Artistic Experimentation in Music

Essential reading for anyone interested in artistic research applied to music.
This book is the first anthology of writings about the emerging subject of artistic experimentation in music. This subject, as part of the cross-disciplinary field of artistic research, cuts across boundaries of the conventional categories of performance practice, music analysis, aesthetics, and music pedagogy. The texts, most of them specially written for this volume, have a common genesis in the explorations of the Orpheus Research Centre in Music (ORCiM) in Ghent, Belgium. The book critically examines experimentation in music of different historical eras. It is essential reading for performers, composers, teachers, and others wanting to inform themselves of the issues and the current debates in the new field of artistic research as applied to music. The publication is accompanied by a CD of music discussed in the text, and by an online resource of video illustrations of specific issues.
This publication is GPRC-labeled (Guaranteed Peer-Reviewed Content).Contributors: Paulo de Assis (ORCiM), Richard Barrett (Institute of Sonology, The Hague), Tom Beghin (McGill University), William Brooks (University of York, ORCiM), Nicholas G. Brown (University of East Anglia), Marcel Cobussen (University of Leiden), Kathleen Coessens (Vrije Universiteit Brussel, ORCiM); Paul Craenen (Director Musica, Impulse Centre for Music), Darla Crispin (Norwegian Academy of Music), Stephen Emmerson (Queensland Conservatorium, Griffith University, Brisbane), Henrik Frisk (Malmö Academy of Music), Bob Gilmore (ORCiM), Valentin Gloor (ORCiM), Yolande Harris (Center for Digital Arts and Experimental Media – DXARTS), University of Washington, Seattle), Mieko Kanno (Royal Conservatoire of Scotland), Andrew Lawrence-King (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, Royal Danish Academy of Music, Copenhagen, University of Western Australia), Catherine Laws (University of York, ORCiM), Stefan Östersjö (ORCiM), Juan Parra (ORCiM), Larry Polansky (University of California, Santa Cruz), Stephen Preston, Godfried-Willem Raes (Logos Foundation, Ghent), Hans Roels (ORCiM), Michael Schwab (ORCiM, Royal College of Art, London, Zurich University of the Arts), Anna Scott (ORCiM), Steve Tromans (Middlesex University), Luk Vaes (ORCiM), Bart Vanhecke (KU Leuven, ORCiM).

"Artistic Experimentation in Music" was edited by Darla Crispin and Bob Gilmore.

Darla Crispin is a pianist and musicologist tracing perspectives from artistic research. Formerly an ORCiM Research Fellow, she is currently Associate Professor of Musicology at the Norwegian Academy of Music (NMH), Oslo.

Bob Gilmore is a Research Fellow at the Orpheus Institute (Belgium) and editor of Tempo: A Quarterly Review of New Music (UK).

Yes, "Artistic Experimentation in Music" is part of the "Orpheus Institute Series" series.

Throughout the Orpheus Institute’s various activities there is a clear focus on the development of a new research discipline in the arts, one that addresses questions and topics that are at the heart of musical practice, building on the unique expertise and perspectives of musicians and in constant dialogue with more established research disciplines.

Within this context, the Orpheus Institute launched an international Research Centre in 2007 that acts as a stable constituent within an ever-growing field of enquiry. The Orpheus Research Centre is a place where musical artists can fruitfully conduct individual and collaborative research on issues that are of concern to all involved in artistic practice. It is important that at the centre of the international Orpheus Institute network is a place, a building, a community. As the concepts and methodologies of artistic research in music have evolved, work at Orpheus Institute has found new structures. Since 2012, research has been consolidated into a number of groups focused on specific areas, each led by a principal investigator of substantial international reputation as a practicing musician. The work of Orpheus Institute is disseminated through events, publications and musical performances, and through its active animation of discussion within the sector.

This series of peer-reviewed publications —launched in 2013— encompasses monographs by Research Fellows and associates of the Orpheus Institute, compilations of lectures, texts, and performances from seminars and study days, and edited volumes on topics arising from work at the institute. Research can be presented in digital media as well as printed texts. As a whole, the series is meant to enhance and advance discourse in the field of artistic research in music and to generate future work in this emerging and vital area of study.

Editorial board

William Brooks (Chair, Series Editor), Peter Dejans, Jonathan Impett, Kathleen Coessens, Paulo de Assis, Heike Vermeire, Ed Crooks, Laura Cull, Aurelie Daems

Proposals

Proposals and enquiries can be sent to the series editor William Brooks.
Please make use of the submission form to present your manuscript or proposal to our board.
Authors interested in Open Access can consult the available funding options.

Links & Resources

Introduction Darla Crispin and Bob Gilmore
Section ITowards an Understanding of Experimentation in Artistic Practice
Five Maps of the Experimental World Bob Gilmore The Exposition of Practice as Research as Experimental Systems Michael Schwab Epistemic Complexity and Experimental Systems in Music Performance Paulo de Assis Experimental Art as Research Godfried-Willem Raes Tiny Moments of Experimentation: Kairos in the Liminal Space of Performance Kathleen Coessens The Web of Artistic Practice: A Background for Experimentation Kathleen Coessens Towards an Ethical-Political Role for Artistic Research Marcel Cobussen A New Path to Music: Experimental Exploration and Expression of an Aesthetic Universe Bart Vanhecke From Experimentation to CONSTRUCTION Richard Barrett Artistic Research and Experimental Systems: The Rheinberger Questionnaire and Study Day - A Report Michael SchwabSection IIThe Role of the Body: Tacit and Creative Dimensions of Artistic Experimentation
Embodiment and Gesture in Performance: Practice-led Perspectives Catherine Laws Order Matters: A Thought on How to Practise Mieko Kanno Association-Based Experimentation as an Artistic Research Method Valentin Gloor Association and Selection: Toward a New Flexibility in the Form and Content of the Liederabend Valentin Gloor Il palpitar del core: The Heart-Beat of the “First Opera” Andrew Lawrence-King Techno-Intuition: Experiments with Sound in the Environment Yolande HarrisSection IIIExperimenting with Materials in the Processes of Music-Making
what if? Larry Polansky Historical Precedents for Artistic Research in Music: The Case of William Butler Yeats William Brooks Cageian Interpenetration and the Nature–Artifice Distinction Steve Tromans Revisiting Luigi Nono’s Suffered, Serene Waves Paulo de Assis On Kagel’s Experimental Sound Producers: An Illustrated Interview with a Historical Performer Luk Vaes Composing as a Way of Doing Philosophy Nicholas G. Brown Cycles of Experimentation and the Creative Process of Music Composition Hans Roels Changing Sounds, Changing Meanings: How Artistic Experimentation Opens Up the Field of Brahms Performance Practice Anna Scott Experiments in Time: Music-Research with Jazz Standards in the Professional Context Steve Tromans Ecosonics: Music and Birdsong, Ends and Beginnings Stephen PrestonSection IVSound and Space: Environments and Interactions
Speaking and Singing in Different Rooms: Conceptuality and Variation in Alvin Lucier’s I Am Sitting in a Room Paul Craenen Experiment in Practice Catherine Laws The Virtual Haydn: An Experiment in Recording, Performing, and Publishing Tom Beghin On Life Is Too Precious: Blending Musical and Research Goals through Experimentation Juan Parra Cancino Interview with Agostino Di Scipio Hans Roels Kairos in the Flow of Musical Intuition Kathleen Coessens and Stefan Östersjö Habitus and the Resistance of Culture Kathleen Coessens and Stefan Östersjö Repetition, Resonance, and Discernment Kathleen Coessens, Henrik Frisk and Stefan Östersjö Intuition, Hexis, and Resistance in Musical Experimentation Kathleen Coessens and Stefan Östersjö
Appendix 1: Glossary Anna Scott Appendix 2: Contents of CD Appendix 3: Online materials Appendix 4: Resources for Artistic Experimentation Index Notes on Contributors