You, your instrument and musical expression

[lucnijs]

Hi!

Recently I've read some articles in which some statements about musical expression made me wonder what musicians would really think about it.
So I've made a very simple poll with only two questions.
It would be really wonderful if you could take this poll...
You can also find the statements that there made me make this poll.

link for the poll:
https://sites.google.com/site/murmivragenlijst/

Thank you very much!!!

Luc

[lostinidlewonder]

FROM WEBSITE:
.. article by P. Auslander: "To be an accomplished guitarist in the eyes of this audience therefore is to appear to be able to subdue the guitar, which means that the guitar has to be constructed in performance as SOMETHING THAT PRESENTS OBSTACLES FOR THE PLAYER TO SURMOUNT, something that RESISTS the player in some way and is not simply a tool that yields readily to his or her use." (Auslander, P. Lucille Meets GuitarBot: Instrumentality, Agency, and Technology in Musical Performance. In: Theatre Journal, 61(4), 603-616.)

- I believe your instrument is not a lion that needs to be tamed, instead it is a part of your body and functions as one with you. That is a sign of a true master.


FROM WEBSITE:
"When playing acoustic instruments, the haptic perception involving both tactile sensors in our skin and lips, as well as our kinesthetic perception of the position and movement of muscles and joints, is pivotal within the complex interaction between performer and instrument, and resultant the sound produced. IT IS PRECISELY THIS STRUGGLE WITH THE INSTRUMENT THAT LEADS TO THE DIVERSE RANGE OF MUSICAL EXPRESSION THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED."

-I wonder what the definition of "struggle" is in this case? Once a piece is mastered we no longer require to consciously be aware of our position or movement of muscles and joints. One may require awareness of this while practicing but the end product should certainly not portray a struggle with the instrument in terms of technical/musical execution.

I think perhaps the emotional struggle that pieces can pull the performer though is certainly something that is evident in the best performances, where struggle is defined as the emotion of the music being effectively transmitted to listeners causing an irresistible change in the emotional state.  When we observe complicated technical works it may look like a struggle for the performer, but the real masters make it look like they are not taxed at all. Then again, you have musicians who "show off" their movements with elaborate gestures or expressions and they are well remembered for it. I guess we do not want to look like stone statues, but at the same time it is of bad taste to make over the top movements or waste energy while playing because you get overly worked up and end up having the music play you and not you the music.

Musicians are masters of controlled emotion through the instrumental medium of their choice. One can prove this by playing something extremely happy and up beat when feeling very sad and depressed. No one will say, oh I can hear your depression, they will all notice the happiness in the playing. So as musician we can present emotions of all types even though we may not necessarily be in that emotional state ourselves. However when we become emotionally involved with our music we may in turn have conflicting emotions running through us, perhaps we will feel immense sadness in certain passages even though we are very happy, but feel the sadness while we play and actually emotionally be effected by this and in this sense I see that music certainly has this struggle within the sensitive musician.

Very interesting postulations thanks for sharing.

[sordel]

IT IS PRECISELY THIS STRUGGLE WITH THE INSTRUMENT THAT LEADS TO THE DIVERSE RANGE OF MUSICAL EXPRESSION THAT CAN BE ACHIEVED.

From the Wikipedia article on Keith Jarrett's album, The Köln Concert:

"At Jarrett's request, Brandes [the promoter] had selected a Bösendorfer 290 Imperial concert grand piano for the performance. However, there was some confusion by the opera house staff and instead they found another Bösendorfer piano backstage - a much smaller baby grand - and assuming it was the one requested placed it on the stage. Unfortunately, the error was discovered too late for the correct Bösendorfer to be delivered to the venue in time for the evening's concert. The piano they had was intended for rehearsals only and was in poor condition and required several hours of tuning and adjusting to make it playable. The instrument was tinny and thin in the upper registers and weak in the bass register, and the pedals did not work properly. Consequently, Jarrett often used ostinatos and rolling left-hand rhythmic figures during his Köln performance to give the effect of stronger bass notes, and concentrated his playing in the middle portion of the keyboard. ECM Records producer Manfred Eicher later said: "Probably [Jarrett] played it the way he did because it was not a good piano. Because he could not fall in love with the sound of it, he found another way to get the most out of it."

"Jarrett arrived at the opera house late in the afternoon and tired after an exhausting long drive from Zurich, Switzerland, where he had performed a few days earlier. He had not slept well in several nights and was in pain from back problems and had to wear a brace. After trying out the substandard piano and learning a replacement instrument was not available, Jarrett nearly refused to play and Brandes had to convince him to perform as the concert was scheduled to begin in just a few hours.

"The concert took place at the unusually late hour of 11:30 PM following an earlier opera performance. This late-night time slot was the only one the administration would make available to Brandes for a jazz concert - the first one ever at the Köln Opera House. The show was completely sold out and the venue was filled to capacity with over 1400 people at a ticket price of 4 Deutsche Marks (about $5.00). Despite the obstacles, Jarrett's performance was enthusiastically received by the audience and the subsequent recording was acclaimed by critics and became an enormous commercial success. It remains his most popular recording and continues to sell well more than 35 years after its initial release."

[lostinidlewonder]

That was a great read sordel thanks.

Yes well being able to deal with the instrument you have is also a sign of an experienced musician. One could also say playing for the size of the room is also very important as well. The general ability to project your sound should be natural and you play your instrument depending upon what you hear coming from it and how it projects through the room.

One does not simply play a single way and not listen to the sound projecting. We must change how we play depending on the instrument and space (and if you are playing with other instruments you need to take notice of how they project through the room also). Experienced musicians do not really find this difficult it happens naturally because it is what we are hearing around us which unavoidably causes our mechanism to produce the sound to react. But the ability to get to this state is not from taming the instrument in terms of it being a beast that needs to be controlled. Once our hands lay upon the keyboard and we hear the sound that is projecting through the room we can make decisions as to what needs to be done through our listening not so much bashing the hell out of the piano and strangling it to force sounds out of it.

[alessandro]

Interesting Luc; I answered two times no.   It is of course very subjective.   The link between "struggle" and "art" is an old one, and in some cases a wrong one.   I don't think for instance that there is a need for suffering (or struggling) to produce a nice performance.   The only "struggle" I can think of, is indeed the spiritual one, the emotional one, not to get lost while playing a piece, mind-controlling the piece - I'm talking interpretation and not improvisation - from the first bar to the last.   But I think that also in improvisation one has to have at least some idea of "an end"...   So, "struggling", why not? but only in the mind, not with the instrument, for me.   

And, dear Luc, through the articles, through your case-study, there is something that I did not feel (I'm sometimes stupid) and that could be interesting.   It is to make a very clear distinction between the fact that some people (pianist Richter, bass-player Okegwo...) like to play on instruments that are a little worn out, used, and the fact that the "struggle" can also take place with a new instrument.   I don't know if it is understandable what I'm trying to point out here.   Isn't it so, Luc, that you are interested in the "struggle" in se with the instrument and not with the fact that some instruments - on purpose or not - force the musician to "struggle".

I think I hate any kind of struggle with an instrument, I don't like too light keyweight, but I don't like "struggle" no...   Some people are masochistic in their love-relationships too, but me, no, I'm the sweet kind of guy, more into tenderness and kindness, no pain for me please, no struggle, no.   I like investigation, I like study, I like concentration (I even think that concentration is one of the most beautiful things a human can produce, it is so beautiful to see people concentrating), I'm not against some effort, but no, no struggling for me.

Very kind greetings to you all, and I wish you, Luc, a lot of luck, insight and joy with your study.   

[iratior]

I doubt very much if there is one piano upon which any piece can be done better than it can be done on any other piano.  One of the interesting challenges I once had was to help a friend buy one.  We went to a store in Silver Spring, Maryland.  I tried out the various instruments, and in no time pointed out that some of them were clearly able to do some pieces better than others.  Some had a muffled, velvety tone;  this seemed to go best with Chopin Opus 25 no. 1.  But I pointed out that none of the pianos could beat a certain cheap spinet when it came to playing Scarlatti K. 146.  Of course, the salesman became wildly enthusiastic, because instead of immediately picking out one piano to the rejection of all the others, I was, in effect, recognizing their uniqueness and making the most of all of them.