‘Taihua’ refers to the intertidal zone, area between the limits of low and high-tide.

‘Taihua’ is the antechamber of the ocean.
We strode along many ‘Taihuas’ in New Zealand, searching for sounds and noises, shells, outlooks to native forests or distant islands.

We strolled by a mighty and often restless ocean. We surfed on rising tide waves and ran barefoot in the wet ‘Taihua’ of the Muriwai beach. We witnessed dusk there, and we photographed pink skies, the surface of the water as a mirror. We captured the echo of caves we could only enter at low-tide. We examined sand covered in shells that chimed like winds, and arranged them by note, depending on their size.

Then, we went deeper in the land, along the streams, still barefoot. We threw ourselves into native forests, surrounded by chatty endemic birds.

All 8 pieces of ‘Taihua’ are about hyper locality. They hold sounds harvested on site, from the crazy melodic phrases of the tūī or the piwakawaka, to the upbeat rhythmical patterns of the insects.

Humans also have a role in this story, they simply made sure they took off their shoes, and reconnected with matter.

++++++++++++++++++++

All tracks composed, played and produced by Benjamin Gibert.
Samples of nature sounds by Benjamin Gibert.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Benjamin Gibert at Earthskin Muriwai Residency, New Zealand. >> www.earthskin.co.nz
Photography by Thomas Vailant >> www.thomva.com
Artwork by Thomas Vaillant & Benjamin Gibert.

Many many thanks to Thomas, Véronique and Nancy.

license © all rights reserved

TAIHUA

Glassbirds (Benjamin Gibert + SVQO)

00'00'' - Franz Josef Glacier
04'43'' - Gemme 04 + Tuis Garden (hurricane version)
13'03'' - Sutra (outro)
15'32'' - Shells
20'00'' - Low Tide Cavern 02
24'17'' - Native Forests
31'23'' - Barefoot
36'12'' - Low Tide Cavern 01
39'44'' - Gemme 02

Thank you to Sacha Bernardson & Christopher James Henry & to everyone who came and enjoyed my sonic oceanic trip.

Live Session at Residence Alto . Cordes-sur-ciel . 21.08.22

Native Forests (live version)

Athèèèèènes. Athèèè-èè-èè-èènes. Paler- Palerme. Athèèènes. Jérusalem. Cler(mont)Algeeeeeee (Oran) eeeeer. Clermont-Hébron-Dijon. Barcelone, Barcelone. TelAviv - Marseille. Hamana. BeyrouthOranLeCaire. BeyrouthOranLeCaire. Beyrouth. 

Athènes Le Caire

Composition, arrangements, production - Benjamin Gibert
Mixing and mastering engineer, additional production - Guillaume Saint Etienne

Taste of Sap is an immersive vocal experiment, born from a long improvisation session with a harmonizer. The title is sensual — it means “the taste of sap.” The track gradually thickens, like sap itself: fluid, viscous, enveloping. Conceived as an end-of-night chant around a fire, it searches, finds form, and eventually becomes a ceremonial anthem at dawn.

No language is used: only raw vocal material, spontaneous, organic phonemes that emerge viscerally. The voice is the main musical instrument.

A small vintage, portable Casio synthesizer punctuates the whole piece in playful dialogue with the vocal improvisations. Taste of Sap evokes a primal, ancestral imaginary and prepares the arrival of the sun at daybreak.

Taste of sap

Composition, arrangements, production - Benjamin Gibert
Mixing and mastering engineer, additional production - Guillaume Saint Etienne

Noctambulism is arguably the most grounded track on the EP, rooted in a lush, fictional jungle. It opens with a soundscape of birds and insects, recorded in various real-world locations and then drastically transformed, pitched, multiplied, and phase-shifted to create a surreal and uncanny environment.

This living mass becomes an autonomous space, a sonic ecosystem crossed by organic sound objects. A modified citation from the track Tui’s Garden (from the previous album Taihua) acts as an anchor, pitched downward, it functions like the memory of a living organism that has mutated.

At the heart of this sci-fi setting lies a subtle, continuous rhythmic motif, a fake maraca crafted from insect sounds — slowly leading into the second part. More structured and melodic, this section reintroduces DX7 pads and harmonic experiments derived from field recordings, forming a kind of immersive trance.

At the intersection of field recording, IDM, and synthwave, Noctambulism charts a slower path through the forest, just before the dance resumes in the next track.

Noctambulism

Composition, arrangements, production - Benjamin Gibert
Mixing and mastering engineer, additional production - Guillaume Saint Etienne

Glassbirds II sounds like a gradual awakening at nightfall. Glass birds fly through the canopy, shattering and reforming in a shimmering sonic environment — a word that guided the entire composition, from sound design to the track's dynamics.

The track is built on a framework of melodic patterns created from glass impacts and shards, laid over a rhythm that starts off simple and binary. This raw material, left aside for a long time, was later entirely reworked: the initial pulse gave way to a more fluid, syncopated rhythm inspired by UK garage patterns.

The DX7 synthesizer steers the piece toward a Frutiger Aero aesthetic, creating a play of contrasts with natural and organic sounds. The track gradually shifts toward a more assertive form, culminating in a conclusion clearly shaped by house music codes.

Halfway between the organic and the programmatic, Glassbirds II explores the mutation of materials, a chimera of genres.

Glassbirds II

Aspérité Liquide is the most clearly organic house track on the EP. Two elements form its foundation: xylophone patterns played on a handmade instrument found at a flea market, and sliding synth loops that open the piece. These two layers shape a soundscape that evokes a forest crossed by a stream.

Once this setting is established, the track evolves in successive touches, gradually referencing ’90s house more explicitly, followed by a bassline that reinforces the groove.

The rhythm relies on a combination of TR-808 and field recordings, captured from natural materials collected in the forest. The piece is punctuated by pitched birds and ghostly choirs, evoking ambiguous life forms.

The different layers slide over one another like water, without rigid structure. The result is a sense of fluid continuity.

As with the rest of the EP, the approach remains the same: set an environment, settle into it, and let the dance emerge from within.

Aspérité Liquide

Sleigh Bells - Run The Heart (Benjamin Gibert 'particles' remix)

Gemme 02

‘Taihua’ is a Māori word. It refers to the intertidal zone, area between the limits of low and high-tide.

‘Taihua’ is the antechamber of the ocean.
We strode along many ‘Taihuas’ in New Zealand, searching for sounds and noises, shells, outlooks to native forests or distant islands.

We strolled by a mighty and often restless ocean. We surfed on rising tide waves and ran barefoot in the wet ‘Taihua’ of the Muriwai beach. We witnessed dusk there, and we photographed pink skies, the surface of the water as a mirror. We captured the echo of caves we could only enter at low-tide. We examined sand covered in shells that chimed like winds, and arranged them by note, depending on their size.

Then, we went deeper in the land, along the streams, still barefoot. We threw ourselves into native forests, surrounded by chatty endemic birds.

All 8 pieces of ‘Taihua’ are about hyper locality. They hold sounds harvested on site, from the crazy melodic phrases of the tūī or the piwakawaka, to the upbeat rhythmical patterns of the insects.

Humans also have a role in this story, they simply made sure they took off their shoes, and reconnected with matter.

++++++++++++++++++++

All tracks composed, played and produced by Benjamin Gibert.
Samples of nature sounds by Benjamin Gibert.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Benjamin Gibert at Earthskin Muriwai Residency, New Zealand. >> www.earthskin.co.nz
Photography by Thomas Vailant >> www.thomva.com
Artwork by Thomas Vaillant & Benjamin Gibert.

Many many thanks to Thomas, Véronique and Nancy.

license © all rights reserved

Low Tide Cavern 2

Tūīs Garden

Native Forests

Taihua

Barefoot

Benjamin Gibert ventures into mountains, forests and megacities in search of secret sounds and stray signals. He collects raw sonic material — using a microphone and a notebook — then plays with nesting, soldering, fragmenting and merging sounds. His sonic objects often flirt with acoustic or electronic instruments, forming abstract narratives and opening doors to invisible worlds. His work seeks to create immersive forms where reality and imagination, landscapes and fiction coexist.

Coming from a background in contemporary dance, he develops a physical and spatial approach to sound — conceived for deep listening and movement. Field recording is his main tool, which he combines with electronic textures, evolving rhythmic structures, and a singular use of the voice: without words or language, treated simply as raw, organic, vibrant material.

He has completed numerous residencies in France, New Zealand and Chile, and has performed in France, Spain and Japan.

He released Gemmes (2018), an EP composed for the Royal Abbey of Fontevraud; followed by Taihua (2019), an album created and produced in New Zealand. His upcoming EP, Nightingales, will be released in summer 2025. It is a musical fiction at the crossroads of IDM, organic house and ambient, imagining what a secret forest rave might sound like.

Benjamin Gibert’s work stands out for its way of connecting places, natural sounds and electronic textures. He is drawn to liminal spaces — between wakefulness and sleep, human and non-human, natural and synthetic. His sonic universe is shaped by influences ranging from Oneohtrix Point Never to A.G. Cook, as well as Steve Reich, Björk and D’Eon.

Benjamin Gibert

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