Listening Through the Firewall: Semiotics of sound in networked improvisation

Abstract

<jats:p>Maturation of network technologies and high-speed broadband has led to significant developments in multi-user platforms that enable synchronous networked improvisation across global distances. However sophisticated the interface, nuances of face-to-face communication such as gesture, facial expression, and body language are not available to the remote improviser. Sound artists and musicians must rely on listening and the semiotics of sound to mediate their interaction and the resulting collaboration. This paper examines two case studies of networked improvisatory performances by the inter-cultural tele-music ensemble Ethernet Orchestra.It focuses on qualities of sound (e.g. timbre, frequency, amplitude) in the group's networked improvisation, examining how they become arbiters of meaning in dialogical musical interactions without visual gestural signifiers. The evaluation is achieved through a framework of Distributed Cognition, highlighting the centrality of culture, artefact and environment in the analysis of dispersed musical perception. It contrasts salient qualities of sound in the groups’ collective improvisation, highlighting the interpretive challenges for cross-cultural musicians in a real-time ‘jam’ session. As network technologies provide unprecedented opportunities for diverse inter-cultural collaboration, it is sound as the carrier of meaning that mediates these new experiences.</jats:p>

The Field of Musical Improvisation

“…[2] Maturation of network technologies and the fast-paced improvements of broadband internet infrastructure, such as Internet2, have led to developments that enable synchronous as well as time-shifted networked improvisation across global distances and geographically displaced musicians (Mills and Beilharz 2012;Renaud, Carôt, and Rebelo 2007). The Internet can be used as a medium for real time improvisations between disparate locations as well as for music production processes that happen asynchronously.…”

Beyond Schemata in Collective Improvisation: A Support Tool for Music Interactions

“…Among the improvisation systems realized using networked technology are the Ethernet Orchestra [13], Alain Renaud's Master Cue Generator [14], Pedro Rebelo's Frequencyliator [15] and the Bucket System [16]. The system presented here is my contribution to this legacy, albeit with a sociological perspective and approach to system design, goals and evaluation.…”