Tracking the Social Process

This paper proposes autosociology as a new methodological approach to the study of experimental improvised music, positioning the practitioner not only as a subject of inquiry but as an agent embedded within the social and creative ecosystems that shape performance practice. Drawing on autoethnographic principles, actor-network theory, and posthuman epistemologies, autosociology uses interactive mapping technologies, specifically, the Tools for Interactive Aural Analysis (TIAALS), to visualize socio-creative entanglements that traditional music analysis often overlooks. By tracing personal and community networks across time, this method emphasizes how creative knowledge emerges through relational encounters, improvisational ecologies, and the evolving contexts of ensemble life.Focusing on case studies within the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra (GIO), the paper demonstrates how visual mapping of interpersonal and technological relationships offers new perspectives on artistic authorship, communal memory, and the co-constitution of social and creative practices. It argues that documenting such networks constitutes a form of live archiving, valuable not only for academic analysis but also for pedagogy, curation and community-based reflection. The autosociological approach operates as both research tool and artistic practice tuned to the nature of improvised music and its resistance to normative social practices. This paper encourages us to think about experimental music practice through the social worlds that sustain it. By making visible the entangled relationships of influence, collaboration, and co-creation, autosociology offers a framework for navigating the increasingly multi-modal, decentralized and technologically embedded realities of contemporary performance.