CD Companion Introduction: Sounds Like Now: Improvisation + Technology

One of my former teachers was fond of assigning a set of philosophical texts and then opening discussion of them by asking: "What is the question?" The implication was that the texts had no conclusive answers, but instead represented how a set of authors grappled with a common theme at a particular historical moment. Framed this way, the grappling was unresolved and fun to witness—how would it turn out? In this spirit, my objective for curating the LMJ20 CD, Sounds Like Now: Improvisation + Technology, was to gather examples from musicians and sound artists who, in various ways, are grappling with "the question" of improvisation and technology.

Although it unfolds in the present, this question or relation of improvisation and technology is not a uniquely contemporary one, and certainly not confined to narrow definitions of technologies as electronic or digital. Improvised music emerges from interactions among musicians and instruments, listeners and sound systems, sounds and spaces [1]; as such, it is always-already technological. Ingrid Monson developed the concept of intermusicality to refer to the inventive ways that jazz musicians use musical quotations or historical allusions to communicate meanings among each other and knowledgeable listeners [2]. Histories of musical instruments and audio technologies, which often manifest in sonic aesthetics, are embedded within these audible citations. Technical language and informal "talk" of technology also form part of the social aspects of improvising in live performance and studio contexts [3].

A cluster of themes at the intersections of technology, spontaneity and decision-making in contemporary improvised music attune my ear as I listen to this CD. Digital tools, extending the logics of many mechanical and analog instruments before them, facilitate increasingly detailed explorations of certain musical elements such as timbre and microtonality. Electronic and digital instruments also have a distinctive temporal organization; those who improvise with electronics must negotiate what Kaffe Matthews has called "this business about a delay"—that gap, however fleeting, between the "real-time" responsiveness of a machine and the temporality of embodied gestures [4]. As tape recorders influenced an earlier generation of improvisers by enabling repeated listening sessions, contemporary improvisers are undoubtedly influenced by listening habits specific to digital media and cultures, even if their craft is expressed through an acoustic instrument [5]. Moreover, recording retains a vexed relation to improvisation; as one contributor to this compilation reminded me, editing the recording to its required length for the CD compromised some of its improvisational strengths.

In the context of a proliferation of increasingly affordable and ubiquitous software and compression methods, which raise the possibility that ever more sounds will share a homogenizing digital veneer, contributors to this CD embrace a wide range of field recordings, acoustic, electroacoustic, electromagnetic, analog and digital sound sources in their practice. Several also work at the intersections of improvisation and technology as a means of expressing cultural location or ethnic tradition. Some of the artists on this CD may identify as improvisers, some may claim improvisation as one creative practice among many, and others—as Derek Bailey noted some 30 years ago—may be inclined to "refer to what they do as just 'playing'" [6]. Their play, and their grappling, is our gain.

• William Fowler Collins:Midday Sunshower
• William Fowler Collins (bio)

See <mitpressjournals.org/toc/lmj/-/20> for full access to LMJ20 and CD tracks. See <leonardo.info/lmj> for more information and resources.

Performed, recorded and mixed by William Fowler Collins. Mastering by Thomas Dimuzio. From the 2007 album Western Violence & Brief Sensuality (WMR01).

Contact: E-mail: <williamfowlercollins@gmail.com>. Web site: <www.williamfowlercollins.com>.

The process for Midday Sunshower began, as much of my work does, with a merging of improvisation and technology. The piece was not pre-conceived before I began work on it. In this case, electric and acoustic guitar improvisations were recorded in my home studio. I then processed those recordings on my laptop using both the SuperCollider 2 software and some of my guitar effects pedals...