Popular Musing - Home

improvisation conference in Cardiff

2007-03-28T15:58:00Z

For those of you who are interested, i have copied below synopsis of the information I have given to Gabriella Daris for our collaborative music/dance piece. Simply listen to the final mp3 and follow the programme notes.

The name of Paul Carr and Gabriella Daris' collaboration is entitled piaculum [a means of expiating or appeasing; sacrifice; remedy; punishment; a victim; an act needing expiation , a sin, crime]. Although our original intention was to investigate these feelings via a two part live improvisation, circumstances resulted in the first stage of the dialogue being mediated over the internet. The original brief for the musical aspect of the piece from Gabriella was to investigate "body memory of suffering and its recollection, ending with some kind of sacrifice". She was also interested in the concept of using "abstract sounds that melted together", followed by a "frying/cooking' process in which the sounds were gradually moulded together". These comments provided the impetus for the electro acoustic composition that ensued, which alongside the Butoh influenced dance, is intended to capture the essence of ‘PIACULUM' during live performance.

Section 1: (The medative section) Awakening. At one with the world. The Beauty of life.

Section 2: (Standing) Becoming aware. Is everything ok? Who is the middle aged man?

Section 3: (Well that's strange) - Transformation - Realisation (as the man approaches)

Section 4 : (After the repeated word "standing"). Memories/Past 1. Ambiguity of bar/pub sounds. Is this where they met the middle-aged man? The person is now looking back on this meeting time with regret, in a dream like state. Should they have socialised with the middle-aged man? This section try's to fuse the reality of the present (fear etc) with the nonchalance of the past.

Section 5: (After the Childs voice). Memories/Past 2. For reference the words "it's inside out Harriet' is actually a sample of my wife speaking to my daughter. This section was included purely for musical reasons - in other words it continues with the dream like qualities of the previous section.

Section 6: (Why do I have to suffer?). The statement ‘why do I have to suffer' represents the childlike voices of victim(s), and those they have left behind (not forgotten). Both voices are speaking to each other, but are also individual cries for help. The victims are essentially asking God why they have to suffer with the children (who could also be the voices of God) informing them they are not forgotten.

Section 7: (The orchestral percussion section). We are now back in the shocking reality of the present - the percussion sounds representing the kinetic movement of physical blows/stabbing actions.

Section 8: The gradual emergence and awareness of a (soon to be eliminated) heartbeat. The victim is now aware of their mortality. The beat eventually becomes a ‘solo section' with no other instrumentation. I regard this section as a sort of ‘cadenza' in musical terms. It gives you the opportunity to engage (in a sort of lament) just with the heartbeat. Note how the beat pans from left to right. I don't know if you will be able to hear this movement on stage, but I see this as a dialogue - where the victim is chasing the heartbeat. Trying to hang onto it/not lose it. I feel this will present you with an opportunity to engage with your ‘lament for the dead' perspective you mention in your original mail At the end of the piece you have three options - which can be improvised during performance:

1) Wait for the heart beat (and the piece) to end. Note how it slows down toward the end.
2) I could organise one of my colleagues to fade the heartbeat via the volume control of the PA amplifier.
3) I could organise one of my colleagues to stop the heartbeat suddenly.

Points 2 & 3 could be instigated by a cue from you. This is a similar process that jazz musicians use to end solos.

Improvisation

2007-03-26T15:02:54Z

Here is the final version of the piece for the improvisation conference. Programme notes to follow shortly.

Memory 2

2007-03-17T12:43:14Z

Here is a new version of the piece for the improvisation conference.

memory

2007-03-04T15:14:11Z

Here is an unmixed demo of a piece i am writing for a improvisation conference.

My Space

2007-01-25T11:54:22Z

For those of you interested in listening to some of my music, I now have the beginnings of a My Space site. You can find it at www.myspace.com/paulcarrgroup

Zappa Publication

2007-01-16T21:35:02Z

Myself and Richard Hand have had our paper on Frank Zappa published in 'Studies in Musical Theatre'. Details can be found here:

Charlie Christian

2006-12-12T14:41:46Z

Here are some links on Charlie Christian. The first contains transcriptions and audio files - very interesting.

http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccsolos.htm

Discussion Forum

Palatine

2006-07-18T18:55:41Z

Palitine have upgraded the Zappa research project with a selection of pictures taken during the experiment. An outline of the project can be found here, and the report here. The pictures are taken by the University's Mike Davies.

Pop cultures

2006-07-12T22:59:33Z

I have just discovered a really interesting site related to the Popcultures journal. It has numerous links related to the Creative and Cultural Industries, and has 'call for papers' links. Worth a look.

http://popcultures.com/

Stevie Wonder Review

2006-06-22T15:53:39Z

I have just completed a review for the 'Popular Music' journal. Here it is below:

The Sound of Stevie Wonder:His Words and Music. By James E. Perone. Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 2006. xiii + 187pp.

The first of a series of Praeger Singer Songwriter collections focusing on artists who have been active from the mid 1960's through to the present day, this volume claims to be the first critical work directly focused upon Stevie Wonder's iconic status within popular music. Perone's publication essentially concentrates upon the music, lyrics, and recordings of Wonder, in particular his work as a singer, instrumentalist, and most importantly songwriter and composer. It is arranged chronologically, with biographical information interspersed throughout the text, and includes a useful discography of all songs discussed. Divided into six principal chapters that are in turn related to specific periods of Wonder's artistic development, the book serves as a ‘listeners guide', with particular emphasis placed on his post 1970's recordings. The final chapter discusses other artists who have recorded Wonder's works, and includes a touching final paragraph that summarises his artistic achievements.

It is easy to underestimate the impact Wonder has had on the popular music canon, and we are reminded during the introduction of his substantial achievements. After an inauspicious start to his career in the early 1960's as the pre teen ‘Little Stevie Wonder', he subsequently progressed to release singles that made the Billboard charts every year between 1963 and 1988, a statistic that enabled him to become the 4^th most successful singles artist of the period. Awards include being elected to the ‘Rock and Roll Hall of Fame' in 1989, and the recipient of no less than 19 Grammy awards.

Although a text such as this is long overdue, the analysis is disappointingly superficial in terms of musicological content, generally alluding to interesting concepts, but lacking the depth to scientifically substantiate. The omission of musical quotation throughout this publication results in many of Perone's points lacking clarity, a factor that make arguments vague to the musicologist, and confusing for the casual reader. The Sound of Stevie Wonder therefore tends to straddle the divide between academia and a more general readership. I presume that copyright restrictions are the root of this problem, but even the liaison of specific phrase structures or harmonic patterns to CD timings would have assisted at least some cross-referencing. A more serious concern is the seemingly subjective assertive arguments that simply are not substantiated. For example Wonder's incorporation of the minor pentatonic scale in "My Cherie Amour" is said to be reiterated in "several other compositions" (p.17), but there is no specific mention of which compositions these influences are related to. There are also numerous discussions on how Wonder's music has influenced Prince in particular (p.20, p.30, p.85 & p.107 for example), but not a single specific example in the latter's portfolio is cross-referenced. Although this trait may be acceptable for the non-academic market, I personally found not being able to elaborate upon many of these interesting discussions highly frustrating.

The Sound of Stevie Wonder generally reads as a subjective analysis of Wonder's work, which is not necessarily a negative point, but the latitude of the book could unquestionably have been improved if more perspectives were included. It was also apparent that very little of the text discussed how Wonder himself regarded the inspirational, cultural, sociological, or musicological perspectives of his work. This again would have placed an additional dimension to the publication, and made it less subjective.

Despite my reservations above, The Praeger Singer - Songwriter Collection looks to be an exciting prospect, and it will be interesting to observe how it develops. Having previously written numerous texts for the Greenwood publishing group, including biographies on Elvis Costello and Carole King, Perone is well qualified to document the inaugural edition, and act as series editor.

To conclude, this volume serves as a useful introduction to the music of Stevie Wonder, and alludes to some interesting perceptual points. The publication is consequently a welcome, albeit frustrating addition.

Paul Carr

University of Glamorgan

Palatine Report

2006-06-17T13:29:38Z

Myself and Richard Hand have recently completed a small research project for Palatine. The completed document ca be found at: http://www.lancs.ac.uk/palatine/dev-awards/carr-hand.htm

I will place a note soon regarding an update of my other activities over the last couple of months

Conference on Frank Zappa and Gesture

2006-04-04T21:35:22Z

Myself and Richard Hand will be presenting a paper on Frank Zappa's incorporation of musical gesture at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.

Details of the conference can be found here.

Entire Walking Distance Album

2006-04-04T17:06:45Z

The Mount

Additional notes on Joe's Garage

2006-03-27T20:49:28Z

Regarding the general concept of the album, this was not the first time he experimented with the potential of the criminal nature of music. See 200 motels - Strickly Genteel.

Joe's Garage - In addition to Nite Owl, piece quotes Wipe Out. Originally recorded at Pal Studio, Cucamonga, and released by The Surfaris (DFS 11/2, 1962; reissued as Princess 50, 1962; then as Dot 16479, 1963)

Catholic Girls - quotes: All the way Originally recorded by Frank Sinatra for the movie The Joker Is Wild (1957)Tarantella Calabrese (Calabrian Tarantella),La donna è mobile (from Rigoletto, Wet T Shirt - quote from Mo 'N Herb's Vacation,Toad o line - quote from hold the line, Sy Berg - includes quotes from All The Way (Cahn/Van Heusen), Oh No and Pushin' Too Hard (Saxon)

keep it Greasy - quote from midnight sun (Hampton/Burke/Mercer)

Ionclean video

2006-03-27T11:10:53Z

The link for a recently completed advertising piece can be found here. Be warned, it is in thumbnail format.