process threads . . . or what have you

["Liebig, Steuart A." <LiebigSA@Maritz.com>]

Howdy . . . 

        There have been two or three attempts to begin threads which
received no list 
        replies. I did get some offline comments, but would have liked to
see more of 
        the group's opinions... I'll give it one more try.



I'm with Miko on this one . . . I think that one of the cool things about
this list is that there is a lot of potential for discussion of creative
process issues  - - there are a of of creative people here . . . but
seemingly gear seems to be more exciting than music? Hopefully, I'm 
mistaken
and it's just that people find it difficult to discuss this sort of thing:
more of the doers than the theoriticians.




> It seems that *most* of us improvise... some completely, other's not 
>quite
> so 
> much... How do we create meaninful work of this nature which will endure
> and 
> still retain that free spirit?
> 
For me, I guess it's the same kind of process (though slightly different
aspects of it) as writing. A lot of it comes down to accepting what one
likes, yet being able to have a somewhat objective perception as to what
works, what doesn't and what I'd like to change. In other words, 
examination
and reexamination of strategies and vocabularies. 

Often I try to approach different situations with different mindsets. Some
bands/situtations get the full McGilla (effects/loopers, etc.), some get a
different set of parameters (say bass and amp only). I take this strategy
from Stravinsky's idea of "freedom being in small box" . . . which I
interpret as finding more freedom in a finite set of variables than one one
does from "complete freedom," where there are "no" parameters. I tend to
like composers that use finite rules for certain pieces (Stravinsky as
noted, Webern, etc.) so I try to bring a little bit of this sensibility to
the table during some of the improv situations that I get involver in. Some
might say that this sort of thing verges on NOT BEING free improv. Also, of
course, there are many improvisors who take the exact opposite tact: I feel
that Miles Davis always sounded about the same, it was his choice of
contexts that changed.