Body as Instrument: Performing with Gestural Systems in Live Electronic Music

ISBN-13: 9781501368547 / Angielski / Twarda / 2022 / 232 str.

Macquarie Dr. Mary Mainsbridge (Associate Lecturer in Music

Opis

Body as Instrument explores how musicians interact with movement-controlled performance systems, producing sounds imbued with their individual physical signature. Using motion tracking technology, performers can translate physical actions into sonic processes, creating or adapting novel gestural systems that transcend the structures and constraints of conventional musical instruments. Interviews with influential artists in the field, Laetitia Sonami, Atau Tanaka, Pamela Z, Julie Wilson-Bokowiec, Lauren Sarah Hayes, Mark Coniglio, Garth Paine and The Bent Leather Band expose the transformational impact of motion sensors on musicians’ body awareness and abilities. Coupled with reflection on author-composed works, the book analyses how the body as instrument metaphor informs relationships between performers, their bodies and self-designed instruments. It also examines the role of experiential design strategies in developing robust and nuanced gestural systems that mirror a performer’s movement habits, preferences and skills, inspiring new physical forms of musical communication and diverse musical repertoire.

Spis treści

List of Figures Acknowledgements Introduction Part 1: Invisible Instruments 1. Gestural Systems for Musical Performance 2. Design Approaches Part 2: Performer Approaches 3. Laetitia Sonami 4. Atau Tanaka 5. Vocal and Breath-based Gestural Systems 6. Pamela Z 7. Julie Wilson-Bokowiec 8. Lauren Sarah Hayes 9. Bent Leather Band 10. Design Reflections 11. Mark Coniglio 12. Garth Paine 13. Intangible Spaces Part 3: Synergy and Transformation 14. Expanding Agency 15. Reimagining Identity References Author Index Subject Index