School of Contemporary Music - Theses
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ItemThe essence of performance on the acoustic drum kit: a study of feel( 2018)This practice-led research investigates and discusses the terms and applications of ‘feel’ and ‘time’ in acoustic drumming, and through various performance settings I break down and examine how these phenomena exist within my performance. Topics of this research include feel, time, groove, improvisation, pulse, liveness, and motif, all of which are looked at through the various effects they can have on performance. This dissertation includes both written and recorded documentation of my own performances, as well as drawing on sources of information such as music notation (transcriptions), sound waves, various publications, liner notes and experiential descriptions of each performance setting. The creative works presented in this research are made up of various recorded performances, which can be identified in the ‘List of Embedded Audio’. As sections of this dissertation are based on specific recordings, the relevant audio is also listed within the text. This should allow the reader to listen to each recorded performance before or after the relevant section is read. Each recorded work for this research is presented in an mp3 format.
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Item“In Passing”: a model for exploring space in ECM recordings( 2016)This research explores virtual spatial constructs in the recording process to illuminate the experience of improvising as the characteristics of spatial perception change. The inquiry is motivated by two research questions; a) does the experience of acoustic space shape the process of improvisation and; b) did the experience of acoustic space play a role in shaping the sound associated with the record label ECM?
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ItemThe moment of performance( 2014)This is a practice led research project. The purpose of the writing is to elucidate my experience and practice of improvisational music. I have written of personal background as context, how the subject is understood within the field, the place of observation, a reduction to just putting this with that, a practice that resembles life, performance anxieties, attention and engagement in the act, what is the purpose in making a sound, what connects me to the experience, what is the place of relationship, what is harmony, healing and community and how is it expressed in my practice. I am not concerned in this study with audience response as an isolated phenomenon. I have used the activities of GAIP, Current and field notes from music event experiences to elucidate responses to some of these areas of study. I have presented transcripts of conversations between members of THAT offering a textual derivative, exemplifying our mode of interaction. The experience of making music cannot be had through text, it can only be written around. I have chosen particular aspects of the experience to write around with the knowledge that I am neglecting much else. The creative work is presented on a USB flash drive as audio and video recordings of work undertaken through the research period. There will be a performance on February 26, 2014 to mark the culmination of the research project. Media from this performance will also be attached to this document. www.gaipsite.com
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ItemToward an understanding between corporeality, improvisation and inhabited space( 2012)This practice-led research project probes how to sustain the methodology of a well-developed solo practice as performer/maker, whilst moving toward choreographic development on other bodies. The research project, ‘Toward an understanding between corporeality, improvisation and inhabited space’ is the culmination of two years of research toward my Master of Choreography at the Victorian College of the Arts and MCM, University of Melbourne. Grounded in an investigative improvisation workshop, the research explores the process of creation for new dance work by allowing corporeality, real-time attention to space and our living experience to influence movement choices, thereby highlighting a personal performance idiosyncrasy. Outcomes and insight of the research have allowed for interest to emerge around the inter-connected relationships and influence of corporeality, improvisation, choreography and intuitive processes. Through both a reflexive first person account of values and practices and also engagement with theoretical discourse from performance theory, art theory and philosophy, this writing explores the above key interests in relation to the making of the performance piece connected with the project, The Space Between. This research was undertaken through three key phases, namely: ten months of solo improvisation exploration, a five-month improvisation workshop and performance season with three other dancer/makers, and an 8 month writing process providing insight and understanding into the previous two phases.
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ItemThe path to abstraction: a practice led investigation into the emergence of an abstract improvisation language( 2011)This practice led research examines the emergence of abstract musical concepts within my recent free improvisation practice. To contextualize the work I align my professional performance career and creative practice with Attali’s first three codes of production. I then examine the development of an autonomous abstract improvisation language within a specific project, the Expose Project, and view the work in the light of Attali’s Composing code of production. My journey along the path to abstraction began four years ago when two unconventional professional collaborations, Crossing Roper Bar and Heretics Brew, challenged me to look beyond the conventional contemporary jazz vernacular in search of more contextually appropriate improvisation vocabularies. A range of atonal, microtonal and extended techniques began to emerge that expanded my musical conceptions and woodwind facility. Later, within the abstract electronic sound environment of the Expose Project, conventional musical vocabularies were deconstructed and instruments came to be viewed as generators of sound and texture rather than melody. I discuss amplification and recording techniques that facilitated the integration of a range of extraneous mechanical noises and sound field manipulations into the work. Instrument selection within the project is examined in relation to the evolution of these new vocabularies, and further insights gained through a deeper examination of evolving abstract expressions on the three instruments most commonly played in the project. Audio recordings illustrate this developmental process. As the vehicle for the final stage of the journey to abstraction, the Expose Project facilitated the development of this new abstract improvisation language and an experiential understanding of Attali’s Composing code, whereby making music becomes a private process of relationship through sounding, situated outside of the commerce-driven networks of the previous codes.
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ItemThe art of presence: contemplation, communing and creativity( 2009)The Art of Presence: Contemplation, Communing and Creativity reflects on the making of a dance theatre work called Song of Longing presented at Victorian College of the Arts in 2008. Song of Longing was made in collaboration with the cast, who participated in a process centred on improvisation. The resulting performance was a synergy of dance and unaccompanied singing. The thesis is an investigation of the choreographer's ongoing exploration of movement, singing and improvisation, informed by Buddhist philosophy. Both the writing and the performance mirror an embodied practice - making tangible themes and concepts that have emerged into consciousness. Central interests include the ‘life-world’ of the artist and its influence on the creative process, the concepts of spirituality, spirit and ‘flow’, the experiential focus of the inquiry, improvisation as presence and the value of art as healing and therapy. While the perspective of the writing is drawn from the subjectivity of the practitioner, the aim of the work is to draw on the broader fields of research in these areas and to connect with the creative practices of other artists. To this end, a conventional survey of the literature has been augmented by writings and teachings on Buddhism and other spiritual practices, documentaries and visual art. Interviews with artists in Australia and India and thoughts from the performers of Song of Longing are also included.