Free Musical Improvisation Online

Raymond MacDonald, Tia DeNora, Maria Sappho, Robert Burke, and Ross Birrel (2025). New Directions in Musical Collaborative Creativity: The Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra and the Theater of Home. Oxford University Press.

During the time of COVID-19, when most countries imposed restrictions on social contact, the conditions for musicians and collective music-making worsened significantly. This hit musicians hard, both economically and socially. However, what can now be documented in retrospect is the emergence of major innovations in the use of the internet for digital communication and musical collaboration. This book tells the story of how a group of improvisation musicians in Glasgow, known as the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO), responded to these new social and technological challenges.

What Improvisation Can Be

The book provides the background on how the musicians organized themselves, began using Zoom, and continued their regular improvisation sessions. Over time, they also connected with other improvisation musicians from around the world. Eventually, as many as 150 musicians participated in these online practices. Just as improvised music is a result of joint creative shaping, the book is also written collectively by a group of authors—illustrating how collaborative interaction takes precedence over individual approaches.

The purpose of the book, they write, is:"We seek to explore the meaning of what improvisation and improvised music can be, examining the potential social, political and aesthetic implications inherent in engaging with music in this manner."

The author collective addresses a range of topics related to free improvisation and creative online collaboration. The chapters cover organization and participation, technological challenges and opportunities, creative processes, effects on identity and health, educational implications, and more.

Home Theater in a Zoomsphere

“Music is not a universal language—it is more than that.” This is how the first chapter opens, signaling that the focus is not just on music itself, but on the technological and social context out of which the project arose. The chapter highlights the consequences of participation in this project in terms of creativity, musical development, social belonging, identity formation, and health and well-being.

It shows how quarantine not only imposed limitations on the musicians' expression but also sparked a surge of creativity, leading them to develop new improvisational forms in tandem with technology. Using a concept from disability studies, a kind of adaptive creativity emerged, where the impairments musicians now faced pushed them to find new ways of being together in music.

Technological Challenges

Of particular interest is how they addressed the problem of latency—the time delay in online collaboration that makes synchronous performance difficult, especially for classical musicians who rely on precise timing. To meet this challenge, the group developed strategies that created a new form of synchrony. The Zoomsphere required musicians to focus more on visual cues, facial expressions, and relational dynamics. This led to a heightened, more holistic or multi-modal sense of synchronized interaction.

They learned to incorporate latency into their musical contributions, turning it into an aesthetic element. At the same time, latency heightened their awareness of aspects beyond sound—such as visual presence through Zoom squares—ultimately creating a new type of synchrony distinct from traditional practices.

The term home theater refers to how, confined within their homes, musicians began incorporating everyday sound sources into their improvisations—kitchen tools, pots, food items, glasses, cups. Even pets made appearances.

Creative Human–Machine Cultures

Chapter two presents two case studies where lockdown led to changes in musical practice. It also explores the telematic situation and the role of technology in online music-making. A materialist perspective is outlined, emphasizing the agency of objects and the co-creative role of technology. Posthumanist views on identity are also introduced, challenging the anthropocentric portrayal of the self in digital networks.

This perspective treats technology as an active agent in the creative process. In this case, Zoom itself has agency—it carries systems and algorithms that provide unexpected and autonomous contributions to the musical flow. Musicians learned to work with this and incorporated such input into their improvisations.

One case study comes from a project led by music therapists and community musicians, where individuals with disabilities participated in an online rock-band-style music project. The other is a detailed account of the Care for Music project with Tia DeNora, Gary Ansdell, and Wolfgang Schmid. We hear how Ansdell suddenly had to lead his music group via FaceTime and later Zoom, facing significant challenges at first, but ultimately discovering the rich potential of music therapy in this format.

"The Shape of Things to Come"

“An Opening for New Possibilities” is the title of chapter three. It discusses the challenges and potential in initiating online improvisations with musicians from across the globe. One technique involved using "the clap," as in film production, to synchronize. This chapter includes links to recordings of the improvisations. A vast collection of video material has been made available via an Oxford University Press website—showcasing many more aspects than can be repeated here, especially the humor.

The beginning of an improvisation often defined its later shape. Four formats are described:

• A completely free improvisation with no prior discussion.

• Improvisations based on a proposed theme.

• Breakout groups of 3–4 musicians.

• A final free improvisation session.

  
  

Experimentation

Chapter four explores how musicians were challenged to break free from habitual ways of engaging with music. The online situation forced them to modify their playing styles. The drummer had to play more softly; the saxophonist had to explore new expressive techniques. Traditional live concert routines didn’t translate well to the online setting.

Participants said they learned to listen in new ways. They became more aware of how sound “sounds”—at home, in everyday life, in nature. They began to see household objects differently, exploring how these could be played and included in improvisations. There was also freedom to bring in other elements—images, clothing, costumes, and movement.

Virtual Foam

The fifth chapter is a true tour de force through contemporary philosophy, art criticism, and media theory applied to the project. With impressive scope, it weaves together thinkers like Deleuze, Guattari, Derrida, Lévi-Strauss, Dewey, Bourriaud, Heidegger, Uexküll, Sloterdijk, and many more.

Poststructuralist and posthumanist perspectives are incorporated, referencing core concepts like rhizome, assemblage, intra-action, and agential. Thinkers like Donna Haraway and Karen Barad are also invoked. The metaphors are rich and imaginative: meshwork, foam, emancipation of contingency, bricolage, Umwelt, ecologies of attunement, etc.

Good Endings

Chapter six focuses on the phenomenon of ending. How does one end a free online improvisation with many participants and without access to the traditional visual cues of a conductor? The chapter shows how good improvisation endings can contribute to linguistic conversation analysis. Just like ending a phone call requires strategy, so does closing an improvisation. Signals, rules, and negotiations are needed to create a satisfying conclusion. A transcription of an improvisation on the theme “last words”—evoking thoughts of death—is analyzed, inspired by one participant disclosing a terminal illness.

A New Form of Virtuosic Musicality

What is musicality, and what is musical virtuosity? This new practice of online free improvisation points to a broader, more holistic virtuosity. Traditionally, we associate virtuosity with technical mastery, particularly in classical or jazz settings. But virtuosity is socially constructed and maintained through shared conventions.

This new practice challenges that view. It emphasizes social interaction, creativity, and self-expression. While technical skill remains important, it no longer dominates. In improvisation, choice is central—not only musical choices, but also decisions about social interaction. Creative collaboration becomes a key part of a more holistic understanding of musical virtuosity. This can be described as social virtuosity—in combination with musical performance.

Health and Empowerment

From a music therapy perspective, it's affirming that aspects of health and therapy are addressed. Quarantine created a deep need for connection, and online meetings became a vital source of belonging. For some, the experience felt therapeutic.

Improvisation increased participants' sense of agency—creative action strengthened their sense of self. Empowerment was a defining feature of many participants' journeys.

From Community to Communitas

In conclusion, the author collective emphasizes the identity shifts experienced by participants. Improvisation enabled new genre forms and what they call post-disciplinary artistic practice. The online "home theater" integrated local and domestic themes with a global artist network. The new virtuosity that developed laid the groundwork for not only new artistic practice but also changes in broader life practices and sensitivities.

Finally, it must be noted that I wrote this review a year ago when I was asked to write the book's foreword. It was both challenging and educational. That’s why it was so exciting to reread the foreword when the book was delivered to my door yesterday by a courier. Buy the book, read it, and learn.