Improvisation and the Studio

I just finished recording a 4 song EP in Toronto at Canterbury studios. This experience brought to light certain insights regarding improvisation in a musical and sound engineering context. Come to think of it, a social context as well. Actually, even the preparation of the music, or the process of composing the music was a collaborative and improvisational process. I guess pretty much every element of this process has been touched by the spirit of improvisation. Let me start by quoting the great jazz pianist Keith Jarrett,

"If you already have a piece of music ingrained in your body, why would you not play it?"

"I don't like recording studios - except my own, which is just a little room above the garage"

"Once we're inside a tune, we can do anything with it."

"Jazz is there and gone. It happens. You have to be present for it. That simple."

Here is one of the tracks we recorded. It features a set compositional structure with improvisation worked into it. There is one extended section featuring bass and marimba. This was entirely improvised with some parameters. Myself and the bassist used thematic material from the composed portion of the song as a starting point for improvisation. The thematic material is the first branch of a recursive dance that continues until a spontaneous decision we make reverses the process of growth and allows the improvisation to metamorphose back into the composed section of the song. The song is called Wanting.



I'd like to describe my recording experience as it relates to these 4 insights. We'll start here and who knows where we'll end up. Think through these 4 quotes and I'll be back soon with my take on them and my experience.