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Dan -
I can understand your question very, very
well.
Like yourself, I've been improvising for
years. Solo, and in "band" situations. Yet, there are
times when recreating a piece seems useful/important. For example, I've
felt the desire to prove that I have command of my performance and my instrument
and that I can recreate a song or whatever, and I'm not just another freaky dude
with a few pedals throwing sonic-paint all over the place and calling it
"art."
I've re-learned jams for solo shows and within a
band context. A few things come to
mind.
1. Learning how to "re-play" an
improvisation is not actually composition, really.
With Super-Cannes, (a little instrumental band in
Boston) we've relearned jams - with various degrees of fidelity and
success. Indeed, we've taken recorded jams and edited them to create a new
form we like, and then learned THAT. In some ways, this is kind of close
to what some JAZZ guys did 50 years ago.
It can seem boring to re-learn an improvised piece,
because it never seems to exhibit the élan of the initial improvisation.
The trick is to work PAST the stage of just being able to mimic the sounds and
order of events. After you've mastered the sounds and order of events, you
can then start to "play" the music again. It can take a little time, and
it needs patience. What's that saying? -- "5% inspiration - 95%
perspiration."
Three months may not have been long enough.
I'd say if you're playing with others after three months you're just beginning
to find your collective "group voice."
The more complex the jam, the more complex the
"re-learning" will be. I've had to write down effect settings, changes and
"events." Some of these sheets have over 25 "moves I make / changes /
parts." I have a binder full of these sheets. It takes time to
memorize all that. Not that you need to -- classical musicians have sheet
music in front of them, right?
It can sometimes help if you've more people in a
"band" context. As each person contributes a part toward the whole piece,
they proportionately only need to learn their part of the whole -- the
"recreation" burden is shared, if you will.
2. Being open to
changes
In the process of re-learning a jam, new ideas come
to you and obviously there no reason you can't include them, right?
Sometimes adding in new parts this way makes the re-learning process be more
creative - and fun.
When performing, surprizes await us all when
something unexpected happens. As long as everyone understands that can
happen, these "mistakes" can open a piece up to allow something new to come
forward. These mistakes often yield great moments where you get to
improvise it back to where you want it, or take a new road.
3. Performing regularly helps make it
worthwhile.
If you don't get enough regular chances to perform,
it can seem like too much effort to compose, relearn or rehearse. Weather
you're 100% improv or 100% composition based, each of us finds a personal
balance on the "preparation to performance" ratio. That never
changes.
Perhaps a mix of some structure, and some
improvisation (either within a set or within a tune) can help.
Personally, I've also learned never to judge music
as successful or unsuccessful for an audience based on my emotional feeling on
the stage as the music happens. Too often on stage when I'm
struggling I come off to hear "Wow - that was intense, I loved what you
did." Other times when I'm feeling filled with the muse and flying along
honest friends whom I trust will inform me they thought I sucked!
:-)
4. Adding musicians when there isn't
structure -- It's all Me vs. Sharing
Obviously, it can be done - you just need to find
the right people -- just like for "normal" composed/rehearsed music.
Allowing each person space and control is what matters.
When we can loop and layer, it can be really
fulfilling to make all that sound and follow our each and every impulse.
With multiple players it's critical to share space and to "sit down" so
someone else can take fly.
5. As Ernie Boch used to say, "come on
down."
Dan, we've performed together and as you know, I
have a space in Boston that you've been to. If you feel like coming down
and jamming, let me know.
David
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