Free improvised Music — Germany

Without a clear and obvious reason, free-improvised music is the less supported music manifestation in Germany. To survive professionally, free improvisers have to find totally different ways to make music (or to opt for another way of living). This fact negatively affects the development of free improvised music, which has been demonstrating being one of the most fresh and innovative music tendencies, either in the sonic direction, the creation of new instruments and the new ways music can be created in general.

Whatever form of improvisational resource may now be conceived as a feasible creation tool even for the most reluctant contemporary composer. By the way... composers, as omniscient-historical personalities are disappearing... contemporary music is over, philosophically speaking, The end of hegemonic conservative ruling aesthetics, the development and urban democratization of technology and the urban global communication have a clear impact in today’s music.

Still, German music-supporting public institutions, agencies, foundations and sponsors systemically insist in supporting certain, specific musical "trends" because these trends pertain to marketing systems usually related with esthetical judgments and quantitative, commercial, demographic and consumer statistics.

The music-performance-contest is the most accentuated institutional tool of musical judgment: Winning contests is an important goal for music performers when they want to strength and consolidate their careers. It is a powerful, hegemonic system of musical judgment related also with plain marketing, stressed academic interests and homo cultural institutions and politicians.

Departing from this fact, we want (The Tilt) to establish a different, ironic, feasible and open way to confront free improvisers within a contest and send a message to the audience, the musicians and the institutions: If it will be judged, new music requires new judgment criteria...

— With a dynamic participation of audience through open, real-time-based selection tools.

— Through the use of a random selection process of individual musicians. By conform an ensemble right before a concert, at stage, they have resolve their improvisations skills instantly, with unknown musicians.

— Through the selection of well know music personalities who will informally interact with the audience after each session to asssit them to conclude what is “good” and “bad” in improvised music, and why.

We want to take advantage of this encounter to promote the free improvisation scene in Berlin (the Capital of free improvisation in the world) and to create an atmosphere of encounter and communication within musicians and audience. We want also to provide the audience with new cognoscitive and spiritual tools and music spectra to be better acquainted to the newest musical expressions in Berlin.

Free improvised music is the most "anti-contest" music manifestations, for several reasons:

— "Music quality" is hardly definable and exceptionally desired as a ruling concept. New-cynical and anti hegemonic musicians don't like to be labeled within a relative "quality" qualification.
— Musical precision in terms of voice synchronicity and tuning is generally avoided. Any aesthetic approach related to academic or "classical" criteria is not welcome or not interesting to much of the free improvisers.
— “Composition quality” is a strange term for free improvisers, since free improvised music is not derived from rational, constructive linear processes, but moods and very subtle ways of sonic and mystical communication.
— Charisma and stage-presence is the last goal free improvisers are looking for (with some exceptions!).

The contest will be organized in the following stages: (if we get the money to do it!)

— Call for entries via electronic media through our network.

— Pre-selection stage using a pool of on-line-available sound files to be mixed to a solo performance recording, to be sent to the organizers

— An onstage-real-time-open-random-selection of participants to compose a spontaneous ensemble of maximum 2 musicians.
— After this random selection, an immediate 15 minutes concert. No musicians meetings and brainstorming will be allowed before the concert. The musicians have to resolve their performances in real time.

— After each session, the expert’s pool will comment and discuss the performance with the audience (meanwhile, the technicians set up the next session).

— Before the next session, audience will vote for the past ensemble via an electronic device.

— Votes will be averaged per audience proportion, not by quantity of persons.

— An animator actor/actress will comment and moderate the discussion between experts and audience, if any.

— Musicians will have the right to play two times that only day, with a new randomly selected musician or musicians, at different schedule.

— At the end of the day a winner will be announced and the prize will be paid in cash in that moment.

— The festival consists of two days. There will be two winners, 1000 Euro prize each duo, 500 each musician.

— A CD with the winner may be released. All the sessions will be audio and video recorded.

This contest will be realized within the context of the Festival Interaktion 2, in Berlin. Haus der Sinne.