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Live mediation: performing concerts using studio technology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 September 2016

Yngvar Kjus  and
Anne Danielsen
Yngvar Kjus
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway E-mail: [email protected]
Anne Danielsen
Affiliation:
University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The use of computers is continuously changing the sound of records but also increasingly challenging established forms of live concert aesthetics. So what becomes of creativity and expressivity in the live performance? In this study, we present an artist-oriented approach to this question through interviews with artists invested in performing studio works on stage, as well as improvising musicians using studio technology in their concerts. We find that challenges to creative authorship and expressive agency are constantly negotiated through evolving practices of up- and down-scaling particular aspects of studio works on stage, as well as designing technological setups tailored to individual forms of improvisation. While these practices challenge deep-rooted notions of the ‘right’ or appropriate bond between musician and music, the appropriation of studio technology in live performance has clearly become an integral part of many artists’ continual exploration of their musical agency.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 35 , Issue 3 , October 2016 , pp. 320 - 337
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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