Soundpainting is the live composing sign language created in 1974 by New York composer Walter Thompson for musicians, dancers, actors, poets, and visual artists. At present, the Soundpainting language comprises more than 1200 gestures that are signed by the composer/director, known as the Soundpainter, indicating the type of material desired of the performers. Direction of the composition is gained through the parameters of each set of signed gestures.
Contents
History of Soundpainting
In 1974, after attending a few years at Berklee College of Music, Walter Thompson moved to his family's summer house in Woodstock, New York. There he received a grant from the National Endowment on the Arts to study composition and woodwinds with Anthony Braxton. During this period, he also studied dance improvisation with Ruth Ingalls in Woodstock.
Woodstock in the 1970s was an interesting place for creative music experimentation. The Creative Music Studio (CMS), founded by Karl Berger, Don Cherry, and Ornette Coleman, invited composers and performers such as John Cage, Ed Blackwell, Carlos Santana, Don Cherry, Anthony Braxton, and Carla Bley to give two-week workshop/performances with the students. The CMS was closed during the summers, but many of the students remained in Woodstock. Thompson organized jam sessions with these students. Out of these sessions Thompson formed his first orchestra and produced a series of concerts at the Woodstock Kleinert Gallery. The focus of the orchestra was on large-group, jazz-based improvisation. It was during these early days that Thompson began experimenting with signing. He created very basic gestures, asking for a long tone or improvisation in a pointillist style, for example.
Thompson moved to New York City in 1980 and formed The Walter Thompson Orchestra (then called The Walter Thompson Big Band) in 1984. During the first year with his orchestra, while conducting a performance in Brooklyn, New York, Thompson needed to communicate with the orchestra in the middle of one of his compositions. They were performing a section of improvisation where Trumpet 2 was soloing. During the solo, Thompson wanted to have one of the other trumpet players create a background. Not wanting to emulate bandleaders who would yell or speak out loud to their orchestra, Thompson decided to use some of the signs he had experimented with during his Woodstock days. In the moment, he made up these signs: Trumpet 1, Background, With, 2-Measure, Feel; Watch Me, 4 Beats. He tried it, but the group did not respond. At the next rehearsal, members of his orchestra asked what the signing was about and he told them. With support of the Orchestra, Thompson continued to develop the language further. During the next 10 years, Thompson developed Soundpainting into a comprehensive sign language for creating live composition. He continued to develop new gestures, and in the early 1990s, Thompson expanded the Soundpainting language to include actors, dancers, poets, and visual artists.
In the late 1990s, Mr. Thompson was invited by Dave Liebman and Ed Sareth to give a Soundpainting workshop at the IASJ Conference in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This was the first time Mr. Thompson had shown Soundpainting to a European audience. Following the conference, there were many invitations to perform and teach Soundpainting. Most notable being an invitation from Francois Jeanneau to conduct a week-long workshop at the Conservatoire de Paris. Soundpainting is now being used in the professional and education arenas in many countries around the world.
Between 1998 and 2014 more than 20 ensembles have been founded specially in France. These ensembles utilise Soundpainting as a creative tool and a way to devise a performance that may even engage the audience itself. Most of them include actors and dancers as well as musicians. In 2013 the first international ('mondial') festival of Soundpainting was held in Paris, in October, directed by the soundpainter François Cotinaud : Soundpainting Festival. It featured seven or eight ensembles, including those of Walter Thompson himself as well as Angelique Cormier's and Benjamin Nid's.
In 2013 the International Soundpainting Federation (ISF) is founded in Lyon (France), for building University cursus of Soundpainting teaching.
Analysis
The Soundpainter (the composer) standing in front (usually) of the group communicates a series of signs using hand and body gestures indicating specific and/or aleatoric material to be performed by the group. The Soundpainter develops the responses of the performers, molding and shaping them into the composition then signs another set of gestures, a phrase, and continues in this process of composing the piece.
The Soundpainter composes in real time utilizing the gestures to create the composition in any way they desire. The Soundpainter sometimes knows what he/she will receive from the performers and sometimes does not know what he/she will receive – the elements of specificity and chance. The Soundpainter composes with what happens in the moment, whether expected or not.
The gestures of the Soundpainting language are signed using the syntax of Who, What, How and When. There are many types of gestures, some indicating specific material to be performed as well as others indicating specific styles, genres, aleatoric concepts, improvisation, disciplines, stage positions, costumes, props, among many others.
The Structure of Soundpainting
The Soundpainting gestures are grouped in two basic categories: Sculpting gestures and Function signals. Sculpting gestures indicate What type of material and How it is to be performed. Function signals indicate Who performs and When to begin performing. Who, What, How, and When comprise the Soundpainting syntax.
The Soundpainting syntax of Who, What, How, When and the two basic categories Sculpting Gestures and Function Signals are further broken down into six subcategories: Identifiers, Content, Modifiers, Go gestures, Modes, and Palettes.
- Identifiers are in the Function category and are Who gestures such as Whole Group, Woodwinds, Brass, Actor, Dancer, Group 1, Rest of the Group, etc.
- Content gestures are in the Sculpting category and identify What type of material is to be performed such as Pointillism, Minimalism, Long Tone, Play Can’t Play etc.
- Modifiers are in the Sculpting category and are How gestures such as Volume Fader and Tempo Fader.
- Go gestures are in the Function category and indicate When to enter or exit the composition and in some cases when to exit Content such as Snapshot or Launch Mode.
- Modes are in the Sculpting category and are Content gestures embodying specific performance parameters. Scanning, Point to Point, and Launch Mode are several examples of Modes.
- Palettes are in the Sculpting category and are primarily Content gestures identifying composed and/or rehearsed material (see Palettes in the Introduction section and the Glossary of Gestures for a more in-depth description).
Litterature & Workbooks
Soundpainting Workbook 1 - by Walter Thompson – Through the series, Thompson clearly outlines how to use Soundpainting. Topics covered in Workbook 1 include an introduction to the structure of the Soundpainting language; how to prepare an ensemble for Soundpainting; the basic 43 gesture and what each one means, how to use them, and how to physically sign them. Workbook 1 includes an instructional DVD showing how each gesture is signed and what response it elicits. There is also a performance by Walter Thompson and The Walter Thompson Orchestra included on the DVD.
Soundpainting Workbook 2 – by Walter Thompson – The Art of Live Composition is a continuation of the concepts in Workbook 1 as well as exploring new concepts and gestures. Workbook 2 also includes a more in-depth discussion of the Structure of Soundpainting, the usage of notated material – called Palettes in Soundpainting – an additional 75 gestures and more. A support DVD of all the gestures — performed by the Borderline Ensemble based in Copenhagen, Denmark – and a performance by Walter Thompson with guest Soundpainter Jennifer Rahfeldt is also included.
Soundpainting Workbook 3 – by Walter Thompson The Art of Live Composition for Theatre and Dance by Walter Thompson. Workbook 3 is a comprehensive study of the Soundpainting language comprising 135 gestures pertaining to theatre and dance. Workbook 3 is divided in Sections 1 and 2 with a direct relation to the gestures of Workbook 1 and 2 for Musicians. Though many of the gestures of Workbook 3 are the same as the gestures of Workbooks 1 and 2 the difference is they specifically address how the gestures are used with actors and dancers. Workbook 3 also includes additional gestures and concepts specific to theatre and dance. Workbook 3 includes a DVD showing how the gestures are signed and the responses they produce. Members of the The Batik Soundpainting Orchestra (BSO) perform on the DVD. At the end of the DVD is a performance where Soundpainter Eric Chapelle (Soundpainter for the BSO) joins Walter Thompson in the composition.
Ensemble playing and improvisation with Soundpainting - by Ketil Duckert & Gustav Rasmussen This book has been written for music teachers at all levels, especially those who want new ideas about how to practice ensemble playing. There are at least three ways in which the book can be used: – As an introduction to the concept of ensemble playing and how you can practice this. – As “troubleshooting” exercises to cut straight to improving various aspects of ensemble playing without necessarily focussing on improvisation or the full sign language. – As an introduction to Soundpainting, if you want to improvise with a full ensemble.
The books comes in hardback and as an e-book. The e-book contains extra material with introductory videos for the chapters, videos in which the authors Soundpaint you or your group, as well as exercises in PDF format. In the hardback version of the book you can access the videos via QR-codes.
(in danish) Sammenspil og improvisation med Soundpainting - by Ketil Duckert & Gustav Rasmussen / WH31621
BESKRIVELSE / Description Soundpainting er et tegnsprog, som en dirigent bruger til at kommunikere med sit ensemble, og det giver os en ny måde vi kan kommunikere på i musikken. Soundpainting er ikke bundet til en bestemt musikalsk genre eller type af ensemble - alle på tværs af niveau og musikalske præferencer kan have glæde af at lære det.
Forfatterne fortæller om bogen og konceptet: Der er skrevet en masse bøger der hjælper med hvordan man bliver dygtigere på sit instrument. Vi har skrevet en bog om hvordan man bliver bedre til at spille sammen, hvor vi tager spørgsmål op som: - Hvordan træner man sammenspillet? - Kan man lave øvelser med sit sammenspilshold ligesom man spiller etuder til soloundervisning? - Hvordan kommunikerer man med sit orkester mens musikken er i gang? - Hvad vil det sige at spille sammen?
Som undervisere er vi vant til at kommunikere verbalt om musikken efter den er slut - med Soundpainting kan vi kommunikere mens vi spiller, og det mener vi giver nogle andre måder at udvikle eleverne. Bogens omdrejningspunkt er det musikalske tegnsprog Soundpainting, og vinklen er hvordan vi kan bruge det i sammenspilsundervisningen. Soundpainting kan dels bruges til at skabe musik med et helt orkester og dels som en kodificering af kommunikationen mellem dirigent og ensemble, så man som dirigent kan udtrykke sig 100% specifikt om musikken (fx fælles puls, toneart, formstykker, klang etc).
Bogen består af 3 dele: 1) indføring i og definition af begrebet sammenspil 2) "troubleshooting" guide med øvelser til forskellige aspekter af sammenspillet 3) indføring i Soundpainting
Afsnittene om sammenspilsøvelserne og Soundpainting er desuden illustreret med en række videoeksempler, der tilgås fra bogen. Bogen henvender sig til alle musikundervisere - fra indskolingen til konservatorieniveau - med idéer til udvikling af sammenspillet uanset genre, ensembletype og niveau. Derfor kan bogen bruges af både korlederen og gymnasielæreren, og til både strygerorkestret, bigbandet og børneensemblet.