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The first recipe (SUBJECT) is based on a basic formula that Balram & I often used, but it works best when some words of explanation can be exchanged, and more so for the VARIATION. During my travels, I will be experimenting with simpler recipes for musical communication - ones that can be conveyed without words, i.e., by gesture & sound alone. I invite both musicians & non-musicians to send me (pc@contuzzi.com) their ideas for accomplishing this - the simpler, the better. I'll give anything that sounds promising a try.
SUBJECT of the conversation – the first note played. The conversation starts quietly & ends quietly on this same note (“the ground”). In-between is an improvised conversation with music. The musicians take turns playing musical phrases, trying to comment in some way on what was just played (said). Before ending, they weave the musical lines together by commenting simultaneously for awhile (something words cannot do) and then finishing on the same note which began the conversation, the sound gradually dying away.
VARIATION (for the “in-between” section): The musicians alternate playing solo and accompaniment – from a few seconds each to a minute or more. When playing accompaniment, they provide the ground in a rhythmic way, enriching it (for example, with chords or arpeggio notes) as the conversation develops. When soloing, they relate their solo in some way to the one just played. Before ending, they weave the musical lines together by commenting simultaneously for awhile.