Galata
Electroacoustic Orchestra (GEO)
COORDINATOR
CONSERVATORIO
STATALE DI MUSICA "N. PAGANINI" (GENOVA)
PARTNERS
ISTANBUL
BILGI ÜNIVERSITESI
ISTANBUL
TEKNIK ÜNIVERSITESI
UNIVERSITAT
POMPEU FABRA (BARCELONA)
CONSERVATORIO DI MUSICA "G. PIERLUIGI DA PALESTRINA" (CAGLIARI)
____________________
The project
concerns the area of Music and Performing Arts (212).
The GEO (Galata
Electroacoustic Orchestra) project is inspired by the historical relations
between Genova and Istanbul. It is named by the Genoese quarter Galata in
Istanbul dating back to the 12th century.
The general
objectives of GEO IP is: 1) to found the Galata Electroacoustic Orchestra, a
small group orchestra based on an idea of live collective composition; 2) to
merge of the Western Classical tradition of score-based music and the Improvisational
techniques (in particular of Turkish Maqam Music).
As the dialogue
between the three Countries involved in the IP is an important objective for
GEO, we adopted the sealing map – “portolano” - as a guide metaphor for the
project (when a ship docks, the goods - in our case: the musical products -
from one country are unloaded and goods from another country are loaded).
The GEO IP
project is inspired by the historical relations between Genova and Istanbul.
Galata Electroacoustic Orchestra is named by the Genoese quarter Galata in
Istanbul dating back to the 12th century where the Tower of Christ is still
preserved. Almost all the aspects of the European Culture have been affected by
the Arabian culture. In addition the European composers of the classical era
(such as Mozart, Haydn, Beethoven) joined to the orchestra unusual instruments
for that time (bass drum, triangle, cymbals) but typical of the Turkish
military bands, of the Janissaries music. More in general, since the beginning
of the 20th century the extra-European music and the traditional folk music
become a true source of inspiration for Western composers, and more recently
vice versa. Although many studies have been made on the reciprocal influences,
the theory, practice and teaching on the true contact points between such
different musical cultures are nowadays separately carried out among the
different Countries. GEO aims to overcome this deficiency with a
multidisciplinary didactical approach to the specific subject and to his
current potential, thanks to the support by new technologies.
The main aim is
to create a “dialogue” among digital and traditional instruments and
performance practices. Thanks to the recent improvements in the Computer Human
Interfaces field, it is possible to overstep the gap between the high level of
interaction in acoustic instruments and the limited interaction (mouse,
alphanumeric keyboard, joysticks) in the digital domain. The main path to
achieve this will be a study of the musicians gestures. According to our
opinion the conceptual and technological tools of the Electroacoustic Music - a
truly new musical language based on the idea “to compose THE sounds, not only
WITH the sounds” – are fit for creating a contiguity and a linguistic
penetration to let ideas and new experiences spring.
