Associate Professor Robert Burke

DDCA Conference September 2015

• Symposium – Perspectives of Artistic Research in Music (ARiM)– Monash University July 2105

• Jazz Reference Group• Methodology – Dissemination –

Effect

Outline

Background

• Symposium – Perspectives of Artistic Research in Music (ARiM) – Why?

Symposium July 2015

Perspectives on artistic research in musicSir Zelman Cowen School of Music – Monash University

23- 24 July 2015

• Models of Artistic Research: Theoretical models, case studies and future directions

• Conflict of the faculties: Where does artistic research sit within the academy?

• Analysing performance/composition: methods of analysis appropriate to its particular modalities

• Realising artistic research in music practice

Themes

• Models of Artistic Research: Theoretical models, case studies and future directions

• Conflict of the faculties: Where does artistic research sit within the academy?

• Analysing performance/composition: methods of analysis appropriate to its particular modalities

• Realising artistic research in music practice

Final - Categories

• Theorising Artistic Research• University - Academy• Practice (Models)

Outcome 1

There is a need to settle on a common term to describe research as: artistic research in music, practice-based research, practice as research, creative research, non-traditional research, etc. Problem - "...this is not what I do”,,, “…this means”

Outcome 2

Artistic research in music is still not well understood within the academy. It needs to be articulated, clarified, debated and disseminated, on a regular basis.

Resistance - guarding own territory

• Regular - scheduled meet-ups • Yearly symposium • International conference presentations – publications

Outcome 3

Artistic research in music has its own verification procedures that need to be brought into the academy (cross institutional), especially in terms of the standardization of non-traditional research outputs, including the description of the criteria for allocation of research points for the purposes of data collection such as HERDC and ERA. • National Standardisation • Complex (detailed) v Simple (streamlined approach)

Outcome 4

Artistic research comes from “inside the researcher”. It is “subjective” and exists in a third space between practice, description and analysis. This space includes dialogue between the composer and the performer, the past and the present, the fixed and the fluid, the intellectual and the intuitive, the abstract and the embodied, preparation and spontaneity, the enduring and the transitory. It is not so much constructed in a logical, sequential manner as “braided”, woven from many disparate elements.

Outcome 5

There is a need for wider cross-institutional sharing of details about practices in artistic research in music and the criteria used to evaluate these, both at the doctoral level and in academic work.

• Scoping of the sector• Peer review

Outcome 6

The ways in which academic knowledge is being presented is changing quickly with the increasing use of electronic media. This is currently a difficulty for artistic research but may turn out to be an advantage in the long run.

Example: Huddersfield University – Liza Lim• http://cerenem.ricercata.org/

Outcome 7

The Symposium committed itself to an ongoing series of conferences on artistic research in music and the development of a national steering group to record proceedings and set direction

“Scoping leading to standardisation to inform peer review” – C.Hope, P.Draper, R.Burke

Jazz Research Group

Rob Burke (Monash), Rob Vincs (Unimelb), Paul Williamson (Monash), Chris Coady (UniSyd), Michael Webb (UniSyd), Glen Hodges (UTAS), Andrys Onsman (UniMelb), Geoff Hughes (Unimelb), Nick Haywood (UTAS) (Looking at all other institutions that research Jazz/improvisation) Griffith, Macquarie, UWA, WAPPA, etc)- New Zealand – possibly Asia

Aims

To set up a cross-institution research collective in Jazz • Repository of Exemplars• Sharing of Research• Examination of HDR’s - assessors/examiners• Peer Review• National and International impact – Conferences, publications

Events 2014/15

• Sydney Conservatorium– Sydney Con Jazz Research Symposium

• ‘Why jazz research is important’• ‘The experience of undertaking a PhD on a jazz topic’

• VCABlueshift – Ed SarathBlueshift intends to identify key research questions in improvised music practice and scholarship within the academic environment creating intersections for practitioner- researchers to support, promote and develop the art form and scholarship of improvised music practice

Blueshift - VCA

Ed Sarath (USA)Key discussion points included:

• The scope and nature of improvised music practice• The relationship of improvised music practice to neuro-

psychology: “The Improvising Brain”• The political, social and spiritual agency of improvised music• Artistic-led research methodology and validation of research

projects• Mutual support networks, ARC Linkage possibilities, de-

territorialising the field • Our intention is begin an inclusive collegial dialogue.

Rhythm Changes – Birmingham 2016

Australian contingent – Jazz researchersKeynote Speakers:Professor Ingrid Monson (Harvard University)‘Saying Something – Jazz improvisation and interaction’

Professor Raymond MacDonald (University of Edinburgh)

Theme: (one of 3)Inside / outside: jazz and its othersWhat does jazz mean to its community of insiders and those that approach it from outside? For those who are deeply involved with jazz, whether musicians, critics, scholars, or fans, the genre often provides a utopian space for creative encounters. By definition, the articulation of this space through performance, writing, research and consumption also creates a community of outsiders who may seek ways to engage with the jazz community or observe it from afar. This strand invites papers that address the relationships between jazz and its ‘others’, defined in relation to music making, criticism, scholarship or reception, whether these interactions are antagonistic or collaborative in tone.

AbstractsDr. Robert Vincs - University Melbourne• Pain waves in the Void of the Uncomposable In response to the provocation: “In Utopia, jazz is the effort to sound another world into being.”

Associate Professor Rob Burke - Monash University• Learning to ignore: inside the unfamiliar

Dr. Andrys Onsman - University Melbourne• Blurred Boundaries: Neither just inside nor just outside

Dr Nick Haywood - University of Tasmania• From the Inside Looking Out: identification of problems in group improvisation

Glen Hodges - University of Tasmania• “Move” an ‘outside’ solo ahead of its time? - Dr Glen Hodges

Geoff Hughes - University Melbourne• The Eugenic Potential of the ‘Comprovisational Period’

Artistic Research in Music (Arim)Musician and Machine – New York July 2015

Musician and MachineA backwards design approach

• Preparation – a collection of improvising musicians starting from scratch in the studio– No pre-composed work– No rehearsal– Improvisation - Expertise + Creativity

• Musicians – George Lewis, Paul Grabowsky, Mark Helias, Rob Burke– Video– Recording - Studio– Photos– Interview – Questions

• What - in your opinion - is improvisation? (what do you do?)• Reflect on your performance (in the project)

Dissemination and DocumentationA backwards design approach

• Performance (recording) – Interviews • Reflexive analysis and action (in the moment)• Editing – Performance (mixing/mastering)- Video• Reflective analysis – Performance/interviews –

Methodology(s) informed by the performance• Contextualisation• Research question• Outcomes:

– CD release– Video release– Journal/article

DISCUSSION

Scoping leading to standardisation to inform peer

review