The transcendent experience in Experimental Popular Music performance Adrian Brian Barr, B. Mus (Hons) A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Western Sydney 2012 Acknowledgements My wife Elanor, thank you for all your love and support – I know I meant to finish this before we married, but I wouldn’t have it any other way! My parents Robert and Linda Barr; my family Jane, Daniel, Karen and Gene for supporting me through this journey; Matthew Robertson, my brother, great friend and musical ally; friends and colleagues at UWS, particularly Mitchell Hart, Noel Burgess, Eleanor McPhee, John Encarnacao, Samantha Ewart, Michelle Stead; and most importantly my supervisors Diana Blom and Ian Stevenson – thank you ever so much for your hard work and ongoing support. Thank you to all the inspiring musicians who kindly gave me the time to share their amazing experiences. Statement of Authentication This work has not been submitted for a higher degree at any other institution and an undertaking that the work is original and a result of the candidates own research endeavour. Signed: ____________________________ Adrian Barr 1 ABSTRACT The Transcendent Experience in Experimental Popular Music Performance Adrian Barr, B. Mus (Hons.) School of Humanities and Communication Arts, Music This thesis is an investigation into experiences of transcendence in music performance driven by the author’s own performance practice and the experimental popular music environment in which he is situated. Employing a phenomenological approach, 19 interviews were conducted with musicians, both locally and internationally, who were considered strong influences on the author’s own practice. The interviews focused on transcendent experiences in music performance and provided rich texts for analysis and comparison with existing models of transcendent experience. The main areas investigated are how transcendence was experienced, the musical and extra-musical aspects of these experiences, and how discussing the significance of these experiences is useful for one’s musical practice and in educational contexts. The framework of transcendent experience in experimental popular music developed in this thesis encapsulates a diverse range of personal and collective experiences of music performance. Despite this diversity, of individual musicianship, experiences and personality, a common experiential ground of experimental popular music performance providing a vehicle for shared musical experiences and meaning, including transcendence, is revealed. The outcomes of this study provide unique insight into the creative processes and 2 music-making in the form of experimental popular music and, in doing so, have potential implications for education and general musicianship. 3 Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction 13 1.1 Experimental Popular Music under investigation 17 1.1.1 The Necks 21 1.2 Personal Background 24 1.3 Literature on transcendence and the study 26 1.4 Research Aims 29 1.5 Writing a Thesis 32 1.6 Thesis Structure 33 Chapter 2: Literature - Representations of Transcendent Experience 35 2.1 The transcendent experience as manifesting in contemporary, experimental popular music performance 36 2.1.1 Defining Transcendent Experience 36 2.1.2 Elusive Experiences 41 2.1.3 Sense of Self 42 2.1.4 Time 46 2.1.5 Representations in Psychology Literature 48 2.1.6 Trance 52 2.1.7 The Spiritual 57 4 2.1.8 Other Representations 60 2.1.9 Summary 61 2.2 How musical aspects facilitate the transcendent experience in performing experimental popular music 63 2.2.1 Improvisation 64 2.2.2 Structure 66 2.2.3 Repetition 67 2.2.4 Rhythm 68 2.2.5 Drones 71 2.2.6 Timbre 73 2.2.7 Summary 73 2.3 How extra-musical aspects facilitate the transcendent experience in performing experimental popular music. 75 2.3.1 Performance Preparation 75 2.3.2 Performance Context 76 2.3.3 Relationship to Instrument 77 2.3.4 Intra-Ensemble Relationships 78 2.3.5 States of Mind 81 2.3.6 Summary 83 5 2.4 How a musician/researcher articulates their own transcendent experience within their practice of music making 84 2.4.1 Ineffability 88 2.5 Literature Review Summary 91 Chapter 3: Methodology 94 3.1 Research Design 98 3.2 Phenomenological Enquiry 101 3.2.1 Heuristic Enquiry 108 3.2.2 Embodied Enquiry 110 3.2.3 Sensory Ethnography 113 3.3 Grounded Theory 115 3.3.1 Process of Grounded Theory 117 3.4 Participants 119 3.4.1 Background to Performers 120 3.5 Data Collection 125 3.5.1 Main Interview Questions 125 3.5.2 Interview Technique 126 3.5.3 Other Sources of Data 129 3.6 Validity of Methodology and Summary 131 6 3.6.1 Synthesis of Qualitative Approaches 136 3.6.2 Data Analysis 138 3.7 Ethics 139 3.8 Summary 140 Chapter 4: Findings Part 1 141 4.1 How transcendent experiences manifest in contemporary, experimental popular music 142 4.1.1 Form and dynamics 142 4.1.2 States of mind 159 4.1.3 Physicality of Transcendent Experiences 168 4.1.4 Negative experiences 173 4.1.5 Detractors from Transcendent Experience 174 4.1.6 Significance of Transcendent Experiences 177 4.2 Summary 184 Chapter 5: Findings Part 2 187 5.1 Structure 187 5.1.1 Repetition 192 5.1.2 Complexity/Simplicity 196 5.2 Time 198 7 5.2.1 Rhythm 199 5.2.2 Polyrhythm 201 5.2.3 Polymetrics 204 5.3 Dynamics 207 5.4 Timbre 212 5.5 Harmony 214 5.5.1 Harmonic Movement 215 5.5.2 Drone 216 5.5.3 Melody 218 5.6 Vocals 219 5.7 Improvisation 220 5.7.1 Versus composed music 227 5.7.2 Notated Music 228 5.8 Summary 229 Chapter 6: Findings Part 3 232 6.1 Relationship Within Ensemble 232 6.2 Musical Style 236 6.3 States of Mind 238 6.3.1 Stress 240 8 6.3.2 Comfort 241 6.4 Approach to Music Making 242 6.4.1 Group Ethos 248 6.4.2 Role in Ensemble 249 6.4.3 Intra-band Dynamics 250 6.4.4 Performance Strategies 253 6.4.5 Relationship to One’s Instrument 254 6.4.6 Playing Technique 263 6.4.7 The Spiritual 267 6.4.8 Connection to Sound 272 6.4.9 Composition 273 6.4.10 Humour 275 6.4.11 Making Mistakes 276 6.5 The Live Performance Environment 278 6.5.1 Performance Preparation 279 6.5.2 Live Performance 281 6.5.3 Acoustics 281 6.5.4 Live Sound Reinforcement 285 6.5.5 The Audience 286 9 6.5.6 Watching Live Music 290 6.6 Other Musical Contexts 291 6.6.1 Listening to music 291 6.6.2 Teaching 293 6.6.3 In The Studio 294 6.6.4 Practising 296 6.7 Detractors from Transcendent Experiences 298 6.8 Summary 298 Chapter 7: Findings Part 4 300 7.1 Articulating Transcendent Experiences 300 7.2 Interview Process and Recalling Transcendent Experiences 304 7.2.1 Establishing a dialogue on transcendence 312 7.2.2 Reflecting on Musical Career 316 7.3 Summary 319 Chapter 8: Discussion 321 8.1 How does transcendent experience manifest itself in contemporary, experimental popular music performance? 322 8.1.1 Models of Transcendence 325 8.1.2 Climbing Towards Divinity 329 10 8.1.3 States of Mind 330 8.2 How do musical aspects facilitate the transcendent experience in performing experimental popular music? 331 8.2.1 Transcendence of sonic parameters 332 8.2.2 Rhythm/Time/Repetition 332 8.2.3 Dynamics 333 8.2.4 Improvisation 333 8.3 How do extra-musical aspects facilitate the transcendent experience in experimental popular music performance? 334 8.3.1 Performance Environment 335 8.3.2 Physicality of Performance 336 8.3.3 Approach to Music-Making 337 8.3.4 Detractors from Transcendent Experience 338 8.4 How can a musician/researcher discuss their own transcendent experience within their practice of music making? 340 8.4.1 Heuristic Enquiry 342 8.4.2 The Challenges and Creativity of the Interview Process 343 8.5 Final Thoughts 346 8.5.1 Significance of Research 346 8.5.2 Implications and Further Research 348 11 8.5.3 Reflections 351 Appendix 1 – Interview Questions 353 References 355 12 List of Tables and Figures Table 1 – Penman & Becker’s Model of Meditation and Trance (2009) p.50 56 Table 2 - Representations in the Literature 62 Table 3 – Musical features linked to transcendent experience 74 Table 4 – Extra-musical aspects of Transcendent Experience 83 Table 5 – How Transcendent Experience Manifests 185 Table 6 - Musical Features in Transcendent Experience 230 Table 7 - Extramusical Elements of Transcendent Experience 299 Table 8 – Issues and benefits of interviewing 320 Table 9 – A model of the Transcendent Experience 329 Figure 1 – Overall Research Design 99 13 Chapter 1: Introduction This thesis is an investigation into the way experiences of transcendence manifest in experimental popular music performance. Transcendence is understood as including “the property of rising out of or above things” (Adams, 1995) as well as “existence beyond; independent existence… held to exist beyond space, time, the physical world or experience – in some non-spatial sense of ‘beyond’” (Priest, 2005). It is these experiences that are spoken of as a movement through human acts and beyond them and transcending as mediated by human acts while putting us in direct contact with this ‘beyond’ (Roy, 2001). Whether ‘beyond’ or ‘above’, these ‘things’ include a sense of self, sense of time and sense of place.