Turbulence and coherence: processes of consistency in free improvisation

• Grant number: 15/20576-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: March 01, 2016
• End date: February 28, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Arts - Music
• Principal Investigator: Rogério Luiz Moraes Costa
• Grantee: Rogério Luiz Moraes Costa
• Host Institution: Escola de Comunicações e Artes (ECA). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Through this project I intend to continue with my research on musical improvisation, its boundaries and connections. From my investigations in recent years, I realized that despite the large number of studies devoted to the subject, the expression free improvisation remains today, inaccurate and too broad. Currently, there are many and diverse musical and artistic manifestations that include procedures that refer explicitly or not, to free improvisation. In fact, one of the most important challenges is, on the one hand, the search for a definition of what would be common among many and varied practices that are located in the vast territory of free improvisation and, on the other, what would be singular and specific to each of these practices. It is necessary to establish whether there is a general territory that encompasses all these practices and to segment this territory into sub categories with their own identities. But, more than that, it is necessary to unravel the possible consistency constructing processes in each case. In this context, some issues already studied in my previous researches can be revisited, sometimes from new perspectives: the dualities of control and no control, real-time and deferred time, free and idiomatic improvisation, knowledge base and referent, intention and chance, collective and individual etc. Besides, some new formulations and problems related to the theme, such as the use or not of new technologies, ideas about ubiquitous music, comprovisation and ecocomposition, should be addressed. In the present project I intend to deepen and establish the possible connections between various approaches in view of the objectives outlined above. For this, I propose to examine and compare the different processes of consistency from the point of view of their sound materials and procedures and from their creative and interactive processes. The idea is to find and describe what is common and what is specific. I'm also interested in discussing to what extent and how these various manifestations of free improvisation result of specific social, cultural and contemporary political settings. (AU)