Re: memory and improvisation

["Miko Biffle" <Miko.Biffle@asml.com>]

>>> matthias@grob.org 09/25/01 12:50AM >>>
>>> i wonder if it is possible to improvise entirely without licks... 
><snip> 

>> I've wondered at times, that after lengthy exploration of your 
>instrument and it's normal and extended techniques, if you "run out" of 
>completely surprising moments available to you due to your familiarity 
>with your instrument? Not that I'm anywhere near something like that, but 
>I do sometimes feel that I've developed a 
"toolbox" of techniques and sounds which I'm often compelled to try and 
reach beyond.

> I am waiting for this point for years. When I took the decision to only 
>improvize, I talked to an advanced musician and he said I would get to a 
>boarder soon, without studying new things. I limited my range of effects 
>and use the same for years and its still going foreward. When sex get 
>boring, you can:
- buy gadgets
- get another partner
- take a break
- change your attitude
...but you cannot change your instrument :-)

Great point Matthias! Can't get around that one... *-)

>> but it seems to me that those new musical ideas that flow during 
>improvisation come mostly from recombinations of other ideas in the 
>musical meme pool rather than entirely new concepts.

> what would "entirely new" be? Isnt it very subjectif? I use the same 
>words and expressions every day, but do I say the same? I may pick up a 
>groups expressions to "be one of them", or even repeat what others say, 
>as I do here:

I think the key here is to give yourself permission to listen with 
patience and not pressure yourself to "perform" in any given manner. Solo 
or with others. Just listen.

>> Assemblage of "known" phrases and response to others playing is pretty 
>much the bulk of what happens in improv. Truly reinventing oneself 
>(epiphany) and playing *entirely* new, unknown passages seems to be the 
>exception. Aspiring to that is the path, I guess... Using a combination 
>of a "blank sheet" approach to improv passages, and trying to think 
>thematically on my feet, seems to get me the most mileage. This presumes 
>that I and my partners are listening well and spontaneously reacting to 
>each other.

> right. But its very different to listen to each other or to listen to 
>the whole!

Another good point... I've listened to recordings right after playing, and 
found that the piece sounded quite different to me when I could re-focus 
on the whole rather than be involved in executing my part. Learning to 
listen while playing and reacting and using technology etc. is a real test 
of your focusing abilities.

>> The fact remains, that all players are burdened by a certain range of 
>sounds and techniques available to them at any given point in their 
>career, and are bound by whatever limitations those imply. The creative 
>use of those are what takes it into the sublime.

> exactly! Usually I dont figure out what expressions I may use before I 
>speak nor do I keep a vocabulary at home. In some toolbox there may be 
>more sounds, in others more licks or chord changes, its what the water 
>has to deal with when it comes through your hose, its what you offer to 
>the spirit that may want to speak through you. (so the more you practise, 
>the more the spirits become interested so you have more to select from... 
>me on ice again :-) -- ---> http://Matthias.Grob.org 

Building up your voodoo-mojo by staying involved... I think I get where 
you're going. I'm feel that staying involved in some form of musical 
practice regularly increases your chances of merging with the muse.

Miko Biffle - Miko.Biffle@asml.com
"Running scared from all the usual distractions!"