ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the author explores a collaboration in which Korean traditional music meets electroacoustic music. Diverse kinds of improvisation, in jazz and traditional musics from non-Western cultures, and even in Western art music, have gained more academic attention. In the project entitled Sori Art, the author worked with the Australian electroacoustic composer Leah Barclay. The transcendence of conventions through improvisation can contribute to new understandings of ‘identity, community, history, and the body’ across cultures and nations. The Koreans identify a unique timbre in traditional music, which is distinct from that in other musical cultures. The sound colours of traditional music cover a wide spectrum, ranging from raspy noisiness to refined purity. Through ‘Pojagi’, the author tries to explore the emotional and social conceptualisations of the taegum which are most efficiently evoked by tone colour. Improvisation weaves the disparate parts of the whole together, changing the responsive role of the musician during performance and stretching out towards the audience.
