Gesture and Texture in the Electroacoustic Improvised Music of Jin Sangtae, Hong Chulki and Tetuzi Akiyama

This article will examine the music of two improvisation scenes – Seoul’s ‘Dotolim’ and Tokyo’s onkyô – with a particular focus on their use of gesture and texture. The article centres on an analysis of a trio performance by Jin Sangtae, Hong Chulki and Tetuzi Akiyama, which effectively brings these two musical communities together in a collaborative performance. This analysis demonstrates that focusing on gesture and texture can help in perceiving essential aspects of an improvised performance, including understanding strategic modes of listening and interplay, musical structural developments (both micro and macro) as well as identifying applied roles of instrumental technique and approach.