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 with : Nagra Ares BB+, Neumann KM184 · ORTF

220330 · 8:30 am · A foggy morning at home · Saint-Silvain-sous-Toulx · Creuse · France

220426 · Houston · Texas · Proler Metal Recycling Plant

A windy afternoon at the Aransas Wild Life Refuge in Texas. 
Bull frogs and birds.
Not easy to record because of the wind.
Nagra Ares BB+ · Neumann KM184 · ORTF

220501 ·  Aransas Wild Life Refuge · Texas · A windy afternoon

A very quiet late evening and night.
A bird (which one?), distant coyotes and crickets
Nagra Ares BB+ · Neumann KM184 • ORTF

220502 Big Bend · Texas · Old Maverick Road · Late evening

At dawn at the Sam Nail Ranch in Big Bend National Park, Texas.
A lot of birds and a bear finally touching the microphones!
Nagra Ares BB+ · Neumann KM184 · ORTF

220502 · Dawn · Big Bend · Sam Nail Ranch · Texas [ Birds and a bear!]

Performed live on May 22nd, 2022 at Weltkunstzimmer in Düsseldorf, Germany.

"Ima Yoko Watashi", a site specific free improvisation with the dancers Kristin Schuster, Etsuko Akiya, Antonio Stella, Jascha Viehstädt on a proposition by Chikako Kaido, concept by Tetsu Saitoh (Stage design by Takaya Kobayashi).

220522 · Weltkunstzimmer (Düsseldorf, Germany) · Ima Koko Watashi

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

Recorded live at le CIM in Bar-le-Duc (France) on November 20th, 2021.

Emilie Škrijelj, accordion
Loris Binot, prepared piano
Lê Quan Ninh, surrounded bass drum

211120 · CIM · Bar-le-Duc - Emilie Škrijelj, Loris Binot & 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

A robin (Erithacus rubecula) among other birds (black-capped warbler, Gray flycatcher...) at dawn.

Nagra Ares BB+ · Sennheiser MKH8020 · AB

220628 · 5:15am · Bois De Toulx · Creuse · France · A robin at dawn

Several chickadees pretty active in a tree. Other birds and insects are heard as well.

Nagra Ares BB+ · Sennheiser MKH8020 · AB

220628 · 7:00am · Chemin De Toulx · Creuse · France · Chickadees in a tree

Different birds are very active on a small tree along the path to the woods. The microphones were attached to branches.

Recorded with a Tascam DR100 MKIII and a pair of LOM Uši Pro.

220713 · 9:20am · Path to the Bois de Toulx (Creuse, France) · Different birds very active on a tree

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

Set 1 - Duo Shunichiro Hisada & Lê Quan Ninh

Recorded in my garden (Creuse, France) on October 25th, 2022 at noon. Only one group of common cranes going South.

Unfortunately, the day was a bit windy.

Recorded with a Nagra Ares BB+, a pair on Sennheiser MKH8020, AB.

221025 · Noon · Passage of a group of common cranes (Grus grus)

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

Manifestation unitaire du 1er mai 2023 à Guéret (Creuse) pour la journée internationale des travailleuses et des travailleurs. Casserolade contre la réforme des retraites et la politique de Emmanuel Macron.
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Unitary demonstration of May 1, 2023 in Guéret (Creuse) for the International Workers' Day

Zoom F3, Neumann KM184 ORTF on a boom pole

230501 · Casserolade (et batucada) · Manif du 1er mai 2023 · Guéret (Creuse)

Thousands of Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) leaving one tree for another, passing over the microphones.
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Des milliers d'étourneaux sansonnet (Sturnus vulgaris) quittant un arbre pour un autre en passant au-dessus des microphones.
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Recorded with a Nagra LB, a pair of Sennheiser MKH8020, AB 70 cm, no editing.

230612 · 5:55 am ·  Etang Des Landes (Creuse, France) · Flocks of Common Starlings

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

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

From 5 to 7 September 2025, I was invited to be a member of the jury for the John Cage Award competition in Halberstadt (Germany), organised by the John-Cage-Orgel-Stiftung Halberstadt, which is in charge of the Organ2/ASLSP project, a piece for organ by John Cage that designed to last 639 years and is played continuously, 24 hours a day in the Burchardi Church.

I took advantage of this wonderful opportunity to record this work at 20 different listening points for 7 minutes each.

I then used random operations with Andrew Culver's TIC and IC softwares (available on the anarchicharmony.org website) to determine sthe order of these listening points, their respective durations, the duration and the shapes of the cross-fades between these segments.

The organ pipes present in this period are: c‘ (16‘), des‘(16‘), d‘, dis‘, e‘, ais‘, e‘‘
More info on https://www.aslsp.org/

Recorded with a pair of Sennheiser MKH8020 and a Zoom F3.

20 Coordinates on organ2/ASLSP (Short Version)

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

Lê Quan Ninh

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