CAMERON DEYELL
The guitarspace: the electric guitar as a collaborative tool in the practice of a composer/producer
Cameron has a PhD in Interactive Composition from the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne.
ABSTRACT
The electric guitar has created new sonic and performative possibilities for the composer. The instrument’s sound and capabilities have expanded with the integration of electromechanical and digital components, and it has become a user-configurable and highly adaptable vehicle for artistic expression (Lähdeoja 2008; Perks and McGrath 2023). This rapid evolution has been paralleled by the changing form of the recording studio environment which has evolved to become a musical instrument, brought to life by the composer/producer (Eno 1979; Moorefield 2005; Frith and Zagorski-Thomas 2012; Thompson 2019).
This research and folio of works bring together the artistic practices of an electric guitarist, composer, producer and interdisciplinary collaborator across 35 musical works created in five distinct artistic contexts. The works include recorded music, live performances, live concert films and an orchestral score created with collaborators including avant-punk mavericks Liars, post-classical singer-songwriter Lior, virtuoso percussionist/composer Laurence Pike and dance futurists Kyle Page and Amber Haines of Dancenorth Australia.
The research identifies the novel finding of the guitarspace, which operated as a conceptual and practical framework in the folio creation. The guitarspace describes the intersection between the guitar performance environment and the recording studio ecosystem to enable the simultaneous composition, performance and recording of musical ideas. The guitarspace is defined as: a way of composing music that integrates guitar performance practice and recording studio techniques in a creative feedback-loop to produce musical works. In the research, the guitarspace was applied across diZerent scales and types of collaborations to accelerate the composition process and enable the real time generation and refinement of musical concepts within a dynamic and responsive creative context. The guitarspace also successfully integrated digital and AI tools to expand the guitar’s sonic and performative possibilities in collaborative compositional processes.
Keywords: guitar; electric guitar; composer/producer; music performance; music composition; music recording; music production; collaboration; interdisciplinary collaboration.
ADDITIONAL PUBLICATIONS:
Deyell, Cameron. 2021. “The Augmented Guitarist: A Toolkit for Creative Collaboration in an Evolving Musical Landscape.” Presented at the 1st International Music Livelihoods Symposium, e Creative Arts Research Institute Griffith University, December 7. https://musiclivelihoods.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/1IMLS2021-Presentation-Booklet-FINAL-1.pdf.
Deyell, Cameron. 2023. “A Guitar in a Sonic Playground: Describing the Creation of a Score for a Hyper-Collaborative Contemporary Dancework.” Presented at the Reverberations: Impact and Interdisciplinarity - FFAM Graduate Research Symposium, Federation Hall, University of Melbourne, July 21. https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/ffam-graduate-research-symposium-2023-tickets-600031419127.
