Musicians in Space

Musicians in space (MiS) is a practice-based research project investigating the impact of spatialization on the performance of free improvised music (FiM). It draws heavily on Christopher Small’s idea of musicking to contextualize the argument that in the fifty year history of FiM, improvisers have failed to fully explore possible alternatives to the formal separation and static positioning of the audience and performer. While the conventional performance situation is seen as being integral to the pageantry of the performative experience, I argue that the fixity of the spatial and social arrangement has done little to support the allencompassing and heterarchical aspirations that had once been a noted rallying cry of the free improviser.

The thesis traces a journey through a series of live performances involving experienced free improvisers, on the UK and European improvised music scene, and incorporates the voices of over 70 participants. The thesis establishes a
separation between hierarchical and heterarchical forms of musicking, where the former emphasizes the convergence of more unifying and fixed ideals associated with the construction and organisation of a musical process, while the later celebrates a more decentralized, polysemic, and self-organizing musicking practice. This categorization is used throughout this research to support a greater degree of understanding of the particular characteristics of FiM within the broader context of music-making.

MiS, in essence, simply invites all the participants the option to modify their spatial relationship to the musicking process in order to expand their listening and playing experiences. It was found that this single change, in the approach to performance, greatly influenced many aspects of the FiM process, providing new insights into ways of engaging and listening for both the improviser and the listener. It afforded the improviser new opportunities to connect musically with the ensemble, while elevating the profile of the audience member from a focused listener to a visible participant and active collaborator in the process.

This document attempts to establish a clear impression of what was uncovered by this research, while also celebrating the impossibility of capturing in words the complexity of an improvisation experience. It does this by incorporating a
range of different forms of writing and a collection of personal depictions of a number of performances and improvising participants.

This document also includes links to multi-perspective audio and visual footage of all the performances. This can be found at: http://www.dafmusic.com/Musicians_in_Space/mis_projectbrief.html .