John William Stevens, an influential British free-jazz drummer once said of the craft of improvisation, "If somebody says to me 'I can't improvise!'- and they could be somebody with the biggest chunk of classical training imaginable in their background - I would find that very inspiring. Because I know that within a very short time they will be doing it and saying 'Oh, is that it?' And then they will do it again. You see, it's the most natural thing in the world."

Stevens is absolutely correct in his assessment of the practice. In essence, all music begins as improvisation. It always has done – the exploration of an instrument and the subsequent process of trial and error is invariably inherent in first learning and then (hopefully) mastering the tools of the trade. It applies to novices and virtuosos alike.

However, whether that improvisation will be particularly pleasant on the ears is another matter altogether. But then, the 'one mans noise is another mans sonnet' is a whole other argument altogether. The precarious nature of improvisation means that the journey can often be fraught – it requires a different thought process, namely one which is not suspended in time as is the case with the writing process for more 'conventional' songs – therefore ability, technique, instinct, composition and performance must all be adhered to simultaneously - the results can end up anywhere between the crude and coarse to the sublime.

"The Stet Lab," according to its mission statement, "is a celebration of the practice of improvisation in all its diversity, complexity and, perhaps, contradictions." The Cork-based forum for improvisers, run under the auspices of the Cork Music Collective, invites novices, veterans, students, teachers, part- amateurs, professionals, locals and visitors to share in the experience, to hear music, to partake in the process and to impart whatever knowledge they may have, as all good artistic driven forums should.

It is jazz, it is sound-art, it is experimentation, blues, rock and it is folk and yet it is also none of these things, such is the nature of improvisation and it's constantly shifting parameters. It is what you make of it. It is inclusive and open to suggestion, interpretation and suggestion. It is both a spectator sport and an open invitation to participate, should you so desire.

The featured artist(s) bring to the space the exciting possibility of hybridity in musical play. They (including all the performers) cannot expect to create a whole, unified, complete work that leaves existing practice unchanged (although change is never guaranteed). Correspondingly, the featured artist will have to accept that anyone sitting-in may bring with them very different sensibilities, styles, techniques, idioms, histories, politics or ideologies.

In accordance with these theories, they welcome performers to sit-in with (or, through some alternative procedure decided on by (acting) curator and/or referee, interact with) the featured artist(s). No one is excluded, but newcomers, in particular, are welcomed to perform alongside novice performers, open-minded amateurs, and adventurous music students.

Following the recent success of their June convention, the monthly improvised music event continues its Summer 2008 season of on-stage mutations and hybrids tonight (Thursday, July 10), at the Ó Riada Hall, UCC Department of Music, Sundays Well, when they welcomes the co-founder of the Birmingham Improvisers Orchestra, Mike Hurley to the rostrum.