Paradigmas y metaparadigmas en Enfermería

Nimkulrat (2007) writes that,

“After the creative process ends and the artifacts eventually get displayed in an exhibition, the practitioner-researcher plays the researcher’s role and looks back

at the preceeding artistic process. The practitioner-researcher analyzes and contextualizes the resulting artifacts as well as the creative process that went in to

it using documentation created during the process and any relevant theories.

While playing the researcher’s role, the practitioner-researcher may use reflections on the artifacts and elements from the artistic production process to

facilitate the inquiry she is interested in” (Nimkulrat 2007, p. 4).

The artifacts I have produced came from the two performances, Transcending Liminality: (Re)Locating Thebrowncello (2015) in the form of audio and video recordings.

Through the lens of a practitioner-researcher I was able to analyse these performances via the

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resulting artifacts and determine what I believe worked and what did not. However, the artifacts only represent part of the performance and, indeed, can be seen separate from the performance and having their own lives. Courtney (2017) notes this in his thesis stating,

“I would argue that an audio-visual recording does not compare to the experience of viewing the live performance of this choreographic work. This is due to the corporal and sensory experience of a live performance; which recording is not

able to capture” (Courtney 2017, p. 84).

However, these artifacts allowed for a method of replaying the experiences for reflective analysis after their creation. Also because of these artifacts, I am able to recall my personal experiences and memories of performing which added to the data analysed throughout this thesis. I also feel that it is necessary to clarify that Transcending Liminality: (Re)Locating Thebrowncello (2015) and Spreagadh: Inspiration (2016) were performance events and that the recordings of these performances the by-product artifacts of which I am referring. Turino (2009) would classifies these works as presentational performances⁵² within his four fields of music making (Turino 2009, p. 101).

Although these two performances were outputs of the analysis of my creative practice, they were also representations of the process of incorporating Thebrowncello into the idiom of Irish traditional music. Transcending Liminality: (Re)Locating Thebrowncello (2015) displayed the process of blending multiple styles of music and cello technique

together to formulate a style of cello playing that would compliment the tradition. Similarly, Spreagadh: Inspiration (2016) displayed the integration of the cello within the tradition.

Through the process of analysing these two performance works, The Stepping Stone (2017) emerged. Carter (2010) writes that,

“Interest is what matters in creative research. But we could say this the other way around: for the phrases ‘what is interesting’ and ‘what matters’ are synonymous.

52 “Presentational performance refers to situations where one group of people, the performers, have the

responsibility to prepare and provide music for another group, the audience, who do not participate in producing sounds or motions that are deemed fundamental to the performance” (Turino 2009, p. 101).

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What makes creative research interesting is its attitude towards, its ethos, if you like, in regard to material” (Carter 2010, p. 18).

I highlighted what I thought musically ‘mattered’ from the two performances and featured them on this album. In my opinion, I highlighted the things that I believe are ground-breaking and stand out from the work of what other cellists have contributed to the tradition as I mentioned earlier through the work of Leathers (2007). To the best of my knowledge the diverse variation of accompaniment techniques that I utilise on this album are

ground-breaking and have not been recorded on any other album of Irish traditional music on the cello. Referring again to the work of Turino (2009), The Stepping Stone (2017) is categorised as a high-fidelity recording⁵³ within his framework of framework of music making. Whereas the two presentational performances I mentioned earlier created by-products which were used to analyse the performance, the direct intention of creating this album was to make a CD.

The object of the presentational performances were the events themselves, whereas the object of the CD, or high-fidelity recording, was the actual CD.

The Stepping Stone was released to the public on the 18^th of August, 2017. The timing of this release was fitting as it created a metaphorical stepping stone for my career as a soloist as I conclude this thesis. Prior to the release of the album, I sent digital copies to fellow cellists Natalie Haas and Eric Wright⁵⁴, in order to obtain feedback on it as well as a press quotes that I would be able to use when advertising the album. Natalie’s quote was as follows,

“A fresh take on Irish music which incorporates the cello in a beautifully subtle yet driving way…great tune choices, well-crafted arrangements, and a killer

groove. Alec Brown has it all…pure joy to listen to!” (Haas, personal communication 2017).

Eric Wright’s quote was,

“Alec Brown has approached Celtic rhythmic playing on the cello in a new and dynamic way - incorporating an uplifting and unique style to his music. While surrounded by a group of highly talented musicians, Alec brings his Irish cello

53 “High fidelity refers to the making of recordings that are intended to index or represent live performance”

(Turino 2009, p. 102).

54 The cellist from the band The Fretless.

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stylings to the forefront of the performance, proving yet again, that you can never have enough cello…" (Wright, personal communication, 2017).

However, these are press quotes which are intrinsically positive by nature. This means that the authors of the press quotes cannot be openly critical or, perhaps, express their true feelings toward the album as they are going to be used for public promotional material.

If negative feedback or critiques were given then it would defeat the purpose of seeking the responses in order to further the promotion of the album. If an artist does not feel that they are comfortable giving their honest opinion of an album because it may not be to their liking then they have the opportunity to decline providing a press quote.

That being said Haas’ and Wright’s responses to the album have tremendously

affected my confidence toward my research. Reading these words of cellists whom I have so much respect for, who are highly regarded in the world of contemporary music as well as Western art music, and whom I have had the opportunity to learn from really means a lot to me. This validation from my mentors, or colleagues at this point, is invaluable toward the assessment of the music that I make. Clandinin (2000) explains the way in which Foucault examined art stating that,

“…discourse, in this case art, is validated within a network of institutional relations. The precise network formed by various institutions (art schools,

universities, galleries, museums, publishers, auction houses), forms of classification (whether something was fine art, craft of design, media, conceptual

framework) and authorities (curators, collectors, critics, teachers) positions something as art” (Candlin 2000, p. 3).

Although this quote describes ways of positioning visual art, I posit that the same can be said for music. In my situation, my journey to position myself and the cello within what I believe to be the centrality of Irish traditional music will be at the mercy of Irish traditional

musicians, academic bodies and institutions, cellists, and many others. This is something I have written about in Chapter Two of this research regarding the concept of authenticity. In that chapter I primarily discussed how I believe that Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann is largely associated with determining what instruments are accepted into the tradition. However, there exists a large community of musicians outside of organisations such as this one who also

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have an opinion on what is traditional and what is not. Therefore, the validation received by two of my colleagues thus far has justified, for me, why I started this journey and created this album. These words have made me feel validated as a cellist within the Irish music tradition.

However, I want to reiterate that these were press quotes from two cellists who perform outside of Irish traditional music.

From my point of view, The Stepping Stone (2017) has been well received within Ireland and the idiom of traditional music. Siobhán Long, a writer for The Irish Times⁵⁵, and Alex Monaghan, a writer for Irish Music Magazine⁵⁶, have both reviewed the album and gave it positive feedback⁵⁷. In these reviews, Long and Monaghan write about the collaborative element which exists on the album between myself and my fellow musicians. This, I believe, is their recognition of the communitas generated as a result of making this recording.

Monaghan’s review states that,

“I’d describe most of the music here as modern Celtic rather than traditional Irish: the accompaniment is funky with a classical edge, and the melodies are

freely interpreted by Brown and his friends” (See appendix VI).

I believe that this description of my album, commenting on the ambiguity of its classification, resonates the experience of bands and artists who reside within the tradition, but whose contemporary styles may have pushed the boundaries of what is perceived to be traditional.

For me, this discourse also validates the position of Thebrowncello within the context of Irish traditional music in that it is now under the lens of authenticity.

Monaghan furthers on the ambiguity by citing what he hears as different influences throughout the album stating,

“Fluters Niall Keegan and Conor Crimmins and keyboard fiend Tadhg Ó Meachair play new tradish tunes like Brendan Power’s Jig Jazz and Paul Kelly’s

reel The Dresden, as well as jazzing up old favourites such as The Lonesome Jig and Julia Delaney. The traditional reel Man of the House and Paddy O’Brien’s

55 The Irish Times is an Irish daily newspaper. (The Irish Times n.d.).

56 Irish Music Magazine is a monthly Irish magazine which features multiple genres of music such as Irish traditional music and other folk music from around the world (Irish Music Magazine n.d.)

57 See Appendices IV and V for the full reviews.

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The Ormond Sound become almost folk rock with a chopping and grinding cello bass line reminiscent of Lordi. The slow air and ragtime reel medley Spreagadh brings in everything from Mongolian temple music to Montreal Jazz. The set of jigs, which follows, is another low grinding number on cello and box, but one of

the more traditional tracks here” (see Appendix VI).

Throughout this quote Monaghan compares tracks from The Stepping Stone (2017) to

multiple genres of music. Earlier in this section I stated that I wanted this album to present a diverse representation of what the cello can contribute to the idiom of Irish traditional music.

I believe that Monaghan has picked up on this underlying philosophy throughout his review.

Although I do not agree with all of his comparisons, this album is a work of art and can be viewed from multiple perspectives.

Siobhán Long also comments on the communal aspect of the album in her review when she wrote,

“Considering the muscular power of the cello, Brown’s preference is for subtle engagement both with his chosen tunes and his collaborators. His own compositions are deliciously atmospheric, resistant to the lure of convention, with

echoes perhaps, of Brown’s tutelage by the experimental cellist, Rushad Eggleston” (See appendix V).

From her perspective the cello’s engagement with the tunes and other musicians was seen as subtle whereas I believe the cello engages both subtely and powerfully. Although there is a differing of opinions as to how much the cello engages with these two aspects of the album, Long acknowledges that there is an engagement present which I believe provides an objective perspective showing the existence of communitas on The Stepping Stone (2017).

I believe that The Stepping Stone (2017) is not only an output of this Ph.D., but it is also a milestone marking a significant point in the process of incorporating the cello into Irish traditional music. It is a signifier of the process of inspiring other cellists to experiment with pushing the boundaries of what the instrument is capable of within traditional music. For me it is exactly as the title implies – a stepping stone – to the next part of the journey of pushing what Thebrowncello is capable of within the tradition.

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Chapter Summary

This chapter focused primarily on the integration of the cello into Irish traditional music through the performance Spreagadh: Inspiration (2016). I would argue that the method of reflexive writing used to analyse the performance effectively allowed me to assess whether or not the performance met the goal I set of presenting Thebrowncello as an

integrated entity within the Irish music tradition. Through my methods of reflexive analysis and ethnographic interviews, a potentially new stylistic parameter (Keegan 2010) of Irish traditional music emerged, range. This parameter is briefly examined in this chapter, but there is much potential for future investigation of this stylistic parameter. The concept of communitas is also expanded upon within this chapter. I examined factors which I believe help to create environments capable of generating communitas and their importance on my creative practice. Within the context of my second performance, Spregadh: Inspiration (2016), I investigated how I believe that communitas was not generated in the performance due to a number of factors. This investigation was informed by a reflective analysis of the performance and engagement with the reactions of the interviewees of the audience.

Liminality and communitas also emerged as concepts when examining the creation of my album The Stepping Stone (2017). The analysis of the creation of this album informed me of new liminal spaces which emerged due to my investigation of liminality: physical liminal spaces which exist within the context of performative events, virtual liminal spaces which exist outside of a temporal and geographic nature, and conceptual liminal spaces that surround theoretical constructs such as the borders of traditions. Focusing primarily on the emergence of virtual liminal spaces during the recording and mixing processes, I posited that virtual liminal spaces can exist in multiple stages of transition simultaneously and can be combined with others to further the progress of transition. I also present the emergence of communitas on this album evidenced by the sense of flow that the musicians experienced during the recording process. Within the context of the creation of this album, I presented flow, over body language, as evidence of communitas due to the open communication between the performers and sound engineer during the recording process. Overall, this album acts as a culmination of the research that I have put into investigating and analysing

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my creative practice throughout this thesis as I seek inclusion for Thebrowncello within the idiom of Irish traditional music.

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