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intro ---
doing it ---
playing with others ---
getting a gig ---
recording
Anyone
can make music . Of course the music that's produced might not be to your taste
, but let's not be critical . What discourages a lot of people is that the music
they make isn't what they wanted to happen .This is a problem that affects even
the best musicians - the music that comes out of your instrument isn't exactly
as you may have wanted it to be .
One solution to this is simply to accept the accidental & unintentional
sounds that you make as being part of the creative process , then it just becomes
a matter of trying to get the sounds that do occur to happen at the appropriate
time . This is of course a lot harder than it sounds , if only because it's
so difficult to define exactly what is right or wrong at any given moment .
Trying to use your judgement when you're being creative gets you into a whole
can of worms that you might not be inclined to open , and more to the point
, worrying about these issues might inhibit your creativity when you should
be freely expressing yourself . So , you ask , do I just do whatever comes into
my head without any thought about what the finished result will sound like .
Will any old rubbish do ?....
........ Well ,
in short , yes !
This may seem a bit odd at first , but a lot of people do just that , of course
they don't go around admitting it 'cos it might just destroy their artistic
credibility , but fundamentally a lot of free improvisers and experimental artists
just scribble about a bit and call it art . If nothing else it's a good starting
point - there's nothing worse than a blank canvas staring at you , so go ahead
and make a bit of a mess on it , you never know where it will lead .You might
think it's a load of crap , but someone else might think it's the best thing
they've ever heard.
Of course , you are probably thinking " what a load of bollocks, music
doesn't just happen , you have to spend years practicing to be really good "
and yes you're right . Few people can just pick up an instrument and play brilliantly
without any prior experience, and you do have to put in the hours learning how
to get the most out of your chosen instrument . But this doesn't mean that novices
can't express themselves creatively or that the experts are always right about
everything . Finding your own way of doing things and having self confidence
and willpower is more important than developing technical skills for their own
sake . Learn to explore the instrument in your own way , find out what different
sounds you can get out of it , make up your own techniques and even , god forbid
, develop your own unique style . So go ahead and do whatever you want .Hopefully
you'll develop your own solutions to the problems you encounter , learn the
techniques that matter to you and maybe even create some original music .
Here's a few quotes to provide academic justification for this rambling diatribe
:-
" Improvisation
is the basis of learning to play a musical instrument , but what usually happens
? You decide you want a certain instrument . You buy the instrument and the
think to yourself " I'll go and find a teacher , and who knows , in 7 or
8 years time I might be able to play this thing." And in that way you miss
a mass of important musical experience . Studying formally with a teacher might
be the right way to achieve certain specific aims , but to do only that is a
very distorted way of approaching a musical instrument . It has to be realised
that a person's own investigation of an instrument - his exploration of it -
is totally valid .... Application is even more important than technical facility
, because application is the key to taking part , to being involved "
- John Stevens (quoted in Derek Bailey's
book "Improvisation - It's Nature And Practice In Music")
" Technique
for the improviser is not an arbitrary consumption of an abstract standardized
method but rather a direct attunement with the mental ,spiritual and mechanical
energy necessary to express a full creative impulse"
- Leo Smith (quoted
as above)
" Almost any aspect of playing an instrument can reveal music .... the instruments responsiveness to it's acoustic environment , how it reacts to other instruments and how it reacts to the physical aspects of performing can vary enormously . The accidental can be exploited through the amount of control exercised over the instrument , from complete - producing exactly what the player dictates - to none at all - letting the instrument have it's say "- Derek Bailey , (as above)
So there we have it , some of the world's top improvisers justifying what I have to say . Amazing what selective quotation can do .
Well now we've thrown off the shackles of convention , what do we actually do in order to be creative ?
First
of all you need some kind of instrument or soundmaker , although some of you
might be able to afford to go out and buy anything you want , most of us have
to make do with what is available .
This can be anything from an old guitar or a broken violin , to an assortment
of junk and scrap metal collected together into some kind of makeshift percussion
set . Although it's too much to go into here , the home made instrument approach
can often yield some interesting results ( see the following websites :- Music For Homemade
Instruments --- Oddmusic --- Experimental Musical Instruments --- Hans Reichel --- Johannes Bergmark
) .
So having selected our weapon , now what ? Well see if you can get a sound out
of it , of course ! What're you waiting for - hit it , blow it , pluck it -
do what it takes to get a sound out of it ......
hmmm..... doesn't sound very exciting when you do , in fact it doesn't sound
at all musical .Well what do you expect , you've only just begun and as I've
said before , making value judgements at this point isn't that helpful . There's
nothing more discouraging than your own disappointed expectations , so try not
to have any .
Maybe it's time to start actually listening to the pitiful sounds that are emerging
from your instrument . Play a sound that you're comfortable with and just listen
to it . Forget about any musical ideas you may have . Strip away the layers
of civlised sophistication and just enjoy the sound for it's own sake . Don't
be judgemental .Try to get yourself into the frame of mind where all sounds
are inherently interesting (even the sound of next door's vacuum cleaner) ,
defocus your hearing and go all John Cage
about life . Try to listen to the space around the sound , listen to the
sound waves reflect and intermingle , let them have a life of their own ....
Blimey this is getting a bit too new age for my liking , but nevertheless we've
got to do a bit of listening if we're going to get used to manipulating the
noises that we're making . After all if you don't listen , how can you
expect anyone else to ?
" Musicians are easily carried away by not listening , and this is often a reason for performances turning into rubbish "- Karlheinz Stockhausen
Start exploring .Try seeing what kind of different sounds you can get out of your instrument :-
Some improvisers seem to think that improvising is about playing through a set
of carefully practiced phrases and that by reassembling these in a different
order each time , you'll come up with something new . This may work in the heady
world of modern jazz , but we're looking for something a tad more experimental
than that . The main stumbling block is often the rational , analytical parts
of the mind . Short circuiting the thinking process and maintaining a direct
, instinctual connection between ears and hands is the kind of thing that free
improvisers talk about (other than the lack of money ) .
Another useful thing to do when you start improvising is to record everything
. You'll find that you can have a more objective view of your own work when
you listen back to a tape afterwards than when you're actually playing . Some
things work better than others , maybe you think that you're going on too long
, or maybe some ideas need to be extended further . Sometimes things that happen
by accident can lead to further discoveries .This can be particularly true when
you're improvising with other people - you can miss what's going on 'cos you're
so bound up in your own playing .
Now you've been
playing around on your own and got a bit of confidence on your instrument ,
you'll be wanting to play with other musicians . Of course , if word's got out
about your activities so far you've probably lost all your friends and are regarded
as some kind of weirdo by any other musicians in the neighbourhood . So finding
someone to play with might be difficult , but hey , you can always tell the
world about it on your own website. Or advertise for improvisers on music shop
noticeboards , in local papers or on the 'net . There are various online bulletin
boards and discussion groups that you could try and it's also worth talking
to musicians and audience members at avant garde gigs ( if there are any in
your town ).
So, assuming you can actually find someone else who shares your warped sensibilities
and actually wants to play with you , how (if at all) should your approach change
to cope with this fresh challenge ?
Well the main difference is that you now have to cope with the unpredictability
of other people's input . So you'll have to listen to what's going on and respond
accordingly . Of course now you also have the luxury of only having to take
responsbility for just a part of the music rather than the whole . To some extent
you don't have to work as hard , since there's other people doing their bit
, but this also means that you aren't as free to do whatever you want . The
music will demand certain things of you . Go with the flow. Or go against it
just to be contrary . Like a good conversation you need to listen to what the
others have to say and reply to them . Sometimes this can result in an argument
or an interesting dialogue , music's just like life , it has it's ups and downs
(profound , or what?) . You don't have to feel obliged to play all the
time , if you've got nothing to say then don't say it . Sometimes even when
you do have something to say , you might spoil the mood by saying it .Try to
only listen to what the other musicians are playing and make your own reactions
entirely subconscious - don't think too much about what you're doing . Allow
other people space to express themselves . Don't play so loud that you can't
hear all the other musicians in the room , but don't feel inhibited by other
people's attitudes . Don't be afraid of ' making mistakes ' the other musicians
should be open minded enough to accommodate anything that happens and if they're
not , then maybe they aren't adventurous enough .
Remember to have fun (you remember fun , don't you ?)
I'm
probably the last person to talk about getting a gig playing improvised music
, but here goes , the blind leading the blind .....
The first thing to say is that most venues and concert promoters would rather
die than book an avant garde act . The "bums on seats" attitude so
prevalent in the music biz doesn't look favourably on minority interests , so
you're either going to have to create your own scene in order to play in public
or have some very influential friends ..
If you're really lucky you might already have a thriving local avant garde music
community , in which case all you have to do is get in with the in crowd and
you're away . But most of us aren't so lucky and it's quite probable that even
if you do have a local scene , the interpersonal politics might make it difficult
to make inroads as a newcomer . People don't always want outsiders intruding
on their cool little clique and it very much depends on whether you and your
music fit in with their concept . Assuming the worst and you can't get a gig
, then I'm afraid you'll just have to do it all yourself .
So , where do
we start ?
Image is everything in the music biz , so try to work out what your public image
is going to be and try to come up with some kind of smart ass art concept or
publicity buzz words so people know how to categorise you . I know that you
don't want to be pigeonholed , but telling people (with a straight face) that
you're into 'cutting edge electronica' or 'lowercase sound' or whatever's cool
this week is a lot better than some vague mumblings about being into ' a sort
of improv/noise type thing ' . It'll also help with arts grant applications
, if that's where you're at .
Think up a good name for your band/project , nothing too bland or pretentious
. Design a logo (get into those cool fonts !) , work on your marketing concept
and get some tapes or CDs of your music copied . Get ready to take the world
by storm .
Now you're all hyped up with an inflated sense of your own self worth , deflate
your ego by looking for a suitable venue for your public performance .
Traditionally free improv has thrived/festered in the dank atmosphere of cheaply
rented rooms in pubs and church halls , but if you want arts grants , think
bigger and try art galleries and performance "spaces" ( if they're
not interested you'll have to be creative in your choice of venue - railway
stations , multi-story car parks , shopping centres - any public place will
do ) . Adopt a middle class arts graduate demeanor and get on the 'phone until
you can find somewhere affordable . Make a booking at least a month in advance
after checking that there are no other bands playing in town that night that
are likely to draw your audience elsewhere . now calculate the entrance fee
by estimating the probable size of your audience , dividing it by 4 and dividing
the cost of the room rental by this figure - if it's more than a fiver , find
a cheaper venue .
Use the logo and publicity blurb to create a suitable gig flyer , making sure
that the name of the project , the date and the venue are all legible from at
least 6 feet away . Don't make it too cluttered , just make sure the style and
content will appeal to the target demographic , if it doesn't instantly say
"this is for me" to the kind of people who actually like experimental
music , then you may as well give up on expecting anyone who isn't in your immediate
circle of friends to turn up to see an unknown improviser .
Do your flyers in different sizes ( A4 , A5 etc.) and photocopy enough to put
at least one on the noticeboard of every music and record shop in town (not
forgetting the venue itself) and a whole bunch of smaller ones to hand to people
in the street etc. Flyposting is illegal , so be careful where you put your
posters , but a bit of discreet fly posting near the kind of places where arty
people hang out won't do too much harm .
Prepare a press release describing your project (keep it snappy) and send it
with a copy of the flyer to all the local press as well as any national press
who carry listings of gigs and art events . Make sure that it contains a contact
phone number , start time and cost of admission and make sure it arrives there
at least a fortnight before the gig date . Sometimes you can e-mail your listings
to them , but send a hard copy as well , just in case . Get on the 'net and
e-mail everyone you can think of , e-groups and mailing lists will come in handy
here . Most of the recipients will be in other parts of the world, but at least
they'll know of your existence . Keep checking the record shop walls to check
that nobody's covered up or torn down your posters and if you know of any radio
stations in the vicinity who have any kind of alternative broadcasting policy
, notify the appropriate DJ and send him/her some recordings of your music .
Having informed most of the civlised world about your gig , take a breather
, stop worrying and play some music . Don't over practice or you won't be fresh
for the gig . Make sure your equipment is in working order and get some spare
strings/reeds/drumsticks etc. if you need them . Make sure you have a couple
of extension leads (the kind with 4 sockets) if you're using electric instruments
. There's never enough sockets and they're always in the wrong place . Get one
of your more trustworthy mates to take the money on the door , you'll be too
busy panicking on the night . Make sure he's got plenty of change .
When it comes down to the actual performance , ignore the audience , they'll
only put you off by staring at you . Concentrate on the sounds you're making
and get lost in the music . Record the gig for posterity , live recordings are
a cheap way of making an album , since you don't have to pay for studio time
. After the gig , talk to the audience (if there's anyone still left) and see
what they think , accept any compliments and take a note of their contact details
so you can put them on your mailing list .
Having an extensive mailing list is useful for building an audience . If you're
really sophisticated you could put out a regular newsletter to keep people up
to date with your latest activities . Don't be complacent , make them feel involved
, you can't expect people to automatically come to your gigs and buy your CDs
, especially if you're a relative unknown quantity . If you don't have some
kind of reputation , then people aren't going to be that interested , so you'll
have to create one . Send recordings of your work to the avant garde music media
along with brief details of your ethos and activities , only send photos if
they're good or eyecatchingly unusual . Be politely pushy and try to get your
foot in the door . It takes time , but you might be lucky enough to achieve
cult status before you die .
RECORD EVERYTHING
! Even if it's not worth releasing to the general public , it may contain the
germ of a good idea . If you don't have any decent recording equipment , ask
around amongst your extensive list of contacts . Even if you've only got a crappy
mono cassette recorder , use it . Some folks prefer lo-fi bootleg quality recordings
for their atmosphere ( and who knows , in 30 years time , when you're famous
, labels will be clamouring to release boxed sets of your "early works")
. I use an Aiwa portable minidisc recorder and a £90 Sony stereo microphone
that isn't too bad . Don't be too hung up about stereo recording , good quality
mono recording will do fine.
(if you're into minidiscs check the Minidisc Community Site at www.minidisc.org/minidiscv.html)
Experiment with microphone position , walk around the room whilst everyone's
playing and try to find a place where there's a reasonable balance . Don't put
the mic. too close to the drumkit or any other loud instruments . If it's a
big room don't record from too far away or there will be too much reverberation
from the sound bouncing around the room .Microphones pick up sound differently
to the human ear so you'll have to get used to them through trial and error.
If you have the opportunity to go into a studio , go for it . Make sure that
the engineer is suitable for the job . If you're using lots of acoustic instruments
, make sure that the engineer knows how to record them properly . Also check
that the recording room is big enough for you to all fit in .Some studios are
only set up for overdubbing things one at a time , which is ok if you want to
do that , but it can mean you miss out on all that real time interaction that
makes improvised music so vital and interesting .
Make sure that everybody knows how to get to the studio and have got transport
arranged . Know what time you're supposed to arrive and be on time . As with
gigging , ensure that your equipment is working as it should and carry appropriate
spare strings etc.
Bring your own good quality cassettes , DATs , CDRs etc. Studios always charge
too much for cassette copies . Always buy the master tapes , don't rent them
otherwise if you want to redo the mix later , the studio will charge you again
for using them and they might even charge you for storage . So you may end up
paying more than if you'd bought the masters in the first place .
Set up your instruments in the studio as you would for a gig or a rehearsal
, but further away from each other to get a bit more separation and allow room
for the microphone stands . Let the engineer do his job and you concentrate
on yours .
When it comes to mixing , get the engineer to set up a mix first and then modify
it until it sounds good . Don't use too much EQ or compression and avoid the
temptation to swamp it all in effects , If the mix is clear and you can hear
every detail , that's all you can ask for . Make sure that everyone's got a
copy to take home with them . Listen to the results on as many different loudspeakers
as possible . Try it on a car stereo , ghetto blaster , walkman , anything you
can get your paws on . If it sounds ok on all of them the mix is fine .
Getting the finished results onto a saleable CD will depend on what equipment you've got access to . If you know someone with a CD burner then bribe them to use it . If not , hunt around for a place that will do CD duplication for you . Check your local yellow pages or search the internet . there's plenty of companies that will do these things by mail order and they'll do the covers and labels as well . Don't get too many done , or you'll never sell them all . Better to do a numbered limited edition for all those obsessive collectors out there . If you can sell more than 50 copies you're doing alright . Design your own art work or get someone else to do it - there's plenty of art students out there who could use a few quid . Make sure the name goes at the top in bold letters so customers can read who it is when it's in the bargain bin .
Shifting your
product is the next step on this road to madness . Obviously gigs and your mailing
list are the primary source of sales , your local independent record shop might
take a few , but then what ?
There are still a few mail order outfits out there who may be willing to stock
your stuff on a sale or return basis .Check the Labels
& Shops Links section of this site for a few possibilities ( or try
http://www.birdpages.purplenet.co.uk/index.html) .Other than
that get on those e-mail discussion groups and tell the world . Put some mp3's
on a website . If you don't have the facilities , there are people out there
who will do it for you .Try Vitaminic at www.vitaminic.com/ , Peoplesound at http://www.peoplesound.com/index.htm or MP3.com at www.mp3.com/ .
If you can make any money out of all this you'll be very lucky , you may end
up virtually giving your music away , so don't put any money into this kind
of venture unless you can afford to lose it . Making uncommercial music is ,
well , uncommercial , so don't give up your day job .
Dave Jackson... 2002 / 2004
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