Though the term improvisation by itself simply means making up the music as you go along, there are many systems around it, culturally and historically.
I’d like to present a few of them here, both instrumental and vocally based.
A great video series was made back in 1992 about this topic. You can view parts 1 and 3 here. (Note that parts 2 and 4 are not here, contrary to what is written underneath the 2 videos).
Part 1
Douglas Ewart at Haynes School in Chinatown, Chicago; improvisation in Mozart with Robert Levin, piano and the Academy of Ancient Music with Christopher Hogwood; John Zorn and Cobra; improvisation in religious and devotional music and communities with: Naji Hakim – organ improvisations in Paris; Gaelic psalm singing on the Scottish Isles of Harris and Lewis; and Indian singing with Pundit Hanuman Misra.
Part 3
Concentrating on jazz based and free improvisation. With Max Roach at the Harlem School of the Arts; Butch Morris conducting (with, among others, Shelley Hirsch); Sang-Won Park and Korean music; Max Eastley’s sound sculptures; Derek Bailey (solo and fleetingly with Phil Wachsmann, Steve Noble and Alex Ward); Steve Noble and Alex Ward duo; Nashville musicians including Buddy Emmons; Eugene Chadbourne.
Of particular interest to me are the sections on:
- Part 1 @ 35:44: the 17th century Gaelic improvised psalm singing that still goes on in the Scottish Hebrides. Chrissy Smith says- “The notes are not so important as that singing comes from the heart, and the sincerity of the music is what counts, not so much the music really but of the words, when one sings from the heart you might just draw an octave a bit longer, someone might add a twiddling to it, maybe because they are carried away with the feeling of it…”
-Part 1 @ 41:30 Rajasthan singing with Pundit Hanuman Misra
-Part 3 @ 12:58 Butch Morris and his ‘Conduction’ form of improvisational conducting.
-Part 3 @ 23:25 Sang Won Park and his Korean ensemble- 2000 year old shamanic originated collective improvisation with instruments and vocals
Conduction is practiced by Christine Duncan, from Toronto. For a great example, check her CD, The Element Choir, with 51 improvising voices.
The huge scope of gypsy music might surprise you. It has been largely improvised, and totally enmeshed in the life style of nomadic Romani people from many lands. I highly recommend the 1993 documentary film ‘Latcho Drom‘, which begins in Rajasthan and continues westward all the way to Spain.
Please also check the work of Walter Thompson, who developed something similar to what Butch Morris started. He created universal conducting gestures to indicate musical ideas for the musicians to respond to. It’s called Soundpainting.
CommentToday’s blog is a report on my bizarre experience of being invited to the Polyphonic Singing Festival in Albania in 2008. I was the furthest away of all foreigners (British Columbia, Canada). The others were a small older group from Greece and Tenores di Bitti from Sardinia.
All the other singers were Albanian choirs, representing several variations of the national singing form- UNESCO proclaimed “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity”, otherwise known as Shqiptar-Iso-polyphony. You can learn more from this video.
What was fairly strange for these folks was the presence of a solo singer. How could a single person be singing polyphonically? As soon as they heard my overtone singing, there were audible bursts of ‘Aha!’ Now they understood that I was splitting my voice into 2 separate controlled pitches, moving in counterpoint.
Strangeness…well it abounded, firstly due to the location of this festival. It took place on a high hilltop, in a 3rd century BC amphitheater setting (the ancient ruins of Bylis). Most of the seating had eroded away.
Another odd element of my participation was due to there being no electricity. They would have been perfectly fine with all the rest of the singers, but my act required electricity/ amplification for my computer, keyboard and mic. They had to go and find the necessary equipment, a sound engineer and a generator (very noisy) to haul up there. I don’t think that they generally have a lot of experience with audio gear. Many of the Albanian choirs, deciding to take advantage of this new-found technology, had certain members almost screeching into the mics, creating a lot of distortion in the inadequate outdoor speaker system.
I was supposed to perform on the first evening. I’d asked for an 88 key electric keyboard that had a reasonable piano sound, as the 49 key one I brought with me was just for the looping and various effects. They found something, though it was less than 88 keys, with very complex looking controls. I had no time to figure out how to get a piano sound out of it.
So there I was, waiting to set up and get some kind of sound check with an engineer who spoke no English. It was worrisome that time was getting on, and the crowd was already large. The master of ceremonies proceeded to announce my name to start my performance when none of the set up had even begun. Panic setting in, I explained from the wings that it was impossible to go on.
The next day, I was able to communicate just enough with the engineer to make the sound work, in time for the afternoon concert. This was reasonably successful, and ensured that later that evening, things would go smoothly for the finale.
The most rewarding part of this whole journey was getting to hang with (and jam with) the Tenores di Bitti from Sardinia. They are a quartet of men performing a one thousand year old tradition of vocals which include rich overtones sung together rhythmically in immaculate precision. You can learn more about it at their official site.
You can watch a video mash-up of me performing in the Albania festival here.
How does one sustain a meaningful and effective relationship with a choir?
That could be any kind of choir, from community to professional, pop, gospel, classical, jazz, etc.
For one thing, having an obvious love of singing.
Next, a love of singing with others. This is also rather obvious, but choir membership can be broken down into a few different motivations:
* The social aspect, the idea of getting together once a week or so for rehearsals, then maybe going for a beer later.
* You love the teamwork involved in a choir context, increasingly improving your interactive skills, which will reflect well in your resume.
* You do it for the joy of blending your voice successfully with others into a cohesive unit of sound, akin to an inner knowing that we are all one anyway, and this is one way to experience it.
* It might be a way of escaping certain other expectations from others that you would rather avoid.
* You do it in order to prove to the world that you are worthwhile.
* You hope to be carted away in a bus, train or plane to some exotic location for a tour, festival, competition or other adventure.
* You don’t feel like a good enough singer to make it as a solo, so choir is the next best option.
Some of these reasons may seem more noble or desirable than others, and that’s okay. I think it’s important to realize these things for oneself, even if silently.
Now, there are a number of behavioral patterns that effective members may emulate:
* Show up on time for rehearsals. Don’t leave early.
* Be prepared by studying your parts beforehand.
* Strive to memorize your parts so you are not glued to your score. If you absolutely must refer to the score, keep one eye on the conductor.
* Make it a priority in your life, so that it is not affected by trivial excuses for absence.
* Be sensitive to others, as we are all humans with all of our foibles.
* Be quiet while the conductor is addressing others and while they are singing their parts.
* When new members join, if you are confident in your part, help them to learn by supporting them with your strong voice standing next to them. Don’t resent this duty. Remember this is a team, and at times it requires actions different than simply learning your parts. In other words, don’t skip rehearsal because you think it might be boring.
* Respect the final decisions of the director. If your director welcomes suggestions, you are lucky.
* Remember that almost all choirs go through a birthing process. This could take months or even years. Be patient and notice progress. Even with setbacks, realize that there lies great potential. Your commitment will expedite rewarding results.
There is one last type of choir I’d like to mention, that is the ‘virtual choir‘, which does not require you to be in the same location. We are fortunate indeed to have this option in our lifetimes. It’s very cool. And it doesn’t involve so many of the above ‘rules’. Just follow the online instructions, and if you are accepted, you might go on to glory in the ethers.
Continue reading “Effective choir membership” »
CommentThe development of a notation system for overtone music has not reached unanimous agreement as to standardization. Since the earliest composers of western overtone music started immortalizing it on paper, most of them have more or less invented their own way of conveying it.
In the late 60′s, early 70′s, both Folke Rabe and Karlheinz Stockhausen had elaborate scores that more resembled hieroglyphics to describe ‘events’.
Stockhausen did not rely on numbers of harmonics, and instead used a system of vowels according to the International Phonetic Alphabet.
Coming up to the present day, with a few more polyphonic overtone composers on the scene, it is beginning to take some shape that skilled overtone singers can follow.
The way I write has the following components:
*The overtone part, whichever range (SATB), has two staves, with the lower representing the fundamental pitches
*The upper stave represents the pitch of the overtone
*The overtone pitches have diamond shaped heads
*The numbers beneath the fundamentals represent the numbers of the overtones in the harmonic series
*The upper stave notes (pitches) are usually written one or two octaves below the actual sounding pitch. This is for convenience of sight reading, and our ears tend to perceive them as being lower anyway.
*The upper stave uses the treble clef with a small 8 above it to indicate the pitches sound an octave higher.
*In some cases, the treble clef with the number 15 above it indicate the pitches sound 2 octaves higher.
The number system used for the overtones has generally come to agreement that the 2nd harmonic is the octave above the fundamental, the 3rd is the fifth above that, the 4th is in the 2nd octave, etc.
Tuvan throat singing, as it appeared in their folk music, was never formally written down. It was not until the latter half of the past century that attempts were made to transcribe it by outside music scholars. Understandably, it was quite a difficult and obtuse representation that included numerous odd time signature changes. I’m sure that the original singers of these ‘pieces’ of music never once considered these elements.
Here’s some transcribed scores of a few of the Tuvan styles and sub- styles, with titles in Russian.
part 1
part 2
Other modern composers you can check out are:
Christian Bollmann (Germany)
Stuart Hinds (USA)
Baird Hersey (USA)
Sarah Hopkins (Australia)
And especially exciting for all you modern overtone singers (and aspiring ones) is a collection of 8 free scores of my music for overtone choir. I hope you will learn your parts (either regular or overtone parts), and join the virtual choir.
CommentI’ve compiled a body of work for overtone choir. These pieces have parts for all voice ranges (SATB). In most cases, there are also regular sung parts with lyrics. The lyrics are mostly English, with a few exceptions. (Latin, Martian, and imaginary language…those 3 are separate!)
Here are some of the reasons and methods behind adding overtone parts to choral compositions.
Why do it?
Well, it sounds phenomenal. It really reaches out and grabs the listeners in ways they may never have experienced before.
Though It’s like a special spice. Not to be overused, and certainly not simply for the sake of throwing it in there. The music has to call for it. I believe any song should speak for itself, and not be coerced into existence for some acrobatic demonstration.
Indeed, some of the songs have overtone parts that are completely optional. The song will not suffer for its absence. This proves to be advantageous if your choir has not yet developed any singers towards successfully singing those parts. You can still perform them. And look forward to the day when that extra part or two comes floating in.
Now for some ‘rules’. Although I hate to use that term, as I’ve always been a fan of learning the rules, so that they may then be broken. But alas, there is the physical law of the harmonic series, which refuses to be bent.
So, we are stuck with a certain order of available pitches for any given ground pitch (fundamental).
Basses and tenors have a bit of an advantage over the alto and soprano voices. This is because they have a lower starting pitch, therefore they are able to produce more of the series, up to the 14th overtone in some cases. The pitches of the overtones get closer and closer together as you move up the series.
Females can still accomplish much with overtone singing, with beautiful effects using ‘falsetto’ fundamentals. Altos usually have a wide range of possibilities as well.
There has been a lot done with overtone music using a single drone for the lower pitch. This commonly occurs in new age type music. The type I am referring to in my own writing is polyphonic, in that the fundamental moves around, allowing the singer to move the 2 pitches apart in opposite directions. This opens up a vast array of possibilities harmonically. Sure, it can get a bit mathematical and complex, but nothing too unworkable usually. Just maybe it takes a bit more time going over the vertical relationships in all the intervals. For me, Sibelius notation software is a gift from the universe. Others use Finale, and there are several other lesser known options. Even some basic ones for free…
So for starters, here’s a score for one of those pieces that have ‘overtone optional’ parts. This one is called ‘The Dawning of the New World‘, an uplifting global anthem for SATB. The overtone part is written for tenor, and could be a solo part. (Give that person a microphone if necessary!)
Note: Post a comment here and I’ll give you the score for free.
That said, I’ll gradually make more scores available according to how crucial the overtone parts are. Thought this would be a good starting point.
To see some overtone notation at work, watch these videos for a clear audio/ visual experience:
Auralia choir sings Pink Floyd
O Come All ye Faithful
Note: The overtone pitches are written in the treble clef with an ’8′ above it to indicate the sounding pitch is actually an octave higher than what is written. This is for convenience of reading. Also, our ears tend to perceive the overtones as lower than they are anyway. The numbers below the lower pitches refer to the numbers of the overtones in the series, with the corresponding intervals they sound like shown below.
3= a perfect 5th
4= octave
5= maj 3rd
6= perfect 5th
7= natural seventh
8= octave
9= ninth (or maj 2nd)
10= tenth (or maj 3rd)
11= (not used much because it is too sharp for a proper 11th)
12= perfect 5th
Lastly, here’s an overtone composing tool from my colleague Wolfgang Saus.
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