NOTES, NODES AND NOWHERE

BY JOHAN VAN KREIJ

As an improvisor, working with computers that become instruments, I have had the opportunity to perform with many different musicians in a great variety of combinations. Quite a bit of these sessions took the form of a traditional setup where the musicians were grouped together on a (make shift) stage. Others, however, would disperse musicians across the venue, sometimes organized in smaller groups, sometimes as individual performers.
The coming period at LOOS I will be investigating in a practical sense how improvisation is experienced when performers are located in various spaces. The aim is to provide communication means that go beyond the typical audible and visual channels. The research focuses on testing various alternative approaches to communication using internet technology.

Background

Communication among musicians has always been an area of interest. Especially in the context of an improvisation, where the music can be described as the outcome of a joint activity, it is intriguing to experience how each individual responds (or appears to be oblivious) to audible or visual cues. Moreover, it is a situation in which anyone at any moment can freely decide to contribute to what is being created using a wide variety of strategies.
Spreading out the performers has a great impact on this joint activity. The hindered communication can be addressed in various ways. Some of such situations would introduce a conductor, organizing sub-group activity, in other situations visuals would be used, yet in other cases attentive listening would be required, or it was simply accepted that the activity remained unorganized an desynchronized.

In the context of the lector research group at the Royal Conservatoire I have initiated a practical research into developing means of communication in the context of an improvisation where musicians are spread out. I refer to this activity as a decentralized improvisation. The recent developments in relation to Covid-19 have in an unforeseen way turned this into an issue for many musicians. The mentioned research focuses on using mobile devices and creating a platform for communication.