Unnoted Sessions

Unnoted Sessions, an art project of Hans Kuiper and Luciano Pinna, tries to capture the creative moment from the sea of randomness during improvisational jam sessions. What defines the creative moment, why and when does it occur if at all during musical dialogs and with what effort; whom is it for and what does it do to both public and private space? These are the fundamental questions that underlie this experiment.

Out of nowhere came the idea to create music on the spot without predefining anything. It felt both daring and revelating, a musical dialog solely based on the moment of inspiration. No rehearsals, no frontiers, no agreements, no codes, no cuts, just the freedom of musical expression in that particular time slot. How would such a dialog evolve, will structure occur and affect the space it is in? Or vice versa, will space affect the private wanderings of the players involved? Is it possible to communicate without boundaries and definitions, on what level is it being deciphered and to what extent can it be done without losing its authenticity?

The reason for choosing the musical expression as the media of preference for this project is because of the sheer raw power it seems to have over men, time and space. Unlike more tradition art forms the impact of sound is direct, almost non exclusive, experienced with the whole body. It’s essence is both seductive and frantic, energetic and uncontrollable, seamlessly part of the private and public space, with endless possibilities and transformations.

As part of our search the introduction of guest musician became inevitable. These guest musicians are either part of the experiment on invitation or become spontaneously part of the jam during on site performance. What is their influence on the experiment? With what consequences, for the jam itself and for the guests? Can the receiver be persuaded into a participant, and will he then be excluded from his own art work? Is it better to stand on the outside and understand than to be an insider in the dark?

In this light it was decided to document all performances and publish them online. What would the value of the performances be without registration, to what good had it been created, if at all? Documentation is done uncut with postproduction, unless explicitly stated otherwise. A cut is considered a change in the musical momentum. The reasons for adding postproduction are based on the limitations during recordings. We feel that by adding postproduction afterwards we can get closer to the vibe during the actual moment of creation.

The instruments of choice vary per session, though drums, bass, guitar, keys and vocals are often at the basis of any jam. Next to live instruments we work with samples, software plug-ins, indirectly controlled sound sources, interactive scale / tonal modifiers and visual art. For the latter types of interaction we have started collaborating with Arjan van Amsterdam and Sander Veenhof.

The musical dialogs are performed in any genre and not exclusive to more traditional sound projects like free-jazz or soundscapes. The choice is solely based on the there and then, providing for a direct undiscovered frontier.

The search is influenced but not limited by the tools and skills the participants have. Hans Kuiper, art student at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie, is a talented multi-instrumentalist. He has been making music from his early teens, playing guitar, bass, drums and recently some keys in various bands over the years. He studied classical and flamenco guitar and is now performing regularly as a jazz guitarist with Caroline Luik. Fellow student Luciano Pinna started playing guitar at a later age. Being a self-taught musician he restrained from playing in a band though did perform on the streets of Europe for two years. About five years ago he switched to bass guitar and started the CD project band Stunfish with HJ. Their CD is expected to be released somewhere in 2007.