Southern Cross University ePublications@SCU Theses 2010 Human machine music : twenty-first century models of music performance practice in an Australian contemporary music community Barry J. Hill Dr Southern Cross University Publication details Hill, BJ 2010, 'Human machine music : twenty-first century models of music performance practice in an Australian contemporary music community', PhD thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW. Copyright BJ Hill 2010 ePublications@SCU is an electronic repository administered by Southern Cross University Library. Its goal is to capture and preserve the intellectual output of Southern Cross University authors and researchers, and to increase visibility and impact through open access to researchers around the world. For further information please [email protected]. Southern Cross University PhD Submission Candidate: Barry John Hill Supervisor: Associate Professor Jon Fitzgerald Thesis Title: Human Machine Music Twenty-first Century Models of Music Performance Practice in an Australian Contemporary Music Community Declaration. I certify that the work presented in this thesis is, to the best of my knowledge and belief, original, except as acknowledged in the text, and that the material has not been submitted, either in whole or in part, for a degree at this or any other university. I acknowledge that I have read and understood the University's rules, requirements, procedures and policies relating to my higher degree research award and to my thesis. I certify that I have complied with the rules, requirements, procedures and policies of the University (as they may be from time to time). Southern Cross University encourages post‑graduate students to publish written and creative work generated during the development of their research projects. The following publications and releases have emanated from the present study: Conference Proceedings Hill, B (2005) “Breaking Down the Trance Background” In Conference Proceedings from Australasian Computer Music Conference Brisbane QUT. Audio Recording Durrington, S Hill, B and Walsh B (2006) Birdville Sessions Brisbane: Valve Records. Audio recording Durrington, S Hill, B and Walsh, B (2008) Reinventions Sydney: Vitamin Records. Audio Recording Hill, B et al (2007) Improvise Byron Bay: Cyberbassmusic.com. ………………………………………… Barry Hill Acknowledgements A PhD project is a huge task. There are many people and organizations that have provided invaluable assistance towards the completion of this project. I would first like to acknowledge the Bundjalung People as the traditional owners and custodians of the land occupied by Southern Cross University. I thank the many musicians and audio engineers who have been involved in this project, either as participants in the Cyberbass residency or as participants in the research phase. I am blessed to be surrounded by a huge musical community of incredibly talented musicians whose musical abilities are extremely undervalued in Australia. My musical mentors, Greg Sheehan, Cleis Pearce, Rob Walsh and my brother Matthew Hill have been inspirational friends and teachers who have showed me the joy of musical expression. Paul Corley, Ben Blay, Tone Broker, Pete Copeland, James Boundy and Kirsten Bradley deserve a special mention for their creative support and enthusiasm for my musical ideas. I would like to especially thank members of The Bird, Wild Marmalade, DKO and the other musicians who were happy to allow their comments to be recorded and their images to be used in the final multimedia performance/webcast. Southern Cross University School of Arts and Social Sciences, The School of Audio Engineering International Headquarters and RMIT University School of Creative Media provided invaluable in-kind assistance and technical support. The Arts Factory Lodge in Byron Bay provided an ideal venue for the Cyberbass Ensemble to develop ideas and performance techniques. Special thanks to Emma Newman for the loan of the video camera, and Lucy Langham and Lisa Ewenson for their tireless assistance editing a very unruly word document. Also to Henry Egloff for assistance with the website design and to Andrew Harrison for burning the DVDs. My supervisor Jon Fitzgerald deserves the highest praise. He is a visionary academic and musician and has been an inspiring mentor. My parents, brothers and sisters have been a great support network. Without them, I would have never completed this project. I dedicate this thesis to the late Melanie Shanahan and the late Kerry D, two great musicians and personal friends who have paid the highest price pursuing a career in the Australian music industry. Table of Contents Abstract........................................................................................................10 Preface..........................................................................................................12 Chapter 1. Introduction...............................................................................17 1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................17 1.2 Notes on Terminology..........................................................................................................................20 1.3 Emergence of Live Electronica in Australia......................................................................................22 1.4 Live Electronica: A Brief Musicological Overview...........................................................................23 1.5 Contextualising Live Electronica Performance Practice: Some Initial Observations................25 1.6 Wider Cultural Changes - Ritual Machines Influencing Musicians...............................................27 1.6 Brief Overview of Thesis Chapters.....................................................................................................29 1.7 Concluding Remarks............................................................................................................................32 Chapter 2. Literature Review and Theoretical Background....................34 2.1 Introduction: The Big Picture - Connections between Cultural Theory and Musicians’ Practice ........................................................................................................................................................................34 2.2 Organisation of Literature Review......................................................................................................35 2.3 Brief Historical Overview.....................................................................................................................37 2.3.1 From Music Concrete to LE........................................................................................................37 2.3.2 Emergence of Electronic Music within the Popular Music Domain.....................................42 2.4 EDM and LE in Australia.......................................................................................................................44 2.5 Theoretical Framework Level 1: Description of the Creative Process - Analysis of Ensemble Interaction within LE...................................................................................................................................46 2.6 Level 2: Depiction of a Cultural Community - The Musician’s Worlds.........................................56 2.7 Level 3: Reflections on the Sociological Context - Relations between a Musical Community and the Wider Cultural Context.................................................................................................................60 2.8 Research Considerations – The Participant Observer and Practice-Based Research..............64 2.9 Final Comments.....................................................................................................................................67 Chapter 3 Methodology Linkages and Connections: Performance, Reflection and Ethnography.......................................................................69 3.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................69 3.2 Identification, Depiction, Examination and Presentation: Towards a Methodology of Reflection......................................................................................................................................................69 3.3 Node 1: Identification of a Particular Musical Community of Artists Surrounding My Own Creative Activity - The Research Field.....................................................................................................73 3.4 Node 2: Depiction of the Social and Cultural Environment Within Which This Community Exists.............................................................................................................................................................74 3.5 The Use of Interviews and Video Images from Performance Tours..............................................75 3.6 Node 3: Examination of the Nature of My Own Involvement in Actualised Creative Practice with Members of this Musical Community..............................................................................................78 3.6.1 Musical Analysis...........................................................................................................................78 3.7 Node 4: Presentation in the Form of Creative Performance and Written Exegesis...................80 3.7.1 Cyberbass Ensemble...................................................................................................................80 3.7.2 Visual Images Presented Within this Project...........................................................................82 3.7.3 Final Multimedia Presentation....................................................................................................82 3.7.4 Web-Cast.............................................................................................................................................84 3.8 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................86 Chapter 4 Acknowledging and Analysing Influences...............................87 4.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................................87 4.2 Categorisations of Influences.............................................................................................................87 4.3 Musical Influences.................................................................................................................................89 4.3.1 Musique Concrète........................................................................................................................90 4.3.2 Minimalism....................................................................................................................................91 4.3.3 Linear form....................................................................................................................................91 (Track 2 Reference CD)........................................................................................................................94 4.3.4 Dub.................................................................................................................................................95 4.3.5 ‘Non-Western’ Musics..................................................................................................................95 4.3.6 LE and Ensemble Performance..................................................................................................96 4.3.7 Musical Influences: Summary....................................................................................................98 4.4 Technological Influences.....................................................................................................................98 4.4.2 Samplers........................................................................................................................................99 4.4.3 Ensemble Roles and Interactions..............................................................................................99 4.4.4 Internet Communications..........................................................................................................100 4.5 Economic Influences..........................................................................................................................100 4.5.2 A Casual Workplace...................................................................................................................103 4.5.3 Competition from DJs................................................................................................................104 4.5.4 Changing revenue streams.......................................................................................................105 4.5.5 Limited Institutional Support for Popular Music...................................................................106 4.6 Social Influences.................................................................................................................................108 4.6.1 Changes to Popular Music Consumption..............................................................................109 4.6.2 Noise Laws..................................................................................................................................109 4.7 Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................110 Chapter 5 Musical Influences...................................................................112 5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................112 5.2 The Mixing of Jazz and Electronic Music; Emergence of ‘Live’ Electronica.............................112 5.3 Live Performance versus Programmed Performance...................................................................114 5.4 ‘Triggering’ Sounds Live....................................................................................................................115 5.5 Jazz and LE Ensembles......................................................................................................................116 5.6 Influences on Musical Style...............................................................................................................118 5.7 Musical Example 1: Autechre ‘Yulquen’ - from Amber (Warp Records 1994)...........................119 Important Note: The recordings of the following musical works are presented on the accompanying Audio CD 3. See Appendix 1 for track listing...........................................................119 5.7.1 Rhythmic Characteristics..........................................................................................................120 5.7.2 Loop Structure............................................................................................................................120 5.7.3 Sound Texture.............................................................................................................................121 5.7.4 Social Context.............................................................................................................................122 5.7.5 Relationship to My Work...........................................................................................................122 5.8 Musical Example 2: Red Snapper ‘The Tunnel’ - from Making Bones (Warp Records (1998)123 5.8.1 Rhythmic Characteristics..........................................................................................................123 5.8.2 Sound Texture.............................................................................................................................124 5.8.3 Composition Structure..............................................................................................................124 5.8.4 Social Context.............................................................................................................................125 5.8.5 Relationship to My Work...........................................................................................................126 5.9 Example 3: Yoshinori Sunahara ‘Earthbeat’ – from Love Beat (Bungalow 2002).....................127 5.9.1 Rhythmic Characteristics..........................................................................................................127 5.9.2 Sound Texture.............................................................................................................................127 5.9.3 Composition Structure..............................................................................................................128 5.9.4 Social Context.............................................................................................................................128 5.9.5 Relationship to My Work...........................................................................................................129 5.10 Example 4: Peace Orchestra ‘Da Man Part 1’ – from Peace Orchestra (G Stone Records 1999).............................................................................................................................................................129 5.10.1 Rhythmic Characteristics.......................................................................................................129 5.10.2 Sound Texture..........................................................................................................................130 5.10.3 Composition Structure............................................................................................................130 5.10.4 Social Context...........................................................................................................................131 5.10.5 Relationship to My Work.........................................................................................................131 5.11 Example 5. Laurent Garnier ‘The Man with the Red Face ’ – from Unreasonable Behaviour (Mute Records 1999).................................................................................................................................132 5.11.1 Rhythmic Characteristics.......................................................................................................132 5.11.2 Sound Texture..........................................................................................................................132 5.11.3 Composition Structure............................................................................................................133 5.11.4 Social Context...........................................................................................................................133 5.11.5 Relationship to My Work.........................................................................................................134 5.12 Example 6. J Laze ‘Lucky Starz’ (Looking Good Records 2001)...............................................135 5.12.1 Rhythmic Characteristics.......................................................................................................135 5.12.2 Sound Texture..........................................................................................................................135 5.12.3 Compositional Structure.........................................................................................................135 5.12.5 Social Context...........................................................................................................................137 5.12.5 Relationship to My Work.........................................................................................................137 5.13 Creative Work as Artistic-Cultural Expression.............................................................................138 5.13.1 Nitin Sawhney Beyond Skin (Outcaste Records 1999)......................................................138 5.13.2 Marcus Miller Tales (PRA Records1995)..............................................................................139 5.14 Summary and Discussion................................................................................................................141 Chapter 6 My Musical Community............................................................143 6.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................143 6.2 Rationale and criteria for inclusion within music community.....................................................145 6.3 Identification of a Particular Musical Community:.........................................................................147 6.4 Examples of Primary Influences on the Cyberbass Ensemble....................................................149 6.4.1 The Bird........................................................................................................................................149 6.4.3 The Necks....................................................................................................................................153 6.4.3 Amphibian...................................................................................................................................155 6.5.4 Wild Marmalade..........................................................................................................................159 6.5 Secondary influences from within my musical community.........................................................163 6.5.1 Loonaloop....................................................................................................................................164 6.5.2 KO (K-Oscillate)..........................................................................................................................165 6.5.3 Morph...........................................................................................................................................167 6.5.4 DKO..............................................................................................................................................167 6.5.5 Mountains in the Sky and the Levitators................................................................................169 6.6 Concluding comments.......................................................................................................................169 Chapter 7 Creation of the Creative Folio.................................................171 7.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................171 7.2 Formation of the Cyberbass LE project...........................................................................................171 7.2.1 Rhythmic Stability......................................................................................................................172 7.2.2 Motif Invention and Development............................................................................................172 7.2.3 Textural Transitioning...............................................................................................................172 7.3 Cyberbass Ensemble Program Activities........................................................................................173 7.3.1 Ensemble Exercise (Game) Example 1: Close Listening and Ear-Hand Coordination...173 7.3.2 Ensemble Exercise (Game) Example 2: Loop Transitions..................................................174 7.4 Ensemble Workshop Outcomes.......................................................................................................175 7.5 First Cyberbass student Ensemble Performance October 2004................................................176 7.6 Cyberbass Residency.........................................................................................................................176 7.7 Cyberbass Ensemble Performance Processes..............................................................................177 7.7.1 Maintain a Steady Pulse and Stay in Time with the Group..................................................178 7.7.2 Highlight Tonal Variation..........................................................................................................179 7.7.3 Improvise Repeating Melodic Ideas........................................................................................180 7.7.4 Effective Transitions between Sections.................................................................................180 7.7.5 Focus on Electronic and Digital sound Sources/Instruments............................................181 7.8 Discussion of Musical Communications within Ensembles........................................................183 7.8.1 Cyberbass Group Communication Strategies.......................................................................183 7.8.2 Conceptual Models of Performance Interactions..................................................................184 7.8.3 Establishment of the Cyberbass Ensemble...........................................................................190 7.8.4 Other Performance Opportunities...........................................................................................191 7.9 Design of Multimedia Work................................................................................................................192 7.9.1 Multiple Performance/Reception Sites...................................................................................193 7. 10 Work In Progress performances and Final Performance..........................................................195 7. 11 Portfolio Items...................................................................................................................................197 7.11.1 Audio CD 1: Initial Recording and Audio Documentary....................................................197 7.11.2 Audio CD 2: Cyberbass Workshop Recordings CD release (Improvise 2006)...............197 7.11.3 DVD: Work-In-Progress Performances 1, 2 and Final Performance................................203 7.11.4 Final Performance Summary..................................................................................................220 7.12 Summary: Creation of the creative portfolio.................................................................................220 Chapter 8 Concluding Remarks................................................................222 8.1 Introduction-Reflecting on Creative Practice..................................................................................222 8.2 Defining an Art World.........................................................................................................................222 8.3 Economic Realities and Creative Opportunities............................................................................223 8.4 Acknowledging Influences.................................................................................................................224 8.5 Connections Between Creative Practice and Social Context......................................................224 8.6 The Effect of Technology...................................................................................................................225 8.7 Musical Characteristics of LE............................................................................................................226 8.8 Musical Interaction Within LE............................................................................................................228 8.9 Multimedia Performance and Web-Casts........................................................................................229 8.10 Limitations of This Project...............................................................................................................229 8.11 ‘Hybrid’ Research..............................................................................................................................230 Bibliography...............................................................................................232 Discography...............................................................................................238 Appendix 1 Support Material and Creative Portfolio..............................240 Item 1. Audio CD 1: Initial Recording and Audio Documentary.........................................................240 Item 2. Audio CD 2 Improvise..................................................................................................................240 Item 3. Creative Portfolio DVD.................................................................................................................240 Item 4 Audio CD 3 List of Reference Audio Recordings.....................................................................240 Appendix 2 Transcript of Video Interviews.............................................241 Appendix 3 Production Details Final Multimedia performance.............246 Appendix 4 Program Notes Multimedia Performance............................249 Appendix 5 Examples Poster Graphics Cyberbass Performances.......252 List of Figures Figure 4.1 Conceptual Model of Influences on Contemporary LE Practice.....................88 Figure 4.2 Transcription of “Carla’s Theme” by Transa (Hill 2005:80)..............................93 Figure 4.3 Transcription of “Kloakin Device Theme” by DJ Krust (Hill 2005:82)............94 Figure 5.1 Yulquen melody......................................................................................................120 Figure 5.2 Composition Structure ‘Yulquen’........................................................................121 Figure 5.3 Composition Structure ‘The Tunnel’..................................................................125 Figure 5.4 Composition Structure ‘Earthbeat’.....................................................................129 Figure 5.5 Composition Structure ‘The Man Part 1’............................................................131 Figure 5.6 Compositional Structure ‘The Man with the Red Face’...................................134 Figure 5.7 Compositional Structure ‘Lucky Starz’.............................................................136 Figure 6.1 Map of influences on the Cyberbass Electronic Music project.....................145 Figure 6.2 Style Map of an Australian LE Community........................................................148 Figure 6.3 Sample Bassline ‘Slipper’.....................................................................................151 Figure 6.4 Bass Line ‘Tentacle’..............................................................................................158 Figure 7.1 Ensemble Interactions Example 1.......................................................................185 Figure 7.2 Ensemble Interactions Example 2.......................................................................187 Figure 7. 3 Ensemble Interactions Example 3......................................................................188 Figure 7.4 Ensemble Interactions Example 4.......................................................................189 Figure 7.5 Use of technology to transmit performance to a Onsite and virtual Audience. ......................................................................................................................................................195