University wires up for brilliant music
Posted on 18 October 2004
Two leading international musicians, controlling the sound they produce from sensors attached to their bodies and instruments, are set to push back the boundaries between live and digital music next month in a radical new performance at the University of York.
Researchers in the Department of Music have been working for several years on the project which combines 'live' human creativity and the latest computer software to produce brilliantly original improvised music.
And to test their work they are bringing together world leaders in improvised music - the renowned double bass player, improviser and composer Barry Guy, and the Dutch flautist and composer Jos Zwaanenburg.
"For this approach to work, the musicians must be used to improvising and collaborating rather than just faithfully reproducing fully composed and notated music," says Professor Roger Marsh, Head of the Department of Music.
This [visit] will demonstrate that real-time systems...can deliver rich musical possibilities when combined with spontaneous creativity
Dr Roger Marsh
He added: "In 'classical' composition the emphasis has traditionally been on the score and the composer. Collaborative composition, with a few exceptions, has tended to be confined to the world of jazz.
"My own work in music theatre has led me increasingly to the idea that the same collaboration can be achieved in music for the concert hall. I have worked with both composers and much of the work by Guy and Zwaanenburg is based on the same idea." Guy and Zwaanenburg will work together for a week in York, culminating in a concert in the University's new Rymer Auditorium on Thursday 4th November. The Auditorium, opened in 2003, can provide stunning 'surround' sound, and is designed to maximise the excitement of adventurous electronic and 'live' musical performances. Guy and Zwaanenburg's work began in March 2003 in the Rymer Auditorium when they were introduced to interactive systems and began to use sensors attached to their bodies and instruments to control computers and transform their sound. They could also direct the movement of sounds in the space around them.
"Guy and Zwaanenburg's visit in November will take this work to new and even more exciting levels," said Professor Marsh. "This is the culmination of years of work and will demonstrate that real-time systems such as RIMM can deliver rich musical possibilities when combined with spontaneous creativity."
Notes to editors:
- The University of York is one of the liveliest centres of musical education and research in Britain, home to more than 200 music students and a large staff of professional musicians and scholars whose expertise ranges from mediaeval and classical music to digital music and music for the community.
- The project has been underway at the University since 1999 when the RIMM project (Real-time Interactive Multiple Media) investigated the use of sophisticated computing systems in live, improvised, performances.
- RIMM allowed signals from the live performance to be manipulated in real time, and new wearable wireless sensors gave the performer greater control.
- The culmination of the initial phase of RIMM was a performance in Berlin in December 2001.