No Strings Attached 

Daryl Runswick writes: Main-Lineing (the spelling is deliberate) is a repetitive improvisation piece for four clarinets, including the small Eb instrument and the bass. The piece grows backwards: it has 5 short sections which are played in the order 5, 4-5, 3-4-5, 2-3-4-5, 1-2-3-4-5: what I would later (in the Scafra Preludes) describe as a reverse spoolout. It was written in 1991.

All the notes in Main-Lineing are written out. How then is it an improvisation piece? Other than the notes, the perfromers are given no instructions whatever (loud or soft? faster or slower? slurred or detached? beautiful or ugly?) The instruction is to play each section differently every time it occurs.