Haguel, Rotem and Paterson, Justin ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7822-319X (2023) Thoughts on Developing a Contemplative Modular System. In: TBC. Innovation in Music:. Routledge, Abingdon and New York. (Submitted)

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Abstract

This chapter constitutes part of a practice-based, autoethnographic doctoral research, which focuses on performing with modular instruments in response to the author’s (Haguel's) experience as a meditation practitioner. In particular, the chapter aims to explores building a modular system to create works that immerse listeners in meditative contemplation. During system building, textual and audio-visual journals were captured and later analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (Reflexive TA). The first theme discusses the roles at play within the production of modular performance. The second and third themes explore how change might manifest in modular composition and performance, through sonic manipulation and pattern repetition. A fourth theme highlights the importance of physical interaction and cross-modal sonic perception within modular performance practices. The final theme examines how modular praxis might urge a reflection and re-evaluation on practitioners’ tendencies and habituation. This prompt further investigation into how this system in question might be utilised to develop a performance portfolio, and how this process might inform the suggested themes.

Based on autoethnographic data collected and analysed elsewhere, certain guiding principles for contemplative music making are established upon initiating the cycle. These include pattern-based repetition, gradual musical process, timbral transformation and a particular interest in spatial effects. These emphases are seen to reflect the Buddhist notion of emptiness, according to which all objects—both physical and imaginary—are empty of their own existence, products of a complex web of causes and conditions. Following these guidelines, the author suggests several modular-based tools and techniques. Sequencing, for one, is offered as a way of establishing patterns, whereas sequence operations and delay processes create permutations and a sense of polyphony through pattern-overlay. Working with the idea of space as material, the case of the Make Noise Erbe-Verb is examined due to its affordance of flexible voltage control over digital reverb parameters. Finally, the author examines working with the harmonic oscillator, a device that employs Pythagorean just intonation to create complex timbres.

Showcasing his contemplative approach for working with modular synthesizers, the author performs a selection of works in progress using the suggested setup. Much like the practice of vipassana, where attention is directed towards the flux of bodily sensations, the resultant pieces promote a shift from goal-oriented, teleological forms of listening to a moment-to-moment observation of sound as changing phenomenon.

Item Type:	Book Section
Subjects:	Music
Related URLs:	Publisher
Depositing User:	Justin Paterson
Date Deposited:	10 Oct 2024 07:45
Last Modified:	11 Oct 2024 15:45
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/12770

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