Electroacoustic music: theremin, improvisation, and the modified SC kit
Electroacoustic music as a devotion to Nature
The theremin: an instrument played without touch
The theremin, also known as the termenvox or aetherphone, is an electronic instrument controlled without physical contact by the performer. Two metal antennas manage frequency and amplitude. The resulting electric signals are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker. The device generates audio through the heterodyne principle; its circuitry relies on two radio frequency oscillators.
Circuit modifications
The modified SC theremin kit
The unit started as the Jaycar SC theremin kit and was repeatedly modified. Projects and discussion forums about these modifications can be found at thereminworld.com. Playability improved significantly, though the volume control remains compressed and its adjustment is delicate. For the price, the performance is very good.
Prison
Music as solo performance: Intimate Acquaintance
Intimate Acquaintance is a solo performance inspired by common experiences in modern life. The composition references the Pop-art style, particularly the work of Pierre Henry. With this piece, an effort was made to guide young musicians new to electronic experimental music by using sounds they already recognize.
Sampled material was arranged to form a composition, leaving space for improvisation with microphones, objects, and synthesizers. The work falls into five large sections:
- Questions
- Troubles
- Nature
- Spirit
- Travels
Improvised music: scores, perception, and cognition
Learning to improvise often means developing strategies to manage the risk of unpredictability. Unpredictability remains something of a taboo in a visual culture. Improvised music represents a kind of psycho-physical freedom. Through improvisation a musician can learn to adapt and react to external stimuli. This perspective — called ecologic — does not stand in opposition to composition. Rather, it is the only way musicians have to adapt to the sounding-creative environment. As a metaphor: someone who lives in a jungle does not need a path to move; they navigate the forest using instinctive experience.
Models in instantaneous composition
Every moment of the instantaneous composition process relies on a communicative strategy. Recognizing the procedures that organize musical development is essential. These factors can be rule-based systems, like a scale or mode, a formal scheme like a chorus in jazz or a fugue, or extra-musical symbolism.
Four model types are used:
- Fixed composition model — a structured starting point on which musicians play improvised variations, as in jazz or popular styles.
- Rhythm-metric sequence — a predetermined rhythmic plan.
- Assemblage of models — several models layered into one another, such as in raga.
- Induced or deduced model — unconscious models arising from idea association and the musical material itself.
When the model is dense and clearly structured, the resulting music becomes more recognizable and allows for a consistent practice of variation.
Free music and controlled improvisation
The author states little interest in free jazz or free music, as these practices often claim that no pre-arranged organization or concept takes place. In free improvisation some models are still used by performers, but calling this music a fully free mode of expression seems inaccurate. For this artist, music is a form of communication between player and audience. Some free improvisers do care about this relationship, but they remain rare.
Starting in the 1960s, ensembles such as John Zorn, Gruppo di Improvvisazione di Nuova Consonanza, and the Rova Saxophone Quartet experimented with improvised music controlled by scores. Particularly noteworthy is the orchestral system of conduction developed by Butch Morris.