Experimental trio #1: initiation session

On Friday 23 February 2024, I was joined by Anna Durance (Cor Anglais) and Pooja Angra (Harmonium and Vocals) far an initiation session of the first experimental musical trio as part of the Experimental Musical Collaborations project.

The session took place over three hours at Solent University music studios and consisted of a series of improvisations, of varying lengths and structures, to explore and develop musical ideas on the theme of “belonging”.

In music and in conversation we explored the relationship between belonging to ourselves — of authenticity — and to one another — of attachement.

reflections

Writing this in the early evening following the session, I have many reflections on the day, some of which are still to be fully formed. However, at this point I would broadly categorise my current reflections into four categories:

1. The technical

2. My own electronic music practice

3. My creative leadership

4. The musical outcome.

First: reflecting on the technical. There were so many technical elements today that had to fall into place, many of which new or untested to myself. During the session and in reviewing the recordings, it is clear that both the audio and video setup was successful in capturing the performances. There are still further refinements to be made, particularly around the quality of the audio feed for the live stream in March, which was tested today, but not yet refined. There are also some technical areas yet to be explored, in particular, editing the video from across multiple camera angles. There are also further areas of potential exploration, in particular, room for more than stereo sound within the performance space. However, given the complexity of the setup to date, this is beyond the scope of the current round of musical experiments.

Secondly: moving onto reflections on my own electronic music practice. Whilst many of the starting points needed today were easily to hand, I was still struck by how — despite the plentiful hours of preparation — the manipulability of these, and my ability to be spontaneous, and responsive in a timely manner with them, still needs further development. Given the number of roles being undertake by myself — both musically, in providing the starting points along with other musical elements, and in leadership of the group — I will now spend further time ahead of the next session ensuring that more of the electronic music elements are more quickly accessible and expressively adaptable.

Thirdly: turning to my creative leadership. This is perhaps the most difficult area to reflect on objectively. Having taken part in the session this morning, and having watched back the recording of it in the afternoon, my overwhelming feeling — and I mean that in the truest sense of the word — is one of being overwhelmed. I am now recognising just how on the edge, at times beyond the edge, of my risk zone such leadership is. In particular, the discernment of choosing whether to and when to intervene or not intervene — let alone the choice of what to intervene with — still needs development. Today, at times, making that choice felt almost impossible. The side effect of this being that the choice is already made: to not intervene. As this project progresses is my intention to further develop my confidence about making that choice, so that even if the choice is the same, to not intervene, it is an active rather passive one.

Fourthly and finally: the musical outcome. Today we were successful at achieving our broad intention for the session: to translate the philosophical ideas of belonging into musical ideas that became workable. We explored the concept of belonging in greater depth, understanding it not just musically but philosophically, and about that I am very excited. Resulting from today we have a number of workable musical ideas and structures, developed through conversations — both verbal and musical — which can now be refined, developed and presented in March.

Next Steps

If I could summarise today’s session and our musical exploration of the philosophical, it would be this: to drift and return.

Over the next month I shall review our recordings, working with Pooja and Anna to develop one page scores which can guide our second and final session together in March.

I cannot wait to share what we have been making with you all!