Seda means voice, noise and sound in Farsi and thus reflects the open approach to the auditory medium, which linguistically restricts thinking e.g. in German or English. Whereas the auditive/sonic spectrum is widely differentiated in German (e.g. Rauschen, Geräusch, Ton, Klang, Lärm, Stimme) the English language is more holistic with the term sound or noise. Still both languages make a clear distinction between sounds produced by the human voice and other sound sources. This separation does not take place in all languages and strongly shapes our view onto narration, sound, embodiment and music – especially in the perception and production of sound in the very present, hence a key feature of improvisation. Improvisation is an everyday-tool, applied everywhere where impulse control meets social interaction, or simply avoiding neurotic behaviour.
The role of the nature of the sound source itself in live-electroacoustic music is often overestimated and overlooked at the same time. Live-processing, technical feasibility overshadows the dialogue between the sounds, the improvisers, the content, the audience, the environment, of the time based performance and reflect a strong gender bias in our imagination. Whereas the improvising musician is often referred to as an emotional, spontaneous, impulsive, reactive, creative, flow-oriented, holistic virtuosi, the role of “his” used content and equipment is tended to be characterised as a rational decision. Electronic and electroacoustic live performance dissolves this rational preliminary restriction of the analogue set-up by its nature. The same is true for the impro-text.
With support of the Land Niederösterreich