The improvisers has agency - the introduction

[Admin]

the introduction, using bullet points

1. The improvisers has agency on how to discharge, or to be active, in both free play or tacet mode
2. The free play settings, the improviser, the participant, has agency, is the decision maker from an aesthetic & strategic point of engagement.
3. The timeline or duration of play: if the setting is 10 minutes duration, 5 minutes tacet, 5 minutes free play: the improviser has agency of how to discharge the request to improvise for 5 minutes, the ranges include: 300 x 1 second , 1 x 5 minutes, random timings.
4. Content : the improvisers has agency on the content during active play, the dynamic range, volume etc
5. Elements of engagement; the improviser, has agency on how to engage with the ensemble, [ relational functions ]

The `freeplay` mode is the easiest starting point for this discussion. Phil Morton speculates, the same goes for tacet: for example the improvisers can shape the piece with silence, to shape the sound with silence.

Summing up: System 50:50 is a system with rules, buried within it are some composition tools, when a system 50:50 is in `play` the improviser has agency from thereon. There maybe `peer pressure` and informal constraints hidden within group dynamics but these factors are present in everything we do and are not specific to system 50:50.

Phil Morton