Table of Contents - Abstract - Project Description - Preliminary Artistic Results - Reflections - Credits

Contextualization

Looking at the Univeristy of Bergen’s criteria for artistic reflection (being in the second year/fourth semester of a four-year study with compulsory work aiming towards my midway evaluation in June), I wanted to relate my reflection example to criteria b. of section 10-1 of the regulation:

Regulations for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor (PhD) in Artistic Research at the University of Bergen 

Section 10-1. Requirements for the PhD result

The artistic reflection shall be documented in the form of submitted material, with a critical approach to:

My research project looks at how the affordances of modern instruments can influence phrasing. This reflection will place the research project within the field of classical clarinet performance.

As a modern orchestral clarinetist and educator at the university level, my project aims to expand on the understanding of the phrasing challenges we face as modern instrumentalists. The project looks at the affordances of different clarinets as this is my field of expertise, but the findings and reflections might be of relevance for a wider field of performers on modern classical instruments, especially those used in orchestras. The form of presentation and reflection aims to be designed for relevance in the field of orchestral instrumentalists.

For this project, it is relevant to look at the following categories when describing my artistic standpoint and work:

-Performer context: Which key modern orchestral clarinetists are using different materials (i.e., wood) for their artistic choices

-Material context: Which key modern clarinet manufacturers offer different materials (i.e., wood) for their professional instruments

-Methodological context: Which research projects are relevant to the methods I am using

-Theoretical context: Which research papers address affordances of musical instruments that are relatable to this project

PERFORMER CONTEXT:

With a background from early clarinet studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel and a debut concert in 2007 on both baroque and modern clarinets, my interest has always been devoted to understanding the history of playing styles that have led to the methodology required to perform in a modern orchestra. I have worked as a principal clarinetist in orchestras my entire career. I was 12 years principal clarinet with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra and before that, 3 years principal clarinet with the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra. I regularly appear as guest principal clarinet in various Scandinavian, European, Asian and soon-to-be Australian orchestras. I am also the Associate Professor of clarinet at The Grieg Academy – Department of Music at the University of Bergen, teaching there since 2012.

Orchestral players who are using modern boxwood instruments are Nicolas Baldeyrou (Principal clarinet, Orchestra Philharmonic de Radio France), Olivier Patey, including a modern boxwood bassett clarinet (Principal clarinet, Concertgebouw Orchestra), Kenji Matsumoto (Principal clarinet NHK Symphony Orchestra), and John Schertle (Co-principal Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra) amongst others.

Orchestral players who are using modern mopane instruments are Nicolas Baldeyrou (Principal clarinet, Orchestra Philharmonic de Radio France), Ricardo Morales (Principal clarinet, Philadelphia Orchestra), and Christoffer Sundqvist (Principal clarinet, Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra) amongst others.

University professors who are using modern boxwood instruments are Shirley Brill (Professor, Hochschule für Musik Nürnberg) and Gabor Varga, including a modern boxwood bassett clarinet (Associate Professor, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music) amongst others.

University professors who are using modern mopane instruments are Björn Nyman (Professor, Norwegian Academy of Music) and Harri Mäki (Professor, Sibelius Academy) amongst others.

Modern orchestral players who are also playing period instruments are Nicolas Baldeyrou (Principal clarinet, Orchestra Philharmonic de Radio France) and Alf Hörberg (Clarinetist, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, retired) amongst others.

A soloist who uses boxwood instruments for certain repertoire is Martin Fröst.

MATERIAL CONTEXT:

In 2020, the largest manufacturer of clarinets, Buffet Crampon, announced that they would produce a limited edition of their top model (Legende) in boxwood[1]. This was the wood most frequently used for woodwind instruments in the 17th-19th centuries. Grenadilla wood is the norm in professional clarinets today and is a dense African Blackwood from Mozambique.  Having used Buffet Crampon instruments for my entire professional career and in connection with this research project, I commissioned a one-off set of their boxwood instruments. My main instruments are a set of Buffet Crampon Tradition clarinets in grenadilla with nickel-plated keys, which is in the same bore family as the Legende clarinets Buffet Crampon marketed as a limited edition, but one tier down. My commission thus needed to be of this exact model (the Tradition, not the marketed Legende), just in boxwood to limit the variables to just material (wood) when comparing instruments. The boxwood is sourced from Turkey. I have also commissioned a set of Tradition mopane instruments with nickel-plated keys that will be arriving in April. Mopane is another dense African blackwood having a brownish color. The mopane is also sourced from Mozambique. It is similar to grenadilla but more sustainable and less prone to splitting. This is now increasingly relevant to my field as the woodwind manufacturing industry is slowly starting to shift away from grenadilla following cost and sustainability factors.

Several other manufacturers of modern clarinets also offer both boxwood and mopane alternatives. In addition to Buffet Crampon, some manufacturers that offer boxwood instruments are Schwenk & Seggelke and Wurlitzer. Manufacturers that offer mopane instruments besides Buffet Crampon are Schwenk & Seggelke, Wurlitzer, Uebel, and Rossi. The list is not extensive but shows that many key manufacturers are focusing on offering various materials in their lineup. Having my main working instruments from Buffet Crampon meant that it is only feasible to study variants of the same make that I am most familiar with when looking at the affordances of material. Otherwise, there would have been too many variables to make any kind of valid assessment.

METHODOLOGICAL CONTEXT:

This project uses a period boxwood instrument, modern boxwood instruments, modern mopane instruments, and modern grenadilla instruments (which are the norm today) as tools for research on phrasing. By switching tools between these instruments, I have identified and related different techniques to establish how the affordances of the different instruments can influence phrasing. The method is to experiment with changing tools and techniques and use the results from this to expand on the understanding of phrasing on modern instruments.

Håkon Skogstad and Sigurd Slåttebrekk are two previous research fellows of the Norwegian Artistic Research program who have used methods of extreme imitation that have led to new knowledge[2][3]. Skogstad has imitated performances of Ricardo Viñes and Slåttebrekk has imitated performances of Edvard Grieg. By gaining influence from their form of presentation, where performances are transformed by visual cross-cutting from Viñes/Grieg to Skogstad/Slåttebrekk, my performances will be transferred to/from the period instrument and the different modern instruments to show different phrasing results.

THEORETICAL CONTEXT:

There is a lot of research and literature in the field of historically informed performances on period instruments, but concrete examples are lacking on how this relates to modern instrumental playing. From researchers trying to define phrasing from a theoretical point of view, such as "The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century"[4] and "The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven"[5], to the theses "The Melody Phrasing Curve: A Visual Tool for Illustrating Perceived Musical Dynamics"[6], "What contributes to the perception of musical phrases in western classical music?"[7] and "From Phrase to Phrasing - A Classical Perspective"[8], where methods and analysis for how phrasing is experienced and performed, there are many examples of the theoretical approaches to phrasing. Other research compares performances of early music performers against "mainstream" performers, such as "Between Theory and Practice: Comparative Study of Early Music Performances"[9].

Researcher and flutist Markus Tullberg at Lund University in Sweden wrote his dissertation on the affordances of musical instruments with a focus on the simple-system flute[10]. This is the closest research paper that connects with my project although its viewpoint is from a folk music and music education standpoint.

Tullberg has extensively categorized and analyzed the concept of affordance in music research,[11] chronologically mentioning Folkestad[12] (1996), DeNora[13] (2000), Clarke[14] (2005), Godøy[15] (2010), Nilsson[16] (2011), Menin and Schiavio[17] (2012), Windsor and de Bézenac[18] (2012), Akoumianakis[19] (2013), Coessens and Östersjö[20] (2014), Krueger[21] (2014), Schiavio[22] (2014), Duby[23] (2019), Koszolko[24] (2019), Clarke[25] (2020) Duinker[26] (2021), Tullberg[27] (2021), and Cross[28] (2022). He notes:

“While the concept of affordances has been applied in music research, it has not been satisfyingly developed regarding musical instruments.”[29]

Tullberg continues: “Furthermore, researcher-musicians and educators can contribute by autoethnographies and phenomenological explorations of their craft. Such first-person accounts have the potential to inform our understanding of perceptual and cognitive processes, hard to access from a third-person perspective.”[30]

This project answers Tullberg’s call to action by looking at affordances from a first-person practice-based artistic research standpoint. Using empirical data, this project aims to impact and contribute to the field of classical clarinet performance by bridging practice-based artistic research and the orchestral world. This is vital in making the project relevant to my field and contributing to the development of the modern instrumentalist.

REFERENCE LIST

Akoumianakis D. “Socio-Materiality of Online Music Ensembles: An Analysis Based on Cultural Artifacts & Affordances” (2013)

Buffet Crampon https://www.buffet-crampon.com/en/instruments/clarinets/legende-boxwood/ (2021)

Clarke E. “Ways of Listening: An Ecological Approach to the Perception of Musical Meaning” (2005)

Clarke E. “The Psychology of Creative Processes in Music” (2020)

Coessens K. and Östersjö S. “Habitus and the Resistance of Culture” (2014)

Cross I. “Music, Speech and Affiliative Communicative Interaction: Pitch and Rhythm as Interactive Affordances” (2022)

DeNora T. “Music of Everyday Life” (2000)

Duby M. “Affordances in Real, Virtual, and Imaginary Musical Performance” (2019)

Duinker B. “Rebonds: Structural Affordances, Negotiation, and Creation” (2021)

Folkestad G. “Computer Based Creative Music Making: Young People's Music in the Digital Age” (1996)

Fridell I. "The Melody Phrasing Curve: A Visual Tool for Illustrating Perceived Musical Dynamics" (2006)

Godøy, R. “Gesture Affordances of Musical Sound” (2010)

Koszolko M. K. “The Tactile Evolution: Electronic Music Production and Affordances of iOS Apps” (2019)

Krueger J.  “Affordances and the Musically Extended Mind” (2014)

Menin D. and Schiavio A. “Rethinking Musical Affordances” (2012)

Nelleke J. W. "From Phrase to Phrasing - A Classical Perspective" (2017)

Nilsson P-A. “A Field of Possibilities: Designing and Playing Digital Musical Instruments” (2011)

Ornoy E. "Between Theory and Practice: Comparative Study of Early Music Performances" (2006)

Rosen C. "The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven" (1998)

Schiavio A. “Music in (En)Action: Sense-Making and Neurophenomenology of Musical Experience” (2014)

Skogstad H. "Playing in the Manner of Ricardo Viñes" (2022)

Slåttebrekk S. "The notes must embrace the bars, not the bars the notes" (2012)

Spiro N. "What contributes to the perception of musical phrases in western classical music?" (2007)

Tullberg M.“Wind and Wood: Affordances of Musical Instruments: The Example of the Simple-System Flute” (2021)

Tullberg M. “Affordances of Musical Instruments: Conceptual consideration” (2022)

Vial S. "The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century" (2008)

Windsor W. L. and de Bézenac C. “Music and Affordances” (2012)

[1] https://www.buffet-crampon.com/en/instruments/clarinets/legende-boxwood/

[2] Skogstad H. «Playing in the Manner of Ricardo Viñes» (2022)

[3] Slåttebrekk S. «The notes must embrace the bars, not the bars the notes» (2012)

[4] Vial S. «The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century» (2008)

[5] Rosen C. «The Classical Style: Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven» (1998)

[6] Fridell I. «The Melody Phrasing Curve: A Visual Tool for Illustrating Perceived Musical Dynamics» (2006)

[7] Spiro N. «What contributes to the perception of musical phrases in western classical music?» (2007)

[8] Nelleke J. W. «From Phrase to Phrasing – A Classical Perspective» (2017)

[9] Ornoy E. «Between Theory and Practice: Comparative Study of Early Music Performances» (2006)

[10] Tullberg M.“Wind and Wood: Affordances of Musical Instruments: The Example of the Simple-System Flute” (2021)

[11]Tullberg M. “Affordances of Musical Instruments: Conceptual consideration” p. 1-2 (2022)

[12]Folkestad G. “Computer Based Creative Music Making: Young People's Music in the Digital Age” (1996)

[13]DeNora T. “Music of Everyday Life” (2000)

[14]Clarke E. “Ways of Listening: An Ecological Approach to the Perception of Musical Meaning” (2005)

[15]Godøy, R. “Gesture Affordances of Musical Sound” (2010)

[16]Nilsson P-A. “A Field of Possibilities: Designing and Playing Digital Musical Instruments” (2011)

[17]Menin D. and Schiavio A. “Rethinking Musical Affordances” (2012)

[18]Windsor W. L. and de Bézenac C. “Music and Affordances” (2012)

[19]Akoumianakis D. “Socio-Materiality of Online Music Ensembles: An Analysis Based on Cultural Artifacts & Affordances” (2013)

[20]Coessens K. and Östersjö S. “Habitus and the Resistance of Culture” (2014)

[21]Krueger J.  “Affordances and the Musically Extended Mind” (2014)

[22]Schiavio A. “Music in (En)Action: Sense-Making and Neurophenomenology of Musical Experience” (2014)

[23]Duby M. “Affordances in Real, Virtual, and Imaginary Musical Performance” (2019)

[24]Koszolko M. K. “The Tactile Evolution: Electronic Music Production and Affordances of iOS Apps” (2019)

[25]Clarke E. “The Psychology of Creative Processes in Music” (2020)

[26]Duinker B. “Rebonds: Structural Affordances, Negotiation, and Creation” (2021)

[27]Tullberg M.“Wind and Wood: Affordances of Musical Instruments: The Example of the Simple-System Flute” (2021)

[28]Cross I. “Music, Speech and Affiliative Communicative Interaction: Pitch and Rhythm as Interactive Affordances” (2022)

[29]Tullberg M. “Affordances of Musical Instruments: Conceptual consideration” p. 1 (2022)

[30]Tullberg M. “Affordances of Musical Instruments: Conceptual consideration” p. 9 (2022)