XiME

XiME Experimental Improv Music Ensemble

 

Performing at Mile Zero Dance Salon

XiME is a musical collective based at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The group is active at the University and members can participate for University credit, but XiME maintains an open, collaborative membership policy and members need not be affiliated with the University.

XiME is mainly a live performance group and as such is not concerned with recording, producing, or releasing albums. Instead, the group tries to explore live performance methods of musical expression outside of pre-existing musical traditions. Established musical notation systems such as Western scores or Jazz lead-sheets are forbidden; however, graphical or conceptual scores like paintings, sculpture, or dance are encouraged.

History

XiME was started at the University of Alberta by Prof. Mark Hannesson in 2008 (ish). Mark has a background in avant-garde jazz improvisation and computer music, and he desired a forum for this kind of personal musical expression. Taking inspiration from his friend Gordon Fitzell, who quite successfully formed a similar improvisatory group in Winnpeg, Mark invited those interested to join him each week in an informal and noisy jam session in an unused room of the University Fine Arts building. Those present at these initial gatherings included pianist Sandra Joy Friesen and composers Trifon Heney and Colin Labadie.

The year after, Prof. Scott Smallwood joined the University composition staff. His interest, as well as growing interest among students and the experimental art communities of the city, helped provide the impetus to make XiME into an active performing group. Since then, XiME has grown into a large group of core members with a regular cast of peripheral members and occasional curious drop-ins.

Style and Influences

Defining XiME by style is difficult to do, as part of their intention is to avoid pre-existing musical styles, or to incorporate those styles in unexpected ways. Free improvisation is an attempt not to be defined by conventional genres and as such can be considered a genre unto itself. The music made by different free improvisation groups is widely varied and unique to each group. People making music in this way create a shared artistic community through exploring certain ideas and creative processes, rather than by similarities in the music produced.

XiME quotes AMM as a major influence. AMM are an important British free improvisation group who set the precedent for this way of making music. They were most active in the 60s and 70s, though they still exist to this day. In addition to AMM, the main template for XiME was an improvisational group formed at the University of Manitoba by Mark Hannesson’s friend Gordon Fitzell. “If Gordon can do it, we can do it too”.

XiME members hold eclectic musical tastes, including but not limited to metal, free jazz, Japanese no-input music, the classical avant-garde, pop music, noise, and even the sounds of the very environment itself.

Common Elements

There are no specific instruments that are required to perform and the range of objects used are very diverse. Musical training of any kind is not required, and in fact it is often those people most trained in music who have the most difficulty improvising freely. Members are encouraged to create their own instruments or to transform every-day non-instruments into musical devices for performance. Group members also utilize a variety of musical computer programming languages, including Max/MSP, CHUCK, and Pure Data, to produce original sounds.

Recently there has also been interest in incorporating acoustic instruments. In previous years XiME has relied heavily on electronics, but the group now often features clarinet, accordion, hand percussion, South American flutes, singing and harp, as well as the ever-present baking sheets, bottles of water, bicycle seats and empty Java Jive coffee cups.

Membership

The group maintains a philosophy of inclusiveness, and so is open to all members of the public. No musical training required to participate, formal or otherwise. In fact, one can participate in the ensemble simply listening, or engaging in non-musical froms of artistic expression. Public participation is on a drop-in basis, although people are encouraged to attend consistently if able and interested. There is core group of returning members who form the basis of the group. In addition to founding members, this core group includes composers Daniel Brophy and Raimundo Gonzalez, librarian John Huck, students Tom Merklinger and Mathew Letersky, as well as others.

Performances

XiME considers every rehearsal to be a performance. They generally hold two organized public concerts per University semester, as well as performing at other arts events in the community. Most notably they have performed at the Catalyst theatre at an event called BOOM, an evening devoted to experimental performance art and curated by the Mile Zero dance company. They have also participated in the monthly Ramshackle Day Parade noise-music event at Bohemia Café.

XiME has been working on implementing an idea Scott Smallwood had for spontaneous, outdoor public appearances. At least one of these has already taken place on University grounds, and it might just pay off if you were to keep an eye on the area around the Timms Centre come April.

 

Jen Mesch

Collaborations

The ensemble regularly collaborates with non-musical artists. Artist Warner Friesen creates abstract paintings based on his impressions of the music being made. The ensemble has also consistently been in collaboration with the Jen Mesch Dance Consipiracy, an improvisational dance company based in Edmonton. Dancers create movement by interpreting the music being performed. In turn, the musicians interpret the movement of the dancers and this influences the sounds being created. Collaboration moves both ways, music influence dance and dance influencing music.

Recently, XiME has been contacted by composer and electronic music pioneer Pauline Oliveros to perform with her own electronic music group based in Troy, New York. This performance will take place over the internet and be facilitated by recent developments in high-speed internet which minimize communication latency to an almost imperceptible degree.

Downloads

Despite intentionally not making recorded albums, XiME rehearsal/performances are almost always recorded by a member of the group. These recordings are often a facet of the performance itself, and function mostly as documentation for personal use. The recordings are not considered to be a “product” of the group and are not intended for “release” in the same way a conventional music album is released on CD or digital download is released.

The downloads offered here are from September 2010 and as such are not quite representative of the current group.

www.mediafire.com%2F%3Fjo102wzuu7fr7t7&h=9c973

All photography by Tracy Kolenchuck

http://www.tracyocamera.com/Start.php