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FREE E-PUB: THE FIELD OF MUSICAL IMPROVISATION By Marcel Cobussen
Download for free at http://oapen.org/search?identifier=637220 (Thanks to Leiden University Press and the Academy of Creative and Performing Arts)
The central aim of this e-pub is to present a new approach to “the field of musical improvisation” (FMI), a theory which understands improvisation as a nonlinear dynamic and complex system. The study argues that during an improvisation - and each music making contains elements of improvisation - more actants are “at work” than musicians alone: space, acoustics, instruments, audience, technicians, musical and socio-cultural backgrounds, technology, and the like all play a significant role. However, not all of these actants determine every improvisation to the same extent; some are more prominent and active than others in certain situations (periods, styles, cultures, as well as more singular circumstances). Therefore, the FMI theory will prove to be more than a theory dealing with improvisation “in general.” Rather, FMI emphasizes singularity: each improvisation thus yields a different network of actants and interactions, a unique configuration or assembly.
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