🎶Experimental Music Unit 12 – Contemporary Experimental Music: 2000-Present

Key Concepts and Trends

• Experimental music continues to challenge traditional notions of composition, performance, and listening in the 21st century
• Embraces a wide range of unconventional sounds, structures, and performance practices (extended techniques, prepared instruments, found objects)
• Emphasizes process, chance, and indeterminacy as central elements in the creation and realization of musical works
  • Aleatoric music incorporates elements of chance or randomness in the composition or performance
  • Generative music involves systems or algorithms that create music with some level of autonomy
• Explores the boundaries between music, noise, and silence, often incorporating extended periods of quiet or non-musical sounds
• Interdisciplinary collaborations with visual artists, dancers, and technologists have become increasingly common (multimedia installations, interactive performances)
• Focuses on immersive and site-specific experiences that engage audiences in new ways (sound walks, participatory works)
• Reflects a growing interest in environmental and ecological themes, using natural sounds and phenomena as musical materials

Influential Composers and Artists

• Alvin Lucier continues to explore the physical properties of sound and space (I Am Sitting in a Room, Vespers)
• Pauline Oliveros's Deep Listening practice emphasizes mindfulness, improvisation, and acoustic ecology (Sonic Meditations, Deep Listening Band)
• Ryoji Ikeda creates immersive audiovisual installations and performances using data, mathematics, and digital technology (datamatics, superposition)
• Onkyokei artists in Japan, such as Toshimaru Nakamura and Sachiko M, explore the possibilities of minimal, sustained sounds using unconventional techniques (no-input mixing board, sampler feedback)
• Hildur Guðnadóttir combines cello, voice, and electronic processing to create haunting, atmospheric soundscapes (Leyfðu Ljósinu, Chernobyl soundtrack)
• Ellen Fullman builds and performs on large-scale, site-specific long string instruments that explore the resonance of architectural spaces
• Pamela Z integrates voice, live electronic processing, and gesture-controlled multimedia in her solo performances and installations

Technological Advancements

• Affordable, portable, and powerful digital tools have made it easier for artists to create, manipulate, and distribute experimental music (laptops, smartphones, tablets)
  • Software like Max/MSP, Pure Data, and SuperCollider allow for complex real-time processing and generative composition
  • Mobile apps and web-based platforms enable interactive and collaborative experiences (Bloom, RJDJ, Otomata)
• Advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence have opened up new possibilities for computer-assisted composition and performance (Google Magenta, Sony's Flow Machines)
• Spatial audio technologies, such as ambisonics and wave field synthesis, have enhanced the immersive potential of experimental music (4DSOUND, Envelop)
• DIY and open-source hardware, including microcontrollers and sensors, have empowered artists to create custom instruments and interactive systems (Arduino, Bela, Raspberry Pi)
• Streaming platforms and online communities have facilitated the dissemination and discussion of experimental music globally (Bandcamp, SoundCloud, llllllll.co)

Notable Works and Performances

• Sonic Acts Festival (2000-present) in Amsterdam showcases cutting-edge audiovisual performances, installations, and lectures at the intersection of art, science, and technology
• Alvin Lucier's Clocker (2011) uses galvanic skin response sensors to create a feedback loop between the performer's body and the sound of a ticking clock
• Ryoji Ikeda's Supersymmetry (2014) is a large-scale audiovisual installation inspired by particle physics, featuring immersive projections and spatialized sound
• Tarek Atoui's The Reverse Collection (2016) is a series of performances and workshops that explore the sonic possibilities of objects collected from the harbor of Abu Dhabi
• Ellen Fullman and Theresa Wong's Harbors (2020) is a site-specific long string instrument installation and performance that responds to the acoustics and history of San Francisco's Fort Mason Center
• Kali Malone's The Sacrificial Code (2019) is a pipe organ work that explores extended duration, psychoacoustic phenomena, and the relationship between sound and architecture
• Pamela Z's Carbon Song Cycle (2013) is a multimedia performance that addresses climate change through voice, live electronic processing, and interactive video

Experimental Techniques and Approaches

• Prepared instruments involve modifying conventional instruments with objects (paper, screws, rubber) to alter their timbre and pitch (John Cage's prepared piano)
• Extended techniques expand the sonic possibilities of traditional instruments through unconventional playing methods (multiphonics, bowing behind the bridge, circular breathing)
• Graphic notation uses visual symbols, shapes, and colors to represent musical ideas, allowing for greater interpretive freedom (Cornelius Cardew's Treatise)
• Text scores provide verbal instructions or descriptions that guide the performer's actions or decisions (Yoko Ono's Grapefruit)
• Live coding involves writing and manipulating computer code in real-time to generate or process sound and visuals (Algorave, TidalCycles)
• Field recording and phonography incorporate environmental sounds and soundscapes into compositions or performances (Chris Watson, Jana Winderen)
• Networked performance connects musicians in different locations through the internet, enabling real-time collaboration and interaction (Telematic music, Distributed Improvisation)

Cultural and Social Impacts

• Experimental music challenges listeners to reconsider their assumptions about what constitutes music and encourages active, engaged listening
• Promotes diversity and inclusion by embracing a wide range of cultural influences, non-Western traditions, and underrepresented voices
• Fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and exchange, bringing together artists, scientists, technologists, and scholars from various fields
• Engages with social and political issues, using sound as a medium for activism, critique, and raising awareness (Ultra-red, Guillermo Galindo)
• Creates immersive and participatory experiences that blur the boundaries between performer and audience, fostering a sense of community and shared exploration
• Supports DIY and grassroots initiatives, such as independent labels, artist-run spaces, and community workshops, that empower artists and listeners
• Contributes to the development of new technologies and innovative applications of existing tools, driving advancements in areas beyond music

Crossovers with Other Genres

• Experimental electronic music has influenced and been influenced by various genres, including glitch, IDM, noise, and ambient (Autechre, Aphex Twin, Oneohtrix Point Never)
• Free improvisation and experimental jazz have embraced extended techniques, unconventional instrumentation, and open-ended structures (Peter Brötzmann, John Zorn, Mary Halvorson)
• Contemporary classical music has incorporated experimental techniques and concepts, blurring the lines between composition and improvisation (Georg Friedrich Haas, Rebecca Saunders, Jennifer Walshe)
• Sound art and installation art have explored the spatial and sculptural aspects of sound, often using experimental music techniques and technologies (Janet Cardiff, Zimoun, Camille Norment)
• Experimental approaches have been applied to popular music genres, such as rock, hip-hop, and electronic dance music, pushing the boundaries of conventional song structures and production techniques (Radiohead, Death Grips, Holly Herndon)

Future Directions and Emerging Trends

• Continued exploration of the relationship between music, science, and technology, drawing inspiration from fields such as neuroscience, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence
• Growing interest in eco-acoustics and the use of natural materials and processes in experimental music composition and performance
• Increased emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration and the creation of immersive, multi-sensory experiences that engage audiences in new ways
• Further development of AI-assisted composition and performance tools, as well as the use of machine learning to analyze and generate experimental music
• Expansion of networked and telematic performance practices, enabling real-time collaboration between artists across the globe
• Greater recognition and support for diverse voices and perspectives in experimental music, including artists from underrepresented communities and non-Western traditions
• Exploration of the therapeutic and transformative potential of experimental music in healthcare, education, and social activism
• Continued blurring of boundaries between music, sound art, and other creative disciplines, leading to new hybrid forms and experiences