[Stremes-l] Simply Jamming

Thu Dec 3 19:15:07 MST 2015

Yes, post ‘links’ (youtube, soundcloud, etc) of audio/video; attachments 
probably won’t work here. Syneme has a youtube channel.

We did record, but I’m just getting used to my guitar again after
20 years - so I’ll spare you. Ethan on the other hand is an awesome,
seasoned drummer. 

I wonder if network performance is bringing other 
computer musicians/artists back into the realm of tangible
instruments in the exploration of ‘liveness.' The network medium seems
to encourage this, I think because it is a ‘medium of milliseconds.’
So one really wants to work in a ‘first order’ mode of consciousness, 
through body/touch.

We know the computer tended to bring together practices,
instrument playing (sync) and composition (async).
We started to play our computer compositions in halls
and to regard the ‘press play’ action as the playing of an instrument.
Then there’s composing live, improvisation; but with the caveat
of necessarily exploring ‘relativity’ first hand - not the theory of.

Anyway, live performance with electronic instruments is a 
nicely problematic area with many good treatises by now (Emmerson, 
Shusterman, Croft, Auslander, etc). There’s the Contemporary Music
Review issues: LIveEM Vol. 18, 1999; Improvisation, Vol 25, 2006.

Ken

> On Dec 4, 2015, at 6:42 AM, Roger Mills <roger at eartrumpet.org> wrote:
> 
> Sounds like an interesting session Ken. Did you record it ?
> 
> Ethernet Orchestra often get together for a play, ‘simply' for our own enjoyment or sometimes with the purpose of recording but it is definitely liberating !
> 
> For me, it’s one of the most enjoyable things about improvisation in that you can just connect with others and share these moments of creativity and learn new things.
> 
> I’m also reminded of the early days of free improvisation whereby people like Derek Bailey and Evan Parker et al. used to get together in the backroom of a London pub and just play. It was often noted that there were more musicians than audience members !
> 
> While i I haven’t done a networked session with that amount of latency for a while, it does require different approaches and can yield some interesting results !
> 
> As the man himself once said "Improvisation is a basic instinct, an essential force in sustaining life. Without it nothing survives" 1(Bailey 1992)
> 
> Let’s start posting audio here too !
> 
> Bests
> 
> Roger
> 
> 
>> On 4 Dec 2015, at 3:00 am, stremes-l-request at mailman.ucalgary.ca <mailto:stremes-l-request at mailman.ucalgary.ca> wrote:
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>> Today's Topics:
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>>   1. Simply Jamming (Kenneth Fields)
>> 
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>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> 
>> Message: 1
>> Date: Thu, 3 Dec 2015 10:30:48 +0800
>> From: Kenneth Fields <kfields at ucalgary.ca>
>> Subject: [Stremes-l] Simply Jamming
>> To: stremes-L at mailman.ucalgary.ca
>> Message-ID: <88A54FBD-C8B6-4483-9864-78766E4B5E80 at ucalgary.ca>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
>> 
>> I (in Beijing) had a great Jam with Ethan Cayko at the university of calgary
>> yesterday. His master’s degree is concerned with rhythmic complexities/opportunities
>> of network music.
>> 
>> We tested the network for a bit, found some problems and ‘tuned’ our jacktrip connection.
>> There was a 215ms delay, which we determined amounted to about 140bps. 
>> however, when I started jacktrip in loop mode and Ethan played with the echo, 
>> we found the actual beat (ricochet) to be around 127bpm. Seems reasonable since 
>> a bit more delay is introduced by the software, hardware and actual-air in both studios.
>> 
>> Then we started jamming. It was a pleasure, just to sync into our particular 
>> beat profile based on our distance. The interesting part, is that we are hearing 
>> two different pieces - as I play off his beat and he plays off mine. We are, relatively
>> speaking, mutually one beat offset from each other's history.
>> 
>> We aim to add a third node, which will have its own unique delay time with each of us.
>> So with the addition of just one node, ethan will be playing in a complex rhythmic
>> mode and I will playing in another. While we will be hearing 3 different pieces as a result,
>> it will still be a unique composite - given the coupling/triangulating. We are playing 
>> simply and looking for emerging genre in this.
>> 
>> The main point in this for me, was that there was no intention but to jam. 
>> No theory, no crash rehearsal just before a performance. This is the way to develop a project.
>> When the music gets going, we can just open up the session, and start broadcasting to youtube.
>> Let the practice grow from a grounded, experiential reality.
>> 
>> We both commented afterwards, that we had been trying to get to that point
>> for a long time (years) - given all the complexities of (yes) organizing bandwidth, 
>> developing software, getting comfortable with the ‘multi-chronotopical space,’
>> starting courses and grad programs, writing grants, etc. Just play!
>> 
>> And it coincides with the impetus to get this list going.
>> 
>> AND I’m reading Bergson’s Creative Mind (intuition/time)…. 
>> 
>> Hmm, must be time.
>> Ken
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
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