Vocality and synchronicity in static harmonies
- Submitting institution
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University of Wolverhampton
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- 1691
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
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- Brief description of type
- A collection of creative and critical work that addresses different aspects of an extensive creative research project which took place across five years from 2014 – 2019.
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- September
- Year
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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1
- Research group(s)
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-
- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This multi-component output outlines a creative research project from 2014 – 2019 in collaboration with artist Louisa Fairclough. The portfolio includes the following creative outputs:
Absolute Pitch
Compositions for a Low Tide
Performed by choristers of Rochester Cathedral at Whitstable Biennale, 31/5/2014
Can people see me swallowing II
Performed by Nancy Trotter Landry and Jo Shaw for In Between Time’s ‘Night Songs’ series at Tyntesfield House, 14/2/2015
I wish I could be a stone
Relaxed:Awkward
Performed by choristers of Rochester Cathedral, Danielle Arnaud Gallery, 19/9/14.
VOICE IMAGES
Performed by the Dieci Singers for the ‘Being and Appearing’ series at Swiss Church, London on 24/11/17.
The research imperatives behind the project include:
- control of synchronicity and note-entry within unconducted choral performance of sustained textures.
- application of dynamic decision-making procedures in live performance.
- development of notation as mental imagery deriving from hand-drawn sketches, facilitated by verbal instructions.
The creative process for each work followed the same model:
- initial devising session(s) with Louisa generating interpretations from a single sketchbook drawing.
- individual compositional activity translating interpretations into harmonic schema and developing a method of performance synchronisation relative to the size and features of the performance space.
- a series of rehearsals with the singers to clarify the performance instructions for the musical decision-making processes, and the related mental imagery.
Creative insights from the project included a much firmer trust in the quality of unadorned, exposed vocal tones. These provided an effective tool to demonstrate the emotional intensity contained within the sketches, alongside their inherent instability within sustained tone music. The efficacy of instilling kinetic mental imagery within the performers through the use of verbal instructions was highlighted throughout the project. This approach had a clear role in supporting synchronicity in environments with high levels of performer autonomy.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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