Elements of Electroacoustic Music Improvisation and Performance a Pedagogical Toolkit
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Elements of Electroacoustic Music Improvisation and Performance A Pedagogical Toolkit LUIS ALEJANDRO OLARTE 78 STUDIA MUSICA THE SIBELIUS ACADEMY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS HELSINKI Luis Alejandro Olarte Elements of Electroacoustic Music Improvisation and Performance A Pedagogical Toolkit Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki Studia Musica 78 2019 Supervisors: Professor Andrew Bentley – Music Technology Department, Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki Jean-François Charles – Assistant Professor in Composition and Digital Arts Uni- versity of Iowa, School of Music Iowa City Pre-examiners: Professor Per Anders Nilsson – Academy of Music and Drama at University of Gothenburg Jean-François Charles – Assistant Professor in Composition and Digital Arts Uni- versity of Iowa, School of Music Iowa City Chair / Custos: Professor Andrew Bentley Examiner: Professor Per Anders Nilsson Sibelius Academy, University of the Arts Helsinki MuTri Doctoral School Studia Musica 78 © Luis Alejandro Olarte and Sibelius Academy Cover design Jan Rosstrom Cover image, illustration by Outi Korhonen Printed by: Unigrafia Oy, Helsinki 2019 ISBN 978-952-329-129-4 ISSN 0788-3757 ISBN 978-952-329-130-0 ISSN 2489-8155 To Andrew Bentley for his teaching and friendship. Acknowledgements This research project would not have been possible without the support of the CM&T (Center for Music and Technology) of the Sibelius Academy. I would specially like to thank the head of the department Marianne Decoster-Taivalkoski, my main supervisor Dr. Andrew Bentley and the members of my committee Kalev Tiits and Jean-François Charles. I am grateful for all the continuous feedback and discussions about my work with my friends and colleagues with whom I shared many artistic and professional projects: Jasmiina Sipilä, James Andean, Petra Hannus, Elena Kakaliagou, Ale- jandro Montes de Oca, Daniel Malpica, Marek Pluciennik. The closest artistic collaborations with colleagues from the Doctoral School Sirkka Kosonen, Otto Tolonen, Tiina Myllärinen, Dom Schlienger, Hannu Tuisku were very important for balancing the theoretical and artistic aspects of the research. I would also like to thank the technical team of the Sibelius Academy for their support with the concerts and technical assistance during this research: Santtu Valve, Marko Myöhänen, Jon-Patrik Kuhlefelt, Mikko Ingman, Sirje Ruohtula, and Jukka Koli- maa. I feel extremely fortunate to have met Outi Korhonen during my research with whom I shared many incredible pedagogical and artistic adventures. I am full of gratitude to all the participants of the workshops that during these years kindly agreed to try and experiment with the ideas that have fed this research since its inception. I would also like to thank my friends, teachers and colleagues from the Colombian electroacoustic music community: Roberto García Piedrahita, Rodolfo Acosta, Germán Osorio, Leonardo Idrobo, and Iván Jimenez for their complicity, guidance and support in my initiation to electroacoustic music; in addition to my companions of musical adventures Diana Arias, Pablo Canales, Luz Salgado, Natalia y Sergio Castrillon, and Tristana Ferreyra-Rantalaiho. During my studies at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris and the University of Paris 8 in France my teachers and friends Alain Savouret, Alexandros Markeas, Tom Mays, Michèle Castellengo, Charles Besnainou, Anne Sèdes, Horacio Vaggione, Benoît Navarret, Marco Suarez, Clé- ment Victor and Cathy Pollini, Opiyo Okach, Ondrej Adamek were of incredible support to taking the first steps as a researcher. Without the help, patience and support of my beloved family Saara, Aatos, Viktor and Luz Marina Olarte, Päivi and Juhani Rautio, this book would not exist. Thank you. Foreword Abstract: The core application of my research project is a pedagogical package or toolkit for studying and teaching electroacoustic music performance and im- provisation. The package consists of a series of units, each of which investigates fundamental concepts or elements of electroacoustic music, sound theory and its performance aspects through improvisational strategies. The two disciplines of electroacoustic music performance and improvisation, have been considered in a combined and holistic manner. Each unit includes musical exercises, performance situations, theoretical discussions and suggested developments designed to system- atically address the essential questions of becoming a sound performer integrating electrical means with musical expression. The toolkit is presented within a theo- retical framework where the main aspects of the discipline have been studied: lis- tening and improvisation, the contributions of the electroacoustic genre to modern musicianship and a collection of electronic instruments as tools for performance. The toolkit has been developed using a process of qualitative inquiry and action research methodology based on fieldwork with university student groups during more than one thousand hours of workshops over the past five years. The final result is thus a fully integrated skill set compiled in a book. This research is a response to the modern challenges of designing pedagogical content towards the development of performance skills with electronic instruments and audio technol- ogy. The main research question leading this work project has been: What are the methods, materials, resources, and strategies required to develop skills in the dis- cipline of Electroacoustic Music Performance and Improvisation? I approached this question by following a combined methodology of action re- search and deductive-inductive analysis. The deductive-inductive methodology was applied in the following way: an initial hypothetical content of sonic con- cepts, performance ideas, musical situations and electroacoustic themes was in- vestigated with music students at third-level education (University of the Arts VI Helsinki) in a series of workshops. Evaluating a hypothesis through fieldwork en- tailed a deductive process. Accordingly, the research findings were recorded via a process of data collection, which included audiovisual recordings, working notes, personal observations, and verbal or written feedback from the participants. This data was then analyzed and evaluated through a triangulation process with my supervisors, leading to the reformulation of the toolkit’s contents. In contrast, the process of inferring the theory and contents of the electroacoustic music per- formance and improvisation discipline from the collected data was an inductive process. The new contents were then further tested on the field and analyzed until reaching the form presented in this document: twenty one units organized into four sections researching the sonic, electroacoustic, musical and performative foremost aspects or elements of the discipline; a discussion on the related values of improvised sonic performance and three chapters establishing the theoretical framework. The results of this research offer the opportunity to acquire knowledge and un- derstanding of electroacoustic music by performing with the tools of the genre while simultaneously developing improvisation skills through the manipulation of sound technology concepts. Playing with electroacoustic tools must impose no obstacle to the flow of the performer’s intuition and musical thinking, and the development of a proper dexterity should be considered a fundamental part of modern musicianship. Whereas performance, improvisation and electroacoustic music are too often treated as distinct disciplines, in this work, these topics are developed and explored in an entirely unified manner. This approach allows the development of a fully integrated skill set in a single, cohesive discipline: Elec- troacoustic Music Performance and Improvisation. This pedagogical toolkit will grant new generations of students of electroacoustic improvisation access and in- sight into a unified method and discipline; one might further hope for it to spark new relationships between musicians and technology, or even to stimulate further research in domains such as psychoacoustics, acoustics, electroacoustic lutherie or the philosophy of music education. Alejandro Olarte January 14, 2019 Contents Foreword .........................................................V 1 Introduction .................................................. 2 Part I Context 2 Sonic Improvisation and Listening Modes ..................... 19 2.1 Sonic improvisation vs. music improvisation. 20 2.2 The cognitive perspective and structural listening. 22 2.3 The sociopolitical perspective and holistic listening . 25 2.4 The metaphysical perspective and transcendental listening . 29 2.5 Conclusions . 33 3 Musicianship and Electroacoustic Music Performance . 37 3.1 Musical expertise and music making . 37 3.2 Electroacoustic music contribution . 41 3.3 Performer skills . 43 3.4 Conclusions . 48 VIII Contents 4 Electronic Instruments for Performance and Improvisation . 51 4.1 Terminology and definitions . 51 4.2 On the classification of electronic instruments . 54 4.3 Between experimenting, performing and learning . 56 4.4 Exploring the electronic instrumentarium . 58 Part II Toolkit Units 5 Sonic Elements ...............................................108 5.1 The Canvas – Silence . 108 5.2 The Point – Transients . 113 5.3 The Line – Monophony . 121 5.4 The Plane – Polyphony . 130 5.5 The Mass – Noise . 137 6 Electroacoustic Elements .....................................146 6.1 Amplification – Hopscotch