Fretless Architecture: Towards the Development of Original Techniques and Musical Notation Specific to the Fretless Electric Guitar

This article discusses the development of original performance techniques specific to the fretless electric guitar through diverse musical practice(s) and proposes a standardised system of musical notation. An autoethnographic account of personal performance experience is framed with reference to theoretical constructs of performative practice and collaborative creativity. The article focuses on the process behind an evolving practice: combining practical and theoretical aspects of contemporary music performance, and demonstrating that the collation, archiving and subsequent dissemination of both established and emerging techniques into the wider musical community is essential in order to promote the fretless electric guitar as an independent musical force

The Expansion of Improvisatory Techniques and Sound-Palette Specific to the Fretless Electric Guitar

The fretless electric guitar remains relatively unexplored due to its young age and ‘prepared’ nature, and it features increasingly in popular music and the neo-traditional music(s) of West-Asia. This research considers its use in broader, more contemporary, and eclectic settings – both as a solo instrument and within different ensembles – exploring extended performance techniques; including an engagement with technological augmentation (expressly the use of effects pedals, loops, E-bow etc.), to discern new timbres. My personal approaches to improvisation using the fretless electric guitar have been informed by extensive performance experience, spanning a variety of ensembles, genres, and contexts, including: cross-cultural projects (predominantly with Middle-Eastern and West-Asian musicians); free- improvisation workshops (both leading and taking part); contemporary and popular music recording sessions; live electronic and technological enhancement within ensembles; the accommodation of improvisation within through-composition; and solo performance. Drawing from my recently published article on this subject (Music and Practice: vol. 4, New Perspectives on Technique and Practice, April 2019), this lecture-recital will begin with a discussion of various performance techniques specific to the fretless electric guitar, as well as any discoveries of new techniques and sounds which have emerged from my personal practice. This will be followed by a solo, part-composed/part-improvised performance, demonstrating how such techniques and sounds might be used in a contemporary music context

Fretless Architecture: An Exploration of the Fretless Electric Guitar

The main focus of my post-doctoral research addresses the development of new techniques and original notation, specific to the fretless electric guitar: the incorporation of improvised passages within through-written material; the use of an array of effects pedals, loops and Ebow etc.; and the use of the instrument in a variety of contexts. In addition I work with several Iranian traditional/popular music crossover projects and an improvisation based trio in which I utilise the fretless electric guitar. This research and practical experience has enabled the exploration of new timbre possibilities and the development of performance repertoire for fretless electric guitar. Last year I released an international call for solo fretless electric guitar scores, in conjunction with Colchester New Music. This allowed me to work closely with composers in order to develop new repertoire for, and explore the potential of this new and exciting instrument. A live performance and recording(s) of a selection of the entries took place in November 2015 at Colchester Arts Centre where five submissions from the call were premiered. This lecture-recital will include performances of several extracts from these pieces for solo fretless electric guitar; specifically those that best demonstrate the fretless qualities of the instrument and discoveries of new techniques, sounds and approaches to notation. I will also discuss the challenges encountered during the project with particular reference to practice, new techniques, and notational devices. The performance will also include a premier of Divisions 2 composed by Andrew Hall, a longer piece written specifically for the IGRC conference, built upon the findings and outcomes from the previous call for scores

Combining musical identities through composition and improvisation

This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel UniversityThis research project aims to: - Examine how my musical identity as Music-maker can be fused with those of contributing improvising musicians, throughout the collaborative process. - Form creative methodologies/strategies to sufficiently accommodate the improvisatory approaches of others around my own work. - Develop appropriate communication methods, including original notational systems; and explore ways in which technology can be harnessed, to help fulfil the above objectives. This research intends to explore the extent to which improvisation may be incorporated into compositions, by means of practical experiment and investigation. The written commentary will accompany a portfolio of audio recordings and scores. Key works demonstrating various approaches and techniques employed will be examined in detail. An appendix disc of supplementary audio recordings and videos will also be provided to show piecedevelopment and the evolution of my music-making practice. My point of origin straddles that of a professional guitarist experienced in an array of improvised music(s), including: rock, jazz, fusion and contemporary improvisation, and that of a composer interested in collaborative projects which take advantage of the eclectic experience and skill sets of the musicians taking part

Strung Together: A Practical Exploration of Music-Cultural Hybridity, Interaction, and Collaboration

Strung Together is a collaborative performance project commissioned in September 2017 by Diaspora Arts Connection in San Francisco, US. Drawing from models of cultural integration and collaborative creativity, this research project enabled the development of a practical methodology through which the improvisatory approaches of non-congruent music-cultures might be combined to create a programme of original, eclectic works, within a limited time frame. Considering the subtle boundaries which lie between coexistence, assimilation, and synthesis within intercultural collaborations, Strung Together explored how different initial musical stimuli might alter the balance, whilst maintaining contextually-relative improvisatory freedom/s; and optimising productivity. Here the blending of three improvisation-based music traditions was investigated – Persian Classical, Arabic traditional and Western contemporary – through a process comprising: continual dialogue; collective composition; coalesced methods of improvisation; rearrangement and refinement; rehearsals; and live performance. Acting as musical director/performer, I sourced four professional musicians from the San Francisco Bay area – each expert in different traditions of improvisatory music(s) – to form a quintet; and was ultimately responsible for the project’s curation and delivery. I provided various pre-composed musical stimuli, Fragment(s), each of which incorporated influences from the performers’ respective music traditions and served as initial platforms for the development of the final pieces. We gathered together daily for one week, and during this time collectively developed, arranged, and rehearsed a complete performance programme of new, hybrid music. A live performance took place on the final day at the renowned Buriel Clay Theatre, which was streamed live via social media, reaching a worldwide audience. This presentation will reflect on the creative practice behind Strung Together, demonstrating that by inaugurating a democratic environment, where manifold approaches to music-making are considered and respected at a structural level, music-cultural hybridity is achievable within a limited time frame

Strung Together: A Night of World Music Improvisation.

International Performance Project, commissioned by Diaspora Arts Connection. African American Art & Culture Complex: Burial Clay Theatre, San Francisco, US, 2017. Drawing from models of cultural integration and collaborative creativity, this research project enabled the development of a practical methodology through which the improvisatory approaches of non-congruent music-cultures might be combined to create a programme of original, eclectic works, within a limited time frame. Considering the subtle boundaries which lie between coexistence, assimilation, and synthesis within inter-cultural collaborations, Strung Together explored how different initial musical stimuli might alter the balance, whilst maintaining contextually-relative improvisatory freedom(s); and optimising productivity. Here the blending of three distinctive improvisation-based music traditions was investigated – Persian Classical, Arabic traditional, and Western contemporary – through a process comprising: continual dialogue; collective composition; coalesced methods of improvisation; rearrangement and refinement; rehearsals; and live performance

Premier Performance: Divisions 2 – for solo fretless electric guitar | composed by Hall, A

World premier performance of Divisions 2 – for solo fretless electric guitar, composed by Andrew Hall

Premier Performance: Improweb MMXIX – for solo fretless electric guitar | composed by Perks, R

World premier performance of: Improweb MMXIX for solo fretless electric guitar – composed by Perks, R. This piece explores various original techniques and timbres unique to the fretless electric guitar, alongside technological augmentation (including the integration of effects pedals, loops, E-Bow etc.) Performed by Perks, R. at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Hong Kong. July, 201

Strung Together: Realizing Music-cultural Hybridity within a Limited Time Frame.

This article discusses the creative practice behind Strung Together, an intercultural collaboration combining three non-congruent improvisation-based musics. An account of my experience as ‘musical-facilitator’ is framed with reference to theoretical constructs of cultural integration, compositional practice and collaborative creativity. By focusing on the process (comprising rehearsals, continual dialogue, co-composition, and coalesced methods of improvisation) and the development of an innovative working methodology (using notated ‘starting points’, which often evolve into ‘collective backbones’), this practice-led case study demonstrates that by inaugurating a democratic environment – where manifold approaches to music-making are properly considered and respected at a structural level – music-cultural hybridity is achievable within a limited time frame. Through pre- and post-project reflection, this account posits the notion that music-cultural hybridity may assume and traverse various forms; and furthermore, these forms – termed here as ‘hybridity strains’ – are likely to be in constant flux throughout intercultural–improvisatory collaborations. Counterpart definitions from other disciplines have been modified to classify the various hybridity strains examined, which together form an analytical model and critical framework that may be applied by others to evaluate future creative works; and thus, contribute to the wider discourse surrounding hybridity

Slap 19 (for Solo Microtonal Classical Guitar)

Awarded Second Prize in the 6th International Microtonal Guitar Competition (2022), Microtonal Guitar Institute (Istanbul Technical University). Slap 19 is primarily based around the notes found in the Arabic form of maqam Rast. Here, all microtonal pitches (i.e. scale-degrees 3 [mi] and 7 [ti]) have been set to exact quartertones; this results in the piece sounding neither explicitly ‘major’ nor ‘minor’ once harmonized (particularly to the Western ear). Players are invited, however, to adjust the tuning/placement of the microtones according to their personal/music- cultural preference. Slap 19 makes use of a novel microtonal scordatura – C[6] A[5] D[4] G[3] B[2] Ed[1] – and showcases contemporary 'slap' guitar techniques