Stet Lab is, and has been for some time, on indefinite hiatus. [More info…]

Author Archives: Han-earl Park

Improviser, guitarist, constructor, sonologist, sometimes teacher, by-necessity club-runner, score-maker on hiatus. [More info…]

Lab report June 8th 2009: play different

I’ve said previously that “I’d be lying if I said I did not have allegiances—in idiom, in tradition, and in practice—I do, but I want to stress the possibility of trans-cultural meetings and creative (mis)understandings.” I don’t subscribe to a silly ideology of some impossibly impartial, neutral, transcendental performance, free of tradition, history, identity. I’m […]

Lab report May 11th 2009: parking your idiom

Somewhere in Belfast, May 16, 2009 Snippets from a conversation between three musicians: “Man, I should play more free jazz.” “It’s not an idiom at all…” “…a tradition? …a practice?” “Just play all over the keyboard.” “It is so much fun.” “Why don’t I do this all the time?” “There’s nothing better.” “There really isn’t.” […]

Lab report April 14th 2009: little instruments

Okay, okay, I’m a somewhat born-again luddite so I can sound a little evangelical and pig-headed, but bear with me… Here’s a little back-story: in my first semi-public attempts as an improvising guitarist, I had my guitar, amp and volume pedal… plus a compressor, a distortion box, a delay pedal and a chorus unit. Eventually, […]

Lab report March 10th 2009: the possibility of failure

What is the status of ‘failure’ in improvisative performance? Is the notion of failure relevant to improvised music? If relevant, is it important in the ongoing practice (evolution, mutation or adaptation) of improvisation? safety… For me ‘oxleygrass (Marie’s phone)’ really doesn’t work as music. I think, at best, it’s a technical demonstration. The ditty didn’t […]

Lab report February 10th 2009: train wrecks and other fascinating disasters

Stet Lab, Cork, February 10, 2009 Before we go on stage, I joke with Jamie Smith that we’re the two guitarists who’re going to be tripping up each other (and that the drummer, Owen Sutton, will have to pick through the carnage). By ‘tripping up’ I’m not implying that the results weren’t going to be […]

Lab report 2007-2009: how to run an improvised music club

On the eve of our highest profile event, with 13 events behind us, this might be a good time to reflect on the stuff I’ve learned (and am learning) about running a space for improvised music. I’m indebted to those who have told stories of, and given advice on, running no- or low-budget ventures elsewhere. […]

Lab report January 12th 2009: healthy disrespect for the comfort zone

A couple of days after the January Lab, I was discussing with Murray Campbell how you avoid getting too comfortable in the context of group improvisation, and he said something interesting, that you should have a “healthy disrespect for the comfort zone”. It’s an issue that popped up before (I briefly touched on this last […]

Lab report December 9th 2008: when is a cliché a cliché

We rocked. I think I did some pretty damn good playing on December 9th. Nothing life changing perhaps, but I think it was a reasonable contrast my contribution to October and November’s Labs. But here’s the question: how do I know when I’m getting a little too… complacent is the wrong word—comfortable? Let me clarify […]

Audio recordings: proposed terms and conditions

The audio recordings on this site have been made available courtesy of the performers. The current handshake agreement, however, is a little haphazard, and (potentially) prone to misunderstandings. I am therefore proposing to move these recordings onto the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Lab report November 10th 2008: out of my depth

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Not exactly coasting, but I’ve been fairly comfortable with the tactics, strategies and lexicons I’ve deployed at Stet Lab. Minor criticisms here and there of course, but nothing that seemed to warrant a wholesale rethinking of what to play or how to improvise. But those […]