1 International Meetings page 03 Global encounters page 04 Michael Beinhorn page 06 Patrick Wikstrøm page 10 Keith Harris page 13 Artist Talks and Masterclass at RMC page 18 Johan Haarberg page 20 Scott Cohen page 24 John Parish page 28 Dominic Murcott page 32 About RMC page 34 Editor: Thomas Borre Text contributions by: Henrik Sveidahl, Rasmus Rex, Jesper Bay, Morten Büchert, Jacob Anderskov, Henrik Marstal, Thomas Borre and Dominic Murcott Layout: Siegel Design Translation: Scandinavian Text Service Photo: Bjørn Bertheussen Print: NofoPrint A/S First edition: September 2015 Copies: 300 Copyright © 2015. All rights reserved. Text and photography contained herein may not be used or reproduced without the express written permission of RMC. The views and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of RMC. 2 International Meetings Music is a global, artistic form of expression unfolding in all societies at all times. At The Rhythmic Music Conservatory (RMC) we feel it is important that our activities make an impression on the world. The Conservatory has a vision: we want to be among the leading educational institutions in the field of contemporary rhythmic music. The students receiving an education at the Conservatory and the knowledge being acquired through research and development must contribute to the field on an international level. This is a very ambitious goal for a relatively small, arts educational institution up here in the frozen North. However, it is one that we feel is realistic and in recent years we have been working towards that goal. During the last handful of years RMC has entered into several binding, collaborative partnerships with leading European educational institutions. This has resulted in joint study programs, joint projects and courses, in addition to collaborative research and development work. At the same time we’ve strengthened the international marketing of the study programs and increased student mobility, which means that today RMC has more international students than ever before. This has made a positive contribution to the development of an international study environment and an improved educational experience for the students. In order to strengthen the quality of the Conservatory’s work and support the goal of taking the institution to the highest international level, in recent years RMC has carried out seven Interna- tional Meetings. To this end we have invited several international authorities in their respective fields to visit RMC for a few days. It is these meetings you can read about in the following pages. Working on presenting and facilitating International Meetings these last few years has – besides the enriching experiences we have had with our guests – provided RMC with the opportunity to test various meeting formats to ensure they serve a fruitful purpose within the institution. We will now build on this experience as we establish a group of international honorary professors. In relation to this, RMC recently announced that American Thurston Moore, who is mostly known as the singer, songwriter and guitar player in the influential no wave noise rock band Sonic Youth, will be joining the faculty as an honorary professor. This effort will be supplemented with lengthy Artist in Residence stays and an increased frequency of Masterclasses and Artist Talks. The purpose of this activity has been to give the students, faculty staff, management and interested members of the public access to the latest and most relevant knowledge within a field that is constantly changing. Happy reading! Henrik Sveidahl, Principal 3 Global encounters It is essential for RMC to develop an international environment at the school, both among teaching staff and researchers. This is why RMC has developed a dynamic tive. This is absolutely essential when working with by Thomas Borre, meeting format that focuses on facilitating meet- contemporary music and the constantly changing International Meetings ings that are relevant, with international capacities conditions and trends that develop and frame all Coordinator having a communicative impact within the aspects of music life: the creation, performance, academic environment at RMC. We have chosen production, distribution, communication and use to go with a descriptive label and have called the of music is in a constant state of flux. The only meetings International Meetings. thing we know with any certainty is that everything keeps changing ever faster. International Meetings at RMC contribute - from different academic and artistic perspectives - to The meetings are also held in order to reflect RMC a form of ongoing, global exploration of the world in an international context. They are designed around us. Using a specific guest as a jumping-off to contribute to the endeavour of running and point the meetings focus on the development of developing an educational institution that focuses music and music life in an international perspec- on an ever-changing art form. 4 Concept development Industry: Music in the Cloud, which analyses the It was important to design a meeting format that structural changes in the music industry brought would get people involved, that would engage about by the introduction of digital production and students, teachers, management and all others distribution. interested in culture and music. And with the latter group in mind, it is an increasingly important goal You will also meet Keith Harris from England. for RMC also to serve as a cultural institution and Drawing on his extensive experience he elab- a relevant meeting place for those interested in orates, among other things, on the role of the music life. artist manager manoeuvring between commercial interests and artistic preferences. All International Meetings held from December 2012 to May 2014 were therefore based on the American producer Michael Beinhorn shares his following four components: opinions and music production experience as a learning experience. • Meeting with a select group of students • Meeting with a select group of teaching Artistic research is a comparatively new phenom- staff members and/or researchers enon in this country and is a growing area of study • Meeting with RMC management and research at RMC. Johan Haarberg talks • Public speech (Artist Talk, Masterclass about the Norwegian experience within this field. or Keynote) Bristol-based John Parish can also be found in Each meeting ran over a few days and was the pages of this publication. He tells us about facilitated by a local host from RMC’s teaching the role of the producer and the importance of staff. These hosts are the authors of the texts you presence in music. can look forward to reading in the following pages. Scott Cohen is, among other things, interested It was important that the meetings had a in the myth of DIY and takes as his premise the communicative impact on central academic and endless availability of content that makes attention artistic environments across the Conservatory’s a scarce resource. departments, and research and development environments, including Music performance, Finally, Englishman Dominic Murcott has contrib- Music Education, Sound Engineering, Music uted a guest article. He works at Trinity Laban Management and Songwriting. (Read more about Conservatoire of Music and Dance and in this RMC’s study programmes at www.rmc.dk/en/ capacity he elaborates on his views comparing the educations.) two institutions after his visit at RMC. About this publication It was also important that the content of the meetings could be shared in one form or another, and this publication is a result of this objective. It offers some snapshots of the starting point and themes of the meetings. This publication offers - in words and pictures - a select view of seven different International Meet- ings. The texts vary from essayistic efforts to more journalistic features. On these pages you will meet Swede Patrik Wikstrøm, who is a researcher of Music Industry Studies and author of the book The Music 5 Michael Beinhorn Finding a unique voice and a personal approach I first heard about Michael Beinhorn being in international artists, and in diverse musical genres, By Morten Büchert, Denmark from a student who had been assisting Beinhorn‘s background provided a solid basis for Assistant Professor him on the new Mew album, scheduled for release the discussions which took place. in 2015. Beinhorn was in Denmark for about a year and I was fortunate to meet with him on several One of the key goals of RMC is to provide occasions so I asked him to teach a class in Music students with the knowledge, tools and methods Production and hold an Artist Talk at RMC. to enable them to develop their own careers in music, something that is accomplished through During our meetings, we talked primarily about tuition and exposure to a range of views on education and what it takes to work in the music current subjects. The following is a selection of business today, as seen from the perspective quotes based on topics either written down or of the artist, engineer and producer. Drawing on recorded during our conversations, and also from his professional experience with a huge range of his interaction with students: 6 ”This isn’t a job. If you enter the business with that in mind you’ll soon learn otherwise. It has to go beyond want... You have to have a need...” Q: How do you develop a sustainable career? When I got into production, I was inclined to be A: I started out in a different environment ( in quite honest – but I had to learn it the hard way the ‘80s and ‘90s). In today’s music business, if and, in a way, learn to be very diplomatic. I come you want to produce records you have to be a to it from my perspective.