Fairhall, AL., 2018.

Idiosyncrasy in the Improvising Voice

Idiosyncrasy in the Improvising 'Voice'.


The use of extended instrumental techniques and non-conventional means of sound production has become a mainstay of free improvised music, and may fulfil several functions; it is a means to contribute to improvised ensemble discourse without imposing the harmonic codes that fixed pitches, played cleanly, may imply; it points to an interest in timbre and texture as parameters equal to the conventionally-valued parameters of harmony, melody and rhythm; it continues an intertextual dialogue with those musics - including free jazz, avant-garde classical music and non-Western musics - which are often of interest to free improvisers; it manifests what Derek Bailey termed the 'Instrumental impulse' in improvised music; and it helps facilitate the development of an idiosyncratic improvising 'voice'. The latter point - the possibility of a recognisable musical identity - may seem to counter the emphasis on spontaneity that characterises much discourse around free improvisation. However, in the most accomplished players, the developed improvising voice is a highly flexible and polysemic phenomenon, able to function in a variety of ensemble and cultural contexts, and always pointing to the possibility of musical discovery, even if spontaneity can never be absolute.

This contribution to the panel will address the value of idiosyncratic technique in improvised music and defend the notion of an improvising 'voice'.