza \ue8 alla base della descrizione dell'atto improvvisativo e del rapporto fra linearit\ue0 e nonlinearit\ue0 dell'improvvisazione. Viene analizzato il concetto di \u201cinizio dell'improvvisazione\u201d e \u201cfine dell'improvvisazione\u201d. In ultima analisi, l'atto improvvisativo si mostra come un processo emergenziale di cui l'invarianza e la nonlinearit\ue0 ne sono gli ingredienti costitutivi. In ultima analisi l\u2019atto improvvisativo si viene a delineare come un atto della coscienza che ha una struttura emergenziale, ovvero invariante rispetto a trasformazioni improvvise, in altre parole il fluire in un presente continuamente emergente, rispetto a un\u2019attesa improvvisa e a una ritenzione sfuggente

« Toucher les sons » : la manipulation expérimentale des sons électroniques, de l'apprentissage à la transmission dans les pratiques improvisées contemporaines - enquête de terrain à Montréal auprès de musiciens improvisateurs (2013-2016)

Les images n'ayant pas reçu d'autorisation ont été retirées de la version déposée sur papyrus. Une version complète a été déposée sur le site de la Faculté de Musique.Dans le domaine musical, l'époque contemporaine se caractérise par la dissémination de la scene, la démultiplication des genres musicaux et l’omniprésence des techniques audionumériques dans les processus de fabrication et de diffusion des enregistrements, reproductibles à l'infini par un nombre toujours croissant d'utilisateurs de matériel informatique. Nous choisissons d'extraire d'un tel contexte les pratiques improvisées d'inspiration libre usant d'une lutherie électronique. Comment les artistes parviennent-ils à se repérer dans un environnement aussi fluctuant et problématique, puis à transmettre leur savoir musical ? Pour sortir de la compilation des données temporellement circonscrites, nous tâcherons de comprendre ce qui est en train de se passer au sein des pratiques improvisées contemporaines dans une localité précise. Le cadre théorique, hérité du jazz, montrera qu'il existe au XXeme siecle un lien entre l'enregistrement sonore et l'improvisation à travers trois types d'instrumentation : mécanique, analogique et numérique. À l'aide de deux exemples historiques, nous essayerons de comprendre comment un improvisateur apprend à jouer du clavier tout en étant confronté, dans le même temps, à un dispositif technique de production et de reproduction sonore. La méthode introduira ensuite l'enquête de terrain effectuée à Montréal en 2013-2014 dans l'atelier de six musiciens. Les monographies mettront en évidence les filiations et la mémoire sonore de chaque artiste, constitutives d'un imaginaire musical l'autorisant à performer le moment venu. Les pratiques improvisées étudiées ne représentent aucun genre ni aucune tradition musicale identifiable, car elles s'inspirent indifféremment des musiques expérimentales, de l'électroacoustique, de l'improvisation libre, du free jazz et du rock. En revanche, elles demeurent indissociables du contexte qui les a vu naître, celui de la musique actuelle au Québec et de la topographie montréalaise. Grâce au concept d'« audiotactilité », ces pratiques seront analysées du point de vue des usages que les artistes font des circuits électroniques, c'est-à-dire le rapport physique à la matérialité des outils et des sons produits par le biais de l'ouïe et de la fonction haptique. L'improvisation procède-t-elle d'une construction réfléchie, telle une architecture ou une ingénierie, et l'électronique influence-t-il l'élaboration du discours improvisé ? Existe-il une structure sous-jacente dans l'élaboration d'un discours improvisé utilisant des outils électroniques en adéquation avec un processus musical vivant ? Par le réemploi de morceaux préexistants et par la pratique de l’échantillonnage, l'improvisation peut être pensée comme un processus hypertextuel. Ainsi, nous verrons si les techniques numériques se placent dans la continuité de l'enregistrement mécanique et analogique ou si elles constituent un élément de rupture.In the field of music, our contemporary age is characterised by a scattered scene, an increasing number of musical genres and ubiquitous audio-digital techniques used in the process of production as well as in the broadcasting of recordings, themselves infinitely reproducible by an ever-growing number of computer-users. In the midst of this constellation we have chosen to highlight the art of free improvisation using electronic stringed-instruments. How do artists manage to find their way in such a fluctuating and problematical environment, and then convey their musical know-how? Rather than compiling data limited in time, we will attempt to understand what is being happening among contemporary improvisation in a specific context. The theoretical framework, inherited from jazz, points to a connection in the 20th century between recording and improvisation and operates on three levels: mechanical, analogue and digital. With the aid of two historical examples we try to understand how an improviser learns to play the keyboard while being at the same time confronted with a technical device of sound production and reproduction. The methodology / approach then presents a field investigation carried out in Montreal in 2013-2014 during a workshop involving six musicians. The monographs highlight the origins and sound memory of each artist which make up his musical individuality and allow him to perform when required. The improvised sessions under investigation do not represent a genre or identifiable musical tradition, as they derive indiscriminately from experimental music, electro-acoustics, free improvisation, free jazz and rock. However they cannot be dissociated from the context in which they emerged, i.e. the modern music scene in Quebec and the wider Montreal environment. Thanks to the concept of "audio-tactility", these practices are analysed focussing on how the artists use electronic circuits, i.e. what is the connexion between the material aspect of the devices and the sounds produced by listening and haptics. Does the improvisation stem from a mental construct, a building plan or engineered map and do the electronics have a bearing on the elaboration of the improvised discourse? Is there an underlying structure in the elaboration of an improvised discourse using electronic devices in combination with a live musical process? By feeding preexisting pieces through a sampler, improvisation can be thought of as a hypertext process. In this way we can observe whether digital techniques are an extension of mechanical and analogue recording techniques or whether indeed they break with them

One Line, Many Views: Perspectives on Music Theory, Composition, and Improvisation through the Work of Muhal Richard Abrams

This dissertation examines aspects of the creative practice of Muhal Richard Abrams, composer, improviser, pianist, and cofounder of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM). Abrams’s work intersects with various facets of creative music. I focus on free improvisation, both as a stand-alone performance and in conjunction with through-composed music, his engagement with writings by theorist Joseph Schillinger, and his work as a composer. This study provides an historical overview of Abrams’s life and output, supplies analytical accounts of his music and creative practice, contributes to critical issues in music theory and analysis through these examinations, and diversifies the music, musicians, and topics that comprise the discipline of music theory