- Part of 'A topology of musical encounter' (summary) -
The collaboration of a musical collective is initialized by musicians positioning themselves within the collective, being confronted with each other’s presence. The unknown musical territory that is yet to be explored unfolds an open space between the participants. Everybody is forced to move towards this open space, of which the imaginary centre is the true collective, the moment that musicians are in full resonance with each other’s presence. During a working process it will prove essential to find out to which extend the musicians are willing or able to move to this centre. Some musicians will naturally tend towards a great flexibility towards the other, and others will resist the pull towards the centre and try to stay constant with what they know and what they master. To remark these tendencies and judge them appropriately is of the greatest importance. There can be purely musical reasons why somebody tends toward flexibility or stability, but there can also be personal grounds not in direct relation to the musical matter, or even out of a habit that has developed because of the context the musician is used to. In the case of a musical reason the tendency can be of great value in the working process, but in the case of a - possibly unaware - habit it will most definitely frustrate the process towards a true musical discovery.
Generally we can take the following rule into account when musicians take position in a new collective context: a musician can never stay totally stable with oneself, because the space is shared with others – and reversed – one can never totally synthesize with the other because the presence of oneself cannot be ignored. Even the most flexible attitude is eventually limited by personal borders. And if musicians are not able to step out from their referential frame, they are at least confronted with a new musical surrounding in where they have to ‘survive’.
The most basic situation for musicians is to stay close to their own musical material and methods of creation. They stay in their respective ‘positions’. Especially in a beginning phase of an encounter, this seems the most natural reaction and probably most occurring one, if we imagine a situation where musicians come together in a new collective, not knowing where to go together and not yet introduced to the characteristics and qualities of the others. From this stage, the collaboration can evolve in to another level, where the musicians dare to step out from their positions and possibly find a new coherent musical approach together. In other cases this positional definition might as well stay as it is. This should not be considered less than a more evolved state, and the fact that musicians don’t develop to closer reflection of each other’s presence doesn’t mean that a collaboration cannot be harmonious or innovative. When musicians don’t tend to ‘leave their homes’ we can deduce the musical context everybody has to deal with to be the great challenge. For a musical result this means the interest is focused on the specific coming together of elements, instead of the musical materials in themselves that will probably form less of a surprise.
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