FolkImproV
(2015)
author(s): Andreas Aase
connected to: NTNU
published in: Research Catalogue
Can pieces of dance tunes from Nordic folk music, organized according to principles from jazz, provide source material for building an improvisation language?
Scandinavian folk music traditionally used for dancing consists of melodies, organized in a limited amount of measures and sections (typically two or three eight-bar sections, played with repeats). The organizing principle in ensemble playing is for every musician to learn the melody first, and to let each following contribution be dictated by it. Variations in arrangements occur frequently in modern-day interplay, with harmony parts, chord changes, counter rhythms and dynamics meticulously employed in order to avoid monotony. But interpretation of the melody remains the main activity.
The ability for creativity on the spot is big among folk musicians, though it is seemingly framed by the strategies discussed above. I have yet to come across a methodical investigation of using material from traditional tunes as a musical vocabulary for improvisation. Consulting supervisors from the folk and jazz genres, I try to use source elements from the folk repertoire while employing organizing principles from jazz. As I present these ideas on several instruments, and over rhythmic foundations in a slightly modernized folk idiom, I'll try to encourage the use of these ideas in contexts not necessarily associated with traditional music. The project seeks to encourage participation, and may possibly work as tutorial material.
This exposition focuses on portions of a Pd.D.-level project I finished in 2009. The original three-year undertaking was supported by the Norwegian Artistic Research Programme, hosted by NTNU, and was supervised by John-Pål Inderberg and Geir Egil Larsen. The current version was supported by HiNT University College.
The voice and the machine- and the voice in the machine - now you see me, now you don’t-
(2015)
author(s): Tone Åse
connected to: NTNU
published in: Norwegian Artistic Research Programme
The basic focus of this project is how the use of live electronics can open up new musical possibilities and roles for the improvising vocalist in the musical interplay. The project is rooted in my background as a vocalist taking part in what could be called the Modern European Jazz Scene, and the musicians I have been cooperating with in this project are all important contributors in this musical field. The project has been carried out as an artistic research, where the artistic result has been presented in the form of recorded music and concerts. Recordings of the music are also presented as sound examples in this critical reflection. The main focus areas in this artistic research project are the following:
• I have explored how the use of live electronic processing can open up for new musical parameters, compared to the sole acoustic voice as instrument in music. These new possibilities are related to the experience of how electronic processing can create distance from and transformation of the natural voice sound.
• Furthermore, I have investigated how the use of these parameters can create new roles for the vocalist in the improvised interplay of my genre.
• As a part of my project I have also explored how an audio tracking system created for the theatre scene can be used as a live electronic tool for an a capella ensemble, and contribute to new strategies in the improvised performance.
• In another part of my research I have studied artistic possibilities through implementing the role of the storyteller in a musical performance with vocal and live electronics. I have wanted to find out more about how this implementation affects the relationship between performer and audience, and the perception of the performance as a whole. This part of my project has been carried out as a solo performance, in research collaboration with musicologist Andreas Bergsland. The research is using audience feedback, both to feed the artistic process, and to generate new knowledge about the perception of the performance.
Nancarrow Biotope
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg
connected to: NTNU
This exposition is in progress.
Conlon Nancarrow's Piano Studies orchestrated for Pipe Organ, Disklavier and electronics by Øyvind Brandtsegg. The work with the Nancarrow Studies also instigated further exploration of improvisation with these mechanic instruments in combination with improvisation software written by Brandtsegg.
International Conference on Live Interfaces 2020
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg, Daniel Formo
connected to: NTNU
This exposition is in progress.
This is the documentation of the International Conference on Live Interfaces, held at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway on March 9-11 2020. It contains videos of all presentations, and the corresponding papers.
VLBI Music
(last edited: 2020)
author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg
connected to: NTNU
This exposition is in progress.
Sound installation for the Norwegian Mapping Authority, based on signals and processes from Very Long Baseline Interferometry, used as a reference for calibration of e.g. satellite navigation and environmental monitoring
T-EMP Communication and interplay in an electronically based ensemble
(last edited: 2015)
author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg, Andreas Bergsland, Carl Haakon Waadeland, Sigurd Saue, Trond Engum, Bernt Isak Wærstad, Tone Åse
connected to: NTNU
This exposition is in progress.
Communication and interplay in an electronically based ensemble.
The basic aim of this project is to focus on challenges related to improvised performance of electroacoustic music. The artistic core of the project is to develop musical interaction in a larger ensemble, where the membership is mainly based on electronic and digital instruments. New modes of interaction are enabled by using audio processing as a musical instrument, where the sound from an acoustic musician is being processed live by another ("processor") musician.