To develop musical thinking and acting in improvisation is a continuing process that is never finished or complete. This research can – and will – be continued in my ongoing musical projects, as further investigation of instruments and techniques, and of the different roles in the interplay. I have also become aware of borderlines in my genre that can be challenged through further investigation within my musical projects, regarding choices of tools, techniques and sound. These borderlines are also fields to explore further in the development of new tools for live electronics. To design new tools is already an important field for research and important contributions have been made, although very often within the aesthetics and premises of contemporary electroacoustic or electronic music. In the development of new technology and instruments, it is also necessary for musicians and technologists to collaborate with a focus on the musical expression and the musicians’ situation in the real-time interplay. There are limits regarding how much you are able to control at the same time and at the necessary tempo. One relevant question for me in this regard is whether I am willing to abandon some parts of my instrument in order to be able to control something else.
The use of narrative as part of my musical expression is an area that will be explored further through new stories, new venues and new audiences. Each new story will create new premises for the music and the performance – but the performance form and my musical preferences will also be important in my choice of stories. One important question here will be if, and how, the stories – not only as narratives, but also as cultural expressions – should direct or adjust the artistic expression – in order to pay respect to the stories’ origins.
The research on performance with voice and live electronics and the audience experience will be continued and developed further through the postdoctoral project of Andreas Bergsland. This research has so far revealed areas of complexity that need further investigation, as, for instance, the question about identification.
It has been important for me to make my artistic research available to practitioners in my genre. I hope the music and my reflections can lead to new discussions, reflections and ideas within my musical field, especially among vocalists. I also regard my research and these reflections as being an important tool in my contact with students. Thus, there are likely to be several interesting pedagogical applications for my work.
In my capacity as a vocal performer, an improvising musician, a pedagogue and a participant in the broad field of music technology, I therefore regard the results of my artistic project and the presentation of them to represent more of a starting point than an end.