Developing new methods for performing improvised music

How can historically-informed performers step outside the confines of the work-concept?

Improvisers in experimental music do not record their music in a conventional score, but in ever-changing 'tactile pathways'. This is the proposition put forward by researcher Christopher Williams. PhD defence 13 December.

Tactile Paths is an artistic research project that aims to expand and articulate the feedback between notation and improvisation in experimental music.

In the field of Western art music, improvisation has become a much discussed topic. In this interdisciplinary study I argue that in this context, improvisation is not to be seen as a quasi-autonomous skill or art form, but as an aspect of music-making in general.

How can we enhance inspiration in metric modal improvisation and subsequently, in modal composition?

Prof. dr. Marcel Cobussen has published a free e-pub: The Field of Musical Improvisation.

Why does the textural gap between the music that one can improvise and that which one can practice and learn to play (as in completely written-out music) seem to be bigger in the case of the guitar than, for example, in that of keyboard instruments?

New research project “(Musical) Improvisation and Ethics”, recently awarded 1.7 million Euros by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF)’s Young Independent Researcher Group program.

This thesis focuses on the concepts of freedo and fixity as two central topics of my artistic research. I present, analyze. and contextualize four of my works which have explicit links to fleedom and fixify and which demonstrate the dynamic interrelationship between the two.

Today’s performances of medieval polyphony have a lot in common with those of other ‘classical’ or ‘early’ music. Ensembles perform pieces written by known or lesser known composers, which the listener can revisit by listening to recordings or reading a score.

In the field of Western art music, improvisation has become a much discussed topic. In this interdisciplinary study I argue that in this context, improvisation is not to be seen as a quasi-autonomous skill or art form, but as an aspect of music-making in general.

Microbial rhodopsins are photosensitive pigments implemented in the growth and adaptation of a large population of microorganisms.

Composer, bass player and ACPA alumnus Ilya Ziblat Shay presented a paper at the Music Weekend and Midlands New Music Symposium, organised by Nottingham Forum for Artistic Research.

In this research project Nizar Rohana analyzes and reflects on taqsīm recordings by two leading figures of ‘ūd playing who were pillars of modern Arabic music, namely the Egyptians Muḥammad al-Qaṣabjī (1898-1964) and Riyāḍ al-Sunbāṭī (1906-1981).

Launched in 2017, The Importance and Power of Music in Our Society is an open online course, taught by Professor of Auditory Culture Marcel Cobussen and music philosopher Hafez Ismaïli M’hamdi and accessible to anyone with an internet connection.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

docARTES is a doctoral programme for performers and composers. It offers a unique environment for critical reflection on musical practice.

In this on-line dissertation, jazz saxophonist Dick de Graaf investigates a variety of compositional and improvisational models and techniques in contemporary jazz and Western art music, and discusses possible applications of these materials in current jazz practices.

What are the critical elements in sonic materialization of fixed media electroacoustic music and how can these parameters be classified? How would interpretation be defined in performing fixed media music? What are the creative and new ways of presenting fixed media music by incorporating all the presentation…

Recently, four books have been published which contain a chapter by ACPA senior researcher, lecturer and PhD-supervisor Dr. Marcel Cobussen.

Between 1600 and 1800 countless manuals appeared on the subject: the improvised bass part on the harpsichord, pianoforte or organ. Musician and researcher Kathryn Cok unravels the secrets of the Dutch basso continuo accompaniment for modern-day musicians.

On 20 December 2013, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) announced that 37 teachers will be conducting doctoral research funded by a Doctoral Scholarship. Using this scholarship, teachers are enabled, in addition to their educational activities, to conduct research leading to…

How do we experience electronic music? How does electronic music operate on perceptual, cognitive and affective levels? What are the common concepts activated in the listener’s mind when listening to electronic music? Why and how are these concepts activated?

From The Cognitive Continuum of Electronic Music:

The Leiden Academic Course Center offers a large variety of short and longer music courses. The music category includes various Singing courses, but also courses such as African percussion and Musical Workshop. A number of courses are offered at different levels. At the end of the course it is possible…

The music studio is a multipurpose room measuring 9.4 x 8.9 m, with marmoleum on the floor and 40 chairs. Music system and piano available.

This thesis investigated how microphones and loudspeakers could become musical instruments.

Can children’s physical play events be considered as improvisational dance? And if so, what are the shared underlying structures and characteristics?

Music as a multi-faceted and integral part of our society.

Music can affect how we feel, think, and behave. But how do we learn about the specifics of people's responses to music so that we can apply this to health and well-being? By looking at characteristics of the music, as well as the differences between listeners, we hope to better understand as well as…

How can classical music be restructured while still retaining the core of what we love about its repertoire and our ability to share it with audiences, while coming up with ways of making it financially viable.

Interpretation and Composition Outside the Work Concept

The aim of this research is to define the relationship between sources of articulation for different kinds of instrument in the period between the beginning of XVI century (first extant indications) and the end of XVIII century.

ACPA PhD Marina Liontou Mochament will host an online workshop in April.

From the 1920s on, popular music in Southeast Asia was a mass-audience phenomenon that drew new connections between indigenous musical styles and contemporary genres from elsewhere to create new, hybrid forms. This book presents a cultural history of modern Southeast Asia from the vantage point of popular…

This thesis proposes multiple paths towards the development of a performance practice in Computer Music.

Composer Paul Craenen (1972) is actually a pianist, but as part of his PhD ceremony, he performed a composition on PVC pipes. Craenen studies the position and role of the body in music. ‘I am interested in what precedes the resulting sound’.

ACPA Professor of Auditory Culture and Music Philosophy Marcel Cobussen will give a lecture at the Gaudeamus Academy Workshop Weekend. The GMW Academy is a prelude to the contemporary music festival Gaudeamus Muziekweek, taking place from 7 to 11 september in diverse venues within the center of Utr…

How is it possible to play a song that is part of the rituals of other people? How to transpose an idea to the stage while maintaining respect for indigenous communities? Are these performances a way of throwing light on these indigenous communities looking for a strategy of decolonization? How is it…

What are the precise identities, possibilities and current practice examples of the various time frames in music and what bearings do they have individually and in combinations on the speed of the music?

The course Popular Music: Selling Rebellion offers a unique opportunity to explore the popular music world from the point of view of its relation to both politics and the industry.

In October 2014 a new publication on artistic research has been launched. The book is called Artistic Experimentation in Music. An Anthology, edited by Darla Crispin and Bob Gilmore, and published by Leuven University Press.

Knowledge and culture subproject 1:

Two events on Music and the Brain will be held in Leiden later this month.

Promotor: C.J. ten Cate

The small piano studios at the LAK are available to rent for practice purposes. You can either rent the studios per hour or get a subscription. There are Yamaha pianos available in the studio's, but you can also use the space to practice with your own instrument.

What type of violones were used to perform Bach’s music in his time? And which octaves and tunings are appropriate for his stringed bass instruments?

This research will focus on the relationship between the musical structure and musical time in the performance of 19th century music.

In this project, we plan to combine two strands of research in speech processing: (a) the impact of prosody on speech processing and (b) the impact of musical training on speech processing. In our project we will test 8 year-old children with different degrees of musical training: (a) primary school…