Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU covers a wide range of academic subjects, including the arts. Our artistic research contributes significant perspectives to reinforce NTNU’s interdisciplinary strength in addressing society’s complex needs, as well as recognizing that art has an inherent value on its own.

Interested in a PhD in artistic research? NTNUs PhD-programme in Artistic Research gives you the opportunity to specialize in the creative and performing arts such as music, fine art, architecture, design, theatre, and film.

In this portal you will find PhD-results, published research expositions by our staff and documentation from conferences. Read more about artistic research and development at NTNU, including our PhD-programme, via the url below.

contact person(s): Anja Johansen

url: https://www.ntnu.edu/art

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  The voice and the machine- and the voice in the machine - now you see me, now you don’t- (2015) author(s): Tone Åse connected to: Norwegian University of Science and Technology published in: Norwegian Artistic Research Programme
  The basic focus of this project is how the use of live electronics can open up new musical possibilities and roles for the improvising vocalist in the musical interplay. The project is rooted in my background as a vocalist taking part in what could be called the Modern European Jazz Scene, and the musicians I have been cooperating with in this project are all important contributors in this musical field. The project has been carried out as an artistic research, where the artistic result has been presented in the form of recorded music and concerts. Recordings of the music are also presented as sound examples in this critical reflection. The main focus areas in this artistic research project are the following: • I have explored how the use of live electronic processing can open up for new musical parameters, compared to the sole acoustic voice as instrument in music. These new possibilities are related to the experience of how electronic processing can create distance from and transformation of the natural voice sound. • Furthermore, I have investigated how the use of these parameters can create new roles for the vocalist in the improvised interplay of my genre. • As a part of my project I have also explored how an audio tracking system created for the theatre scene can be used as a live electronic tool for an a capella ensemble, and contribute to new strategies in the improvised performance. • In another part of my research I have studied artistic possibilities through implementing the role of the storyteller in a musical performance with vocal and live electronics. I have wanted to find out more about how this implementation affects the relationship between performer and audience, and the perception of the performance as a whole. This part of my project has been carried out as a solo performance, in research collaboration with musicologist Andreas Bergsland. The research is using audience feedback, both to feed the artistic process, and to generate new knowledge about the perception of the performance.
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  Expanding horizons – Improvisational explorations of 20th-century classical music (last edited: 2025) author(s): Peter Knudsen This exposition is in review and its share status is: visible to all.
  "Expanding horizons" is an Artistic research project carried out between 2021 (August) and 2024 (November) at NTNU, Trondheim. The objectives were to contribute to knowledge on how different kinds of departure points can be useful for musicians when approaching 20th-century Western classical music through improvisation, an understanding of how one can navigate and negotiate the musical language of this repertoire, and insights into how the tension between different performance values can be navigated in this process. The research questions were: When applying improvisation to works of 20th-century classical music, 1. What role does the choice and preparation of musical representations play? 2. How can we navigate and negotiate musical structures such as melody, harmony and form? 3. How can we navigate the tension between fidelity to the work and creative expression? Based on selected pieces from this repertoire and practical explorations together with participating musicians, various approaches to creating improvisational frameworks were then explored. These included a wide range of scores, including lead sheets and indeterminate notation, as well as ear-based methods. From the perspective of integrating improvisation into the performances, approaches such as repeating elements, working with layers, creating transitions, and introducing open sections were examined. A key point was to use melodic material as a way of building strong connections with the source material, rather than relying on harmonic representations of the music. In terms of balancing respect for the original work with creative freedom, a “healthy dose of disrespect” pervaded much of the explorations, allowing deviations from the originals when they were musically justified. Throughout the work processes, an idea of focal points emerged, as aspects to focus on when reworking a classical work into an improvisational version. These focal points included the score, historical and performative contexts, expressive qualities, and the improviser’s personal voice.
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• Artistic Research Forum Expanded (last edited: 2025) author(s): Mari Sanden This exposition is in revision and its share status is: visible to all.
  The Artistic Research Forum Expanded was a meeting place during the Artistic Research Forum and NTNU Artistic Research Week, opening up a space for experimenting with new ideas and to show work in a format complementary to the presentation format of the forum. During the NTNU Artistic Research Week we open Galleri KIT and the Artistic Research Concept Store (Rosenborg gate 22) for events, workshops and small scale experiments organised by artistic research fellows at NTNU.
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• Eiras kiosk: Skattejakt-edition ARW (last edited: 2024) author(s): Eira Bjørnstad Foss This exposition is in revision and its share status is: visible to all.
  Velkommen til Eiras kiosk, Skattejakt-edition! Her finn du informasjon om kordan du gjennomfører skattejakta, kva den inneheld og korfor den er i Olavshallen akkurat no. Skattejakta er laga av meg, Eira Bjørnstad Foss, i samarbeid med bl.a. Lucas Scheffer, SMØR Press og Jonas Sjøvaag.
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  T-EMP Communication and interplay in an electronically based ensemble (last edited: 2022) author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg, Andreas Bergsland, Carl Haakon Waadeland, Sigurd Saue, Trond Engum, Bernt Isak Wærstad, Tone Åse connected to: Norwegian University of Science and Technology This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
  Communication and interplay in an electronically based ensemble. The basic aim of this project is to focus on challenges related to improvised performance of electroacoustic music. The artistic core of the project is to develop musical interaction in a larger ensemble, where the membership is mainly based on electronic and digital instruments. New modes of interaction are enabled by using audio processing as a musical instrument, where the sound from an acoustic musician is being processed live by another ("processor") musician.
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  Nancarrow Biotope (last edited: 2021) author(s): Øyvind Brandtsegg connected to: Norwegian University of Science and Technology This exposition is in progress and its share status is: visible to all.
  Conlon Nancarrow's Piano Studies orchestrated for Pipe Organ, Disklavier and electronics by Øyvind Brandtsegg. The work with the Nancarrow Studies also instigated further exploration of improvisation with these mechanic instruments in combination with improvisation software written by Brandtsegg.
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