“ ”* by Mark Robinson

Minimum Requirements:

5 performers

5 copies of graphic score and this instruction sheet

1 large graphic score mounted for audience viewing

1 digital counter plus operator (referee)

'' ' Graphic Score' 2003

The base idea behind this musical composition is its entirely conceptual nature. The performance of the piece will involve several musicians (hereafter referred to as performers) who will not require instruments, nor will they be required to make any vocal or percussive sounds using the human body, although there is no strict enforcement of silence. Those taking part will attempt to create music in a virtual sense, in other words, no physical sounds will necessarily be produced as the performers strive to think music. Therefore, the piece invites the observer (the listener) into musical and philosophical thought more than it invites him to exploit his ability to listen to and enjoy physical sounds. From the points of view of both those involved in the performance and the observer, the piece should be wholly experiential (albeit minimally from an external viewpoint) depending on how deeply into thought the final duration of the performance allows the observer to go.

Although the composition is fundamentally one of abstraction and surrealism, and thus does not necessarily require any tangible parameters to function, it does require a graphic score which is the main stimulus from which conceptual musical ideas will be catalysed. The score is a simple (but complex) hand-drawn line illustration which must be mounted on a flat surface like paper or card. As this is a conceptual piece, it is also an attempt at blurring the borders between music, art, and thought, so the score may also be displayed separately as a piece of art in it’s own right, used as the basis for philosophical thinking, or used creatively in any combination of art, music and philosophy. At least five copies of this illustration must be made up, as well as a larger version of the score for the audience to see (mounted above the performers on the stage), although there is no ceiling on the number of copies and performers that may be used. The graphic score must be visible (and legible) to all performers and observers.

Positioned in a circle facing inwards, each performer stands or sits in front of his copy of the score at a distance of about thirty centimetres. Music stands should ideally be used, although performers can also hold the score out in front of them. However, this requires unnecessary energy which could be better used mentally. The idea is to create the purest and most uncoloured environment as possible. Throughout the performance, performers must not look at anything except either the graphic score, the referee (who must sit in the middle of the circle), or the required centrally mounted digital counter (which everyone should be able to see clearly), but they are permitted and advised to close their eyes whenever this is necessary. The score should take up the majority of their field of view, and no large objects should be in or near their immediate environment. The room used should also be relatively free from audible distractions, although complete silence is not compulsory as this may provide further subtle sensory stimulation. Soft, dim light is advisable, but performers must have a clear view of their score. Each performer must have one graphic score to read from.

Before the performance begins, there should be a two minute or so period of time in which the performers are able to mentally acclimatize to the situation. The performance begins when the counter is started by the referee. He must signal this clearly to the performers by using a predetermined hand signal. The minimum period of duration for the piece is ten minutes, as anything less would not allow any real thought processes to mature. The referee must signal the ten minute point using the same hand signal. After this point, performers are free to drop out whenever they wish to, but they must make this clear by quietly placing their score face down on the ground. The performance continues until there is only one remaining performer reading from the score who is allowed a maximum of ten minutes in which to bring the performance to an end. The referee must use the hand signal again to signify the end of the performance. There should also be a minute or so at the end for the performers to re-acclimatise if this is necessary.

There are several techniques for reading from the graphic score, none of which are better or more effective than any other, but browsing is generally recommended. The performers must use their best efforts to imagine the types of music and sounds which might be produced by the complex lines and colours on the score, for example by following particular paths or colours, by staring into a part of the picture in order to bring on a trance-like state of consciousness, or they may simply utilise it as a general visual cue. An RGB (red, green, blue) and CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black)), colour reference map is included on the score. This is intended to stimulate a degree of synaesthesia in the performers because there is such a close relationship between visual and audible stimuli. Colours can be used to describe music, so music must be able to describe colours, for example, the statement ‘this music is red’ can logically be resolved to the statement ‘this red is music.’ Colours can also effectively evoke and fuel memories and emotions and this is very useful for the musician and performer. For example, to encourage more passion and vigour in the imagined music, warmer colours like reds and oranges could be focused on, whereas cooler colours like blues and black might create darker, negative imagined music. Whichever process is used, performers should try their best to concentrate fully on what music is in their imagination, and use it and the score in unison so that the music self-replicates in an additive, paradoxical fashion. The score does not aim to produce music of any particular kind. In fact, that would be detrimental to the end result, but the particular processes used and the randomness of the graphic score probably lend themselves to an orchestral, spiritual and unimaginable (!) type of music than any other.

There are two reasons why this experimental composition was created. The first is to explore whether music created in the human mind and manipulated in real-time can be as emotionally and psychologically powerful as music which has been recorded, or has otherwise found its way into the physical universe. In theory, music which has not yet made its way out of the human mind has a much better chance of satisfying the vulnerability of our emotions, because it has not yet been coloured by the myriad of physical limitations that exist in the universe. Recorded music, unlike music of the mind, lacks the absence of structure and form. By it’s very nature, a physical waveform is restricted precisely by what it sounds like, whereas music which does not ever attempt to exit the mind will always remain organic, fluid, unwritten, and changeable.

The second point to the composition is to try to show that this is not just an exercise in minimalism as could easily be assumed. The fact is, music is produced in the mind under closely controlled circumstances, and just because it is inaudible to any other person but the subject does not mean it is not equally as valuable. Anyone can perform this piece, not only musicians, because the final musical result is not open to criticism in the normal way, so the inability to play an instrument, for example, is irrelevant. It encourages anyone to challenge their musical creativity, regardless of skill or experience.

A great deal of patience and understanding will be required for this composition to achieve even a small part of what it aims to, but careful concentration and a real will to successfully experience what music the mind has to offer should produce something very worthy of interest.

*The actual title of this composition cannot be expressed in words, pictures or actions, though to make this as clear and understandable as possible, quotation marks with empty space inside have been used. They only help to contain the idea of the title of this composition.