1. Introduction and Background
This master thesis discusses the search for an authentic sound of my own, through expanding a chamber ensemble together with a band and electronic elements. It is the product of my two years studying songwriting at the University of Agder and Mahidol University (Thailand).
My background
I, the author of the thesis, did the first part of my higher education in classical music. Following two years studying classical piano and singing at Folkhögskolan i Härnösand in Sweden, I moved to Norway. After one year at the classical piano department of NTNU in Trondheim, I moved to another city, started (and finished) another performing piano bachelor at the renowned Barratt Due Institute for Music in Oslo, which for me also included one year of exchange studies at Universität der Künste in Berlin.
During these years, apart from playing solo repertoire, all musicians in the educational program were expected to take part in chamber ensembles and to perform together with other musicians and singers. Barratt Due in particular is known as a school with a particular focus and excellence in performance of chamber music, and I was mesmerised by the beauty and quality of my fellow students’ musicianship, and the experience of playing together with them. Through the years, I have experienced much of the vast treasure trove that is chamber music literature, through either performing it, studying it or hearing it in concerts and masterclasses, and I’ve fallen in love with much of it. I vastly prefer playing ensemble music to playing solo repertoire.
However, prior to, during and after my bachelor’s degree, I have had a foot outside of the world of classical music.
Ever since I was a child I have played many different types of music. I have actively taken part in both educational programs and projects within many contrasting genres. I have now made my living for many years as a free-lancing musician, where I have worked as a classical pianist both solo and in ensembles, played in pop-bands, I participated in jazz projects and chamber orchestra projects, played in the orchestra for musicals, played with choirs, with folk musicians, and in album recordings.
I have also been active both on and behind the stage in interdisciplinary projects. Here my roles have been those as pianist, singer, electronic musician, composer, producer, author, actor and musical director. I have explored how to mix classical music with electronic music in other projects: both in productions with my ensemble Skuggsystrar, and in an independent electronic adaptation of the opera The Boatswain’s mate.
These projects have given me opportunities to think and move freely between genres and expressions, and I consider this as a part of my artistic identity.
In my early songs, composed before this masters project, I had references to classical music, but I tried to limit them. I did this out of a notion that avoiding genre-mixing would result in more accessible music.
I ended up with songs I didn’t feel had my aesthetic preferences, nor my signature, and which anyway did not succeed in becoming particularly accessible.
In this master, one of my research questions is how I can write popular music while referencing classical chamber music. I explore how chamber music elements can be used in unassociated genres. I will examine how this affects my compositions.
Many people have written about songwriting (Bennett, 2011, 2012, 2013; Theel & Sydow, 2024), about composition of chamber music (Cope, 2012; Donin, 2012; Hopkins, 2015), about composing and improvising, and co-creation (Hellqvist, 2024; Tornquist, 2008). I have found comparisons between creative processes for composers working in different fields (Burnard, 2012).
However, I have not found research about classical music being used by songwriters, nor about chamber musicians playing with popular musicians. I have even found a paper on a pop-band being used to create classical music (Ploquin, 2023), but not vice versa. I have found that some popular music bands and artists claim to be inspired by classical music, and actively use it in their creative processes, (Baca, 2010; Neal, 2009) but I have had difficulties finding actual research on the matter.
In concerts with my material prior to this project, I had performed with different type of ensembles:
- as a solo act, with piano and vocals
- with piano, some synths, vocals and one or two string players (violin and cello)
- with a band; piano, some synths, vocals, violin and cello still, but also drums and bass.
In the previous concerts I had an acoustically based sound, not using any particular effects on vocals or instruments, nor performing with any background tracks. The music, however, turned far from my vision, with a quite jazzy, acoustic feeling. I missed “punch” and a rock-inspired atmosphere, but also electronic sound sources and space in the arrangement for heavy processing.
I had also collaborated with different producers in order to find a more electronic shape to my music. These collaborations had brought a harder and more driven expression to my music, which I was satisfied with. However, in the songs that we produced, I instead missed the individuality from musicians playing acoustic instruments. I didn’t find that using solely computer generated sounds compensated for the loss. The songs ended up feeling more one-dimensioned than I intended.
Both the performances and the recordings felt like a blueprint of what I wanted my music to be. I wished to work with acoustic and electronic elements integrated into the whole process, rather than as two separate processes.
I also experienced that when I didn’t produce my songs myself, the signature of the music producers I collaborated with dominated my own artistic vision. While I was open to continue collaborations, one important wish for the project was to explore being the main producer myself. I was open to having sessions with other music producers, but I wanted the vast majority of editing and creative choices to be done by me, working in my own Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). The development of DAW:s has allowed for a “hybrid role in music productions”, where the artist can take on roles previously assigned to sound engineers and music producers. (Bell, 2013). Morten Büchert also reflects on the role of the music producer as a co-creator in his artistic research process, (Büchert, 2024) and in my case, I wished to see how much of the creative power could remain in my own hands.
In his article about creative ownership and sonic signature, Davies writes about how a signature sound, “or what I have termed here as a ‘sonic signature’” is the “potential for a sound to carry the identity of an individual.” (Davies, 2009). As I began my master studies at UiA, I had a vague notion of some components that might lead me toward finding a sound that would carry my signature.
This thesis explores how to:
- Use classical ensembles more actively in my production process. I want to shape the produced version continuously around the instruments and the processed sound of them.
- Mix acoustic classical instrumentalists and ensembles with band instruments such as drums and bass in a way that converges with my ideals.
- Use electronic sound sources, samples and synths as elements in my sound.
- Process acoustic and electronic sounds myself
- Experiment with different live set-ups.
I have especially been looking for a way to keep the intimate feeling of a chamber music performance, while finding a way to combine it with a more powerful band expression. Hence the term “extended chamber ensemble”.
While lyrics are an important signum, in this thesis I am mainly writing about them in regards to how they influence my musical ideas.
I am not writing about final mixes or masters of the songs, as the results from this research are demo tracks and not yet finalised products.
In this project I have collaborated with a wide range of musicians. There has not been a set band or ensemble, but rather varying instruments and musicians for each song and concert.
I have included recording and sounds from
-My own instruments (vocals, piano, synths, clarinet)
-Classical music performers, including string instrumentalists, flutist, pianists and singers.
-Rhythmical instrumentalists, including drummers, bassists, guitarists, keyboard players, brass players and vocalists.
-Electronic soundsources from my Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) and from fellow producers and electronic performers.
-Audio from all the above, processed through my DAW.
I have worked in the software Ableton Live 11 Suite 1 & 2 when recording and producing. I have used stock instruments of Ableton. Apart from instruments, I have also used stock audio and midi effects to process sounds, and external plug-ins.
All these sounds merge together to form what I call the Extended Chamber Ensemble, combining a chamber ensemble with a popular music band and electronic sounds.