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ABSTRACT ME21 understands “experimentation”understandsin stepME21 next the be to musician with preexisting repertoire (as illustrated in Fig. 1), the of relationship the describe to used terms different the with timeline a imagine we interpretation.Ifmusic of tices experimentation,aims togobeyondtraditionalME21 prac - of process a Through interpretation. music of notions ing Institute in Ghent, Belgium, whose aim Orpheus is to challenge existthe - at based project research EU-funded large a [1], (ME21) 21 MusicofframeworkExperiment the in ideas same roomthe (e.g.using when telematic technologies). in not are loudspeaker and performer acoustic Stockhausen’s in (e.g. applied are processes delay time instance, for when, emerge questions research specific more reinforcement; sound musical in fore the to nonelectronic) sound sources. Issues between the two come (i.e. acoustic and loudspeakers between relationship the of to live electronics and computer music. regard interpretationwith of notions exploring on focused sound projection, our work as researchers has in recent years and performance music computer composition, in Rooted Bey and asknewquestionsof,theworksthatarebeingpreserved. digital mediacan(andperhapsshouldbe)usedtoinjectnewlifeinto, to challengethisnotion.We arguethatthecoloringemergeswith transparency oftenaccompaniesdigitalsoundtechnologies;weaim withliveelectronics.Asuggestionoftechnical historical repertoire oftechnologicaltransferencewhenreproducing andeffect the affect Rückkopplung (1965–1966) point, theauthorsinvestigate asastarting Using KarlheinzStockhausen’s SolofürMelodieinstrumentund On Stockhausen’s Solo(s) ©2018 ISAST issue. forsupplementalfilesassociatedwiththis See
d n a J o pertinent to the work, as part of the work itself. When we When itself. work the of part as work, the to pertinent open the possibility of creating new assemblages of elements we articles), books, editions, performances, sketches, ings, (recordwork- the of archaeology the to connected element music repertoire, and giving equal weight, equal value, to any incorporating an archaeology-like approach into the study of defined byDeleuze and Guattari and,later, DeLanda [2]. By “assemblages,”of notion the incorporates methods as these of One audiences. to works these present to how of tions and uses different methodologies to challengetraditional no text to electronics the “operator” rather than “performer.” this in refer shall “operator.”we the reason, this called For ies of interpretation, required a new figure,which ME21 has yond what have been previously established as the boundar relation to musical rendering, and those functions going - be in history in moments these of each with associated tions expressive “performance.” For ME21,of thenotions encompassingwith end to func tends and “interpretation” through (© PaulodeAssis) Fig. 1. a chronology that starts with “ with starts that chronology a h The work of ME21 focuses primarily oncanonic repertoire a Timeline execution-interpretation-performance-experimentation. e n n LEONARDO MUSICJOURNAL, Vol. 28, pp. 13–18,2018 s e d l u M r Vortrag ” (execution), passes passes (execution), ” - - -
13 do so, the challenge of how to expose these “new” elements in the performance presents itself and becomes part of the Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Solo is a partially open-form work creative musical demands of the work, transforming it and for one instrument and audio delay loop(s) that was commis- pushing it away from the path of repeating preexisting per- sioned by Japan’s public broadcaster NHK in 1966. Conceived formances. initially as a way for a performer to instantly compose and The goal of the Stockhausen Solo(s) project within the improvise, the score provides six pages of notated material framework of ME21, and for the purposes of this paper, is that can be freely, or even in an aleatory fashion, shaped and to apply these archaeological principles, to find ways to use edited into one of six different schemes, orformschemas . This current technology to help manifest some of these newly more prescriptive part of the score provides a framework discovered elements—which would have remained latent in (an interpretation scheme) for the soloist to organize scored a traditional interpretation—and incorporate them in the material beforehand. Theformschemas also indicate the delay concert situation. (or loop) times of six smaller sections, as well as the opera- When working in this experimental context, where tion of input level (soloist’s microphone), output level (return boundaries of traditional interpretation are being pushed, it from delay lines) and feedback level (sending the delayed is sometimes useful to “wave the flag” of conservatism. We signal back into the loop). It is noteworthy that these opera- perceive a lack of an established repertoire in computer mu- tions are presented as on/off instructions, or as shortcuts, sic, of a repertoire that any practitioner of the genre “knows” rather than as states of a continuous parameter [5]. and “plays.” The process of learning and performing preexist- ing repertoire, inherent to the journey of nearly every other instrumentalist, seems uncharacteristic of an electronic With the incorporation of digital technology into the per- music practitioner. Whatever the reason, a large majority of formance practice of this work, a plethora of additional digital technology-based performers today limit their practice to tools becomes available, such as automation of the score and their own works. Furthermore, there are very few institutions fader movements, audio equalization and/or compression of where one might study preexisting electronic repertoire [3]. the audio signals. Therefore, the question we must use as a In this respect, it is our goal to import the (positive) con- compass is: Where does emulation stop and a new paradigm straints of traditional interpretation into electronic music begin? Moreover, the potential of performing these opera- practice and, from there, move toward experimentation. tions using a networked computer, rather than a standalone There is opportunity in an experimental approach to the “offline” one, provides the opportunity to treat the sound performance of early electronic music works. In the case of processing as a node in a global network of elements, recon- Solo, when we link the piece with the particular understand- textualizing the concert situation and opening the opportu- ing of music interpretation that ME21 provides, there is an nity for experimentation in the nature of performance itself. opportunity to challenge the material, to bring new things We approached the Internet’s common telematic abilities into the performance moment and, in doing so, to be truthful of (at least theoretically) instantaneous AV communica- to the idea of music becoming something greater than itself, tion as a methodology for exploration. For this project we as the source of production of new knowledge. embraced what we call “digital artifacts,” the unpredictable imperfections of the Internet that can plague both audio and An Experimental Premise visual connections. We consider such artifacts to be analo- The selection ofSolo as a case study for this experimental ap- gous to the fragility of the original system we alluded to (e.g. proach was inspired by how technological limits were pushed tape noise, inconsistent speed, etc.). when it was conceived. Solo represents an early instance of From a critical analytical perspective, Simon Emmerson using tape delay systems in a live concert situation, with all has introduced the notion of acousmatic dislocations: the the problems, fragility and instability that that particular temporal (e.g. recording), spatial (e.g. telephony) and causal technology implied at the time. To carry that fragility for- (e.g. a loudspeaker producing a sound instead of or in addi- ward became a crucial aspect of this experimental case study. tion to an instrument producing that sound) shifts that occur A second key element of this project was cued by how when a sound is mediated by microphones, amplifiers, loud- Stockhausen incorporated additional prerecorded material speakers and other technology (be it analogue tape recorders in the first studio production ofSolo . Stockhausen did this to or a computer) [6]. In the traditional Solo performance, the alleviate his dissatisfaction with the (lack of) timbral variety temporal dislocation is pushed into a musically meaningful produced by the original system, which used only a single domain by the tape delay; there is dislocation of temporality, instrument and live delays of the same source. We set out because of the delayed reproduction, but not of spatiality, to explore ways to bring greater richness of timbre into cer- which remains intact (the performer and loudspeakers are in tain sections of the piece, specifically in a live performance the same room). Spatial dislocation is introduced by adding situation. There are many ways of achieving such additional a telematic soloist, connecting the performance to a different sound sources, but we chose to utilize the Internet and the space. The networked nature of the additional performer(s) opportunities it offers for network or telematic performance. enables us to profit from this dissociation between physical This was inspired by our interest in using current technolo- action and sonic manifestation: The trio of acousmatic dis- gies other than straightforward digital versions of the origi- locations is complete. Not having an (additional) traditional nal Solo setup [4]. instrumentalist in the concert space, yet having the telematic
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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/lmj_a_01036 by guest on 02 October 2021 soloist performing in real time, affords the electronic opera- find creative solutions that—while allowing for multitimbral tor the opportunity to manipulate the timbral richness and layers—could still be perceived as a rendition of Solo, we density of the piece as part of his or her tasks during the decided to stick to a single formschema, focused on a single performance. electronic operator in charge of unfolding the musical struc- ture, regardless of the number of layers of incoming sound Timbral Richness material. Starting from the information gathered in the score, in vari- Even though all instrumentalists would be performing the ous texts and in interviews with Vinko Globokar [7] (the first same schema, linked by a synchronized clock, we required performer of the piece) and Jo Scherpenisse [8] (the engineer each performer to prepare his or her own version of the score who worked on the construction of a dedicated tape-delay for the concert using the interpretations scheme provided in system for a series of performances in the 1970s), we were the score. This is a fundamental aspect of the musical prepa- inspired by the realization that the first commercial record- ration of this work, and the process of preparing the part is ing of Solo contained additional sound material that was thoroughly prescribed in the full score. As a consequence, taken from other pieces and that was not just a recording of each musician contributed not just an instrumental timbre what the delay system generated [9]. Given that Stockhausen but also an individual rendition of the formschema, while had decided to use additional sound material for the early the overall time-grid of the formschema remained consistent. releases of Solo to achieve the desired timbral richness, and understanding that the live concert and the recording situa- Dissemination tions are different “beasts,” the question arose: How can we Our early versions were realized with several musicians incorporate additional timbral layers into the concert per- across the globe—who, via the Internet (telematically) simul- formance while preserving the live nature of it (i.e. not using taneously performed the score—and a single “local” instru- prerecorded material)? mentalist, who fulfilled the role of the traditional performer In order to achieve this, we started looking into the differ- (see Fig. 2) [11]. These initial concerts were preceded by a ent techniques and technologies that could suggest timbral “conventional” rendition of the piece and, as a consequence expansion in a concert situation. After some tests and specu- of the obvious differences, were perhaps the most successful lative work with signal processing and multiple speaker set- in conveying the research questions we were posing. Later ups—both aimed at expanding the potential of the original instances, using “local” musicians and audiences, but con- setup of a single instrumentalist and the tape-delay system— trolling the sound projection from a different location [12], we shifted our attention to network technology for telematic or using a single telematic musician in duo with a local one performance as a way of incorporating live musicians whose (such as in Fig. 3) [13], was a bit more challenging for the audible contributions could be manipulated as suggested in audience; from their perspective, having the direct sound the score. We developed a series of tests to understand the absent from the telematic performer, while being able to see different options that the telematic performance component him or her at all times, may have been a bit disconcerting and could offer and how the whole performance would be affected sometimes even misinterpreted as a technical malfunction. by it. Informed by this preliminary test phase, we entertained For the telematic versions, we gave much attention to some radical ideas, such as having six separated instrumen- the technical setup to make sure we had a stable network talists performing simultaneously, each playing one of the communication and to be able to separate audio and video six available formschemas [10]. That approach would have de- manded six delay systems, and it became clear that the potential outcome would have constituted too rapid a departure from the original work. With the aim of evaluating how different this new perfor- mance would be from a con- ventional one, and of working to
Fig. 2. Multiple telematic performance. Elise Caluwaerts (soprano, Ghent), Jos Mulder (diffusion, Perth), Mieko Kanno (violin, Glasgow), Brice Soniano (contrabass, Vrads), Shoji Wataru (sound processing, Tokyo), Kirsten Smith (flute, Perth), Seikyo Kuroda (shakuhachi, Tokyo) and Juan Parra C. (electronics, Ghent). Orpheus Institute and various locations. (© Juan Parra C.)
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streams. Much trial and error was involved, given the differ- success of the piece. Manual control affords the operator the ent setups for each performance. possibility of deciding on the timing of fades in and out, how Musically, aesthetically, the whole point of bringing a regular or irregular the feedback interruptions should be and networked performer into the mix was to profit from the how long the fading of the output signals into the speak- dissociation of physical action and sonic manifestation that ers should be. Performing the work in this way underlined telematic technology allows. The dislocations that were the possibility of simultaneity and asynchrony and revealed achieved combined the time delay, as part of the composi- how these musical objects created by the tape loops unfold tion, with the physical dislocation of some of the performers. over time, feeding back into the performance as well as into This last element was further dislocated by the video links the venue. We considered all these musical decisions to be that showed performers playing without any synchronous fundamental to the context of developing a performance sound. These dislocations enabled the operator to manipulate practice of this work and, in turn, of this kind of repertoire. the timbral richness and density of the piece, according to Decision-making and recovering from mistakes or techni- our intention. cal mishaps are essential aspects of the performance arts, electronic music not excepted. In fact, the technical chores of The Electronic Operator early electronic music repertoire embody more of this artistic Exposing the technical dimension of the work, with its quirks decision-making than is normally credited to them. and wrinkles, is a fundamental aspect of this research. Solo was conceived originally for one soloist and three techni- Current Status and Preliminary Reflections cians controlling the input, feedback and projection of the It is noteworthy that many of the sonic qualities of the origi- tape-delay system; modern digital technology allows us to nal setup of Solo (tape degradation, instability, hiss) gave a combine those three functions into a single role. Using au- special flavor to this work, a flavor that is lacking in any digi- tomation to interpret the score would also have been a viable tal adaptation, unless it has been added intentionally. These option, but we chose to keep that level of real-time inter- sonic qualities, or artifacts, that we now value, were originally action as an essential element of performing the work. The the consequence of the limitations of magnetic tape tech- automation of the electronic processes has been an approach nologies. Many of the nostalgic, poetic qualities associated followed by many sound programmers when creating digital with works involving magnetic tapes are connected to these versions of the setup for Solo. The use of automation suggests audible artifacts that composers and performers of the time that the score provides a set of well-defined rules, whereas in wished they could have done without. reality the score is poetically imprecise. In reconstructing and performing these early live elec- Using the Max/MSP programming environment (see tronic works, we have found it meaningful to consider and screenshot of the patch in Fig. 4) [14], we tried to preserve negotiate this “conflict.” The typical digital distortion asso- all the constraints relevant to the performance actions of the ciated with network latency introduces sounding artifacts original setup. The operator’s interaction with those con- that need to be evaluated no differently than the “undesir- straints can be seen as his or her contribution to the musical able” artifacts of the analog tape machines. Allowing these
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artifacts to be part of the work, we thought, could be a way with pure artistic practice, this seems to be a constant bal- to embrace both the potential and the shortcomings of cur- ancing game. It can be said that—if we imagine music inter- rent technology, creating a digital model of the tape-delay pretation in a research context as if it were a machine, with system, preserving fundamental limitations of the original the operator manipulating knobs controlling the intensity analog setup—for instance, by avoiding automation—while of certain performance parameters—we are working to keep welcoming the glitches and nonlinearity of telematic perfor- a balance between “conventional” and “radical,” between “in- mance as well as their sonic consequences. terpretation” and “experimentation,” for both performers and But there is an underlying problem in our proposition: We audience alike. are aiming to have live performances where the sounding The process of using digital and network technology to result can be dissociated from the performers’ actions. It is revise a historical work that has “period” technology at- essential to treat the additional (telematic) performances as tached to it has led us to this final point of reflection: The “sound material” that can be fed into the system at certain historical importance of a piece like Solo can be understood moments. Given that audiences have a sense of familiarity through the lens of the tools with which it was realized and with telematic technology, it is unavoidable that our artistic its implications for that technology. Solo is a well-known choice would be informed by their reading of the situation, instance of introducing tape delays into the concert space, leading them to misinterpret the setup as a technical error. with all the challenges and shortcomings that such an en- We have noticed that this misinterpretation is related to deavor generated. Looking back, the technology required whether or not the audience gets the opportunity to hear the to realize this work is now considered trivial in its imple- network version in tandem with the conventional one. When mentation, but the aesthetic contribution to our perception provided with the full context, audiences may be better able of the work (through recordings, for example), colored by to accept the (constrained) contributions of the telematic the original tape technology and its struggles, is undeniable. musicians. When they are presented with only the telematic Using network technology as part of the setup of the work version, they are at risk of focusing on the apparent “techni- serves a secondary function: to bring back the “unstable” cal glitch” that the nature of the setup (dissociated audio and nature to the setup of the piece, given the glitches, artifacts video) suggests to them [15]. Given these observations, we and other shortcomings that still have to be confronted in might propose a fourth mode of dislocation: that between the realizing these kinds of performance. We dare entertain that intentional and perceived understandings of the behaviors in 50 years’ time, those wrinkles will be perceived by future of technology. digital artists as part of the sounding and visual nature of the There is still work to be done to strike a good balance be- telematic works of today, much as we perceive the warble, tween didactic and aesthetic propositions for the work we wow and flutter of audiotape of 50 years ago. are doing. When it comes to artistic research, and in contrast
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Downloaded from http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/lmj_a_01036 by guest on 02 October 2021 Acknowledgments 8 Parra interview with Jo Scherpenisse,
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