In this artistic research project I have been exploring new possibilities and roles as an improvising vocalist. I have been working with a mix of electronically processed voice sound and the use of acoustic voice sound in the improvised interplay. Further, I have explored artistic possibilities for the vocalist in the continuum ranging from narrative storytelling to ‟abstract” sound manipulation, within the same performance/form. This last part has been carried out as a solo performance, and also as a specific research project.
The first part of my research has focussed on the artistic use of equipment/tools for the electronic manipulation of sound; exploring and developing technical and musical skills and methods, and developing further the musical ideas generated by these. This has been related to my work with specific musical settings, which represent various frameworks for improvisation with a mix of acoustic and electronic sounds. The ensembles and the musicians taking part in them can all be recognised within an open, contemporary European jazz/improv tradition. It has been important for me to reach the point where I can work with electronics in an intuitive way, to find new ways of using them in the interplay and also to find musical solutions for needs that have been discovered during the process. This work has been an ongoing process throughout the whole period of my project.
As a second part of my research I have worked with a project entitled ‟short-story of sound ”. My idea has been to make use of the spoken, narrative text, as a counterpart to the more abstract, processed sound of the voice. I wanted to go into the role of the storyteller and try to combine this with my role as a musician, in a musical ‟monologue” which explored and combined different vocal expressions. I wanted to examine what happens in the relationship between audience and the performer, when the voice moves back and forth in this continuum between referential meaning and ‟pure sound”. In this project I have been cooperating with NTNU researcher Andreas Bergsland, also as part of his postdoctoral project entitled Live electronics from a performativity perspective.