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Monthly Archives: März 2022

32/33 Documentation Of My Impro-Experiment „SOIL“

30. März 2022 by SaraW
Master Research

Having completed my visualization of Esperanza Spalding’s „Lest We Forget (blood),“ I have now tried to prepare the master students for the experiment as best as I can without anticipating too much. Below you can read the assignment:

Procedure and info

At first you will see a surface of color and soft pattern, the task of the harmony section here is to develop a key or a basic harmonic noise. 

(Melody instrument 1 may join this soundscape discreetly.)

Keep in mind: A change of color also means a harmonic change! 

Then the first melody follows, which I have made visible as a line. This is followed by a second and a third melody line.  At the end it seems like a conversation between three voices.

Very important: it’s not about „sight reading“ (or watching) – it’s about hearing music along what you see. Don’t try to perfectly mirror acoustically what you see in the video. If the melody line inspires you rather to a certain motif, let it be a motif. The melody line will vanish and return.

For Singers: The name of the video is „SOIL“. Maybe you will find some associations to this word and prepare one or two short sentences (or only words) to improvise on.

For the rhythm section, you will see rhythmic impulses, but I don’t expect you to translate them into a fixed rhythm. Maybe it will work or maybe it’s too hard to react simultaneously. Keep it intuitive! The melody line also provides rhythmic impulses. You can be guided by both elements.

The entire video has a length of 2:40 minutes and is inspired by an already existing song. Now the resulting visuals are to be brought into a new sounding context. I’ll divide you into 2 groups so that we end up with 2 different lineups as well as improvisations. The second group must wait outside the door for the first run and should not hear anything from inside, so that the experience is new and unmediated again.

FEEL FREE TO MAKE THIS SONG YOUR OWN. THERE ARE NO MISTAKES. DON’T HESITATE TO BRING IN YOUR MUSICAL IDEAS AND HAVE FUN! 🙂

I have divided the two groups as follows. The result can be seen directly below.

IMPRO 1

Melody 1: Pierre (sax)

Melody 2:  David (sax)

Melody 3:  Narim (voc)

Harmonies: Pian (p)

Harmonies/sounds on guitar: Philippe

Doublebass (bowed): Schlapbe + doublebass (plucked): Laurent 

Drums: Bomin

The result can be seen below:

IMPRO 2

Melody 1:  Petra (violin)

Melody 2:  Flor

Melody 3: Julia

Harmonies: Jungmi

Harmonies/sounds on nord stage: Rouzanna

Electric bass: Manuel + doublebass (bowed): Felipe

Drums: Pit                      

Percussion: Andra

The result can be seen below:

It was very exciting for me to watch and listen to the improvisations. I tried to look at things with a completely fresh and unbiased eye and realized very quickly how biased from my own ideas I had gone into the experiment.

I expected that the unchanged blue color would immediately produce a clear harmonic layer which would create an easy entry into melodic development.

However, both groups took a little time to feel their way in. 

With repeated listening afterwards, I had time to follow each voice more closely, and the musical intentions of the improvisers crystallize more clearly now.

In group 1, a lot of harmonic context has already flowed into the improvisation through the melody instruments. After that, a fairly clear motivic emerges, guided by melody instrument 1. 

The transition into the „red phase“ was not as evident through harmonic change as it was through a sharp dynamic rise. 

I also have the feeling that the increased visual impressions have created a harmonic variety that is largely detached from the actual color palette.

Unfortunately, the percussion was not oriented towards the screen, so it was more of an acoustic orientation only. 

All melodic instruments responded very clearly to the visual rhythmic impulses

From the moment of the re-entry of the melody (1:38), the melodic motif 1 is clearly recognizable as a recurring element and is also subsequently taken up by the second melodic instrument. The hoped-for canonic dialogue structure between the melody voices is thus clearly depicted here in the form of the motive (roughly: D-F-G-G#-G-F-D). This adaptation of a blues scale here roughly follows the visual appeal of the line, from a philosophical point of view, it could also be considered as an onomatopoetic interpretation of the color blue. 

Group 2 has surprisingly not let the keyboard instruments do the atmospheric intro but basses and percussion, which to my subjective feeling emphasizes the earthy character of the background. 

A clear onset of harmonic and melodic structure happens from 0:33, a bell-like rhythmic pattern also briefly establishes itself. The melody parts adhere very closely to the disappearance and recurrence of the colored lines throughout the entire process.

With the insert of the „red phase,“ harmony instruments and melody find their way into a different atmospheric space, which dissipates as the visual chaos increases. Especially the harmonic evolution starting at 1:43 with falling bass movement opens up a very wide, melancholic soundscape. We find ourselves in a G minor11 cosmos, the bass changes from Bb to D.

In any case, the experiment exhibits a certain degree of sensory overload. The player has to be fully centered to oneself and the task assigned to him/her, while he is confronted with the virtual stimulus for the first time. Here the main goal is to discard the demand for simultaneity and exact mirroring of what is seen. In parallel, it is important to keep an open ear for the ideas of the fellow musicians, especially for the instruments whose task it was to enter into melodic dialogue.  

One consideration would be, with a little more time to have each group play 2 runs to feel a little freer in their interpretation of the video.

After conducting the experiment, I couldn’t help but think of my former teacher Reinette’s pedagogical methods again. Her way of introducing improvisation to a group of people was named „Bildersingen“ (singing pictures). It is a great warm up for choirs and impro workshops: Some photos lie in the middle of the room and the participating group facing the opposite direction. Only a small selection of max. 3 people chooses one of these photos and starts to interpret it vocally. After the improvisation, the group guesses which of the photos it was. Apart from overcoming the hurdle of „giving voice in front of others“, it is a wonderful way to bring a new group closer together.

So, in addition to the compositional inspiration, I am convinced that my experiment „SOIL“ and the concept of „bringing visuals to music“ has a special pedagogical value and proves to be a playful method to introduce free improvisation to young students or people interested in jazz in a less academic way. Also in the context of a songwriters circle or workshop the method could be applied and influence the overall dynamic within the group in a positive way. For this purpose, certainly many kinds of animated or even naturalistic videos can be chosen, it does not necessarily have to be in line with an improvisation project. But they should still follow a certain artistic standard to give the right basis for a free improvisation.

The simplification of a simple task provides the security of an anchor point during the free improvisation, while room is also given to all subjective interpretations of the visuals. The visual stimulus may also prevent the fear of running out of ideas and favours the creation of a non-judgmental atmosphere.

31/33 Sing To The Moon

14. März 2022 by SaraW
Master Research

Listen to the version I used as a guide:

In fact, I tried to keep it puristic in this painting and have quite trivially picked up the element of the moon, because everything the night sky has to offer somehow inspires me when painting. I took this thought further and created a creature. Funnily enough, it reminds me of the little dwarf „Sleepy“ from Disney’s Snow White. An old, wise, tired creature that is friendly towards life – a loving, higher power. Now it is already the second time that my paintings are about a superior being. Probably this is due to my currently intense search for unrestricted access to creative power and imaginativeness….

Below the moon and the „starry-sky-being“ lies a city. This city visualizes the Melodic Movement of Laura Mvula’s „Sing To The Moon“ (By the way, also worth listening to in the original version on her album!). 

Information about the intervals can be found in the height of the buildings. Buildings not filled in white symbolize sustained notes. The simple task I set myself for this picture was: „Let your melody follow the movement of the skyline“.

You can listen to the realization of this task below.

„Sing To The Moon“ by Sara Wittazscheck

The following thoughts and assoziations arose from this painting:

  • „Star-being“
  • crescent moon
  • night
  • nocturnal mood
  • virtual city 
  • surrealism/futurism
  • superior being: wise, omniscient, friendly, tired, 
  • foggy
  • facing life with kindness
  • ups and downs
  • everything you need already exists
  • view 
  • dark and light side
  • towers, skyscrapers
  • distance
  • stardust lies over all things
  • we see the light side of the moon
  • contact with the stars or something supernatural
  • piano keys
  • ebony and ivory
  • contrast light and dark
  • Floating

Hook:

Straight and tangled, star-spangled

You’ve lived so many lives, You’ve seen so many souls

Straight and tangled, star-spangled

you’re obscure beyond compare, building castles in the air

perpetual noise and endless blue

You feel the tides while I feel you

„Slays king, ruins town,

And beats high mountain down.“ (Tolkien, gollum’s riddle)

„Perpetual Noise first IDEA“ by SAY.raw
„Perpetual Noise“ by SAY.raw

30/33 Just Doing Some Sketches

9. März 2022 by SaraW
Master Research

The last drawing revealed a drawback of my method: I am now not only confronting myself with the demands of a musical idea and the performance of it. I also bring an aesthetic demand to my paintings into this working process. My visualization of „In My Bones“ is nice by design and I enjoyed the realization, but the incentive to compose becomes smaller if I am not completely convinced and on some level satisfied by the visual appeal.

A possible solution to this problem would be to distance myself a bit from the idea of creating a new piece of art every time, which has to meet an artistic standard and fills a whole sheet of paper. Perhaps the simple sketching of certain musical elements is enough. Color schemes, linear drawings. In this direction my method could be thought further, in order to work against the general aesthetic requirement and to leave more free space.

Also, the planning of selected songs could be replaced by the direct and unprepared confrontation with previously unknown songs or the rough visualization of a randomly discovered, catchy motif. 

Thus, a certain suitability for everyday use may be favored and I imagine the artistic implementation of a „first impression“ also very interesting.

Likewise, consideration can be given to limiting the transformation process to one direction. My involvement with film composition has shown me how much creative stimulus a film scene can have for the development of musical motifs. The setting to music of already existing visuals (whether of a animated or motionless character is left up to the performing artist) would of course leave the initial methodological framework here. Breaking down the visual impressions to a specific impulse or motif would nevertheless allow for a simple task that can ease the way into compositional work.

29/33 In My Bones

5. März 2022 by SaraW
Master Research

Take a listen:

n My Bones belongs to the category of songs that make me wonder how their composition came about. What came first? Lyrics? Melody? Harmonies? Beat? How did they come up with all these crazy ideas? 

I set myself the task of creating a rhythm from the melody, which I illustrated by blobs in the upper part of the picture. A 7/8 time signature would have fit from the number of blobs. The blob placed higher can be interpreted as an accent. 

Unfortunately, I have to admit that lack of motivation keeps me from realizing this task. Interpreting the blobs seems arbitrary and I feel a bit uninspired considering the task of creating a rhythmic pattern isolated from any melody or harmony. Note to self: Talk to Nadine Nix about it and get some input on this topic.

So this picture is still waiting for its bright musical idea.

„In My Bones“ by Sara Wittazscheck

The following thoughts and assoziations arose from this painting:

  • circles
  • overlapping
  • festival
  • hippie
  • blaze of color
  • peacock
  • beauty/beauty ideal
  • pattern
  • spotted
  • camouflage
  • heartbeat
  • blood pulsating
  • wild mixture 
  • Feeling free
  • first love, orgasm, desire, longing for someone 
  • lightness
  • Pearling
  • Interwoven – intertwined
  • new love -Is one already authentically oneself in front of the other person? Somehow you become a different person through hormonal chaos
  • energy/energetic appearance
  • not being able to sleep – not being hungry anymore
  • the only need is the feeling to be in love

Neueste Beiträge

  • TABLE OF CONTENTS
  • 33/33 Music In A Prism – Conclusion With A Philosophical Approach
  • 32/33 Documentation Of My Impro-Experiment „SOIL“
  • 31/33 Sing To The Moon
  • 30/33 Just Doing Some Sketches
  • 29/33 In My Bones
  • 28/33 About Songwriting
  • 27/33 Song Exploder (series)
  • 26/33 Drawing A Stop Motion Video
  • 25/33 Getting Back Into Animating

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SARA WITTAZSCHECK – IMPRESSUM – DATENSCHUTZ