by division and differentiation
(2023)
author(s): Carolina Grilo Santos
published in: i2ADS - Research Institute in Art, Design and Society
“by division and differentiation” is a speculative fiction or a document on the daily life as an outsider. Presented as video art, this project is the result of a residency program crossing scientific and artistic research that reveals imaging reflections, detected gestures, and alienated thoughts.
An inner monologue sets the tone for travels among accounts, wanders, and memories, invoking the divergences and parallelisms between reality and imagination. There are twisty borders in the millimeters of tension of what is visible to the naked eye and what can only be seen through the machine, between what can be touched without danger and what’s endangered — in science and art. Surrounded by volumes of data that are phenomena for others, dances of precise injections and light beams, we have lost count of the time we have been here.
This work is a result of project 2SMART, engineered Smart materials for Smart citizens, with reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000054, supported by Norte Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Flexible Trombonist
(2023)
author(s): Andrew Macleod
published in: KC Research Portal
Name: Andrew Macleod
Main Subject: Classical Tenor Trombone
Research Supervisor: Caroline Kang
Title: The Flexible Trombonist
Research Question: How can yoga be used as a tool to prevent injury and promote ease in brass playing?
Yoga has established itself as an effective tool to reduce anxiety, increase breath control, and strengthen the body. The classical music profession being an industry where physical demands are high it is no surprise that ‘playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) are prevalent. This research investigates the effectiveness of regular practice of yoga at reducing pain and tension in brass playing with an aim towards reducing the risks of PRMD’s.
To carry out this research a combination of a case study, interviews, self-experimentation, and reviewing existing literature was used. The case study included a mixture of seven collegiate and graduate level brass musicians who implemented yoga into their practice routine over the course of two weeks. The participants completed three surveys and two practice diaries which monitored the success of yoga at reducing pain and tension in their practice.
The outcome of the case study presented positive results in support of the correlation between the practice of yoga and reduced pain/tension in brass playing. This was supported in the self-experimentation and reflection. The interviews reinforced this connection however highlighted that yoga is not the only solution available.
Through analysis of existing material on this subject, it is clear that further research would be beneficial. The issue of PRMD still exists in the music profession and this research offers an initial insight into effective methods of injury prevention and awareness. More research on this subject would reduce the likelihood of career-ending injury and encourage a holistic practice of brass playing.
The art of the violin in Verdiales
(2023)
author(s): María Estela Lastre Castillo
published in: KC Research Portal
Verdiales is the traditional music from Málaga, Spain, which is little known even within Spain. This research places verdiales in its historical and musical context looking at: the differences between styles, rhythm and harmony, and, most importantly, the role of the violin in this music.
As the main instrument in verdiales, the violin is played in a very different way than in classical music, since it is spontaneous music with a great deal of freedom for improvisation, disseminated purely by oral transmission, and with a particular technique which is suited to playing only this music.
Through the deep learning of verdiales, I have looked for different resources to face my daily practice issues in order to gain more flexibility and freedom in my way of playing. After trying several exercises and approaches in different parts of my practice, I have been self- documenting and verifying the improvement and effectiveness of certain methods, taking into account different aspects such as bow hold, ornamentation, and improvisation. As a result, I came to the conclusion that in order to achieve different results, it is necessary for more exploration and extremely different methods than the ones I have been using when practicing the violin
The use of the horn in the late orchestral works by Robert Schumann
(2023)
author(s): Márton Kóródi
published in: KC Research Portal
When I played a Schumann piece, Genoveva Overture, for the first time, I was wondering, because there were Ventilhorn and Waldhorn parts. I could not imagine what his idea was when he wrote for four horns, but still used two different kinds of the same instrument. Did he want to express something with this set-up? Beside this, I did not understand why he, and other romantic composers, use so much transposition when they had already a completely chromatic instrument.
As I started to get to know and play the natural horn, it was getting clearer what his intention could have been. Why he used an ‘ancient’ instrument, though he could compose for four chromatic horns. This made me even more interested, and I also got more questions and hypotheses about the topic, for what I wanted to find an answer.
In my research, I tried to get to know the use of the horn in the middle of the 19th century. I wanted to get familiar with the contemporaries’ imagination about the old and new instrument, and with the way how they used them. Then, with this knowledge, I analysed Schumann’s orchestral works, especially the horn parts, and tried to find out if the results are matching with the background research.
My aim was too, show the horn players, that the romantic horn playing is not only about the ‘holy’ valve horn, but something more complex and colourful.
Connections; The artistic process of creating a multimedia performance
(2023)
author(s): Mia Kogelman
published in: KC Research Portal
Connections; The artistic process of creating a multimedia performance
Just Do It! Exploring the musician's (use of) bodily performance
(2023)
author(s): Andreas Borregaard
published in: Norwegian Academy of Music
In the 21st century an increasing number of composers and performers include elements in their work that activate the musicians’ voice and body in ways not related to playing an instrument.
The musician’s moving, dancing, touching, speaking, singing, shouting, grimacing, sounding body opens an novel and still expanding palette of expression – but its use also requires new skills that are currently not an explicit part of higher musical education or standard musical performance practice.
Just Do It! is an artistic research project that seeks to explore the possibilities of bodily performance in an expanded field of music and to detect, define and describe some of the skills and knowledge needed to realize them. The project’s practice-based methodology is rooted in the creation of five new solo pieces for accordion and body and a concerto for ensemble and accordionist written by James Black, Marcela Lucatelli, Philip Venables/Ted Hufmann, Jennifer Walshe, Louise Alenius and Andreas Borregaard.
