[SONUS.ca]

Kwik Picks 08 — JTTP 2011

Recent additions to the CEC’s online EA Jukebox

by Kevin Austin

Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) and SONUS.ca bring together two of the important themes of the Objectives of the CEC, those of supporting creative EA activity and the younger generation, and making this work widely available in an unrestricted fashion.

The origins of the competition are from the early 1980s but at that time neither the technology nor the required infrastructural support existed for it to operate properly. Picked up formally by the CEC at the start of the 21st century, JTTP has become an important part of the CEC’s connection and service to the Canadian and international ea communities.

The number of submissions has risen over the past decade from around 25 to about 45. Also, the breadth of the submissions has widened, and while the early JTTP submissions were almost exclusively for fixed media, this year’s batch also include mixed work, audio-visual pieces (videomusic) and examples from installation art works.

A review of the works over the past decade will also show that the general quality of the works, from both æsthetic and technical points of view, has risen enormously. This is due in part to the increased ease of access to higher quality software and hardware, and also to the ongoing subtle integration of traditional EA studio techniques into sound design, popular media and pop musics in general. Connections with other countries have also slowly become part of the on-going tradition,; the CEC has invited other national EA associations to collaborate on JTTP in recent years (Germany / DEGEM in 2009, Australasia / ACMA in 2010).

The top five, or this year, six entries earn small prizes for the composers. It is through the generosity of a large number of composers and supporters of EA that these prizes include cash, CDs and publications. This community support is provided in recognition of the importance of JTTP in the career development of the sound artists who participate. Through the ongoing international activities of the CEC the top works are annually presented on radio stations across the country and around the world. With all of the pieces appearing in SONUS.ca, those interested around the world, and at any point in time are able to hear the creative work of the submitting artists.

Thanks also go to the more than 40 people who are annually invited to participate in the process of evaluation and ranking — the “jury”. Varying in size from around twenty to over thirty, these members of the EA community give 10 or more hours of their time to supporting this initiative. Notable in this process is the request that jury members offer (constructive?) criticism to the composers about their work. Of significance in this for the young / emerging sound artist is being able to read comments that both lavish praise, make suggestions for improvements and may be highly critical of their work. In most similar situations, the Chair of the committee reduces to comments to the most easily acceptable form, removing the harshest criticisms.

Thanks, first and last go to the Board of the CEC for supporting the project, and especially for the ceaselessly untiring work of getting all of the details sorted out, keeping everything on track, and making the operational issues invisible, go to Yves Gigon, and, of course (!) jef chippewa.

Kwik Picks — A Brief Introduction

Kwik Picks is an occasional column in eContact! designed to provide short descriptive notations on the evolving SONUS.ca collection. In fifteen words or less, the notes attempt to provide a quick glimpse into the nature of the work outside of the framework of a qualitative evaluation. In my years of presenting concerts and other public events, I have learned that there is something to be gained from everything heard, and something that I may feel very positively about may be an anathema to someone else. Each person will make up their own mind.

The words used in the descriptions has evolved relatively little over the years. This is part of an ongoing interest of mine to form a kind of “base vocabulary” for the general description of EA works. The word “acousmatic” for example refers to the entire field of pieces presented as “fixed media”, rather than being limited to works derived from concrete sources. I do reserve the term “high acousmatic art” <haa> for a genre of composition based on the limits of (largely) stereo compositions designed for manual sound projection employing a large number of loudspeakers. A sort of “matured concrete music”.

The technology has continued to evolve to the place where the “concrete / electronic” division has little real-world, practical application. A virtual synthesizer using modelling synthesis techniques is only one example of a small difficulty. Another is that in the early 21st century, more and more young sound artists make / take sounds from wherever they can find them, borrow them, or steal them.

Kevin Austin
Montreal QC
2 September 2011

The 2011 edition of JTTP was featured in eContact! 14.1 (September 2011). Full programme and biographical notes for all submissions / composers and lists of the top-placing composers and awards attributed, jury members and Project Partners are featured in the issue.

Jeu de temps / Times Play 2011 (JTTP 2011)

All submissions to JTTP 2011 are included here in alphabetical order. Click on the titles to listen to the pieces (mp3). Further information about the composers and their works, as well as on the project is available in eContact! 14.1, an entire issue devoted to the 2011 edition of the project.

[Click on a composer’s name for an artist bio; click on a work title to play the audio in mp3 format. Videos are available in mp4 (opens directly your browser/player) and ogg (downloads).]

Aaron R. Acosta — Tiles (2010 / 3:16) [mp4 | ogg]

Abstract geometric video accompanied by a collage / layered soundtrack of synth sounds and other types of standard sounds. Little, if any direct relationship between sound and image.

Tiles uses video with fractal elements created with artmatic pro and an electroacoustic score to exemplify the contrast between imposed organization and the natural state.

Medusan Torso was inspired by my work with visual artist Merja Nieminen on the installation Re:****Sitruuna ja meduusa, which appeared at Galleria Aarni in Espoo, Finland in February 2011. Torso is composed entirely from the sound material from this installation; but where this material was deconstructed for the installation, then re-composed in real time by the software governing the virtual projected environment, here it has been shaped and fixed to a timeline, allowing for a very different exploration of these same materials, and offering very different results.

David Arango Valencia — Canción de Otraparte « Chanson d’ailleurs » (2011 / 12:04)

Extended acousmatic. Strong narrative, textural, highly gestural. Ever in processes of change and transformation. Organic turnings throughout.

Canción de Otraparte, the Spanish equivalent of “Elsewhere Song” was inspired by Viaje à pie (Journey on Foot), a book written by Colombian philosopher Fernando González. In this book, González is in search of innovation and decides to set off on a journey. Throughout his journey, his ideas become influenced by that which surrounds him and as a result, his initial ideas are transformed. Paralleling this book, Canción de Otraparte is a search for innovation. Exploring the city in which I live, I wanted to capture the sounds of Montréal and allow them to direct the piece, both influencing and transforming it. Some of the sounds used are street traffic, subways and the Symphonie portuaire, an outdoor concert held in Montréal’s old port, in which boat horns, trains, helicopters and church bells are showcased. Some of the sounds recorded indoors include crystal glasses, tunnels in the underground city, the shattering of glass and broken ceramic.

Canción de Otraparte est une pièce qui s’inspire de l’œuvre littéraire Viaje à pie, écrit par le philosophe colombien Fernando González. Pour cette œuvre, je recherche une idée innovatrice et authentique en prenant des routes et des méthodes déjà existantes pour m’avancer au milieu des différents espaces musicaux. Mais aussi, je tiens à m’échapper de cette route pour découvrir des nouveaux horizons, des nouvelles idées et pouvoir élargir mon univers musical.

Guillaume Barrette — Parasite (2011 / 10:00)

Largely layered linear acousmatic. A slow start belies a very powerful, spectacular middle and end!

Parasite is an acousmatic work that uses the sounds of my daily life in recent years. My interest in the guitar and instruments used in traditional music is apparent in the work, as is my appreciation of sounds created synthetically, electronically. During a trip to England in Fall 2010 I learned how to build small analogue synthesizers and discovered that by using the resistance of the human body as a controller, striking and unexpected sounds can be generated. I explored with enthusiasm the potential for this interface to create sounds having a quasi aleatoric character and decided to record a number of excerpts to play with and incorporate in this piece.

Parasite est une pièce acousmatique mélangeant des sons de mon quotidien des dernières années. Ainsi, j’y présente mon intérêt pour la guitare et les instruments de musique traditionnelle, en plus de sons plus synthétiques, électroniques. Lors de mon séjour en Angleterre, à l’automne 2010, j’ai appris la conception de petits synthétiseurs analogiques. Utilisant la résistance du corps humain pour leur jeu, les sons obtenus peuvent être étonnants et inattendus. Appréciant cette propriété de créer des sons d’allure quasi aléatoire, j’ai décidé d’en enregistrer quelques extraits et de jouer avec en les incorporant dans ma pièce.

Antoine Bouchard — Wagon bleu / Blue wagon (2011 / 4:15)

Roughcut collage with guitar, processed soundscape and voice(s).

Blue Wagon brings its passengers along dreamlike metaphor ways. Memories, reality and imagination interleave aboard. Intercom and subway noises, guitar notes, bribes of a physics lesson and rythm of an escalator are the main elements at the origin of this music.

Wagon bleu transporte ses passagers sur les rames d’une métaphore onirique. À son bord la réalité, les souvenirs et l’imagination s’entrecroisent. Un intercom et des bruits de métro, des notes de guitare, une étrange leçon de physique et le rythme d’un escalier roulant sont quelques un des matériaux à l’origine de cette musique.

Jason Boyko — Dreams in Cryogenic Sleep (2011 / 7:32)

Layered, continuous, textural study.

Dreams in Cryogenic Sleep consists primarily of sampled speech which has been filtered then processed using a live granular synthesis system. The end result is a somewhat claustrophobic piece consisting of deep textures and drones with layers of clicks and hiss occasionally breaking through.

Carmen Braden — Reputation (2011 / 7:46)

Largely linear soundscape collage including Buddhist temple bells, ambiances, thunder and voices.

Reputation is a soundscape-based work that uses recordings collected in Buddhist temples in Thailand and Cambodia. It explores the belief that ringing certain bells in the temples will spread the ringer’s reputation with the sound. The soundscape develops into a deeper exploration of bells and voices, and a thunderstorm sweeps through the piece bringing its own resonating vibrations.

Kathleen Brown — Incident: Night (2011 / 4:27)

Concrete poetry. Semi-autobiographical. Sometimes stone-like. Solo recitation with sparse piano sounds.

This composition involves poetic text, which has undergone erasure. I performed the text inside a Steinway piano in the Lusgar recording studio at the Banff Centre. I worked with Gordon Neil Allen, who mic’ed the piano to catch the resonance of my voice as it bounced off the strings. When we mixed the sound, Gordon amplified that resonance to give the whole piece a beautifully eerie, deep-water texture. Original text (poem) in the composition by the composer.

Cédric Camier — Groover (2009 / 4:18)

Layered collage of processed electronic and instrumental sounds.

Contexte de l’œuvre présentée: La thématique est celle du « groove », notion héritée de la funk, du blues et inspirée en tout cas de la musique afro-américaine. Ces axes de réflexion se sont nourris de la lecture de « Free-Jazz, Black power ». Dès les premiers temps de l’écoute, un rappel lancinant de rythmes un peu sur-mixés vient d’emblée souligner le préjugé construit de la musique noire et de leur rythme dans la peau (Corps et Couleur, P. Blanchard). Le choix de sons percussifs kitch, issus de la fusion et de la musique électronique, met en avant un bazar rythmique, tel qu’on peut le trouver lorsqu’il est fait en groupe, sans tempo figé, comme échauffement et en amorce à une transe, mais sans la charge émotive contenue dans la l’association de la cacorythmie avec la chaleur des instruments joués à la main et en direct. Dans la première partie de la structure, l’instauration d’un rythme et d’un motif très simple avec une basse synthétique met en scène le fondement tribal du groove mais sans y plonger, la froideur des sons utilisés nous en privant. Une tension se crée en crescendo avant de se résoudre sur l’unique phrase solo qui perdure jusqu’à la fin du morceau. Tout comme la structure elle-même, les phrases rythmiques sont construites sur l’idée de souligner les temps forts. Leur jeu approximatif est synonyme de déstabilisation et est opposé à la stabilité du seul l’attribut « groove » non détourné de la pièce, le solo. Cette mise en scène d’attributs gravitant autour d’une notion vise à questionner les critères d’appréciation de cette forme musicale vis à vis de leur connotations émotives, et plus largement culturels.

Guillaume Campion — Neige cendre (2011 / 11:22)

High acousmatic soundscape with instruments. Leads gently, but surely to powerful places. Fasten your seatbelt.

With the exception of a few forest sounds and piano samples, all sonic material heard in Neige cendre comes from quartz crystal vessels. These instruments, commonly used for meditation or music therapy, produce a sound which is very close to sine waves. However, when listening closely, one notices a number of parasite sounds produced when the instrument is played — frictions, faint whistling and other imperfections without which the vessel’s sound would be of little acousmatic interest. Neige cendre is thus a sort of narrative between the two sides of a single reality, the “pure” and “impure” sides of it, all tending towards their ultimate poetic fusion. I wish to thank Philippe-Guy Robichaud for the use of his crystal vessels.

À l’exception de quelques sons recueillis en forêt et d’échantillons de notes de piano, tout le matériau constituant Neige cendre provient d’un orchestre de vaisseaux de cristal de quartz. Ces vases, généralement utilisés pour la méditation ou la musicothérapie, produisent un son très rapproché de l’onde sinusoïdale. À l’écoute attentive, on remarque cependant nombre de sons parasites issus de leur mise en résonance — frottements, faibles sifflements, sans lesquels ces sons présentent en fait peu d’intérêt acousmatique. Neige cendre se veut une sorte de parcours narratif mettant tour à tour en évidence ces imperfections et leur contrepartie « pure », vers leur fusion poétique finale. Je tiens à remercier Philippe-Guy Robichaud pour l’utilisation de son orchestre de vaisseaux.

Dan Joseph Cohen — Ghosts (2011 / 2:55)

Song with transformed bass, guitar, drums, violin… and other instruments.

[No programme note available]

Maxime Corbeil-Perron — Fragments (2011 / 10:00)

Google Kandinsky Composition VIII and listen to this piece. A fun ride through a sonic representation of many of its aspects.

Fragments was inspired by the lines and colours of Wassily Kandinsky’s Komposition no. 8, with the intention to create a fragmented vision of time and space. In composing this piece I also tried to achieve transparency between the respective nature of its sound materials, using as much from the synthetic as the acoustic universe.

Inspirée par les traits et les couleurs de Komposition no. 8 de Wassily Kandinsky, cette œuvre se veut une vision fragmentée du temps et de l’espace. Nous retrouvons aussi dans l’écriture de cette pièce une volonté de transparence entre les natures respectives de ses matériaux sonores, puisant autant de l’univers synthétique qu’acoustique. Merci à Alice Lane-Lépine.

Guillaume Côté — Gaza (2011 / 6:02)

Rough-cut collage of political / sociological interest, up close, textures and layers.

Piece inspired by the reports of the journalist Joe Sacco on the Gaza Strip between 2002 and 2008, that traces Palestinian’s life confined in this no man’s land. Without prejudice, Sacco portray those people living under a constant menace. In the same idea, Gaza, without being a political piece like the name would maybe suggest, try to find a musical correspondence with this constant encroachment and stress lived by the neighbours of the Philadelphia’s Corridor, little strip of earth at the border of Egypt, where the battle is the most intense. This piece rely on two level. The first one meaning the attack, the bombing: the surprise. The second, the calm after the tempest: the ascertainment of damage, the helplessness in front of this havoc that persists day after day in a land that will never find peace. My first will was to find a close link between the origin of my materials and my subject. I asked two musicians to improvise in the Free Jazz spirit, expressing the anger, the will to be free, through their instruments. Therefore, I would like to thank Mathieu Frenette (alto and sopranino saxophone) and Philippe Roy (contrabass) for their sound materials.

Pièce inspiré des reportages du journaliste Joe Sacco sur la Bande de Gaza entre 2002 et 2008, retraçant la vie des palestiniens confinés dans ce no man’s land. Sans toutefois prendre partie, Sacco trace un portrait humain de ce peuple subissant une menace constante. Dans le même ordre d’idée, Gaza, loin d’être une pièce à saveur politique comme son nom pourrait laisser entendre, tente de trouver correspondance musicale avec ce sentiment d’envahissement et de stress constant vécu par les voisins du corridor de Philadelphie, bande de terre étroite à la frontière de l’Égypte, là ou les affrontements sont le plus intenses. Cette pièce joue constamment sur deux plans. Le premier signifiant l’attaque, le bombardement : la surprise. Le second le calme après la tempête : la constatation des dégâts, l’impuissance face à ce ravage perdurant jour après jour sur une parcelle de terre qui ne connaîtra jamais la paix. Mon désir premier étant de trouver un lien entre mon matériel et mon propos. J’ai demandé à deux improvisateurs de jouer dans l’esprit Free Jazz, exprimant ainsi un vouloir de libération et d’égalité par leurs instruments. J’aimerais donc remercier Mathieu Frénette (saxophone alto et sopranino) ainsi que Philippe Roy (contrebasse) pour leurs matériaux sonores.

Natalie Cringle — Kinetic Static (2011 / 8:08)

Layered (modular) synths foregrounds, concrete moments below and through.

Even in stillness there is motion. This piece reflects all the static waves that are being emitted, whether we can hear them or not. Our perception does not always allow us to experience the full scope of activity and energies in our environment, but we know that in the background there is always a wealth of the tiniest happenings astir. Just as the earth rotates without our acute awareness of this motion, we come into day and night, and we know that indeed, though things may appear static to us, they are slowly moving. This piece is a collection of sounds that are sometimes inaudible but, if recorded, can be picked up and brought into our realm of awareness.

Through stillness there is motion
Through radio waves transmitting
Translucent iridescent sound waves omitting such frequencies sometimes unheard
Shades of grey emanating, undulating in the early dawn
Static is kinetic propelled in slow motion veering through the dial
Off the dial, it’s still playing
Whether it’s heard or not
In between telephone polls and electric lines
Static is dripping off the land.

Sarah Davachi — Ancient Biographies (2010 / 5:39)

Roughcut textural evolution.

The sound material for Ancient Biographies consists of granular voices, one FM voice, a low-pass filter and a fixed filter bank. The character of the piece is very much affected by the processing involved; given the appearance of granular synthesis in the latter half of the piece, a sort of unsettled yet persistent feeling is created. However, this feeling is first established at the opening of the piece by way of a sample of running water being fed through a low-pass filter, resulting in a sort of gritty rhythm. The smooth and fluctuating character of the filter bank and FM voices are introduced to balance the sound from the low-pass filter as it transitions into the granular processing.

Ali Nader Esfahani — Why not? (2009 / 9:20)

Multi-channel acousmatic / exploration of the object(s). Largely layered, many sounds move about, some wander.

Close your eyes and imagine.

Karl Fenske — 11/32/19 (2010 / 14:57)

A concept minimal piece. Purely analog synthesis piece, recorded live.

A purely analog synthesis piece, recorded live in the studio, fall of 2010, with German Doepfer modules and a test tone generator.

Sophie Genest — Welcome into my dysfunctional brain (2010 / 2:44)

Short layered collage of echoed, reverbed fragments.

[No programme note available]

Philip Goodall — Étude aux Fluxions (2011 / 12:00)

Marimba, vibraphone and bell notes in space and location; pitch structure, and microtonal evolutions.

The piece, Étude aux fluxions, developed as an exercise in the simple melding and manipulation of sonorities of wood and metal percussion instruments (marimba, vibraphone, bells) with sustained chords of electronic tones. Harmonic progressions of gradually transposing pitch constructs, events of repeating rhythms and oscillating motifs, and the appearances of broad melodic movement in the lower spectrum make up the componants of the underlying language of the piece.

L’œuvre Étude aux fluxions était développée comme exercice dans l’intégration et la manipulation des sonorités des instruments de percussion en bois et en métal (marimba, vibraphone, cloches) avec les cordes soutenues des tonalités électroniques. Des progressions harmoniques des hauteurs fixes construits qui transposent graduellement, des événements de rythmes répétitifs et de motifs oscillant, et des apparitions de la mouvement des larges mélodiques dans le bas de la gamme constituent les componants de la langue sous-jacente de l’œuvre.

Christopher Gorman — Siilatujuk (2011 / 23:20)

Quiet, delicate open, layered textures. Sonic reflections inside a wandering mind. Largely (?) modular / analog-type synth sounds. Quite 1970s.

“There is a state of mind called Siilatujuk. I find this hard to describe because it happens to me. It is that state of mind that allows me to see a different world which is my very own place. Here, I am not subject to unnatural forces. Here, I can create things that are beautiful and that give me great pleasure. It is a very strange place because you know that it can never be, yet when you leave it and come back to the world we know, you discover that you have created a beautiful thing that you have brought back with you. I am a carver, so I bring forth carvings—but there are songs, stories, and magical things that have been brought back by others from their own worlds.” —Inuksuit: Silent Messengers of the Arctic.

Jullian Hoff — Scratch (2011 / 12:06)

High acousmatic exploration of the (electric guitar) object. Gestural layering with continuous change and transformation.

Scratch is a trip along a 45-second “pick slide”, an abrasive “pick slide”, the wild ride of a drummer on the crest of a drumfill…

Scratch est un voyage le long d’un « pick slide » de 45 secondes, un « pick slide » abrasif, la course folle d’un batteur sur ses fûts.

Teresa Hron — AhojAhoj (2011 / 12:31)

Linear narrative, semi-documentary in approach. Somewhat radiophonic.

AhojAhoj is the first of a set of pieces based on my family archive: letters, photographs, tapes and movies that go back several generations. I am grateful for and fascinated by the traces that these people left for me to discover, and what I learn about them and myself in the process. In AhojAhoj, I try to merge the sound of the piano with that of a cassette deck as well as voices taken from cassettes exchanged between my parents and their relatives in Czechoslovakia during the communist regime. In sending each other these audio letters, they wanted to come as close as they could to one another, and in so doing, are still alive in an incredible way for me today. AhojAhoj was written for Luciane Cardassi. Her playing and facility with playing with fixed media greatly influenced the score and its challenges. I am grateful to her for all her suggestions and improvements. The piece exists both in stereo and 8-channel versions.

Markus Lake — Paper Planes (2011 / 9:43)

Acousmatic exploration of objects study. Linear semi-narrative, somewhat sectional in nature. Mostly medium-size sound chunking.

This piece is an exploration of text as an abstraction. All sounds were created using objects that create text, or are used for its transmission: Paper, typewriter, pencil, envelopes, pens etc… The hope was to listen to how we communicate rather than what we communicate.

Jean-Michel Lavarenne — Chant de la sourde fontaine (2011 / 3:46)

Synthesized-type sounds with many somewhat standard plugin transformations, followed by waterbowl drippings and transformed voice(s), evolving into beats etc.

Le chant de la sourde fontaine (Song of the Quiet Fountain) contrasts disorganised synthetic sounds against better organised concrete sounds and links them together through brutal transitions. The piece starts with a formless sequence during which coexisting sounds create a confused rhythm. The second part lets the fountain sing. The last part is organised around a rhythm deduced from the sounds of the fountain.

Le chant de la sourde fontaine met en contraste des sons synthétiques désorganisés et des sons concrets plus organisés, le tout relié par des transitions brutales. La pièce débute par une partie informe durant laquelle des sons juxtaposés créent un rythme confus. La partie centrale fait chanter la fontaine. La dernière partie s’organise autour du son de la fontaine duquel un rythme est déduit.

Joel Lavoie — Didascaliaque (2011) (2010 / 8:08)

Collage of soundscaped and personal soundscape elements, mostly in waves.

Composed in the studios of Université de Montréal in 2010 and mastered at De Montfort University (MTI) in 2011. An acousmatic piece about the growing anger of a person from the inner point of view. Made only with field recordings and electromagnetic signal recordings, the intention was to give an organic life to electronic sounds through the intuitive gestures of nature and human error. There’s 4 short movements : Surpris,..,, De l’échine à l’abandon,,..,, Agrandissements en direct de la rage qui nous pousse,,..,,,.,.,,. C’est noir de mondes.

Pièce acousmatique portant sur la croissance d’une rage contrôlée perçue du point de vue intérieur. Fait a partir de matériaux sonores provenant de prises de sons d’ambiances et de rayonnements électromagnétiques. L’intention derrière l’esthétique de la pièce est de confondre la dualité des matériaux (acoustique/électronique) en une même masse « organique ». Composée en 2010 dans les studios de l’Université de Montréal, Québec et masterisé en 2011 dans les studios du MTI (Université DeMonfort), Royaume-Uni. Cette pièce se divise en 4 court mouvements: Surpris,..,, De l’échine à l’abandon,,..,, Agrandissements en direct de la rage qui nous pousse,,..,,,.,.,,. C’est noir de mondes.

Sébastien Lavoie — Obscura (2011 / 9:06)

Textural / gestural phatt synth sounds of the early-/mid-80s. Hyper-coloured.

This piece makes counterpart to my last composition, which was guiding us towards the light (And Then There Was Light), I decided to explore the dark side of sound, to escape the brightness in order to move towards more gloomy sounds (dark sound images). The objective is to transpose this desire and reality into a musical project and to spatialize it during my compositional process.

Faisant contrepartie à mon dernier projet de composition, qui nous guidait vers la lumière (Et La Lumière Fut!), j’ai décidé d’explorer maintenant le coté obscure du sonore, de m’éloigner de la clarté et d’aller vers les profondeurs musicales (images-sonores). L’objectif est de transposer cette volonté et réalité vers un projet sonore et de le « spatialiser » à même le processus compositionnel.

Frédéric Le Bel — Maniké (2010 / 5:50)

An acousmatic, exploration of the object, study of vocal and instrumental sounds, in miniature. Introduction and a largely unidirectional growth / macrogestural structure.

Étude réalisée dans le cadre de l’atelier d’électroacoustique.

Marguerite Luu — Game Over (2011 / 3:14)

Basic linear and layered concrete collage of Hallowe’en / horror video game sounds.

Follow a player during a horror-type video game, where it includes few zombies…

Suivez le parcours d’un « gamer » lors d’un jeu vidéo d’horreur qui inclut quelques zombies…

Christopher Mclean — Cherrypicking (2011 / 6:21)

Layered (virtual) modular sounds within metric / rhythmic textures.

La cueillette de cerises est une activité très minutieuse et opportuniste qui consiste à sélectionner les fruits les plus mûrs et de les empocher. C’est aussi une activité quotidienne.

Elise Milani — Recollection of Lost Memories (2011 / 6:37)

A slowly evolving oscillating two-chord chaconne in a number of rather clear sections.

Performed mainly on the acoustic guitar, Recollection of Lost Memories explores melodies and sounds within 2 harmonic chords.

James O’Callaghan — Rails (2010 / 7:55)

Exploration of the soundscape object — trains. Well formed. Well shaped! Stay on board for the ride.

Rails is an acousmatic-soundscape piece derived from train sounds. It moves between a nostalgic meditation on the many train sounds which make up our immediate soundscape and aestheticized musings on the inherent musical qualities that make up these sounds. As the listener is guided between these points, transformations of image occur — where one sound-image suddenly or gradually becomes another, different image. Often the most striking changes occur in the places where the sounds move from abstracted and gestural manipulations and remerge into their more familiar environments; there is a sense of waking from a dream, or being suddenly roused while lost in thought.

Lucas Oickle — Electroacoustic Study No. 2, “Stream at Cape Split” (3:55)

Guitar(s) and bubbling water(s); melody with echo over untroubling waters.

All sounds were recorded at Cape Split in Nova Scotia and act primarily as a soundscape, with little processing. The two instruments often mimick the inherent character of the flowing water, which pervades the entire work.

Lia Pas — a tender & violent duet (2011 / 10:01)

Basic layered collage of concrete sounds created as accompaniment to abstract dance.

This piece was composed for Free Flow Dance Theatre’s choreographic interpretation of the following instructional score:

. two performers . they move each other’s bodies . they move each other’s organs . stroking . pressing . touching . tapping . hitting, tapping and pressing so the breath is exhaled . stroking and touching so the breath is inhaled . the sounds are skin on skin . breath inhaled . breath exhaled . the sounds are rhythmic . the sounds are cadenced . the sounds are melodies of air .

All the sounds for this piece are the breath sounds of the dancers and myself, edited in terms of time and composition but not electronically changed in any other way.

Émilie Payeur — Matière contre vide (2011 / 4:30)

Linear, semi-narrative acousmatic study. A nod to Pierre Henry and sparse concrete traditions. Many fine gestural elements.

Dans le cadre de cette étude, j’ai voulu explorer la notion d’opposition entre éléments et vide. Inspirée par mon travail en peinture, j’ai cherché à organiser la matière de façon similaire, c’est-à-dire en disposant des fragments de matière autonomes à l’intérieur d’un espace vide.

Marc-André Perron — Effervescence / Somnolence (2010 / 10:24)

Linear, layered textures. Much fun with multi-layering. Highly transformed concrete, and then the acousmatic revelation of source(s).

The first of a set of three pieces born of the composer’s reflections on the principle of acoustic ecology, Effervescence / Somnolence (E.S.), an excursion that at once explores a surrealist universe and our own, and is in fact conceived of this duality. The piece is constructed using recordings of sound objects and of recognizable, unknown and forgotten soundscapes.

Première d’une série de trois pièces nées à la lumière d’une réflexion musicale sur le principe d’écologie sonore, Effervescence / Somnolence (E.S.), une excursion à la fois dans un univers surréaliste et dans le nôtre, est conçue à même cette dualité, et construite à partir de la prise de son d’objets et de paysages sonores connus, inconnus, ou oubliés.

Michaël Plante — Son[]lit (2010 / 4:09)

Acousmatic collage; sectional and largely layered, with a surrealistic dreamed narrative.

Son[]lit was based on the adventures undertaken by the mind during various phases of dreaming. For example: The constant changes of scenery, the uncertainty of the sleeper’s surroundings, the rapidity at which the sleeper can forget what has just happened, etc. These ideas were more of an inspiration rather than a theme or guideline. It was never my intention to have these ideas transmitted to the listener. I tried to build Son[]lit as a narrative of perspectives, meaning that the story / feeling was intended to be guided more by the listener’s previous experiences, and not by commonly accepted gestural/timbral archetypes. Son[]lit is a short section from a larger body of work in progress in collaboration with Jesse Moon (Meat Parade).

Éliane Préfontaine — Électre (2010 / 7:57)

Collaged materials, integrating extended textures and concrete mixtures, ending with transformed voice collage. Semi-narrative.

Ayant été la seule femme de mon année inscrite en composition électroacoustique à l’Université de Montréal, j’ai eu envie d’explorer la grande thématique de la féminité. Pour moi, Électre représente la naissance… du féminin.

Loriane Takla (a.k.a. Axial) — Alphabête (2010 / 13:44)

An exploration of transformations of the voice; continuity achieved through layering. Narrative used for structural and connective functions.

Il m’est venu l’idée d’illustrer musicalement mes remises en question sur la langue française. En effet, le français écrit est illogique. Alors que l’écriture est née pour immortaliser ce qui est dit, elle a fini par dicter notre parler en se figeant au gré des caprices de puristes engagés. C’est pourquoi il n’y a plus aujourd’hui de lien cohérent entre ce qu’on dit et ce qu’on écrit. Un exemple des plus flagrants est celui du mot « temps ». Mais qu’est-ce que ce « p » et ce « s », sinon des héritages encombrants du latin? Tant de lettres inutiles qu’on s’acharne à faire ingurgiter à des enfants qui tentent alors vainement de développer une vision logique de leur univers. Mais bon, tout ce discours assommant n’a été que le moteur qui a fait démarrer mon carrosse imaginaire, le faisant errer entre la fiction et la réalité, entre le cauchemar et le salut du réveil.

Remerciements: Marina Moureau, pour son interprétation colorée du personnage féminin ainsi que pour sa capacité à produire des ronflements à l’état d’éveil. Yves-Antoine Rivest, pour avoir mis à contribution son expérience d’acteur, laquelle a ajouté beaucoup de singularité au personnage du puriste.

Stefanie Walsh — Listening (2011 / 9:47)

Looped and layered sounds from life — in very broad strokes. In three clearly identifiable sections.

Listening is a composition made up of three works from the senior thesis project Listen of Life, a sound art project. The composition is based on various everyday activities. The sounds sources were recorded using a portable recorder and transformed to evoke the feelings of the different parts of life.