On Listening
From my perspective as a performer, the concert in Session 3 also affected my listening and the ensemble interplay, bringing both closer to some of the qualities in small free improvising groups, which was also what I had been looking for (About/what am I looking for). That is, from the outset of the project, I wanted to bring those qualities and mindset into the larger ensemble.
It is the heightened awareness and presence in small group improvisation that keeps fascinating me. In free improvising groups, I listen in multiple directions at once: inward (what, when and how), outward - to my voice, my voice in the sonic context - the other musicians, our entirety, the space and our sound in space. It is constant - faster than a split second - shifting between focused/directed and multi-directional listening. There can be an experience of an ('invisible') centre or energy: a more or less conscious drive towards a kind of collective transcendence. The mysteries: how a group is able to, by intuition collectively in the now, shift direction, energy, dynamics or suddenly stop. The surprising paths the music may take.
In a listening/playing situation with a score or negotiated rules, this extra element (score) changes my focus. The awareness that there is a predetermined structure or rules, that there is a musical direction: whether it is a fixed form with a start and an end or an open score, game pieces, conducted pieces etc.: there is still an extra element. It can interfere with my listening attention - creating a distraction or resistance. Distraction, disruption and resistance also happen in free improvisation, of course, albeit in the moment: typically unexpected and emerging from our collective music, creating the form as we play. Whether in free improvisation or with predetermined structures or rules, interference or resistance can be refreshing and creatively stimulating, intensifying the music, taking me into unknown territories etc. In a situationwith a score or predetermined elements, I have to find ways to relate to these extra elements: interpret, make it 'mine' (i.e. challenging what is 'mine'), explore or transform (which can also be a self-transformative process) the given material. The extra element can remove me from a purely intuitive interaction, which can be stimulating. It can help confront and remove me from habits or inclinations. But I can also find that the predetermined elements are inhibiting, getting in the way of the music and the shared musical space. Sometimes a composition can convey too much freedom and too many constraints at the same time.
I was curious to hear some thoughts from the Sub Habitat musicians about listening experiences in free improvisation, compared to having a score with predefined elements. The interviews are from September 2021, two months after Session 3 concert, except for the interview with Mazen, which was in July 2021 before the Session 3 concert.
About - Sub Habitat - Modes --- Sessions - Listening - Context and Afterthoughts
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