Gamut

About the composition

Gamut is commissioned by the Holland Festival for the performance Luistermutant 2021. This performance is an outcome of the research project GAMPSISS (GAmeful Music Performances for Smart, Inclusive, and Sustainable Societies); a cooperation between Codarts Rotterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Delft University of Technology and Willem de Kooning Academie.

In their research, GAMPSISS aims to enrich participants with better listening skills. A rich listening culture will enhance both the personal listening experience and the interpersonal listening skills of society as a whole.

Luistermutant 2021 is designed by composer Micha Hamel and director Arlon Luijten as a radical listening labyrinth that allows participants to extend their listening skills, or even discover new ways of listening, by performing playful listening tasks. Three different listening modes are central to the presented games: listening with the body, heart and brain.

While listening with the body, the audience tries to experience the effect of sound waves on the body. While listening with the heart, the audience tries to introspectively find the ideas, emotions and associations that are triggered by the music. While listening with the brain, the audience tries to listen analytically to the structure, instrumentation and other technicalities of the music.

After getting acquainted with these listening modes, the participants will listen to Gamut. The participants are encouraged to switch between listening modes during the performance. The stage lights indicate the listening mode that most closely fits the current music: green for listening with the body, red for listening with the heart and blue for listening with the brain.