Today we examined static musical structures. This was our experimental setup: in a first step all participants create a short vocal motiv. To be able to concentrate just on one´s own singing, everybody covered their ears. The next step is to uncover the ears and listen to all the voices while repeating one´s own motiv. And then: just keep on repeating that very same motiv while listening closely to the overall sound. The motivs where of differing length and there was no synchroniszation to a pulse, so the limited number of motivs occurred in countless new constellations. Within the static structure there was constant change.
The chosen experimental setup combines improvisation with a meditative approach. The spontaneous creation of a vocal motiv happens just on the spot - once it is created, it is simply repeated and all the interplay, all the differing combinations of voices take place as an outcome of the shared process. The challenge of having let go of intentionality and spontaneous impulses is rewarded by the delicate pleasure of listening to the subtle nuances of the sound that can be cherished fully in a receptive state.
