Shogi Composition ︎︎︎
Shogi
Composition is a kind of recipe for collaborative composition among various
people with different musical backgrounds and various musical abilities. It is
just like playing cards around a table. A few players around a table compose
short passages one after another instead of playing cards. Please enjoy it and compose new interesting
music!
1) The number of players
In order to do Shogi Composition, at least 2 players are required. Although you can do it with 10 or more players theoretically, with the more players you will have to prepare the greater amount of time. Practically speaking, the proper number of its players can be 3, 4, 5, or 6. Each player is supposed to bring his/her musical instruments, some objects which make sound, etc.
2) Papers and coloured pens/pencils etc.
In order to do Shogi Composition you have to prepare paper to write music down. Of course you don't have to prepare 5-lined-music-paper because in Shogi Composition each player is allowed to write music down in his/her own way. You can use drawing paper, useless calendars, useless posters and so on.
You also have to prepare coloured pens/pencils etc. Each player is supposed to choose one color and always use the same color.
When you complete the composition, the paper will be the artistic picture as well as the music score.
3) The process
At first, you have to decide who will start, and which way to go round the circle. Then the first player starts to compose his/her part on his/her own instrument(s). When s/he completes his/her part, s/he writes it down on the paper in his/her own way with the coloured pen/pencil. Please notate it in any way as you will remember it later. You may draw a picture of how to play, you may explain by sentences, or whatever. As soon as s/he writes it down, s/he hands the paper to the next player, starts to play his/her own composed part and continues it until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly the next player makes another part which goes well with the first part, writes it down in his/her own way next to the first part on the paper, hands the paper to his/her next player, and continues the part until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly keep this process. Finally the last player writes his/her own part, s/he hands the paper to the first player. Then the first player stops playing and listens to every sound, makes a new part which goes well with what other players are playing, writes it down on the paper, hands the paper to the next player, and continues it until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly continue this process. Each player's notation does not have to be understandable for everyone. If each player understands his/her own notation and replays it later, any notation can be welcome. The length of each part does not have to be the same. For example after the first player composes a 4-bar phrase of 4/4 meter, the second player can compose a 2-bar phrase of 7/8 or a 10-second-graphic-notated part.
Continue this process without any break until you can not find any space to write down on the paper. When the paper is full, composition is finished. Don't stop the process until the paper is full.
4) Performance
For the performance, at first the first player starts his/her first part and hands the paper to the next player. Then the next player starts playing his/her first part and hands the paper to the next player. Similarly keep the process until everyone plays every part.
Consult and decide how to finish the music before the performance. In order to play fluently, practice the piece you composed according to the Shogi Composition many times before the performance. For example it takes 2 hours for composition and only 6 minutes for performance.
You may photocopy the paper for each performer.
Sample:![]()
1) The number of players
In order to do Shogi Composition, at least 2 players are required. Although you can do it with 10 or more players theoretically, with the more players you will have to prepare the greater amount of time. Practically speaking, the proper number of its players can be 3, 4, 5, or 6. Each player is supposed to bring his/her musical instruments, some objects which make sound, etc.
2) Papers and coloured pens/pencils etc.
In order to do Shogi Composition you have to prepare paper to write music down. Of course you don't have to prepare 5-lined-music-paper because in Shogi Composition each player is allowed to write music down in his/her own way. You can use drawing paper, useless calendars, useless posters and so on.
You also have to prepare coloured pens/pencils etc. Each player is supposed to choose one color and always use the same color.
When you complete the composition, the paper will be the artistic picture as well as the music score.
3) The process
At first, you have to decide who will start, and which way to go round the circle. Then the first player starts to compose his/her part on his/her own instrument(s). When s/he completes his/her part, s/he writes it down on the paper in his/her own way with the coloured pen/pencil. Please notate it in any way as you will remember it later. You may draw a picture of how to play, you may explain by sentences, or whatever. As soon as s/he writes it down, s/he hands the paper to the next player, starts to play his/her own composed part and continues it until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly the next player makes another part which goes well with the first part, writes it down in his/her own way next to the first part on the paper, hands the paper to his/her next player, and continues the part until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly keep this process. Finally the last player writes his/her own part, s/he hands the paper to the first player. Then the first player stops playing and listens to every sound, makes a new part which goes well with what other players are playing, writes it down on the paper, hands the paper to the next player, and continues it until his/her turn comes around again.
Similarly continue this process. Each player's notation does not have to be understandable for everyone. If each player understands his/her own notation and replays it later, any notation can be welcome. The length of each part does not have to be the same. For example after the first player composes a 4-bar phrase of 4/4 meter, the second player can compose a 2-bar phrase of 7/8 or a 10-second-graphic-notated part.
Continue this process without any break until you can not find any space to write down on the paper. When the paper is full, composition is finished. Don't stop the process until the paper is full.
4) Performance
For the performance, at first the first player starts his/her first part and hands the paper to the next player. Then the next player starts playing his/her first part and hands the paper to the next player. Similarly keep the process until everyone plays every part.
Consult and decide how to finish the music before the performance. In order to play fluently, practice the piece you composed according to the Shogi Composition many times before the performance. For example it takes 2 hours for composition and only 6 minutes for performance.
You may photocopy the paper for each performer.
Sample:
Welcome to mapping collaboration, a toolbox for workshopping and creating across disciplines...
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
In spite of a long history of interdisciplinary creation, from our earliest recorded arts to our present moment, artistic pedagogy has created divisions between disciplines. This has left artists in a "post-Babel" condition where we don't share the same language and definitions. It’s also encouraged artists to develop practices for devising, creating and composing work that are distinct to their disciplines.
The inspiration for this project came from faculty and students at Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts where BFA, MFA and PhD programs in Dance, Theatre Production and Design, Visual Art, Film, and Music and Sound all work together in studio settings and playfully experiment with processes of art-making.
We wanted to create a database of projects, assignments and theory that we collect inside the studio and from research happening in other places. We are curious about how we collaborate and how structures reoccur, translate and deviate from one discipline to another.
Composition is central to these processes and offers a base for our approaches and experiments. We are excited about what our students are doing and inspired by the new languages in contemporary art and performance we continue to see develop.
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
︎︎︎select a category above to build assignments, learn more about how artists process ideas across disciplines and to create a collaborative process of your own
︎︎︎these tools are collected and used in workshops and classes; some are resources from artists; some are quotes about art-making and how bodies think and listen; others are ideas to expand and disrupt your own training and processes.
︎︎︎Each idea is intentially short- and not meant to be executed as written, but to be adapted to your own practice and specific project/context. Some may be taken in parts or combined with others to spark new ways of training and making together.
︎︎︎submit your own ideas and tools so we can keep building this site!
