Prelude, ritual dance, and fugue (a deaf improvisation study)

[quantum]

This improvised piece follows from inspiration on the following thread:
https://www.pianostreet.com/smf/index.php?topic=64107.0

As I have been preoccupied with other projects as of late, I thought I may pop in to see what is going on here.  It was a pleasant surprise to see activity has picked up in the improvisation room.

I don't have an 88 key digital piano to create this experiment on.  However, I do have a MIDI capable organ on which I can use some sampled digital instruments on, so that is what I used for this study.  The same conditions as Nick's study were used.  The organ also adds another dimension, in that one also has to choose which stops to use without audible feedback.  


This was a fascinating experience to say the least: terrifying in that I was unsure if I was making any musical coherence, filled with wonder and mystery in that I was exploring a new-to-me aspect of music making.  Sure, I've doodled on keyboards powered off before, but I have never expected any of that to bear fruit to a piece of music.  Indeed it was very surprising to hear the results!  

For the piece, I set out to develop a simple motif.  I wanted the subject matter to be something I could use to carry out a familiar task in a new way.  There was a good deal of working out melodic lines in my mind's ear as I was playing, and I didn't want to solely rely on the thumping sounds of keys to create material.  However, I also let my hands and feet explore the texture of the keys and create through touch.  A lot of the improv work I do involves being attentive to sounds and developing music based on what I hear, and that includes experimentation to make up new sounds.  Not having this aspect of creativity available certainly had me adapting my creative flow to utilize other devices.  

Thanks for the inspiration Nick.  This is something I would like to further explore.  

This video was uploaded as lossless audio if you prefer:

[ted]

Another contribution to this interesting thread from one of the most original musical voices on this forum. What can we learn from it ? I think it important to say that the piece stands as a powerfully expressive improvisation, particularly the solidly menacing little fugue, which I enjoyed very much. In other words, from the examples so far, no detectable difference exists between a given player’s hearing and deaf creations. Of course, quantum’s musical vocabulary is considerably more diverse than that of the rest of us here, and he does seem to intentionally narrow it a bit for this piece, but perhaps that just serves as a better test.

In any event, the expected counterexample, that of a coherently fluent improviser who makes a musical mess when deaf, simply has not yet occurred. That has to imply something, although I am still not entirely sure what.

Nice fugue, Neil.

[quantum]

Thanks for listening Ted!

For this experiment I decided to utilize a tonal language commensurate with the challenge of the activity, so the narrowing of vocabulary was intentional.  I wanted to mentally hear the material as I was playing it, rather than rely to much on feeling my way through the keys. 

[Derek]

I love the sound of the organ. The first classical cd I ever bought for myself was Bach on organ when I was 13. I enjoyed the recording and I agree I can't tell it was done whilst not hearing it either.