The series of recordings that are the creative research outcome of my PhD are entitled ‘Retroreflection and waterfalls’. It is comprised of three improvised duets with myself singing and another musician: i) ‘Pipe dreams’ with Chris Abrahams on piano, ii) ‘Perfect age’ with Carl Dewhurst on guitar, and iii) ‘Chasm’ with Peter Farrar on alto saxophone. The collection also includes a solo improvisation, ‘Drove on’, with myself singing and playing cello. The audio included here has excerpts from all pieces. The music was recorded in a studio at the completion of a fifteen-month singing practice project where I practiced singing in atypical practice settings with extreme acoustics. The practice project used acoustics science empirical research and pedagogical approaches emerging from the movement and sports sciences to discover and develop musical materials and singing techniques for use in ensemble improvised music. The project focused on developing singing with a large dynamic range. As such, this series of recordings was done with no audio support, i.e., foldback/headphones, and the musicians were in the same room. No musical material was discussed before the recording.
