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Re: another survey (wasRe: OT, but getting close to not-OT: guitar/sax improv sessions)



On Oct 6, 2007, at 9:22 AM, Per Boysen wrote:

> On 6 okt 2007, at 14.46, Paul Mimlitsch wrote:
>
>> 1) how many people on the list do solo non looping gigs?
>
> Sometimes. Not very often though, since there isn't any natural  
> forum for solo concerts. I've mostly played non looping solo  
> concerts for art exhibitions. One time I used a sax and walked  
> around among the visitors while playing, making a point of the  
> different acoustics of the different halls.
>
>> 2) "the beauty of the single note line" - how many guitar players/  
>> players of multitimbral instruments can do an improv. gig using  
>> only single note lines and hold an audiences attention? for how long?
>
> I don't see that this would be more difficult on a polyphonic  
> instrument compared to a monophonic? "The beauty of a single note  
> line" does not reside in what you play but what you do not play,  
> but rather create the set-up for the listener to fill in by his/her  
> imagination. To play that way you need to hear and react to not  
> only the sound of a single note but also its attitude and suggested  
> directions by that note. Non-musicians hear this easily, but  
> somehow many players don't bother with this in my humble opinion  
> most important aspect of playing music.
>
>
>> 3) if you're not comfortable doing this, is that because of  
>> preference (ie: vertical vs. linear hearing)?
>
> When I was a child I sometimes hid under a grand piano and  
> experienced some vertical hearing ;-)) In other words; "I'm sorry,  
> I can't understand this question".  ;-)
>
>> Being raised on a particular instrument?
>
> No. Of course one instrument was the first I learned, but I  
> wouldn't call that "being raised" on it.
>
>> Or did you gravitate towards your preferred instrument due to how  
>> you hear things?
>
> No. I gravitate towards new instruments when I get too bored with  
> the instruments I already use. Today there's not much such boredom  
> though, since I have learned at least four different instruments  
> well enough to play rather freely. So I can always move on to  
> another one when in need for wider perspectives.
>
>
>> 4) if you play a mono timbral instrument (horns etc) is the desire  
>> to "loop" a means of filling up vertical space to compliment your  
>> single note line play?
>
> Hmm... when you say "vertically", do you mean instantly sounding?  
> (as in a orchestra score?) Well, never mind. The answer to this  
> question is "no". I look at loopers more as a way to extend the  
> instrument. Kind of the same urge that forces me to trim vibrato  
> bars, modify mouth-piece sound chambers, knock away frets, program  
> synth sounds etc etc. Even when playing polyphonic instruments, as  
> the guitar, I like doing monophonic melody lines. And, as said  
> above, what I like is not what is heard but the open horizon it  
> brings. The harmonies and chord sequences implied but not  
> explicitly played. I think Luis Armstrong was quite early in doing  
> this in his singing, "scatting" a short phrase after the actual  
> lyric line just to give a clue for a chord/harmony.
>
>
> On 6 okt 2007, at 16.49, Paul Mimlitsch wrote:
>> I've always wondered why someone chooses a particular instrument  
>> as their "voice"
>
> My "musical voice" is something I have been aware of since I was  
> three and a half years old, long before starting to play music.  
> It's not directly about "sound" or any certain instrument. Music  
> has simply become the most efficient way for me to explore this  
> area. When I hear certain instruments I can tell if it would be a  
> proper expression for me, and then I learn to play it to match my  
> "musical voice".
>
>>  Another question I should have asked in my original post was:   
>> How many people have switched instruments to meet their needs.
>
> No instrument is perfect, but humans are extremely multi faceted  
> beings. Switching is just a way to get along a little better. When  
> playing in bands I have of course picked up whatever instrument  
> needed for the collective project. I guess that's means the answer  
> "yes and no" (switching seriously just for fun but sometimes also  
> because a band situation needs it).
>
> Greetings from Sweden
>
> Per Boysen
> www.boysen.se (Swedish)
> www.looproom.com (international)
>
>
>
>