Critical  Studies  in  Improvisation  /  Études  critiques  en  improvisation,  Vol.  12,  No.

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Book  Review    

The  Art  of  Conduction:  A  Conduction  Workbook    

By  Lawrence  D.  "Butch"  Morris  
Edited  by  Daniela  Veronesi    
Karma,  2017.    
ISBN-­10:  1942607423  
ISBN-­13:  978-­1942697427  
224  pages    

Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  

By  Gustav  Rasmussen  &  Ketil  Duckert  
Edition  Wilhelm  Hansen  AS,  2016.    
ISBN-­10:  1181349307  
128  pages  

Reviewed  by  Anders  Eskildsen  

There  is  something  deeply  intuitive  and  yet  intriguingly  unpredictable  about  being  led  on  a  collectively  improvised  
journey,  guided  by  the  symbolic  gestures  of  an  attentive  conductor.  How  is  this  possible?  When  we  travel  to  a  
foreign  country  and  have  no  language  in  common  with  the  people  we  encounter,  when  words  cannot  convey  the  
delicate  intensity  of  something  we  wish  to  say,  or  when  our  capacities  for  vocalization  or  audition  fail  us  entirely,  
we  turn  to  a  more  fundamental  level  of  human  communication:  gesture.  In  the  performative  arts,  gesture  plays  an  
important  role  wherever  the  physical  activities  of  musicking,  dancing,  or  acting  take  place,  even  if  the  gestural  
remains  an  imagined  or  unmarked  aspect  of  the  activity  in  question.  Furthermore,  as  a  specialized  means  of  
musical  organization  and  communication  in  ensemble  contexts,  centuries-­old  techniques  of  conducting  rely  
heavily  upon  our  ability  to  perform  and  understand  gestural  communication.  But  when  improvisation  resurfaced  
as  an  important  modus  operandi  in  Western  music  and  art  in  the  second  half  of  the  twentieth  century,  the  
gestural  attained  an  entirely  new  role;;  several  experimenting  artists  began  to  connect  an  explicitly  symbolic  layer  
of  open-­ended  musical  instruction  to  systems  of  gestures  performed  by  a  conductor,  resulting  in  the  development  
of  a  set  of  practices  sometimes  referred  to  as  “conducted  improvisation”  (Marino  and  Santarcangelo).  Conducted  
improvisation  could  be  defined  as  a  practice  in  which  an  ensemble  interprets  and  responds  to  a  conductor’s  
gestures,  and  the  conductor  listens  to  the  ensemble  and  responds  with  further  gestures,  which  in  a  dialogical  
fashion  generates  improvised  performances.  

Two  of  these  artists,  Lawrence  Douglas  “Butch”  Morris  and  Walter  Thompson,  have  been  particularly  dedicated  
to  the  development  of  coherent  and  refined  practices  of  conducted  improvisation,  and  each  has  developed  their  
own  extensive  practice  and  system  of  gestures,1  referred  to  as  Conduction  and  Soundpainting,  respectively,  over  
the  course  of  several  decades.  Due  to  Morris  and  Thompson’s  continued  efforts  in  teaching  and  disseminating  
these  practices,  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  are  arguably  the  most  elaborate,  refined,  and  widely  practiced  
systems  for  conducted  improvisation  developed  to  date.  Adding  to  the  availability  and  accessibility  of  practical  
knowledge  about  Conduction  and  Soundpainting,  The  Art  of  Conduction:  A  Conduction  Workbook  and  Ensemble  
Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  constitute  significant  contributions  to  this  work.  Resulting  from  
collaboration  between  established  practitioners  in  the  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  communities,  the  
publication  of  these  books  indicates  that  these  practices  of  conducted  improvisation  are  proliferating  well  beyond  
the  work  of  their  original  creators.  While  united  by  these  practical  ambitions  and  an  inspiring  sense  of  
enthusiasm,  the  books  differ  slightly  in  their  purpose  and  aim.  Published  posthumously  and  based  on  Morris’s  
notes  and  drafts,  The  Art  of  Conduction  is  the  first  publication  to  present  Conduction  for  a  broader  audience.  
Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  the  first  book  about  
Soundpainting,2  and  as  such  reflects  a  practice  and  perspective  which  is  somewhat  distinct  from  Thompson’s  
original  conception.  

Presenting  itself  as  a  documentation  of  Morris’s  legacy  and  contribution  to  music,  The  Art  of  Conduction  is  
marked  by  the  dual  purpose  of  documenting  Morris’s  practice  of  Conduction  in  a  way  that  does  justice  to  his  
original  intentions  and  of  presenting  Conduction  to  future  practitioners  in  an  accessible  way.  While  the  book’s  
insightful  and  celebratory  foreword  by  Howard  Mandel  and  other  short  contributions  by  J.A.  Deane,  Allan  
Graubard,  and  editor  Daniela  Veronesi  constitute  helpful  introductions  to  the  historical  development  and  practical  
use  of  Conduction,  The  Art  of  Conduction’s  main  strength  lies  in  the  sections  originally  drafted  by  Morris  and  
edited/completed  by  Veronesi,  Deane,  and  Graubard.  The  well-­crafted  sections  “The  Art  of  Conduction”  and  
“Introduction  to  the  Conduction  Lexicon”  provide  a  particularly  original  and  interesting  window  into  Morris’s  own  
conceptualization  of  Conduction.  Reflecting  upon  his  initial  motivations  for  developing  Conduction,  Morris  
describes  his  process  as  being  driven  by  an  impulse  to  explore  intermediate  spaces.  Morris,  a  musician  with  a  
strong  background  in  jazz,  understood  “music  for  orchestra”  and  “jazz”  as  distinct  traditions  and  saw  the  former  
as  relying  upon  musical  notation  and  coordinated  precision  to  achieve  its  unique  musical  qualities  and  the  latter  
as  relying  upon  the  so  called  “extra  dimension”  present  in  jazz  and  related  genres.3  Morris  thus  explored  the  

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intermediate  space  between  “jazz,”  associated  with  rhythmicity,  interaction,  and  spontaneity  on  the  one  hand,  
and  “music  for  orchestra”  on  the  other.  As  anyone  who  has  aspired  to  achieve  a  level  of  musical  organization  
similar  to  that  of  great  orchestras  with  a  large  group  of  improvising  musicians  will  know  by  experience,  a  need  for  
organizational  tools  and  frameworks  arises  in  such  situations.  Morris’s  early  ventures  into  conducted  
improvisation  was  a  search  for  “common  ground  between  orchestral  notation  and  improvised  music”  (34),  which  
entailed  returning  to  elements  of  “a  common  language”  shared  by  all  musicians.  The  search  resulted  in  a  practice  
which,  according  to  Morris’s  own  concept  of  Conduction,  explores  “the  area  where  the  interpretation  of  the  
symbolism  that  generates  notation  meets  the  spontaneity  of  improvisation”  (38).  Given  that  this  intermediate  
space  is  explored  in  a  feedback  loop  between  the  conductor’s  symbolic  gestures  and  the  ensemble’s  responses,  
which  generate  new  gestures  for  interpretation,  Conduction  effectively  explores  another  intermediate  space  at  the  
same  time,  i.e.  the  space  of  possibilities  for  musical  agency  which  lies  between  individual  expression  and  social  
interaction:  

To  find  common  ground  between  orchestral  notation  and  improvised  music,  I  believe  one  must  
return  to  musical  fundamentals  and  identify  those  elements  that  allow  all  traditions  to  coexist.  That  
is,  to  provide  an  opportunity  for  improvisers  to  improvise  and  for  interpreters  to  interpret  the  same  
material.  This,  to  me,  is  what  Conduction  makes  possible.  [.  .  .]  What  has  emerged  from  my  
investigations  is  a  procedure  that  not  only  addresses  composition  from  a  notational  or  
improvisational  point  of  view,  but  also  one  that  is  intimately  connected  to  how  each  musician  
interprets  the  signs  and  gestures  through  which  I  conduct.  It  is  only  the  instrumentalist  who  can  
bring  “meaning”  to  those  signs  and  gestures,  as  it  is  only  through  the  dialogue  within  the  ensemble  
that  we  can  contribute  to  their  possible  evolution.  (Morris  34–35)    

As  outlined  here,  Conduction  may  be  based  on  the  conductor’s  compositional  choices  and  use  of  directives  but  
largely  derives  its  creative  potential  from  interpretive  moments  when  musicians  respond  to  the  conductor’s  
directives.  It  is  thus  no  wonder  that  the  use  and  understanding  of  the  directives  takes  up  a  great  deal  of  space  in  
the  book:  The  section  titled  “The  Conduction  Lexicon”  (48-­157)  includes  instructions  for  the  order  in  which  
gestures  may  be  combined  and  contains  a  sizeable  list  of  all  the  Conduction  gestures,  where  detailed  instructions  
are  provided  for  the  physical  executions  of  the  gestures,  how  the  gestures  are  used  by  the  conductor,  and  how  
they  should  be  understood  and  interpreted  by  participating  musicians.  This  section  and  a  similar  section  in  
Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  (57-­159)  constitute  detailed  works  of  reference,  and  as  
such,  these  parts  of  the  books  require  significant  amounts  of  work  from  the  reader  in  order  to  make  sense  of  the  
systems  of  gestures  as  coherent  wholes;;  as  the  authors  of  both  books  point  out,  conductors/soundpainters,  
musicians,  and  ensembles  need  to  practice  Conduction  and  Soundpainting,  respectively.  The  Art  of  Conduction  
does  group  the  directives  into  meaningful  and  functional  categories  such  as  “Articulation,”  “Dynamics,”  “Repeats,”  
and  so  on,4  which  is  helpful  as  one  makes  sense  of  how  the  different  gestures  relate  to  each  other,  and  the  short  
section  on  “How  to  use  the  Conduction  Lexicon”  by  Veronesi  and  Deane  contains  a  few  helpful  hints  aimed  
towards  music  teachers  who  wish  to  use  Conduction  in  their  teaching.  But  ultimately,  The  Art  of  Conduction  
refrains  from  providing  elaborate  instructions  or  suggestions  for  how  one  can  practice  and  develop  one’s  use  of  
Conduction.  Many  of  the  directives  are  open-­ended  with  regard  to  the  content  of  what  is  to  be  played,  requiring  
significant  imagination  from  the  participating  musicians,  and  similarly,  The  Art  of  Conduction  largely  leaves  
approaches  to  the  integration  of  the  directives  into  a  coherent  practice  as  a  task  for  the  reader.  This  may  be  an  
editorial  decision  to  keep  the  reader’s  imagination  open  and  encourage  experimentation,  but  for  a  book  that  aims  
to  be  a  practically  useful  introduction,  some  readers  may  hope  for  further  considerations  in  this  regard.  

Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  likewise  introduces  the  fundamental  concept  of  
Soundpainting  (including  central  “ground  rules”  and  the  Soundpainting  “syntax”  which  governs  the  order  in  which  
Soundpainting  gestures  are  combined  to  form  meaningful  instructions)  and  provides  a  sizeable  and  well-­
illustrated  list  of  select  gestures  from  the  Soundpainting  language,  accompanied  by  video  demonstrations  of  
gestures  for  which  the  e-­book-­format  is  well-­suited.  But  for  Duckert  and  Rasmussen,  Soundpainting  remains  a  
means  to  an  end;;  the  core  sections  of  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting,  which  set  it  apart  
from  The  Art  of  Conduction  and  Thompson’s  workbooks,  describe  how  Soundpainting  can  be  used  for  the  
purpose  of  improving  skills  in  ensemble  playing.  This  particular  choice  is  unsurprising,  given  how  the  authors  
specialize  in  “rhythmic  ensemble  playing”—a  common  discipline  in  the  Danish  music  education  system  where  the  
long-­time  collaboration  between  Duckert  and  Rasmussen  originates,  and  where  the  authors  remain  active  as  
freelance  Soundpainting  teachers.  The  authors  describe  initially  experiencing  a  Soundpainting  workshop  with  
Thompson  as  “an  approach  to  music  which  automatically  focused  on  the  collective  awareness,  musical  
receptiveness  and  interaction  in  an  ensemble”  (15).  Their  book  extends  this  observation  by  providing  numerous  
exercises,  small  games,  and  pedagogical  use-­cases  which  highlight  the  affordances  of  Soundpainting  in  training  
ensemble  playing  skills.  Exercises  are  organized  around  key  components  of  ensemble  playing,  which  according  
to  the  authors  include  the  ability  to  “blend”  sonically  with  others,  developing  awareness  of  group  “dynamics,”  
musical  details  such  as  “phrasing,”  “intonation,”  and  “timbre,”  as  well  as  the  “sense  of  [musical]  time”  of  the  
ensemble  (17).  The  exercises  are  generally  designed  to  allow  students  to  develop  a  higher  awareness  of  the  
reasons  for  and  the  ways  in  which  musicians  in  an  ensemble  listen  and  adapt  to  one  another,  and  improvisation  
is  treated  as  a  special  topic  within  this  broader  practice  of  ensemble  playing.  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  
with  Soundpainting  does  not  convey  the  intention  behind  Thompson’s  original  development  of  the  Soundpainting  

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language  as  thoroughly  as  The  Art  of  Conduction  does  with  regard  to  Morris’s  perspective  on  Conduction.  But  on  
the  other  hand,  Duckert  and  Rasmussen  take  their  instruction  a  step  further  by  providing  practical  suggestions  on  
how  to  implement  and  combine  the  gestures  into  longer,  meaningful  sections  based  on  the  focal  point  mentioned  
above.  These  pedagogical  considerations  and  suggestions  constitute  the  main  contribution  of  Ensemble  Playing  
and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting.  

The  most  striking  observation  to  be  made  when  looking  across  the  two  different  systems  described  in  these  
books  is  that  despite  some  differences,  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  are  remarkably  similar  in  terms  of  the  
functions  of  gestures  and  the  general  thoughts  behind  the  systems  (considering  also  the  ideas  expressed  in  
Thompson’s  workbooks).  First,  the  particular  similarities  include  what  is  referred  to  in  Soundpainting  as  the  
“syntax”  and  in  Conduction  as  “basic  parameters”—rules  and  distinctions  which  govern  the  order  in  which  
gestures  are  combined  to  form  meaningful  instructions:  Soundpainting  features  a  four-­fold  syntax  (Duckert  and  
Rasmussen  58)  which  entails  that  gestures  are  generally  performed  in  the  order  of  who-­what-­how-­when,  
whereas  Conduction  features  a  functionally  equivalent  three  step  sequence  (Morris  52)  where  directives  are  
given  in  who-­what-­when  order  (for  instance,  soundpainters  may  sign  Whole  Group-­Long  Tone-­Volume  Fader-­
Play,  instructing  the  whole  ensemble  to  perform  a  sustained  note  at  a  specified  volume  level  beginning  exactly  
when  the  Play-­gesture  is  executed,  and  similar  instructions  can  be  given  in  Conduction).  These  combinatorial  
rules  and  the  implicit  differentiation  among  types  of  gestures  yield  many  possible  combinations  of  gestures,  which  
thus  constitutes  a  generative  driving  force  in  both  systems.  Second,  adding  to  this  semantic  richness  is  the  
general  division  of  labor  central  to  both  Conduction  and  Soundpainting;;  as  Morris  makes  clear,  “[t]he  conductor  is  
responsible  for  structure  and  form,  and  the  instrumentalists  for  content”  (Morris  42).  According  to  this  logic,  the  
conductor  provides  direction  and  makes  editorial  decisions,  whereas  the  musicians  contribute  to  the  performance  
by  coming  up  with  improvised  actions  within  the  boundaries  set  by  the  gestural  instructions.  The  delicately  
designed  openness  of  the  gestures  which  designate  different  kinds  of  content  requires  active  interpretation  from  
the  participating  musicians:  

The  Conduction  Lexicon  is  descriptive  rather  than  prescriptive;;  its  function  is  not  to  set  limits,  but  to  
test  boundaries.  Directives  are  indeed  interrogative  in  nature,  in  that  they  ask  the  instrumentalist:  
“What  does  this  sound  like  in  this  situation,  at  this  time?”  And,  “What  is  the  content  you  choose  to  
place  in  this  context?”  (Morris  42)  

While  this  premise  of  conducted  improvisation  partly  removes  the  individual  freedom  characteristic  of  freer  forms  
of  improvised  music,  the  promise  of  these  systems  of  conducted  improvisation  is  the  possibility  that,  as  Deane  
suggests,  “[a]n  energetic  feedback  loop  develops  between  the  symbolic  (conductor)  and  the  sonic  (ensemble),  
and  through  this  energetic  exchange,  a  musical  form  emerges  on  its  own”  (29).  Whether  or  not  the  musical  forms  
generated  by  such  feedback  loops  are  interesting,  productive,  groundbreaking,  transformative,  or  imbued  with  
some  other  quality,  the  consensus  among  the  authors  appears  to  be  that  the  answers  to  such  questions  lie  in  the  
evolution  of  the  practical  engagement  of  individuals  and  ensembles.  

Upon  reading  these  books,  the  differences  between  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  appear  less  remarkable  than  
the  similarities,  but  a  few  aspects  do  deserve  mention:  First,  whereas  music  is  the  main  art  form  for  which  
Conduction  was  designed,  and  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  deals  with  the  use  of  
Soundpainting  in  music,  Soundpainting  has  evolved  into  a  multi-­disciplinary  sign  language  intended  to  include  a  
broader  sphere  of  participants  from  dance,  performance  art,  poetry,  visual  art,  and  other  backgrounds  
(Thompson,  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  Workbook  3).  Second,  whereas  The  Art  of  Conduction  
includes  all  sixty-­three  directives5  in  the  Conduction  lexicon  and  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  
Soundpainting  covers  a  similarly  sized  selection  of  Soundpainting  gestures,  the  total  Soundpainting  language,  
developed  by  a  community  of  Soundpainters,  is  composed  of  more  than  1,500  gestures  (Duckert  and  
Rasmussen  11),  of  which  only  a  minority  have  been  documented  in  published  instruction  materials.  While  the  
development  of  Soundpainting  has  been  characterized  by  expansion,  Morris  appears  to  have  focused  more  on  
refining  a  condensed  set  of  directives.  Third,  and  lastly,  while  there  is  no  single  directive  in  Conduction  which  is  
entirely  similar  to  the  “Improvise”  gesture  in  Soundpainting,  the  closest  functional  equivalent  in  Conduction  is  the  
“Pedestrian”  directive.  Many  gestures  in  both  systems  implicitly  require  the  participants  to  improvise,  but  
“Improvise”  and  “Pedestrian”  are  probably  those  which  do  so  most  obviously.  Whereas  “Improvise”  simply  
instructs  the  addressee(s)  to  “[p]lay/improvise  a  solo”  (Duckert  and  Rasmussen  103),  the  primary  task  of  the  
“Pedestrian”  is  “to  contribute  to  the  overall  integrity  of  the  construction  in  progress  and  to  find  or  create  situations  
for  elaboration  and  development”  (Morris  59).  “Pedestrian”  thus  emphasizes  the  social  task  of  contributing  to  the  
collective  sound  instead  of  the  individuality  implied  by  the  notion  of  the  soloist.  It  should  be  noted  that  while  a  
similar  instruction  to  “Pedestrian”  does  actually  exist  in  Soundpainting  (referred  to  as  “Relate  to”),  along  with  the  
opposite  option  to  ignore  one’s  surroundings  during  the  improvised  solo  (referred  to  as  “Improvise-­With-­
Blinders”),  these  different  emphases,  when  it  comes  to  the  most  direct  instructions  to  improvise,  hint  at  some  of  
the  subtle  differences  that  a  thorough,  comparative  study  of  Conduction,  Soundpainting,  and  perhaps  other  
systems  would  uncover  in  greater  detail.  For  the  purposes  of  this  review,  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  Duckert  and  
Rasmussen  emphasize  the  socio-­musical  affordances  of  Soundpainting  in  a  way  that  is  quite  comparable  to  what  
Morris  does  with  regard  to  Conduction,  but  with  a  more  purposive  twist.  

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Written  by  and  for  practitioners,  The  Art  of  Conduction  and  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  
Soundpainting  should  be  read  and  appreciated  as  practical  introductions  to  these  elusively  simple  yet  potentially  
very  complex  approaches  to  musical  improvisation.  The  books  provide  well-­crafted  introductions  to  the  
sometimes  slightly  esoteric  terminology  of  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  and  will  provide  a  good  starting  point  
for  interested  practitioners  and  students  of  conducted  improvisation.  Readers  interested  in  a  more  academic  
approach  to  the  topic  may  find  the  well-­explained  yet  lengthy  instructions  on  how  to  execute  and  understand  the  
gestures  in  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  somewhat  unfulfilling,  compared  to  a  more  analytically  distant  
discussion  or  critique  of  the  systems  in  question.6  The  authors  insist,  for  instance,  that  Conduction  and  
Soundpainting  can  bring  into  dialogue  and  accommodate  musicians  and  ensembles  coming  from  extremely  
diverse  backgrounds  and  skill  levels,  but  both  systems  are  built  on  particular  musical  idioms,  products  of  
particular  times  and  places.  As  these  systems  are  implemented  in  musical  education  systems  around  the  world,  it  
would  be  relevant  to  consider  whether  all  microsocial  interactions  enacted  in  practices  of  conducted  improvisation  
result  in  constructive  social  and  individual  development,  or  if  other  complexities  are  at  work.  These  questions  are  
beyond  the  scope  of  the  books  being  considered  here,  but  future  research  into  the  effects,  uses,  and  
(micro)politics  of  conducted  improvisation  is  certainly  imaginable.  The  tendency  in  The  Art  of  Conduction  and  
Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting  of  leaning  toward  a  collectivist  ethics  implied  by  an  
emphasis  on  listening  and  adapting  to  others  is  and  has  been  a  topic  of  broad  concern  for  scholars,  historians,  
and  practitioners  of  improvisation.  Practices  of  conducted  improvisation  offer  interesting  approaches  and  
experiments  in  this  regard,  and  these  books  show  that  while  there  is  a  world  of  complexity  to  explore  in  these  
practices,  complete  mastery  is  not  required  in  order  to  begin  to  appreciate  the  musical  processes  and  reflections  
on  improvisation  that  Conduction  and  Soundpainting  can  facilitate.  

Notes  
 
1
 In  Conduction  and  Soundpainting,  individual  gestures  are  referred  to  using  a  number  of  terms:  “directives,”  
“signs,”  “gestures,”  “signals,”  etc.  
 
2
 A  series  of  workbooks  written  and  published  by  Walter  Thompson  (Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  
Workbook  1;;  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  Workbook  2;;  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  
Composition,  Workbook  3)  introduce  the  Soundpainting  sign  language  and  concept  in  a  way  that  is  comparable  
to  Morris’s  writings  in  The  Art  of  Conduction.  
 
3
 The  “extra  dimension”  to  which  Morris  refers  is  the  rhythmical  phenomenon  of  “swing”  (Schuller  8),  which  also  
for  Morris  entails  “spontaneity,”  “ignition,”  and  “interaction”  (34).  
 
4
 The  Conduction  gestures  are  classified  in  The  Art  of  Conduction  according  to  the  following  categories  (which  
were  revised  by  Deane  and  Veronesi):  “Directive  Activation,”  “Directive  Endings,”  “Dynamics,”  “Articulation,”  
“Repeats,”  “Time-­Tempo-­Pulse/Rhythm,”  “Tempo  Modifications,”  “Tonality/Pitch,”  “Evolutionary  Transformations,”  
“Event,”  ”Effects/Instrument-­Specific  Directives,”  and  “Score-­Related  Directives.”  
 
5
 The  exact  number  of  directives  may  vary  depending  on  how  one  counts  certain  directives  which  are  grouped  
into  one  category,  such  as  “Repeat”  and  “Developments”  (Morris  50).  The  number  of  gestures  mentioned  here  
counts  those  directives  which  are  functionally  distinct  as  separate  gestures.  
 
6
 For  academic  literature  on  conducted  improvisation,  see  (Duby;;  Minors,  “Soundpainting:  The  Use  of  Space  in  
Creating  Music-­Dance  Pieces”;;  Minors,  “Reassessing  the  Thinking  Body  in  Soundpainting”;;  Faria;;  and  Marino  
and  Santarcangelo).  
 
Works  Cited  
 
Duby,  Marc.  Soundpainting  as  a  System  for  the  Collaborative  Creation  of  Music  in  Performance.  PhD  
dissertation,  University  of  Pretoria,  2006.  
 
Duckert,  Ketil,  and  Gustav  Rasmussen.  Ensemble  Playing  and  Improvisation  with  Soundpainting.  Edited  by  
Jakob  Faurholt,  Translated  by  Simon  Palmer,  Edition  Wilhelm  Hansen,  2016.  
 
Faria,  Bruno.  Exercising  Musicianship  Anew  through  Soundpainting:  Speaking  Music  through  Sound  Gestures.  
PhD  dissertation,  Lund  University,  2016.  
 
Marino,  Gabriele,  and  Vincenzo  Santarcangelo.  “The  Enaction  of  Conduction  Conducted  Improvisation  as  
Situated  Cognition.”  Proceedings  of  the  Sixth  International  Conference  of  Students  of  Systematic  
Musicology  (SysMus13),  edited  by  D.  Glowinski  et  al.,  Casa  Paganini-­InfoMus  Research  Centre,  
DIBRIS-­University  of  Genoa,  Italy,  2013,  pp.  1–6.  
 

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Minors,  Helen  Julia.  “Reassessing  the  Thinking  Body  in  Soundpainting.”  How  Performance  Thinks,  Kingston  
University  and  Performance  and  Philosophy  Working  Group,  2012,  pp.  142–48.  
 
-­-­-­.  “Soundpainting:  The  Use  of  Space  in  Creating  Music-­Dance  Pieces.”  Sound,  Music  and  the  Moving-­Thinking  
Body,  edited  by  Marilyn  Wyers  and  Osvaldo  Glieca,  Cambridge  Scholars  Publishing,  2013,  pp.  27–34.  
 
Morris,  Lawrence  D.“Butch.”  The  Art  of  Conduction:  A  Conduction  Workbook.  Edited  by  Daniela  Veronesi,  
Karma,  2017.  
 
Schuller,  Gunther.  Early  Jazz:  Its  Roots  and  Musical  Development.  Oxford  UP,  1968.  
 
Thompson,  Walter.  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  Workbook  1.  Walter  Thompson,  2006.  
 
-­-­-­.  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  Workbook  2.  Walter  Thompson,  2010.  
 
-­-­-­.  Soundpainting:  The  Art  of  Live  Composition,  Workbook  3.  Walter  Thompson,  2014.