On the inside of silence. An investigation
Short description
Dissertation by Sten Sandell, 2013.
How can I, through musical improvisation, change the course of interaction between music, space and text? The aim of my doctoral project was, on the basis of the various conditions a room or a space has to offer, to study the uniqueness of improvised music, to be able to change the direction of a music composition in real time, with focus on the integration of text and music.
The following questions were also addressed: how can one identify the effect a room has on how a voice or instrument sounds, and how can one create a unique world of sound in that same room with the intention of creating a new kind of aural drama?
The main empirical data for this project consists of a number of case studies in the form of: a series of experiments/ improvisations – that trigger a series of processes – that again trigger a series of methods.
Free improvised music is the only form of music that allows me, as a musician, to be able to change direction at any time. Free improvised music is the only form of music where I can completely change my way of playing depending on the character of the room or the space. The room becomes a co-player that I can either go along with or resist. In my project I investigated different ways to explore and clarify how changes of direction in free improvisation can be performed and how the spatial conditions and other conditions affect the way the music is played.