Timbre-and-Form

In small galleries and warehouse lofts, the Boston improvisational scene presents concerts of timbre-and-form-based electro-acoustic music. This vibrant community of musicians is informed by the music of Cage, Feldman, Lachenmann, Eddie Prévost, and others, while coming from backgrounds in classical, jazz, electronica, world, and rock. This chapter focuses on Bhob Rainey and his ensemble, the BSC. A series of interviews with the group provides the basis for exploring their history, how they view their own music, how they listen to it, how they create it, and who inspires them. At the heart of the essay is an analysis of one of the group’s improvisations. In this music, which often lacks pitch and harmonic progression, narrative hinges on the real-time discovery and shaping of unique sounds by performers sensitive to cause and effect. Through a technique called “analytical fantasy,” the intentions behind the player’s musical decisions are surmised, connecting the process of free improvisation to the resulting architectonics (phrases, cadences, and sections). A graphic transcription reveals a counterpoint of sounds supporting an elongated phrase structure and an arching form that does not completely return.