System 50:50 in Sound, Ensemble Improvisation Workshop Series led by Phil Morton WORKSHOP #1

Free workshops for musicians of all levels interested in the practice of ensemble free form improvisation.
(For October, November and December sessions, there will be a separate Facebook event created and published.)

Venue: Fishermen’s Chapel, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 2EA
Doors open: 2PM
Start: 2:30PM
End: 4:30PM

Cost: Completely FREE
Instruments: Any
Experience: All levels welcome!
Number of participants per session: 16

Please RSVP to musicworkshops@konsztruktingsoundz.co.uk if you are interested in participating in the workshop. We advise to participate all 4 sessions.

Join us for a four-session series exploring a simple yet powerful approach to ensemble improvisation.
In System 50:50 each player improvises for 50% of the piece and remains silent for 50%. These times are aggregate totals — you choose when to play and when to listen. Every participant manages their own clock and retains full agency over the sounds they make. The result is music shaped as much by silence as by sound. Ensemble density shifts moment by moment. Active listening becomes the main compositional force. The music creates itself.

The aim is to create something new, owned by those present, by exploring both the possibilities and the limits of freedom in music-making. System 50:50 introduces an egalitarian constraint that still leaves musicians with genuine agency — producing music that is often more open, cooperative and dynamic than conventional large-group free improvisation.

More details on the Konsztrukting Soundz website here https://konsztruktingsoundz.co.uk/system-50-50-in-sound/

Open to:
• Experienced improvisers
• Amateur enthusiasts
• Players of any instrument
• All levels of experience
No previous free-improvisation experience required. The method works “straight out of the box”.

About Phil Morton

Phil Morton (Liverpool: UK) has developed System 50:50 over twenty years. He has been active in `free improvisation` as a player, promoter, and teacher since 1998 and as a listener since 1968. He commends this project, System 50:50 in sound, to all players of improvised music, free improvised music as a simple, unique methodology that addresses the complexity of the music. Phil Morton's personal belief is that this is a gift that keeps giving. A bold statement! It might be a fallacy or of substance, but the ongoing research process will explore this and find out.

What past participants said

“It’s a really good way to get a group to play effectively without egos, virtuosity, and shyness getting in the way. It is democratic, inclusive, coherent, leaderless and focused.”
— Simon Ross
“The openness allowed me to play quietly, which meant the dynamics were incredible for an improvising large ensemble.”
— Charlie Collins
“It gives me permission to do nothing.”
— Jon Aveyard

Come and help shape the sound with silence.

All welcome — please bring your instrument and an open ear.

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