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Forum - Week 8 - Sensing Sensual Incense in Senses

A sensuous Indian extravaganza awaited
all who dared to enter the EMU space on
Friday, complete with incense, sitar and
personable Indian native. Dr. Chandrakant
Sardeshmukh (1) is possibly the best guest
we’ve ever had, as I was absorbed by his
expansive knowledge and quick wit. His
personality was only transcended by his
instrumental skill, which was demonstrated
through his osteopathic sitar playing. He
presented us with the basics of traditional
Indian sitar improvisation, none of which
I remember, and proceeded to initiate the
improvisation with the unsuspecting members
of Group 2.

As a whole this was a great success- of particular note was
the chemistry between the Dr. and Vinny on tabla, where a certain
musical (perhaps ethnical) connection was perceivable. Surprisingly
beneficial to the sound was Poppi’s (Poppies?) ethereal vocals wandering
around the heavens and delving to great depths, unleashing a powerfully
organic emotion almost spiritual in its role. have to agree with the young
John “Squarepants” Delaney with his views on improvisational restriction.
This session was far more successful than last week’s, and I believe the
constraints of ‘allowable notes and rhythms’ was the cause of such a
result. The entire improvisation spanned for about 40 minutes or so,
which I believe was the necessary time for the piece to fully develop. To
top off a great forum, David “Dr. D” Dowling and I had a 2 hour
improvisation of our own in Studio 5, where I discovered some funky
bass line vocals that complimented the groove laid down by the Doctor
himself. It’s a shame our performance will probably be nothing like this,
as the members of our group that actually need the extra sessions lack
the initiative to participate. Once again I suppose we are only being
graded on our participation in the final performance, so truancy to such
extracurricular sessions is not a real issue.

1. Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh. "Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?"
Presented at the Electronic Music Unit, University of Adelaide. 14/09/2006

Forum - Week 7 - John 3:16 and Revelations

An actual artist for the “Artist Talk”! Derek Pascoe is a renowned improvisatory
saxophonist, and we were lucky enough to have some Improv tips imparted for use in
our own performances, and perhaps in our very lives. Despite his obvious talent, he
had no qualms in saying he can be ‘wrong’ in his approaches to music, and seems to
have instigated a sponge-like attitude- literally absorbing various attitudes
towards improvisation from musical experiences. It was very engaging to have a
totally selfless professional musician present us with his ideals. A thought occurs-
perhaps this is the personality that improvisation breeds? I’m sure having to
respect other musician’s personal musical space during performances would eventually
spill over into other aspects of life, possibly even amalgamating into a total
respect for you fellow man. Derek said he is not a religious man, but when he plays
he feels something other than himself inside him, allowing the music to come from
some other place. Although I am not religious either, the power that ‘his’ talent
has had on his life and thus imparted to others is something to ponder through. Can
we be so self-absorbed to believe that existence is limited to perception? Perhaps
we are just maggots in a carcass, but our carcass is a vacuum filled with exploding
balls of hydrogen and helium. Difficult to prove either way, I suppose ‘faith’ comes
from picking a side. And if you don’t believe in aliens you are too shallow to talk
to.

Group 3 (?) was given the chance to jam with the man himself. After several topic
changes they reached a nice area of conversation, the most engaging being the
instrumental arguments occurring between the guitarist John “3:16” Delaney and
Derek. I gained a valuable perspective on improvisation from this session- it’s more
about what everyone else is playing than what you are playing. You can’t just jump
in to a scene because you haven’t played in a while, there must be an entry point.
Although theoretically there might never be, such is the nature of improvisation. I
guess you could say, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at
all.” Or even, “Better to be quiet and let people think you’re an idiot, than open
your mouth and prove it.”



Two Irishmen are standing at the bottom of a flagpole, when a blonde pulls up in her car. She gets
out and asks the men, "Why are you looking at that pole?” One of the Irishmen replies, "We're
trying to figure out how high this pole is so we know how much rope we need to hoist a flag, but
we have no idea how to measure it." The blonde declares, "Oh that's easy, just wait here." The
two Irishmen watch curiously as she removes a spanner and measuring tape from her car, and
proceeds to unscrew the pole, lay it down and measure it. "15 metres" stated the blonde proudly,
as she got back in her car and drove off. "Typical blonde," said one of the Irishmen, "We wanted
to know how high it is, not how long it is."

Forum - Week 6 - Metallica and ACDC

Improvisation Practice (1) continued its wave of contradiction, this week however
involved a couple of synthesisers being persuaded into Hell. Jake filled out his
drum-loopage some more, which is sounding good, and I am still exploring the
nuances of my effects pedal. I honestly believe the performances should be scored
individually on how well you work as a team player, not just on showing up. Even
if you were just playing the spoons, practice and teamwork would be perceivable.
All the other music degrees have grading on performances, how about we use this
opportunity to pretend we are actually members of the Conservatorium? It’s
obvious who in the groups gives a shit and who is there for the face-time, and all
of us are scored the same regardless. I would like this degree to stay as far away
from the “Bachelor of Attendance” cliché as possible, especially while we are still
trying to concréte ourselves as a viable music study area. We all get the sideways
glances from the ‘real’ degree students, and every step we take towards
musicianship makes us a little more reputable and respected. Either that or we sit
in our little niche and use our anonymity as a tool in our eventual ‘worldwide
takeover’, to quote Stephen Whittington in Week 1 Semester 1. How is that going,
by the way? Perhaps the plan was lost with our Semester 1 blog scores.

Tyrell, Poppi, Albert and Josh gave their presentations this week. I have heard some
of Tyrell’s computer game compositions before and enjoyed them, however the
pieces he presented were more child oriented to fit the game style. Despite this
they remained interesting and suitably ‘happy’. I would like to start composing
again, but any spare time I have generally goes to actual Uni work, which is
disappointing considering the equipment that is available to us. Poppi’s presentation
involved excerpts from short films she has made. I have seen some of her work
previously as well, in this case in the ‘Asylum’ during the ACMC (ACDC), and was as
impressed now as I was then. Her rapping could use a some ‘gangsterisation’,
although it was little Hilltop Hoods-esque. Which is a good thing. I do agree with
Weimerhead with his perception of ‘typical Uni student’, however this is to be
expected from a Uni student. Isn’t that what we all wish to achieve? Uni student level
work? In any case, success at surpassing ‘Uni student level’ would be a paradox in
itself, as any level of excellence that you reach will consequently become ‘Uni student
level’. I suppose there’s nothing wrong with being great though, as I would know.
Josh played us his Musique Concrete composition of which was centred around
‘metallicism’, which he didn’t say but is what he meant. It would have been a good
name for the piece, but I don’t think he would have cared. Nonetheless, the outcome
was quite interesting and I believe it certainly lived up to its metallic ideal. Albert’s
recording of a Jazz band had high production values, and whatever microphones were
used really captured the feel of the band.

1. Stephen Whittington. "Music Technology Workshop: Improvisation" At the Electronic
Music Unit, University of Adelaide, 31/08/2006.

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