Electric Cowboy Cacophony / A performance and recording fusing musical elements from the classical, rock, country, and free electronic tradititions

在某种程度上，不仅是不熟悉，而且（与伴侣）不相容。否则，你还即兴表演什么？（德里克·贝利）在创作音乐时，受过古典训练的作曲家的方法与摇滚/流行/爵士/即兴音乐家的方法有什么不同？当然，也有在演出前作曲的古典方法，使用手写纸和传统的记谱法：缓慢形成的形式结构和即兴音乐发展之间的紧张关系。作曲家和表演者之间也有区别，在流行/摇滚音乐家的情况下，这往往是同一个人，但在古典传统中，更多的不是。然而，绝不是所有的摇滚/流行/爵士音乐都是即兴创作的：有些是用传统的乐谱创作或演奏的。除此之外，创造性的考虑真的如此不一致吗？有着截然不同的音乐背景的音乐家们——如此明显的不同，以至于德国人把古典传统之外的作曲家的音乐称为“严肃音乐”（“Ernste Musik”），而把来自摇滚/流行/爵士传统的音乐称为“娱乐音乐”（“Unterhaltungs Musik”），并且相当轻蔑地称之为“娱乐音乐”（“Unterhaltungs Musik”）——这些音乐家对音乐创作的看法真的像我们可能相信的那样不同吗？抛开乐谱和记谱不谈，抛开三分钟的三和弦歌曲不谈，我们很多人都不关心类似的音乐特征：织体、情绪、音乐声音交换、响度……或者，在前卫古典音乐、爵士音乐、摇滚音乐、自由即兴音乐和流行音乐的领域中，至少在音乐的意图上，如果不总是在声音上，难道不是有更多的共同点吗？Electric Cowboy Cacophony既是一个音乐团体，也是一个音乐会表演。它由四位来自不同背景的音乐家组成：我自己（英国），古典作曲家和电脑音乐家；Paul Elwood（美国），作曲家和班卓琴手（乡村/民间/前卫）；Jean-Marc Montera（法国），电吉他手和Chitarra手（摇滚，自由即兴）；Karin Schistek（奥地利/英国），古典钢琴家和即兴演奏家。2006年2月，我们第一次在法国马赛的Groupe de Recherche et d'Improvisation musical (www.grim-marseille.com/)，应GRIM的总监Jean-Marc Montera的邀请。一天的录音之后是一场音乐会，这两者都为有意义的音乐交流提供了巨大的机会。一起玩会产生许多问题，其中几个问题已经在上面提出了。在这个群体的背景下回答这些问题会导致更广泛的步骤，以弥合古典音乐与流行/摇滚/爵士/即兴音乐之间的差距，这种差距在当前的文化和教育环境中不再成立；这种差距可能更多的是政治上的，而不是音乐上的；弥合这一鸿沟可以丰富所有人的音乐体验。我们提出了一个表演和录音项目来探索这些问题，并找到小组成员与美学之间互动的表达模式。我们的目标是在马赛工作一个星期，并开发足够的音乐材料为音乐会和DVD录制（c.一个小时的音乐）。录音将在格里姆制作，但在爱丁堡进行混音、编辑和制作。DVD将按下并在sumtone标签上发布。届时将举行两场音乐会，一场在马赛，另一场在爱丁堡。一个详细介绍工作进展和结果的网页（以MP3文件的形式）也将提供。在这个项目中，我的乐器主要是电脑。迄今为止，我的电脑作品的表演都是预先确定和预先编程的。我最近重新配置了我的表演软件，以允许集成到更开放的结构中（即兴创作），并打算在拟议的项目中使用和探索该软件的潜力。

There has to be some degree, not just of unfamiliarity, but incompatibility [with a partner]. Otherwise, what are you improvising for?' (Derek Bailey)In making music, how is the methodology of classically-trained composers different from that of rock/pop/jazz/improvising musicians? There is of course the classical approach of composing in advance of the performance, using manuscript paper and traditional notation: the tension between slowly-wrought formal structure and improvised musical development then. There is also the distinction between composer and performer, which in the case of the pop/rock musician is often one and the same person but in the classical tradition more frequently is not. Nevertheless, by no means is all rock/pop/jazz music improvised: some of it is composed with or performed from traditional notation. Apart from this though, are the creative considerations really so at odds? Do musicians with radically different musical backgrounds--so different apparently that the Germans refer to music by composers out of the classical tradition as 'Serious Music' ('Ernste Musik') and that from the rock/pop/jazz tradition only, and quite pejoratively, as 'Entertainment Music' ('Unterhaltungs Musik')--do these musicians really think so differently about making music as we might perhaps believe? Scores and notation aside on the one hand, the three-minute song with a three-chord trick aside on the other, aren't many of us concerned with similar musical characteristics: texture, mood, musical voice exchange, sonority... Or, when moving in the areas of avant-garde classical, jazz, rock, free improvised, and pop music, isn't there perhaps more in common than not, in the intention of the music at least, if not always in the sound?Electric Cowboy Cacophony is both a musical group and a concert performance. It comprises four musicians from very different backgrounds: Myself (UK), classical composer and computer musician; Paul Elwood (USA), composer and banjoist (country/folk/avant-garde); Jean-Marc Montera (France), electric guitarist and Chitarra player (rock, free improvisation); and Karin Schistek (Austria/UK), classical pianist and improvisor.We first came together in Marseille, France, in February 2006 at the Groupe de Recherche et d'Improvisation Musicales (www.grim-marseille.com/) on the invitation of Jean-Marc Montera, GRIM's director. A day spent recording was followed later by a concert, both of which opened up enormous opportunity for meaningful musical exchange.Playing together raised many questions, several of which are posed above. Answering these questions in this group context leads to broader steps towards bridging the gap between classical and pop/rock/jazz/improvised music, a gap which in the current cultural and educational climate is no longer tenable; a gap which is probably more political than musical; a gap which when bridged can enrich the musical experience of all.A performance and recording project is proposed to explore these questions and find expressive modes of interaction between the group's members and aesthetics. We aim to work for a week in Marseille and develop enough musical material for a concert and DVD recording (c. one hour's music). The recording will be made at GRIM but mixed, edited, and mastered in Edinburgh. The DVD will be pressed and released on the sumtone label. Two concerts will then be presented, one in Marseille, the other in Edinburgh. A web-page detailing the work's progress and the results (in the form of MP3 files) will be made available also.N.B. My musical instrument in this project is mainly the computer. Performances of my compositions with computer have to date been in a pre-determined and pre-programmed manner. I have lately reconfigured my performance software to allow integration into more open structures (improvisation) and intend to use and explore the potential of this software in the proposed project.