weimerhead

Last Thursday my group had much more success in the improvisation session. We all seemed to fit together much more, and for a change the hour we spent jamming was actually a lot of fun. We set up a little bit differently than we usually do, with everyone in a circle. This allowed everyone to make eye contact anyone else and on the whole communication was increased greatly compared to other weeks. Another factor aiding the level of communication, was the fact that Ben walked around and was able to dictate to the group upcoming ideas that we could consider. An example of this was, in one particular song Ben wanted to slowly decrease the tempo. Obviously if I did this ‘mid-jam,’ without everyone knowing my intentions, it would have quite disastrous effects, but Ben was able to say to me- ‘gradually slow it down, everyone knows it coming.’ Dragos and Albert were absent, and our bass playing started to play more rhythmically than melodically, which left melodic construction in the capable hands of Dave and Matt. I was busy concentrating on the rhythmic side of things, but from what I heard Matt and Dave seemed to share the weight pretty well.

In the rhythm section Ben and I were at last able to share the sound of the drums a little more freely. For a change this week I starting with very cut back drum loops, usually with only hi-hats to play around with for a while. This allowed Ben much more freedom with his own improvised beat over the top. This format would continue for a few minutes and depending on what Ben was doing, usually I would start to put in a snare on the same beat as Ben. By this time Ben would be starting to fatigue a bit, so I might then take over the drums for a while. While Ben and I were doing all this, I noticed that our bass line was very in tune with what we were doing and seemed able to lock in and even adapt with the changes in the drum section. In the rhythm section at least, it was one of the first times I have really felt like I am able to feed ideas of the other group members and that they are able to do the same for me.

In Music Technology’s final hour Luke Harrold came in to the EMU to give the students an idea of the goings on of NIME 06. He presented a video of a performance by Adachi Tomomi in which he gives a demo of a couple of his creations- the carrot flute and an infered music shirt. It was pretty obscure really, but I must admit that Mr. Tomomi put on an exciting show. The way he begun each performance was to casually sing old style Japanese chants, and then abruptly bring in the futuristic sounds and movements of his instrument. This made him look quite comfortable with the equipment, making the performances feel almost like a glimpse into the future.

Lastly I will add that I am quite sick at the moment, and you may not see too much of me in this last week of the term. Feeling very out of it, but I am doing my best to get everything done one step at a time. Update completed!

Reference:

Harrold, Luke. “NIME 06.” Lecture presented in EMU space, 5th Floor, Schulz Building, University of Adelaide, 19 / 10 / 06.