Music Loom
Music Loom was designed as a parlor game for musicians but functions just as well as a framework for improvisation. It involves the (synesthetic) interpretation of visual motifs (‘texture cards’) into musical ones, which are then recursively imitated. The instructions provide a practical overview:
These four recordings come from a run-through in Sara Roberts’ Media Theory class, for which the piece was written. Our haphazard 12-piece ensemble was: guitar, banjo, violin, viola, double bass, 2 sopranos, shakuhachi, laptop, melodica, piano, percussion. Each recording began with the (randomly-selected) ‘texture card’ pictured.
This is definitely a take-home game. You can use texture cards like the ones I prepared above or create/google your own. If you do get a group together to play, please share the recordings!!