and a critical account of an experience of a community of musicians.” Independent Project (Degree Project), Master of Fine Arts in Music, with specialization in Improvisation Performance, Academy of Music and Drama, University of Gothenburg, 2019.
ABSTRACT
Taking a detail from Hieronymus Bosch’s Garden Of Earthly Delights as a point of departure, an instrument is built for a musical performance act deeply involving the body of the musician. The process from idea to performance is recorded and described as a compositional and improvisational process. Experimental musical instrument (EMI) building is discussed from its mythological and sociological significance, and from autoethnographical case studies of processes of invention. The writer’s experience of 30 years in the free improvisation and new music community, and some basic concepts: EMIs, EMI maker, musician, composition, improvisation, music and instrument, are analyzed and criticized, in the community as well as in the writer’s own work. The writings of Christopher Small and surrealist ideas are main inspirations for the methods applied.
Keywords:
Experimental musical instruments, improvised music, Hieronymus Bosch, musical performance art, music sociology, surrealism