Safety First

Ok, i bet i’m the only one that needed to check out the tutorial on how to blog, i know it’s shameful but i’m finally here and i must apologize to ye all for being so late.

First off i’d really like to thank everyone for making the first session of this lecture (which, when performance based can really be nerve-wracking) a real encouraging experience. I’m really looking forward to learning from ye as well as Han and I feel being in such a small class will really help us to get the most out of it.

Some of the comments i see floating around so far is on the matter of instrumentation and the fact that three quarters of the group are string players. However, from listening to the recordings i already feel i can take a lot from the methods employed by the other players, and the addition of a percussion instrument, rather than brass or vocal, will really keep the four of us on our toes.

The first session really got my head tumbling on a few topics and my behaviour during a performance. Years of adhering to certain ‘rules’ can really get a person stuck in a hole he is unaware he has climbed into. For this reason i already had some notions of what was expected of me, already these have been scraped. Also I couldn’t believe how locked away in myself i was during the first performance until Han pointed it out to me, and i really couldn’t believe how odd it felt during the second when i had to do something so simple as look up.

The big question we needed to tackle this week; WHY IMPROVISATION, yeah it’s a big one. As I’ve said many of my notions on improv have already been scraped as it can be really difficult to hold down concepts on what i feel it should entail. Any thoughts i’ve come up with are easily broken down with more questions. But of course this is one of the attractions, it is new to me and needs to be experienced and studied to really begin to comprehend it.

As for free-form v’s the karate kid route i really see the positive and negative points in each. Being able to explore our own path is exciting but getting guidance from a experienced performer is reassuring. I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on this matter in the next class.

Apologies again for my late blog.

Paul.

Here we go, finally got around to check the page after the busy weekend (did check it before that but was not so sure about breaking ice since nobody had posted yet) so here i am, ready to write my first post in the diary, and just realized the internet is down for some reasons.. Murphy’s Law i’d say.. i will still write the entry and post it later on if the….

yeah, the line is back now, and i figured out how to post here..

Have to say i am delighted with the first class, delighted of working with you guys… i have met Han and Kevin and worked with them before, but it was the first time meeting Paul and Owen, and the first impression was quite positive… a bit surprised because there are so few of us in the class, but at the same time the quartet/band format seems quite intriguing….it could have great benefits, but it also puts a lot of pressure on us.. guys, not a chance of missing one single class without being dearly missed

am actually listening to our improvisations from last wednesday as i write so my take on the whole class blog thingee is: how cool is that?

recordings definitely makes me appreciate Han’s perspective of outside listener being able to gauge the effectiveness of our improvisation without the bias of the participant, being it pride or self demeaning (which is probably the same thing in the end).. this reminds me of Bob Brozman’s definition ‘Recording is God’s own way of telling you that you suck’.. well, in fairness we did’t seem to be that bad

weird how those pieces felt ‘longer’ while we were playing them, and much ’shorter’ now.. strange how while we were playing sometime we get the feeling of having said all that there is to say, while from the listener’s perspective one could ask: is that it?

in any case, the class got me thinking about improvisation a lot over the last week which is quite good. had a session with Kevin in the meantime, some bonding to be done before the october StetLab.. we used electric guitars for that (and in that case i felt the similarity of sound issue a bit stronger..don’t feel this much of an issue in class.. Spanish nylon string guitar/Puertorican steel string cuatro.. more of a visual/ideal similarity than a tonal/timbre one from this angle)

as for the KarateKid vs. FreeForm i’m still a bit puzzled (i guess that was the intention)

part could be because i’m a bit used to like my improvisations free, and so far have gathered much more experience with the learning by doing method than by talking/discussing/exchanging views ..neither have experienced much free improvising in a hierarchical context (even when i found myself working with seasoned improvisers in the past) but of course it wouldnt be as worthy if there was no challenge

in this sense i’d naturally go for the free form based course, and take risks, but i feel curious about the Karate Kid method too..’guaranteed to bring results’.. any chances of elaborate a bit more on that?

(oh by the way, i haven’t seen Karate Kid..)

beginning to have some clue about ‘why improvise’.. but it’s better to leave them til the class..

roll on wednesday,

be well guys

andrea

The Initials

Initially, I’m always apprehensive about jumping into a pool. There’s no way around it; that water is cold. Sure, you’ll warm up soon enough, but, soon enough seems quite a while away. Real butterflies-in-your-stomach material, understand?

Maybe a better analogy for how I find the beginning of an improvisation would be sitting down with a bottle of tequila next to a friend who you would rather not sit with in the presence of a bottle of tequila. The apprehension lasts well after the first shot right up until you can’t feel your nose. Or thereabouts.

Think I made mistake by opening (in response to Paul) with a short gesture followed immediately by a longer pause. Sonically it might have been okay, I haven’t made up my mind on that count yet, but it gave me too much time to think it through. That pause was a opportunity for my brain to fumble over the specifics and seriously lose composure. 

Thankfully, this did not happen, but maybe something I should figure out is how big the sonic repercussions would be if I did stumble? Just a thought.

First Observations

The band set up feels fine, though playing in a circle is new for me. 

The only reservation I have in terms of line up is how homogenous the sound sources are; three out of the four are string instruments. With any luck this shouldn’t be a problem though.

Still mulling over whether to vote for the Karate Kid thing or the freeform thing.

Looking forward to week two.

first impressions

Small group (quartet), a significant change to the 9+ class sizes of the past. Four is the magic number in these context (maybe we’ll discuss this in future classes), but for now, all I can say is… we have a band (2 treble instruments, bass and drums). How weird is that?

identity politics

All male class (all white, but, hey, this is Cork). Why is that? What happened to all the female students this year?

background and prior experience

No one in the group comes from a complete no-prior-experience-of-improvisation background. Does this mean the group has a head start, or that we come with baggage we need shed? How much are our habits (and as improvisers and performers we all have tricks we rely upon from time to time) going to be benefits or liabilities in the coming weeks?

introductions and contract

Everyone got to introduce themselves and state what they expect from the course. Whole bunch of issues came up which we’ll be returning to in the coming weeks:

• interaction: stimulus and response, choices, etc.
• freedom
• restrictions and limits
• boundaries (and responsibilities?)
• (personal) expression

Paul brings up the concept of process (his word) and interaction (mine). We’re starting in a good place here.

Owen is looking for freedom—freedom away from stylistic (idiomatic?) limits, and freedom in terms of ‘expression’. How’s that for a list of interesting and problematic terms? Plenty to go on….

first improvisation

First impressions: very polite.

Found the interventions of Kevin dramatic, and as was Owen’s absence. (Learned that Andrea’s listening is based on an almost LCR or surround sound system.)

The group is good at gauging duration (a request for five minute came in just under), so we probably won’t have to spend too many classes dealing with that issue. (We will likely need to deal with the issue of how to start and how to end of course….)

discussion

This, for me, is when the group starts to shine. Andrea brings up ‘choices’, Kevin wonders about the initial impulse that cascades through the group. We’re not quite in a position to articulate a lot of these ideas in a pragmatic fashion yet, but we’re entering interesting areas.

final improvisations

Notice that Andrea and Paul are very much into their instruments, while Kevin and Owen (especially Owen) are very much looking around at the group (visually driven?). So I requested that Kevin and Owen don’t look at the group, and Andrea and Paul to look up from their instruments.

Now that was interesting wasn’t it? what’s the mechanism here? what happene?

Unfortunately ran out of time. (Maybe return to this later…)

other business

Blog / class diary. Class volunteered to be frank about criticisms, etc. (I’m personally a little nervous about this: people often say they want the ugly truth until they get it.) Propose that we start by being civil on the blog, and then see what happens.

Oh, and the blog will be public. (Nothing like living dangerously.) I will, however, refrain from posting certain information up here: actual assessment (grades), attendance records, etc.

for next week

Question: Why improvisation? Of all the myriad of was to construct / perform / do music, why improvise?

How do we proceed?

• Plan A: we do a Karate Kid, paint some fences. I lay out a bunch of exercises…
• Plan B: freeform. Much more exciting, but much riskier. Class generates direction (I only mark the exit points).

Primary thing to note is that the student/instructor relationship (and responsibilities) will be different depending on the model we choose.

Had some discussion on this, and we’ll vote on this next Wednesday.

Wuhay! Heres my first journal entry lads (24.09.08) It was great meeting you all today.

So today was the first Improvisation Class of 2008, and i have decided to start my journal immediately because

A) it gets me in to a good habit for the year

B) the improv class is still fresh in my head, so i can recall the specifics.

The class includes a quartet of 2 acoustic guitars (Kev and Andréa), a bass guitar (Tom), and a snare drum (me). Our instructor is Han and he began proceedings with a recording device placed in the centre of the room (no doubt to let us listen to in our last class when we finish) and a basic introduction of the classmates and course began. The general topic of what we expected from this course was the centre question and what were we to benefit from it. The atmosphere was friendly, relaxed and exciting. So before we knew it we were perfoming our first improvisation of 2008.

This improvisation piece was a lovely introduction to the year ahead. It was innocent and free. I found that from the beginning all members were contributing rhythmically and dynamically, and since i had the snare drum that the opportunity to roam free and find some tone and colour without the need to be percussive (if thats a word) was upon me. There was no concept here for this piece, it was just to relax and play.

It was nice to see and hear some improvisation again, as i found myself watching and listening to other players. Their was some plucking of guitar strings with weird instruments such as a comb and a knitting needle, some harmonic tones with some wild fret precision and a bass that was dominate with electric resonance. I wanted to let the other instruments breathe so i intended to stay subtle with my interactions. I used brushes and my fingers to create soft and delicate sounds. I honestly found myself lost in the moment and enjoying the beginnings of what should be an interesting year in improv. After we finished the length of the pieces we performed were of an issue and a discussion of interaction and expectation were of viewpoint.

What should we expect from the piece and the other players? how should we interact?

My expectations as of today were of nothing. I didn’t expect anyone to respond in a certain way to my playing or my reactions. Maybe subconsciously we all react without realising it (as an intention to not react is actually a reaction) As from seeing guitar players around me i didn’t expect to hear the general sounds of what a guitar does. Maybe others expected to hear what they saw. The relationship of perception and sound is up for thought, because we see something do we expect a certain associative sound? Interesting topic of conversation.

The 2nd improvisation was more dominate with interaction and movements. I deliberately found myself trying to provoke reaction with the snare drum. I used repetitive patterns, various tempos and dynamics. I found the bass lovely with bending stringed sound and low in tone. The movements tended to start slow, gain speed in tempo, louder in volume and die off in silence. Maybe typically cliché but these are only the beginnings and i do feel the future does look bright and maybe we can learn something about exactly what is improvisation? or why do we improvise? How does one improvise? Is their limits? rules? restrictions?

Bring on week 2 lads..

Hope all is well

Owen

This class diary will launch with the start of the 2008/9 Safety First: strategies towards minimizing danger in improvisation classes tomorrow.