Room C 305 (10.00 hrs)

Virtual rehearsal suite for singers

Munhum Park

 

Lost in Sound: Southeast Asia - Japan Soundscape Research

Gardika Gigih Pradipta

 

“Growling, Cooing and Rumbling with Dino-Bone” - The Domination of dinosaur’s vocalization beyond performer’s expectations

Siravith Kongbandalsuk

 

The Study of 'a Sketch of Two': Relation between Improvisation, Notated Score, and Interactive Music System

Stevie J. Sutanto

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Room C 500 (11.30 hrs)

Return of the Composer-Performer: A Changing Practice of Collaboration, Interaction, and Improvisation since 2020

Jerry Yue Zhuo

Cardiff University

This presentation offers insights  into the ongoing trend of revitalizing composer-performer practice since 2020, focusing on my own experience in creating a composition called ‘Dream: Pavilion by the Water’ (2020-2, hereafter ‘Pavilion’) for piano and mezzo-soprano. The piece was inspired by a poem by the Chinese poet Qingzhao Li (1084— 1155) which offered an autobiographical and nostalgic tone ideally suited  for my research on identity; looking at how a composition can reflect a multi-layered, ever-changing identity construct. ‘Pavilion’ aims to simultaneously present the composer, performer, and the poet’s multiple identities in a ‘poetic’ way, allowing  free interpretations from the audience.

My role as the composer changed as the creation and realization of Pavilion was affected by the recent pandemic. The piece features collaborative stage actions as its primary structuring device. I initially thought purely from a composer’s perspective, so I planned the activities with rather specific instructions. However, the arrival of the pandemic  obliged me to step in as the pianist for the recording of  the first performance of the piece. My subsequent collaboration with the mezzo-soprano singer resulted in more improvised elements and interactions being included in the final work. At least three important questions arose from this process: 1. How to notate collaborative actions effectively and systematically? 2. How to balance my two roles when working with the other performer who actively contributed to the creative process? 3. What does it mean to be a composer-performer in 2022 and beyond? Following a discussion on these questions, the presentation will end with a screening of the premiere of the work.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_Gq0UAnBN4

Virtual rehearsal suite for singers

Asst. Prof. Dr. Munhum Park

Institute of Music, Science and Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang, Bangkok, Thailand

It is important for musicians to have sufficient opportunities to rehearse their repertoire at the actual concert venue. During a rehearsal, for example, students or junior musicians should get visually and aurally accustomed to the environment in the hall, which unquestionably helps improve their confidence levels in the concert. For more skilled or professional musicians, the rehearsal time may be indispensable, as they effectively adjust their performance to the acoustics of the hall, so that the vocal or instrumental sounds they create from the stage reach the audience as they intend. Unfortunately, the rehearsal time at the performance venue is often very limited and expensive, especially when the concerts are to be held at renowned halls with busy schedules. In the current project, a prototype of virtual rehearsal suite was developed for singers, of which the video part consists of a head-mounted display (HMD) that renders the 360-degree images of several venues. In the audio part of the system, the singer’s own voice is captured by a miniature microphone placed near the lips, digitally processed by the audio filters that were created from the recordings in the halls, and presented to the singer over the headphones so that, when combined with the visual presentation by the HMD, the singers can perceive that they are performing on the stage of the selected concert venue. In this presentation, a short technical description of the virtual rehearsal suite will be provided together with a few demonstration videos. This will be followed by some discussions on the potential uses of the system.

Lost in Sound: Southeast Asia - Japan Soundscape Research

Gardika Gigih Pradipta

Composer - Soundscape Researcher

This research proposes a study of the  soundscapes of Southeast Asia and Japan, initiated by the composer Gardika Gigih Pradipta with the support of The Japan Foundation Asia Center Fellowship 2019. During five month, he recorded many sounds across Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and Japan. The collected sounds include traffic, market, rituals and religious activities, street vendors, children's sounds, etc. The selected recordings were analyzed and treated as cultural narratives through a process which can be described as an ethnography of sounds. This research proposes an alternative way of perceiving  the current worlds of Southeast Asia and Japan through the medium of sound. Soundscapes reflect our reality, our life and our cultures.

“Growling, Cooing and Rumbling with Dino-Bone” - The Domination of dinosaur’s vocalization beyond performer’s expectations

Siravith Kongbandalsuk

Princess Galyani Vadhana Institute of Music

Dino (2022) for Dino-Bone, 3 percussions and prepared strings by Piyawat Louilarpprasert combines the sonorities of several extended acoustic instruments to recreate and re-imagine the vocality of dinosaurs through acoustic sounds. The structure of the “Dino-Bone”, an instrument created for the project, comprises a metal pipe and plastic tube attached to a trombone with a total length of 1.5 meters. The mouthpiece of the trombone is also replaced with an  alternative which lies  in between a bassoon reed and a saxophone mouthpiece. Due to the methodology which reforms the mechanism of a trombone – the acoustics of the instrument are augmented to enable the creation of a series of complex spectrums, timbres, and several frequencies that cannot usually be achieved with a regular trombone. This presentation explores the following aspects:

1) The sonic possibilities that were discovered (expectedly and unexpectedly) during the rehearsal and performance of Dino (2022).

2) The interpretation of the performer to recreate and reanimate the sound of dinosaurs through compositional notations and extended instruments.

 The discussion also explores the new possibilities in recreating the sound – vocalization of both living and extinct animals through acoustic instruments.

The Study of 'a Sketch of Two': Relation between Improvisation, Notated Score, and Interactive Music System

Stevie J. Sutanto

Universitas Pelita Harapan Conservatory of Music

This paper describes the creative process of a composition for bassoon and live electronic, which involves elements of improvisation, notated score, and an interactive music system. The creative process suggested a mix of individualist and collaborative approaches. Through a series of discussions and tryout sessions, compositional materials were developed in conjunction with the interactive music system. Following the collaborative process, I went through an individual session where I put everything together — notating the score and structuring the interactive music system. A standalone program was then created to minimize the software requirements of the computer used for the performance. The practical challenges posed by this compositional method are discussed in respect of the development of the interactive system.