| art.description.summary | ABSTRACT
The purpose of the project is to explore how a musician can develop awareness of an inner space of sound and mind and how it affects the music. The music itself creates a tonal spatiality which is sounding in the outer space of the hall and continues to live in the acoustics of the room.
*How is a wind players sound affected by an increased awareness of the body´s resonance?
*How is the musical expression influenced by the musician´s ability to be in a presence of mind?
*Does modality mean something to reinforce musical presence and musical spatiality?
With improvisation as the musical approach, methods used to investigate these questions have been following two main tracks;
*Meditation on sound and silence inspired by exercises in Suizen (Blowing Zen) developed by Buddhist monks in Japan.
*Modality. The tonal limitations have consisted of a selection of modes from Western, Arabic and Indian music.
The method has consisted of a number of laboratory experiments with improvisation implemented during rehearsals, concerts, recordings and teaching.
In this work I argue that with an increased awareness of the body as an inner space of resonance, the wind player gets a better sound and clearer projection into the room. Furthermore, with a mindful presence, the musician appears to connect with a quality that makes the musical result more expressive. Finally, the use of tonal limitations with an approach of embracing the mode, reinforces the presence of mind and listening qualities of the musician and thus also the sounding music.
There are a number of artistic and pedagogical implications to gain from this:
The combination of conscious breathing and improvisation reinforces a sense of calmness and concentration in which both the heart and the brain are positively affected. This conclusion is supported by recent medical research.
Thus; an effortless approach in mind and body makes the practice itself pleasant!
Improvisation practice with modal limitations is simultaneously training creativity, skills and theory. This paper suggests that the use of the above-mentioned tools increases the likelihood for a musician to play in a state of flow. | sv |
