City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works All Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects 6-2016 Searching for Sounds: Instrumental Agency and Modularity in Electroacoustic Improvisation Stephen (Red) Wierenga Graduate Center, City University of New York How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/1278 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact: [email protected] Searching for Sounds: Instrumental Agency and Modularity in Electroacoustic Improvisation by Stephen (Red) Wierenga A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Music in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy, The City University of New York. 2016 © 2016 Stephen (Red) Wierenga All Rights Reserved ! ii Searching for Sounds: Instrumental Agency and Modularity in Electroacoustic Improvisation by Stephen (Red) Wierenga This manuscript has been read and accepted by the Graduate Faculty in Music to satisfy the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. ______________ ___________________________________ Date Jeff Nichols Chair of Examining Committee ______________ ___________________________________ Date Norman Carey Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: David Grubbs, Dissertation Advisor Douglas Geers, Member Jaime Oliver La Rosa, Member THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK ! iii Abstract SEARCHING FOR SOUNDS: INSTRUMENTAL AGENCY AND MODULARITY IN ELECTROACOUSTIC IMPROVISATION by STEPHEN (RED) WIERENGA Advisor: Professor David Grubbs In their radical departure from conventional instrumental technique and standardized instruments themselves, the practices of electroacoustic improvisation present a particular challenge to prevalent Western concepts of musical instruments. These concepts—which generally treat instruments as fixed objects—are ill-equipped to account for the ways in which electroacoustic improvisers foreground the agency of their instruments and abandon the quest for “mastery” typical especially of classical attitudes. Additionally, electroacoustic improvisers often approach instruments not as singular, self-contained, and static in their materiality, but rather as modular instrumentaria capable of myriad states and ever in flux, similarly problematizing conventional conceptions that view the physical constitutions of instruments as static and circumscribed. After considering common concepts of musical instruments, presenting apparent failures of these concepts, and arguing for the necessity of a new organology, I introduce the practices of electroacoustic improvisation, situating their emergence in Group Ongaku (formed in Tokyo in 1958) and AMM (formed in London in 1965). Drawing from the writings and interviews of the musicians of these groups, I suggest several significant attributes of electroacoustic improvisation, including the formative influence of electronics, the incorporation of free ! iv improvisation, the tendency toward a composite group sound and away from featured soloists, and especially the ways in which electroacoustic improvisers cultivate instrumental agency and modularity. After tracing connections between the development of these practices and their flourishing in the work of subsequent generations of improvisers in Berlin, Boston, London, Tokyo, Vienna, and elsewhere, I examine how these practices reveal themselves in performances by contemporary electroacoustic improvisers, paying particular attention to the dynamic relationships performers exhibit with their instrumentaria. At the heart of this study are in-depth analyses of three performances: first, a performance by the longtime duo of Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M; next, a first-time collaboration between Olivia Block and Maria Chavez; and finally, a performance by AMM celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. In presenting these analyses, I attempt to focus attention on a significant movement in contemporary creative musical practices and suggest ways in which these practices may be understood. I furthermore propose concepts of musical instruments suitable for addressing the ways in which these musicians use them but that can also be applied to uses of instruments in diverse situations. I argue that, although electroacoustic improvisers foreground instrumental agency and modularity, these aspects always already exist in myriad contexts. ! v Acknowledgments I want to thank several people who have been, shall we say, instrumental to this dissertation. First, David Grubbs has been a superlative guide, shepherding this project from its beginnings in an independent study through its completion, consistently offering sage advice, incisive commentary, and a wealth of knowledge, all delivered with timeliness, warmth, kindness, and encouragement. Douglas Geers has broadened my artistic vistas, and in particular, his probing observations and questions have helped me to interrogate my relationship with control in my own creative practices, especially those related to instrument design and improvisation. Discussions with Chadwick Jenkins have deepened my understanding of the writings of Pierre Schaeffer and numerous other writers and have helped contextualize them within broader arcs of philosophical thought. Through stimulating discussion, Emily Dolan and the students in her seminar “Instruments and Things” persuaded me to pursue and examine ideas of instrumental agency. Similarly, Jaime Oliver La Rosa inspired me to consider what a concept of musical instruments in electroacoustic improvisation might look like. Josh Rutner read much of the manuscript and provided a keen eye for detail—particularly em dash-related detail—as well as witty observations. My parents have inspired and encouraged me in more ways than can be enumerated. My wife, Kate Maroney, has been a continual source of loving support. My cats, Misha and Ayler, have done their best to keep my lap warm and have attempted to offer their own input, which despite aqweqwqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqqq ! vi Table of Contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments .......................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures .............................................................................................................................. viii Chapter One. Introduction ........................................................................................................... viii Chapter Two. From Fixed Object to Dynamic Agent: On Changing Concepts of Musical Instruments .................................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter Three. The Emergence of the Practice of Electroacoustic Improvisation: Group Ongaku and AMM ...................................................................................................................................... 26 Chapter Four. Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M at The Stone, April 14, 2015 ........................... 67 Chapter Five. Maria Chavez and Olivia Block at AMPLIFY 2015: exploratory, October 30, 2015 ..................................................................................................................................................... 103 Chapter Six. AMM at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, November 29, 2015 ... 133 Chapter Seven. Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 185 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 188 ! ! vii List of Figures Figure 2.1: A common graphical depiction of a hypertext, in which parts of texts are connected to parts of other texts. ............................................................................................................ 22 ! Figure 4.1: Otomo’s instrumentarium.. ......................................................................................... 68 ! Figure 4.2: Sachiko M’s setup, including from left to right an Akai S20 sampler, two Fostex TT- 15 test tone oscillators, and an Audio Technica AT-PMX5P mixer. .................................... 69 ! Figure 4.3: Positioning of the performance area at The Stone for Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M’s performance. .................................................................................................................. 70 ! Figure 4.4: Spectrogram of Otomo Yoshihide and Sachiko M’s entire performance at The Stone on April 14, 2015 .................................................................................................................. 74 ! Figure 4.5: Spectrogram of 2:10 to 2:15 showing four distinctive layers within a laminar texture: (from the top down) Sachiko’s sine wave, Otomo’s contact microphone, a police siren, and towards the very bottom a truck engine. ............................................................................... 80 ! Figure 4.6: Spectrogram at 16:32.6, showing broadband transients at the beginnings and endings of Otomo’s pitched tones as well as an extremely high-frequency sine wave. .................... 88 ! Figure 4.7: This spectrogram shows the