Augmenting Percussion with Electronics in Improvised Music Performance

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Augmenting Percussion with Electronics in Improvised Music Performance Augmenting Percussion with Electronics in Improvised Music Performance Commentary in support of portfolio of recorded performances Paul Hession Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds School of Music June 2018 i The candidate confirms that the work submitted is their own, except where work which has formed part of jointly authored publications has been included. The contribution of the candidate and the other authors to this work has been explicitly indicated below. The candidate confirms that appropriate credit has been given within the thesis where reference has been made to the work of others. Audio files Oldingi Mash Torting (solo) and Nja, Rindade Insult, Balbuzie and La Taaban Karo are duets by Ewan Stefani and myself previously published and issued on a CD recording: Concretes (Bruce’s Fingers BF128, 2015). This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation or photograph from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. The right of Paul Hession to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. © 2018 The University of Leeds and Paul Hession ii Acknowledgements I wish to acknowledge the help and support given by my supervisors Dr Ewan Stefani and Professor Luke Windsor, who have encouraged and guided my efforts with patience and good humour throughout. I also wish to express my gratitude and thanks to Dr Petter Frost-Fadnes for his help and encouragement in getting me started as a mature student and to the Norwegian Research Council for awarding me an Yggdrasil Research Scholarship, which enabled me to study in Stavanger in 2014 where much of this research took place. Thanks are also due to Dr Christophe de Bézenac who offered guidance with academic writing, Chris O’Connor for the Max programming in Leeds and Dag Egil Njaa for similar work in Stavanger. I also wish to give thanks to Ståle Birkeland, Jens Borge, Chris Corsano, Frode Gjerstad, Birgitta Haga Gripsrud, Steve Hubback, Paul Lytton and Isabel Seeburg Lytton, Alex McLean, Tony and Tutta Oxley, Pal Åsle Petterson, Thomas Strønen and Per Zanussi for friendship, assistance and collaborative work along the way. I would also like to acknowledge the support of my (adult) children Ella, Sean and Paul who have always encouraged me in all my creative endeavours and my partner Mo for her constant support and encouragement. iii Abstract This commentary augments audio and video recordings that should be considered the essence of the study. The sound recordings comprise an original body of work that resulted from my interest in extending the possibilities of a standard drum set by augmenting it with electronics. It developed from an early interest in analogue, electroacoustic devices – such as the Dexion frames used by Tony Oxley and Paul Lytton to an engagement with digital electronics, specifically Max MSP, that was unknown to me at the outset of the study. The digital tools caused me to re-evaluate my thinking; to go beyond extending the sound-world at my disposal to engage with and consider artificial intelligence and the potential of creating a surrogate, software improviser with a degree of agency that challenged my thinking about human-computer interaction and confounded the issue of whether I was playing in a solo or duo setting. The commentary demonstrates the centrality of free improvisation to my approach and the recordings document my use of technologies, varying from the seemingly primitive (wooden beaters) to the apparently sophisticated (Max MSP) where I fully explore the affordances of each encounter. iv Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................... ii Abstract .................................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. 1 Chapter 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 2 Chapter 2. Context and Influences ............................................................................................... 5 2.1 Free drummers ...................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Space Patrol .......................................................................................................................... 9 2.3 William Isles-Pulford .......................................................................................................... 10 2.4 Free improvisation............................................................................................................... 11 2.5 The Solo Improviser ............................................................................................................ 15 2.6 Use of Silence (ma) ............................................................................................................. 18 2.7 Duo Improvisation............................................................................................................... 20 2.8 Existing research on HCI systems and contemporary drummers using live electronics......... 22 Chapter 3. The Research ........................................................................................................... 31 3.1 Analogue technology A - contact microphones, ring modulator, echo machine .................... 33 3.2 Digital technology A – Max MSP ........................................................................................ 35 3.2.a Delay patch....................................................................................................................... 36 3.2.b MWTPD ........................................................................................................................... 37 3.2.c Stavpatch .......................................................................................................................... 40 3.3 Control interfaces ............................................................................................................... 41 v 3.3.a Volume pedal .................................................................................................................. 41 3.3.b Practice pad trigger .......................................................................................................... 43 3.3.c Akai LPD8 laptop controller ............................................................................................ 44 3.3.d Local amplification .......................................................................................................... 45 3.4 Analogue technology B - Plankophone, signal generator and octave divider ........................ 45 3.5 Digital technology B - Roland SPD-SX sampler and trigger pads ........................................ 47 3.6 Analogue technology C - Oxley-style frame ........................................................................ 48 3.7 Beaters and bows ................................................................................................................ 50 Chapter 4. The Music ............................................................................................................... 54 1. Depth of Field 3:46 .............................................................................................................. 54 2. Breaks 7:57 .......................................................................................................................... 55 3. Bullfrogs 8:42 (Phenomenological Analysis) ........................................................................ 57 4. Practice Pad 5:08 (In-depth Analysis) ................................................................................... 61 5. Max wants to play melodically 9:21 ...................................................................................... 68 6. Nja 14:28 Duo with Ewan Stefani ......................................................................................... 68 7. Ceremonial Industry 17:13 ................................................................................................... 69 8. Homage to F.C. Judd 6:31 .................................................................................................... 70 9. Rindade Insult 2:50 Duo with Ewan Stefani .......................................................................... 70 10. Belt-driven Drone 17:27 ..................................................................................................... 71 11. Intervallic 3:30 ................................................................................................................... 72 12. Balbuzie 6:02 Duo with Ewan Stefani ................................................................................. 72 13. Gong Drone 6:33 ................................................................................................................ 73 vi 14. Choral 10:21 ..................................................................................................................... 74 15. Stapler (Melodic Armature) 14:11 ...................................................................................... 75 16. Truncated Loquacity 5:43
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