Paper short abstract

This paper has been written together with informant Alistair Fraser and explores how he relates to and connects with the natural world.

Paper long abstract

In this paper we look at the practice of musical improvisation within the contemporary taonga pūoro musical paradigm (Māori musical instruments). When taonga pūoro practitioners improvise in the natural landscape they can be seen as wayfarers navigating the contours of the acoustic landscape(s). As these practitioners come into dialogue with the entities of the natural environment, they are able to transform these relational experiences into sound phenomena, which in turn (re)create places that are meaningful to the practitioner and the audience(s), human or otherwise. By coming into dialogue with renowned taonga pūoro practitioner Alistair Fraser and how he relates to and connects with the natural world through sound, this methodological paper challenges the way we explore, expand and extend our appreciation of acoustic Aotearoa/New Zealand.