This freely improvised piece for percussion was recorded on June 1, 2021 for the online Improvisation Festival 2021 organized by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
The recording took place at the MJC Lillebonne in Nancy, France.
A minimum of instrumental means were used for this improvisation: a 24'' bass drum and some carbon rods.

Eraflures

Recorded on July 25th, 2020 in Parsac-Rimondeix (Creuse, France). 
Solex and mopeds racing organized by the Solex Team Parsac. 
Recorded, edited and mastered by Lê Quan Ninh.

Nagra LB, Neumann KM184, ORTF

Course De Solex et de Mobs de Parsac-Rimondeix

A rainy Sunday afternoon in the woods. My dog Pépite is around.

210725 · 4:15 pm · Bois De Toulx · Creuse · France

One hour at dawn from darkness to sunrise. 

Two main soloists : Grive Musicienne (Turdus philomelos)and a surprising three tones Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) plus Chouette Hulotte (Strix aluco), Alouette Lulu (Lullula arborea), Grenouilles vertes, Pigeon ramier (Columba palumbus), Bécasse des bois (Scolopax rusticola), Loriot d'Europe, etc.

Be patient, treasures are in the details.

Nagra LB · Sennheiser MKH 8020 · AB

220515 · 5:15am ·  Grands Murcins (Loire, France)· One hour at dawn

Recorded live on May 19th, 2022 at Ort e.V., Wuppertal, Germany. Gunda and I meet again after 16 years...

Gunda Gottschalk, violin
Lê Quan Ninh, surrounded bass drum

220519 · 8pm · Ort e.V. · Wuppertal  - Gunda Gottschalk & Lê Quan Ninh

A long thunderstorm in la Creuse, France.
Recorded during the night on June 21st, 2022.
Nagra LB · Neumann KM184 · ORTF

220621 · 0:13 am ·  An hour of thunderstorm

Three different moments within a quiet windless night. This is not an exceptional recording but I like the atmosphere anyway.
A howl, a fox and a blackbird can be heard as well as a frog and probably some rodents close to the tripod.
The microphones and the recorder have been left the whole night.
The photo has been shot in the morning when I came back to pick the stuff up.

Recorded with a Nagra Ares BB+, Neumann KM184, ORTF near my house, in la Creuse, France.

220725 A Quiet Night in the Woods

Recorded live on October 14th, 2011 at the Nishio Historic Park, Japan.
Was recorded with a portable Sony PCM recorded.
Cleaned and mastered by Lê Quan Ninh in 2022.

111014 Improvisation @ Nishio History Park

Set 2 - Quartet - Shunichiro Hisada/Michel Doneda/Tetsu Saitoh/Lê Quan Ninh

Set 2 - Trio - Michel Doneda/Tetsu Saitoh/Lê Quan Ninh

Set 1 - Quartet - Shunichiro Hisada/Michel Doneda/Tetsu Saitoh/Lê Quan Ninh

Set 1 - Duo Shunichiro Hisada & Lê Quan Ninh

Alarm called of a Song Thrush (Turdus philomelos)at dawn.

Recorded in La Blanchette (Creuse, France)with a Nagra Ares BB+ and a pair of DIY AOM5024 microphones on either side of a tree trunk.

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Cri d'alarme d'une Grive Musicienne (Turdus philomelos) à l'aube.

Enregistré à La Blanchette (Creuse, France) avec un Nagra Ares BB+ et une paire de microphones DIY basés sur des capsules AOM5024 de part et d'autre d'un tronc d'arbre

230214 · 7:30am · Alarm call of a Song Thrush

Recorded in the beautiful park called "Landes et Tourbières de La Mazure" (Creuse, France).

I put the couple of microphones against the trunk of the tree. The wind made the rest.

Recorded with a Nagra Ares BB+ and a pair of Neumann KM184 in ORTF.

230304 · 4:20pm ·  Tourbières de la Mazure (Creuse, France) · Tree creaking

Two superimposed recordings of an advertising display in Caen (France), slowly panned, detuned and EQ'd.

Recorded on July 14th, 2023 with a Mole-Rat device, a Tascam DR100MK3 and processed using Reaper.

EMF Variations I

DJ Set "Contemporain" (#emilieskrijelj et @lequanninh) en public le 17 novembre 2023 au @exhibitronicfestival à Strasbourg.
Mix de disques vinyles de musique contemporaine, musique improvisée, free jazz, poésie sonore, etc.

"Contemporary" DJ Set (#emilieskrijelj et @lequanninh) live on November 17, 2023 at the @exhibitronicfestival in Strasbourg. A mix of vinyl records featuring contemporary music, improvised music, free jazz, sound poetry and more.

231117 · Boule(z) à facettes (DJ Set "Contemporain") · Exhibitronic Festival · Strasbourg

Treatise (1967) by Cornelius Cardew.
Performed live on December 3rd, 2011 at Atelier MusikFabrik in Cologne (Germany). 
Pages 45 to 70, 75 to 88, 136 to 139.

ensemble]h[iatus : Tiziana Bertoncini, Isabelle Duthoit, Carl Ludwig Hübsch, Géraldine Keller, Lê Quan Ninh, Thomas Lehn, Thierry Madiot

111203_Treatise_Hiatus_Atelier_musikFabrik_Cologne

Treatise (1967) by Cornelius Cardew

Dawn chorus in a light wind in the Bois de Toulx (Creuse, France) with a bunch of individuals from different species :
European Robin (Erithacus rubecula), Common Blackbird (Turdus Merula), Eurasian chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs), Common Cuckoo (Cuculus canorus), Great tit  (Parus major), Eurasian blackcap (Sylvia atricapilla), Common firecrest (Regulus ignicapilla), Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major), Eurasian Wren (Troglodytes troglodytes), Common Wood Pigeon (Columba palumbus), etc.

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Choeur de l'aube dans un vent léger dans le Bois de Toulx (Creuse, France) avec un nombre varié d'individus de différentes espèces :
Rouge-gorge familier (Erithacus rubecula), Merle noir (Turdus Merula), Pinson des arbres (Fringilla coelebs), Coucou gris (Cuculus canorus), Mésange charbonnière (Parus major), Fauvette à tête noire (Sylvia atricapilla), Roitelet triple-bandeau (Regulus ignicapilla), Pic Epeiche (Dendrocopos major), Troglodyte mignon (Troglodytes troglodytes), Pigeon ramier (Columba palumbus), etc.

240509 · 06:00 am · Dawn Chorus · Choeur de l'aube (Creuse, France)

Arriving half an hour earlier than last time, probably the same nightingale in the same bush is already singing. The background, however, is not the same: almost no frogs, but a few Eurasian Coots calling intermittently.
This recording ends when the nightingale changes location.

I used another pair of microphones : Sennheiser MKH8020 in AB at around 2.50 m height.
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Arrivé une demi-heure plus tôt que la dernière fois, probablement le même rossignol dans le même buisson est déjà entrain de chanter. L'arrière plan n'est toutefois pas le même : presque plus de grenouilles mais quelques Foulques Macroules crient par intermittence.
Le présent enregistrement s'arrête au moment où le rossignol change d'endroit

J'ai utilisé un autre couple de microphones, des Sennheiser MKH8020 en AB à environ 2,50 m de hauteur.

240518 · 05:00 am ·  Etang des Landes (Creuse, France) · The nightingale and few eurasian coots

Ensemble Hiatus (aka ensemble]h[iatus) founded in 2006 by Martine Altenburger and Lê Quan Ninh met at Epicentre (Creuse, France) in May 2024 to improvise freely. No pretext, no plan,  just listening to each other. The last piece was recorded live on Sunday, May 12th in the same space.
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L'ensemble Hiatus (aka ensemble]h[iatus) fondé en 2006 par Martine Altenburger et Lê Quan Ninh s'est réuni à Epicentre (Creuse, France) en mai 2024 pour improviser librement. Pas de prétexte, pas de plan, juste une écoute mutuelle. La dernière pièce a été enregistrée en public le dimanche 12 mai dans le même espace.

240510 · Ensemble Hiatus · Free Improvisation 2

240510 · Ensemble Hiatus · Free Improvisation 1

Stereophonic piece based on four field recordings.
The piece is composed of only four field recordings in various natural environments. By ecology, I also mean a certain economy of means and intention: The duration of the piece is based on the original duration of the recording of tree creaks on a windy day. These creaks are punctuated in a non-cyclical way by the flapping of chickadee wings around a bird feeder. Two horizontal elements then thicken the material: murmurs from volcanic activity in Iceland and a pool of water stirred by a few fish under a small bridge in the Camargue.
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La pièce n’est composée que de quatre enregistrements de terrain dans divers milieux naturels. Par écologie, j’entends également une certaine économie de moyens et d’intention : La durée de la pièce se cale sur la durée originelle de l’enregistrement de grincements d’arbre par une journée venteuse. Ces craquements sont ponctués de manière non cyclique par des battements d’ailes de mésanges autour d’une mangeoire. Deux éléments horizontaux viennent ensuite épaissir la matière : des souffles provenant de l’activité volcanique en Islande et un point d’eau agité par quelques poissons sous un petit pont en Camargue.

Phenomena Is Mind 1

Recorded live at the Danae Festival on Sunday 20 October 2024 at La Fabbrica del Vapore (Milan, Italy)

Live @ Danae Festival 2024 Milano

In Memoriam Masaki Iwana. Live @ Danae Festival (Milan, Italy)

Recorded live at the Circolo Libero Pensiero (Lecco, Italy) on Thursday 17 October 2024.

(Reverb added)

Live @ Circolo Libero Pensiro Lecco

Live @ Circolo Libero Pensiero (Lecco, Italy)

On hour without interruption at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France). Already many bird species for the season. Water birds, then when the light comes on, a few forest birds. Small mammals rummage through tufts of dry grass near the microphones. In the distance, sometimes, flocks of birds take flight like a low hum.

Recorded on March 9, 2025 with a Nagra LB and a pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 in AB.

One hour at dawn at the Etang des Landes (Creuse, France)

Three different spots in the woods where the melting snow was raining and falling from the trees

Trois différents endroits dans le bois où la neige tombe des arbres en pluie et en paquets...

250316 · Bois de Toulx (Creuse, France) · Melting Snow Variations

This piece, based on several field recordings has been requested, by the Cercle des Amitiés Créoles de la Creuse. The theme was Banks and Shores. It has been designed to be listened with headphones during an exhibition.

Cette pièce, basée sur plusieurs enregistrements de terrain, a été demandée par le Cercle des Amitiés Créoles de la Creuse sur le thème de Berges et des Rivages. Elle a été conçue pour être écoutée au casque pendant un évènement public organisée par l'association du 4 au 10 mai 2025.

Phenomena is Mind 2

Percussionist. Improviser. Performer. Occasionally composer and field recordist. Co-founder of the ensemble]h[iatus. Co-founder and curator of Le Bruit de la Musique festival. Artistic adviser of Association Ryoanji Épicentre.

Lê Quan Ninh

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