Les chants de la terre (Earth Songs) (stereo, 12 min 08 secs)

The four elements were at the root of this piece. However, as often happens in electroacoustic music, sounds appeared ordinary to me. Ignoring the initial project, I chose those sounds which seemed to be bearers of hope and which fit more into the temporal development of the work
I, therefore, chose to use recorded, natural, digitally processed or artificial sound objects symbolizing the Earth, Fire, Water and Air, such as: percussion sounds on rocks, exotic birdsongs, popping sounds, and the haunting and soothing sounds of wind and water. I also used sounds produced by granular synthesis for some patterns.
At times, all too rare, I embrace the absence of industrial noises. Who has not experienced the perception of various sound levels in nature, especially very close and present sounds, such as the rustling or falling of a leaf, or distant sounds like the singing of a bird that has flown away? This peaceful dimension that I had always loved also inspired me.


Les Chants De La Terre

Ruptures and continuities of rhythms and tones are the two root principles of Cadences. Sound objects interrupt the development of rhythmic sequences that can start again a little further on. These interruptions leave residue in the form of sound objects whose behavior is determined algorithmically. These residues are then used in the musical structure of the piece. The objects, sometimes tonal, form themselves when the melodic motifs attract our attention and which are then, in turn, interrupted by rhythmic sequences. 

These disruptions emerge from a certain auditory comfort and require us to refocus our attention on sequences that then appear.

Québec, March 2015


Cadences.wav

Inspired by the Variations pour une porte et un soupir composed by Pierre Henri a long time ago, I tried these variations with two commun objects. There sounds are in fact vert easy to manipulate and I was able to obtain a lot of different sound objects I used.

Inspiré par les Variations pour une porte et un soupir composées il y a longtemps par Pierre Henri, j'ai tenté ces variations avec deux objets courants. Leurs sons se prêtent en effet à de nombreuses manipulations permettant d'obtenir de nombreux objets sonores différents que j'ai utilisés.

Variations pour un verre et un  cul de poule stereo

Décidé d'en finir avec le pouvoir du synthétiseur et fasciné par ses facilités instrumentales, j'ai tenté de jeter un pont entre la gestuelle traditionnelle de l'instrumentiste et la voix du synthétiseur.

Cette pièce a été composée dans un esprit ludique; elle demande à l'instrumentiste (ici, il s'agit d'un pianiste, mais le jeu peut faire appel à instrumentiste différent) de jouer avec la partie enregistrée. Ainsi, chaque exécution est différente et porte la marque de l'instrumentiste.

Having long been fascinated by the instrumental ease of the synthesizer, I finally decided to put its capabilities to the test. It’s my attempt to bridge the gap between the instrumentalist’s conventional form and the synthesizer’s modern sound.
Composed to be playful, this piece of music requires that an instrumentalist—in this case, but not necessarily, a pianist—plays with a recorded part. Because each instrumentalist puts their own stamp on the music, every performance is unique.


Ambiguité Pour Synthétiseur Et Piano (piano : R. Gagneux)

Songs of the Sea

The sea isn’t actually the silent world that Cousteau described. If you’re willing and able to listen to the life there, a whole world appears; you’ll hear calls to travel, calls from fellows or rallying cries. I was fascinated by the life and the musicality of this world, so I tried to put it into music using almost entirely sounds recorded underwater. These sounds truly reveal the incredible diversity of the inhabitants of the deep. 


Les Chants De La Mer (Songs of the sea)

Vague - Divague

The sea isn’t actually the silent world that Cousteau described. If you’re willing and able to listen to the life there, a whole world appears; you’ll hear calls to travel, calls from fellows or rallying cries. I was fascinated by the life and the musicality of this world, so I tried to put it into music using almost entirely sounds recorded underwater. These sounds truly reveal the incredible diversity of the inhabitants of the deep.

Les Chants De La Mer

Inspired by the Variations pour une porte et un soupir composed by Pierre Henri a long time ago, I tried these variations with two common objects. There sounds are in fact very easy to manipulate and I was able to obtain a lot of different sound objects I used.

Variations Pour Un Verre Et Un  Cul De Poule Stereo

À la suite de deux compositions portant sur la beauté des sons terrestres (Les chants de la terre) et marins (Les chants de la mer), j'ai voulu utiliser la voix humaine (chants, récitatifs, cris), aussi bien des voix individuelles que des chœurs, comme objets sonores naturels. J'ai cherché dans cette pièce à montrer le mystère que ces voix peuvent susciter chez nous.

C'est trois pièces peuvent être considérées comme une suite sur les beautés des sons de la terre, de la mer et de ce que peut faire l'Homme.

Chorus

Réalisant la beauté des objets et des séquences sonores proposés par Will Menter, j'ai composé Lithophonie uniquement à partir de ceux-ci. Travailler ces objets au moyen d'outils informatiques m'a permis d'en révéler la beauté et certains aspects particulièrement intéressants. Cependant, il fallait en préserver l'ampleur et la richesse; c'est pourquoi leur transformation a été délicate et peu de ces objets ont été radicalement modifiés.   

Inspired by the beauty of the objects and sounds created by Will Menter, I composed Lithophone using only sounds created by his works. Using digital tools to work with these objects allowed me to reveal their beauty and unique features. Of course, I had to keep their depth and richness as well; the transformation process was delicate and few of the sounds were radically changed.

G. Fresnais, compositeur

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