[Jeu de temps / Times Play 2015]

Participants and Submissions

Winners / Gagnants | Submissions / Soumissions | Events / Événements | Awards / Prix | Jury

The five Winning Works and Composers, as selected by an international jury, are featured on a dedicated page. Visit the Awards, Project Partners and Support page to get an overview of the ample prize packages offered to these winners thanks to the contributions of JTTP Project Partners. The winners’ works are also featured in a number of Events, Concerts and Radio Broadcasts during the year, thanks to the dedication of our many Media Partners in Canada and around the world.

However, an equally important component of the project is that all submissions to each edition of the annual Jeu de temps / Times Play project are presented online; through this initiative the CEC offers continued support to a large number of young and emerging composers and sound artists. A total of 48 composers submitted recent works to JTTP 2015. You can read the programme notes and composer biographies below and can also click on the work titles to listen to the pieces.

Submissions

Jennifer BACHYNSKY — Antiprism (6:35 / 2015)

Antiprism is a quadrophonic piece inspired by the 3d geometric shape that is partially comprised of two flat planes that are twisted relative to one another. This piece begins with an introverted, pointillistic, modern aesthetic and then twists midway back in time to a retro aesthetic used as a commentary on introversion and the present day. Phrases in the piece are also twisted relative to one another by inverting their panning.

Jennifer Bachynsky is a third year composition student studying at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

Elias BAZINJANEH — Clockwork Rewind (10:40 / 2015)

The work is a sonic creation consisting of a combination of gestural events characterized by spatial details, aimed at giving rise to a train of thoughts in a continuous transformation from one event to another through the ten movements. The structure and context are musical, giving rise to a work that can be interpreted on a variety of different auditory levels. The entire piece embodies a reverse movement in time, in which the first movement represents the final point in time, and goes backwards alternating between unreal and real sonic environments as the piece progresses. The field recording is derived from capturing sounds during a rehearsal of three artists playing a piece for an electric piano and two Gu-Zheng, which are reminiscent of Chinese style. The piece explores sonic materials derived from a modular synthesizer, with a different patching technique in each movement. The development of the material can be traced back from the raw recording to the modified sound, as the results derived from the original field recording become more abstract with each successive composition.

Elias Bazinjaneh is a sound designer who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 2013 then moved to Montreal to pursue a BFA in Electroacoustic studies at Concordia University. Elias is driven by the will to explore the frontiers of cutting-edge scientific discovery in the audio field, influenced by the scientific approach of psychology and the experience of listening to electroacoustic music. Inspired by his previous course of studies and his keen interest in science, Elias is aiming at using his understanding of those areas to create musical compositions for therapeutic purposes. His areas of interest include acoustics, psychoacoustics and music therapy.

Jean-François BERTRAND SAUVÉ — Evolution (3:26 / 2015)

«Evolution» pose un regard sur l’évolution de l’humanité depuis le début des temps.

Concepteur sonore pour le cinéma et la télévision depuis plusieurs années, c’est le besoin grandissant de s’exprimer de manière plus libre et personnelle qui emmène Jean-François B. Sauvé à explorer une forme d’art sonore différente. Créée essentiellement à partir de sons qu’il capte dans la vie de tous les jours, ses compositions pourraient se qualifier de “paysages sonores” parfois réalistes mais reflétant plus souvent une vision distorsionnée de la réalité.

Naithan BOSSE — Liquid Automata (5:10 / 2013)

“In the post-industrial age, water and oil are highly valued commodities. There is an aisle in the grocery store dedicated to types of bottled water (spring, distilled, mineral, etc.) just as there are octane ratings at the gas station (87, 89, 91, etc.). As water privatization is increasingly common in draughtridden regions, growing oil demands call for more ambitious means of transportation (e.g., the proposed Enbridge Pipelines Project). There are certainly other points of comparison; yet, in what ways are the two intertwined? More specifically, what role does water play in the processing, transportation, and consumption of oil? Naithan Bosse and I wanted to know more about the relationship between these two (in)valuable resources. Using sound as our methodology, we inquired into local infrastructure.” - Program Notes by Tyler Kinnear

Naithan Bosse is a composer and guitarist from Sechelt, Canada. He holds degrees in composition and guitar from the University of British Columbia and is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at the University of Calgary. His research focuses on designing software tools and composing music that combines traditional acoustic instruments with live electronics.

Myriam BOUCHER — Cités (video — 10:34 / 2015)

Des cités matérielles aux cités numériques.

le monde s’inverse

l’espace habité meurt et renaît
ruine ou poussière
peu importe
la trace n’a de résonance en nous
qu’un bruit qui perdure

Cités perdues. Cités nouvelles.

Material to digital cities.

the world is reversed

inhabited space dies and reborn
ruin or dust
no matter
trace has resonance in us
a noise that lasts

Basée à Montréal, Myriam Boucher est une compositrice et artiste vidéo active sur la scène nord-américaine depuis 2006. Tout d’abord claviériste pour différents projets de musique instrumentale, elle étend ses expérimentations dans la recherche sonore et visuelle en prenant le risque d’échapper à toute tentative de catégorisation. Depuis 2013, elle conçoit des œuvres de musique électroacoustique, de vidéomusique, de performance et d’installations audiovisuelles. Récipiendaire au Concours de composition électroacoustique des JIM 2015 et de la Bourse Euterke 2015 en vidéo (SAT), en 2015 son travail est entre autres présenté au festival NoiseFloor (UK), au New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival et à Understanding Visual Music 2015 (Brésil).

Myriam Boucher is a Montréal-based artist. Since 2006, she has extended her field of artistic projects in the North American music scene. From her early experiences as a keyboardist in various instrumental music projects through to her visual work, her works tend to elude classification. Since 2013, she creates electroacoustic music, videomusic, performance and audiovisual installations. Inspired by natural phenomena, she deals with sound and image from organic and synthesis materials. Her work has been awarded prizes in the JIM Electroacoustic Compositions 2015 Competition and Bourse Euterke 2015 in video (SAT). In 2015, her works were presented at many events, including the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, NoiseFloor (UK) and Understanding Visual Music 2015 (Brazil).

Guillaume CAMPION — Littorale (45:02 / 2015)

“Et surtout, chantez! Chantez ces belles chansons de notre douce France […] et n’oubliez pas de verser une petite larme de reconnaissance pour nos amis canadiens qui nous les ont si précieusement conservées.” — Olivier Messiaen

“Pour que le village devienne pays, il faut dénoncer le pittoresque et retrouver le fond des choses.” — Pierre Perrault

En 1918, l’anthropologue Marius Barbeau débarque sur sa bicyclette dans les petits villages de Sainte-Anne-des-Monts et Tourelle, Haute-Gaspésie, avec son phonographe et une caisse de cylindres de cire. En l’espace de quelques semaines, il récolte, auprès d’une poignée d’informateurs résidant principalement dans le secteur reclus de Tourelle, près de 800 chants folkloriques, dont plusieurs proviendraient d’aussi loin que la France du Moyen-Âge.

Documentaire acousmatique en deux parties précédées d’un prélude musical, Littorale raconte l’histoire du passage de Barbeau dans la région et des gens qui ont su y préserver cet important patrimoine jusqu’à tout récemment. À travers un alliage de musique acousmatique et de techniques propres au genre documentaire, l’œuvre retrace l’évolution de ce patrimoine d’hier à aujourd’hui, alors même qu’un vif intérêt pour le répertoire de Tourelle refait surface dans la région, sous l’impulsion des instances politiques et culturelles locales.

Informateurs (en ordre d’apparition) : J.-Augustin Saint-Laurent, Gaétan Pelletier, Benoît Thériault, Nathalie Synnett, Simon Landry, Daniel DeShaime, Micheline Pelletier. Remerciements spéciaux au Musée canadien de l’histoire, de même qu’au Fonds de recherche du Québec — Société et culture (FRQSC) et au Conseil de recherche en sciences humaines du Canada (CRSH).

“And most of all, sing! Sing those beautiful songs from our sweet France [...] and do not forget to shed a small tear of gratitude for our Canadian friends who have so preciously conserved them.” — Olivier Messiaen

“So that the village may become a country, one must denounce the picturesque and find the bottom of things.” — Pierre Perrault

In 1918, anthropologist Marius Barbeau arrives on his bicycle in Sainte-Anne-des-Monts and Tourelle, two small and remote villages on the north shore of the Gaspésie peninsula, equipped with a phonograph and a crate filled with wax cylinders. Within just a few weeks, Barbeau collects from a handful of villagers, mostly residing in the secluded part area of Tourelle, almost 800 hundred folksongs, many of them dating back from as far as Middle Ages France.

An acousmatic documentary in two parts preceded by a musical prelude, Littorale tells the story of Barbeau’s visit in the area and of the people who preserved this imposing heritage until just recently. Based on an alloy of acousmatic music and documentary techniques, the piece traces back this repertoire’s evolution from the last century until now, as a strong interest towards those folksongs and tales arises from the impetus of local cultural and political authorities.

Informants (in order of appearance): J.-Augustin Saint-Laurent, Gaétan Pelletier, Benoît Thériault, Nathalie Synnett, Simon Landry, Daniel DeShaime, Micheline Pelletier. Special thanks to the Canadian Museum of History, to the Fonds de recherche du Québec — Société et culture (FRQSC) and to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (CRSH).

C’est entre mer et montagnes, dans sa Gaspésie natale, que Guillaume Campion s’initie à la musique et à la composition. Depuis l’automne 2009, il s’investit dans la composition électroacoustique à la Faculté de Musique de l’Université de Montréal. Depuis, sa musique a été primée deux fois lors du concours JTTP de la Communauté Électroacoustique Canadienne (2010 et 2011), et ses œuvres se sont vues diffusées en concert et sur les ondes radiophoniques au national comme à l’international, dont à Toronto (TES 2010), au Mexique (CMMAS), en Angleterre (ICMC 2011), en France (Festival NOVELUM 2011, Toulouse) et en Espagne (Ars Sonora). Il s’est également classé parmi les finalistes du concours Musica Nova 2012 (Prague). Il termine actuellement un programme de maîtrise à l’Université de Montréal, visant à intégrer des éléments du genre documentaire à la composition électroacoustique. Parallèlement à la composition d’œuvres de concert, il se consacre à la conception sonore et à la composition de musique pour courts métrages et documentaires.

It is between the sea and mountains of his native Gaspésie that Guillaume Campion first began to perform and compose music. Since 2009, he has been studying electroacoustic composition at the Université de Montréal. His music has been played in concert and on radio airwaves in Canada and abroad, among others at CMMAS (Morelia, Mexico), ICMC 2011 (Huddersfield, UK) and Novellum Festival 2011 (Toulouse, France). He also received 4th and 5th prize in the 2010 and 2011 editions of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community’s JTTP contest, and was among the finalists of Musica Nova 2012 contest (Prague, Czech Republic). He is currently pursuing a master’s degree at the Université de Montréal, aiming to integrate elements of the documentary genre into electroacoustic composition.

Yves CANDAU — Silva Incognita (9:08 / 2015)

Enregistrements d’Alsace, France, et des environs de Vancouver.

Field recordings from Alsace, France, and the Vancouver area.

Yves Candau is an interdisciplinary artist with a background in mathematics, cognitive science and dance, currently completing an interdisciplinary MFA at Simon Fraser University.

Maxime DAIGNEAULT — Crash (10:02 / 2015)

Dans son organisation, la matière essaie tant bien que mal de l’éviter. Elle se déplace, se superpose, se morcèle. Elle cherche un point de fuite, mais finit toujours par le subir. Une infiltration survient chaque fois, la menant directement au crash.

Maxime Daigneault est étudiant au baccalauréat en composition instrumentale à l’Université de Montréal. Également multi-instrumentistes, il se perfectionne au piano auprès de Magda Boukanan, en chant classique avec Quinton Hackman et découvre le tabla par le biais de Shawn Mativetsky. Il a reçu l’enseignement de Martin Bédard et Georges Forget afin de développer ses aptitudes en musique numériques. En juin dernier, il participe au Bozzini Lab afin de parfaire son écriture pour cordes. De plus, sa pièce pour chœur “Spirits of the Dead” a été sélectionnée pour un atelier de lecture avec l’ensemble Musica Intima. Cette année, il a également collaboré avec la chorégraphe Lilianna Argumedo, étudiante en danse contemporaine à l’Université Concordia. Maxime est titulaire d’une bourse d’excellence du Collège Lionel-Groulx, ainsi que d’une bourse d’excellence du fonds des étudiants de la faculté de musique de l’Université de Montréal, qui lui ont été décernées en 2013 et 2014 respectivement.

Ana DALL’ARA-MAJEK — Diaphanous Acarina (7:00 / 2015)

Observation au microscope musical du monde des acariens évoluant sur des surfaces planes. Etude de différents types de proliférations à partir d’un objet composé-composite unique, à travers deux notions de la spectromorphologie: celle où un geste porte une texture (“geste-cadre”) et celle où une texture résulte d’une accumulation de gestes (“arrangement de texture”). Création de proliférations invasives illustrées par des textures aquatiques et des proliférations destructives illustrées par des matières distorsionnées par l’abus de DC Offset. Contrastes dynamiques extrêmes qui évoquent les manipulations mécaniques soudaines du microscope qui perd sa mise au point (“focus drift”).

Compositrice cosmopolite, influencée par la musique concrète, sa formation de harpiste et son expérience de Foley Artist, Ana Dall’Ara-Majek réalise des musiques pour le concert, la danse, les spectacles et la vidéo. Elle a récemment collaboré avec le chorégraphe François Raffinot pour le spectacle Laborintus (Ménagerie de verre, Paris), la saxophoniste Ida-T pour le spectacle Inside_Dream (Live@CIRMMT, Montréal), et le réalisateur québécois Patrick Lapierre pour le film “Le Cosmos sauvera le peuple” (Sélection aux courts métrages du Festival de Cannes). Elle a également écrit pour des ensembles vocaux et instrumentaux tels que: TM+, Orquestra Joves Musics del Valles, Maîtrise de la Loire, Trio Hoboken, DensitéS, l’Ensemble La Machine et Lunatics at Large. Elle a reçu de nombreuses bourses et commandes pour ses projets artistiques notamment de Musiques et Recherches (Belgique), Densité 93 (France), Taller Sonoro (Espagne), Prix SACEM (France), Distractfold (UK) et du SeaM (Allemagne).

Michael DEAN — Light Pours in the Valley / La vallée illuminée (6:42 / 2015)

“Light Pours in the Valley” is the expression of audio artefacts. Clicks and pops from digital malfunctions, accidental tones generated from broken soundcards and cell phone interference all contribute to the presentation of this concept. Iterative and repetitive processing techniques further emphasize the sound of digital technologies, limiting compositional methods to those afforded by digital interfaces and audio processing techniques. Physical modelling, granular synthesis and spectral processing techniques are performed using tangible interfaces, such as multi-touch surfaces. Audio softwares are “played”, promoting musicality during the development of sound materials. “Light Pours in the Valley” expresses the sound of our current digital environment, while continuing traditions of minimalism, noise art and microsound.

Michael Dean is a Canadian sound artist and composer based in Montréal, Québec. He holds an MA in Music Technology from the University of Limerick, his work and research focusing on exposing the medium. Drawing from 1960s minimalism, iterative processes and meta-music effects are often featured in his work. Dean has had compositions performed in Canada and Europe, and has been featured on a number of radio programmes, including RTE Lyric FM’s award winning new music programme, “Nova”.

Josh FELDMAN — Dogbird (5:14 / 2015)

Dogbird (2015) is built upon the superimposition of simple repetitive grids of different meter and tempo. In eight channels, each grid has its own “space”, so that the rhythmic effect may be more easily apprehended. The piece explores both the specific interaction of a few girds and the larger effect of many played simultaneously.

Josh Feldman is a composer, performer, programmer and undergraduate student of electroacoustics and composition at the University of Concordia in Montreal. He composes both electroacoustic and acoustic works that have been workshopped, diffused and performed across North America, including Montreal, Toronto and New York City. He performs and composes with the musical ensemble Watering and has given over 100 performances. Well versed in Max/MSP, he has programmed many musical tools and instruments. He has studied with Kevin Austin, Sandeep Bhagwati and Eldad Tsabary. He is also a part-time research assistant at MatraLab, interdisciplinary art research lab.

Vincent FLINIAUX — Singularity (6:06 / 2014)

On appelle «Singularité» le centre d’un trou noir, incommensurable amas de matière hautement compressé de la taille d’un noyau atomique qui marque la limite au-delà de laquelle les lois de la physique ne s’appliquent plus. Avec cette pièce, j’ai voulu parler de notre rapport au cosmos, sa démesure, sa violence, l’illusion de son immobilité… Lui qui m’a engendré et moi qui l’ai imaginé, suis-je lui, est-il moi? Ne portons-on nous pas tous notre propre singularité? «L’univers résonne du cri de joie que je suis». Scriabine

We call “Singularity” the center of a black hole, a highly compressed incommensurable heap of matter, the size of an atomic nucleus, that marks the limit beyond which physics no longer apply. With this piece, I wanted to speak about how we relate to the cosmos, his excessiveness, his violence, the illusion of it’s immobility… It generated me and I imagined it. Am I it? Is it me? Don’t we all carry our own singularity? “The universe resonates the cry of joy that I am” Scriabin

C’est avec la basse électrique, puis la contrebasse et enfin, l’ordinateur, que Vincent Fliniaux évolue dans l’univers de la musique. Musicien de Jazz, diplômé de Musicologie et diplômé de Conservatoire en Musiques Actuelles, il continue ses études à l’Université de Montréal en Musiques Numériques. C’est là qu’il développe une esthétique personnelle au croisement entre électroacoustique et noise. Sa sensibilité visuelle nait avec la photographie et évolue naturellement vers la vidéo. À la frontière entre textures organiques et géométrie de l’infini, ses recherches actuelles portent sur l’interaction entre le son et l’image.

Starting with electric bass guitar, then double bass and finally with his computer, Vincent Fliniaux has continued to evolve within the music universe. A jazz musician, graduated in musicology and from the modern music conservatory, he carries on his studies at the University of Montréal, learning digital music. Here he develops a personal æsthetic, at the crossroads of electroacoustic and noise music. His visual sensibility emerged through photography and naturally evolved towards video. At the boundary between organic textures and infinity geometry, his current research focuses on the interaction between sound and image.

Fernando Alexis FRANCO MURILLO — Für Alexandra (12:47 / 2015)

Work dedicated to french horn player Alexandra Juneau.

It is at Concordia University that Fernando Alexis Franco Murillo discovered a new form of expression with electroacoustic music. His music is inspired from personal experiences and human emotions like love, sadness and anger. He is currently studying electroacoustic composition at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal under the direction of Louis Dufort.

Colin FRANK — Landscapes No.3 (Moving Scenery) (11:00 / 2015)

The landscape surrounds you. You travel amongst motionless obelisks: sleek and shining statues, metal and concrete spires. A spec upon the expanses. As time elapses your trip brings you through new territories. The shapes along the horizon evolve and seem opaquely familiar: have you passed here before or was that in a forgotten dream? You keep moving through the scenery, observing, as the light fades.

Colin Frank is a Canadian composer and percussionist from Ottawa and currently residing in Montréal. He is studying at McGill University to achieve a BMus in Performance Percussion and Composition from the Schulich School of Music. After formative years pursuing various interests in the sciences, maths, arts and music, Colin has focused on creative output through his world of music. In the summer of 2012 and 2013, Colin rehearsed, toured and recorded with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. During his university career, Colin most notably has worked with the McGill Symphony Orchestra and the McGill Percussion Ensemble. Compositions of his solo and chamber music are performed regularly by himself and associate musicians. Currently, Colin is interested in music that uses audible processes to create coherent structural and harmonic macro-design, while still maintaining musical value, activity and direction during individual micro-rhythmic and melodic moments. Aside from music, Colin enjoys cycling, camping, computer programming and good home cooking.

Christopher J. GORMAN — Quantenverschränkung (12:12 / 2015)

Born and raised on a goat farm situated near Bangalore, Christopher Gorman began playing with sound after discovering an old tape recorder in a box on a high shelf in his father’s slaughterhouse. After saving enough money selling cashmere goat pelts in Bangalore, Christopher boarded an ocean freighter and headed for Canada, where he studied Electroacoustics at Concordia University. A recent graduate, he currently resides in Montréal, but is planning on returning to the goat farm soon.

Dylan GOUZE — Rudimentary Particles (4:33 / 2015)

“Rudimentary Particles” is a composition intended for five speakers, who’s only sound source comes from the Doepfer Analogue Modular Synthesizer. It contains three sections: Storm (0:00-1:32), Spectral glow (1:32-3:32) and Dance (3:32-4:32). It embodies 101 different sound samples, with each section containing sounds that aren’t repeated in other sections. The composition was put together using an audio editor, and sequencer. There is much volume and panning automation, but very little use of effect plug-ins (reverb and delay only). The narrative embodies a journey through a storm of dark matter. This phenomenon is the cause of never-before heard sounds. By the end of the first piece, we have traveled to the eye of the Storm where the built-up sounds comes to an abrupt stop before the storm explodes. The showering dark matter manifesting itself into solid and non-solid objects causes for strange sound responses as it falls onto different textures. The falling pieces create a Spectral Glow, which also cause for new sounds to emerge. As the dust settles and the air is left with an “electromagnetic mist,” the dark matter reacts to consciousness and begins to take the form or rhythm. It begins to respond to calculation, self observation, and self awareness. It begins to Dance.

Dylan Gouze was raised in Toulouse, France and moved to Montréal Canada at the age of nine. He studied performing arts at John Abbott College and Ryerson University, and performed in several plays from 2007–11. However, he always had a love for the piano, the guitar and song writing. In 2014, he began his studies in the Electroacoustics programme at Concordia University, where he has completely immersed himself in the world of sound and recording.

Devon HANSEN — Habitation (5:30 / 2015)

Informed by the materials and aesthetics of architecture, Habitation is a study in tactility and connotation using concrete, steel, wood, glass and plexiglas. It aims to exploit the region between auditory and mechano-receptive information, where the mass and surface of an object may be implied to the mind by the sounds it produces. The work follows a simple narrative, wherein a series of rooms is constructed, their modes are excited by metallic impulses, and the structure finally slips into a violent state of disintegration.

Devon Hansen is an American-born composer and video artist based in Montréal. Covering a broad range of styles, his work has been released under a number of pseudonyms by labels in North America, the UK and Japan. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate studies in electroacoustics at Concordia University in Montréal.

Reginald KACHANOSKI — Carnival of Errors (3:24 / 2015)

Carnival of Errors is a work for 8 channels which explores notions of linearity and non-linearity on different structural levels in time. Micro-structural elements suggest an overwhelming sense of activity and pointlessness, while longer time structures provide a narrative which moves from one thing to another thing.

Reg Kachanoski is composer and musician currently located in Montréal. He has composed numerous pieces for various arrangements of loudspeakers. He is also a percussionist and an instrument designer.

Mathieu LACROIX — Studie I: Dissolving Time (8:44 / 2015)

The composition is based on the concept of being able to process an incoming sound in real time, slowing it down and having the performer play against it within a structured composition. It is an important aspect that the piece can be played in real-time by a performer and technician with a computer that has MaxMSP. Harmonically speaking, the piece is inspired by the spectralist composers as the scale material is derived from an overtone analysis. I haven’t apishly followed their teachers, but let myself inspired by them and tweaked small elements of it. The composition belongs in the mixed music world which I find rather inspiring although challenging. The main problem I often find is that the electro-acoustics or the acoustic part feels latched on to the rest. The compositions often feel like they’re parts combined together instead of a single entity. This is a problem I hear a lot in many compositions but also in my own. Dissolving Time was an attempt to create a composition in which both parts are inherently needed and make little sense without each other. I believe that I’ve been able to find a nice balance between the electro-acoustics and the acoustic elements. During the first public performance of the piece on the 9th of april 2015 at Blank Vol. 1 in Trondheim, Norway, the computer crashed about mid-way through and it was clear that as soon as that happened, a very important element of the composition went silent, and the notes played had little meaning. Composed, programmed, recorded, mixed and mastered by Mathieu Lacroix in April 2015 Performed by Øystein Hansen Marker at the NTNU facilities in April 2015.

Mathieu Lacroix is a French-Canadian producer, composer and musician based in Trondheim, Norway. At a young age he got interested in music and had to ask his parents every day for three years to finally get a drumset. At the age of 17 he was introduced to jazz, which changed everything. Eventually Mathieu decided to try to work within music and therefore applied to go study in Trondheim, Norway. He has completed a bachelor’s degree with a musical project based on Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” that included live processing of several acoustic instruments. He has also studied composition with Odd-Johan Overøye, Terje Bjørklund and Henning Sommerro. Mathieu works as a producer, engineer, composer and musician around the Trondheim area specializing in contemporary music. He is currently working on a master’s degree within music technology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU).

Frédéric LAFLAMME — Clash (4:07 / 2012)

Alexis LANGEVIN-TÉTRAULT — Défibrillation (7:49 / 2014)

Passage volontaire de courant électrique dans le cœur afin de prolonger la vie. Pièce qui porte sur l’hybridation de matériaux sonores de nature distincte, l’écriture rhizomatique, le micromontage et l’articulation du discours musical. La pièce intègre des instruments traditionnels balinais, un synthétiseur modulaire et des outils de traitements numériques.

Delivering a dose of electrical energy to the heart to extend life. A work focused on sounds hybridisation, rhizomatic writing, micromontage and articulation of musical discourse. The sounds were created by using gamelan percussions, a modular synthesizer and digital processing.

Né à Baie-Comeau (Québec, Canada), Alexis Langevin-Tétrault est polyvalent, curieux et passionné. Touche à tout et produit beaucoup. Habitué de la scène et du studio en tant que guitariste et musicien électronique, il compose aussi les trames sonores de courts métrages et de pièces de théâtre. Sociologue défroqué, il étudie présentement la composition électroacoustique à l’Université de Montréal.

Joël LAVOIE — Aspires (10:10 / 2015)

Cette pièce s’écoute sans préalable. Elle se vit.

This piece needs nothing prior to the listening. It is to be felt.

Joël Lavoie est un compositeur acousmatique / noise / ambient / electro de Montréal et ce, depuis qu’il a conscience. Très sensible à son environnement, sa musique allie les paysages sonores qui l’entourent à la déraison des parasites électroniques et instrumentaux. Le tout avec une intensité comparable à une rage de dents ou une balade en téléphérique. Improvisateur, performeur et artiste sonore, il a aussi fait des conceptions sonores pour différents spectacles de danse, poésie et théâtre. Sa musique l’a amené à jouer à Montréal, au Royaume-Uni et en France. Parmi ses collaborateurs on compte, entre autres, Nadère, Le Moulin à musique, Marie Béland, Sébastien Boulanger-Gagnon et Marie-France Jacques. Il a aussi eu l’occasion de performer à l’Usine C (Montréal), Tangente (Montréal) à Culture Rapide (Paris), au Festival de Poésie de Trois-Rivières, OFFTA (Montréal) et sur plusieurs scènes émergentes contemporaines.

Joël Lavoie is a Montreal-based acousmatic / noise / ambient / electro music composer and has been for as long as he can remember. Very sensitive to his environment, his music allies the soundscapes that surround him to the unreasonableness of electronic and instrumental parasites. All of this is made with the same intensity of a toothache or a promenade in a gondola. Improviser, performer and sound artist, he has made sound conceptions for dance, poetry and theatre shows. He has performed his music in Montréal, the United Kingdom and France. He has composed and performed for various projects in contemporary dance, artistic performances, theatre and poetry. Amongst his collaborators are Marie Béland, Le moulin à musique, Audrey Rochette, Sébastien Boulanger Gagnon and Marie-France Jacques. His work has been presented at Usine C (Montreal), Tangente (Montreal), Culture Rapide (Paris), Trois-Rivières poetry festival, OFFTA (Montreal) and various other contemporary arts scenes.

Sébastien LAVOIE — Core/Uncore (7:30 / 2015)

For this experimental piece I’ve tried to play with opposing musical parts. One of the fundamental components of the work is the rhythmic sections, which represents the Core part. It is a foundational element that is distinct from the other parts. The opposing segments are called Uncore, they are different in nature as they use atmospheric sounds compared to the Core’s rhythmically driven sections. The Uncore parts provide an important function in the composition by creating a contrast in relation to the Core. The principal aim of this work is to explore the musical parameters of rhythm that interlink with arrhythmic sections. I want to contrast the moments containing no rhythmical elements with the rhythmical ones without losing a sense of anchoring that the pulse provides. Another aim is to give an impression to the listener that time disappears during the transition of Core/Uncore sections.

En 2007, Sébastien amorce ses études de baccalauréat en composition électroacoustique à l’Université de Montréal. Depuis 2013, il détient une maîtrise au sujet de l’intégration de la spatialisation sur le plan de la composition acousmatique et de son interprétation en concert. En 2014, Sébastien a commencé sa thèse de doctorat et il fait ses recherches sur l’hybridation de la musique électroacoustique avec celle des musiques de danse électronique, avec Monty Adkins à l’Université de Huddersfield, au Royaume-Uni. Sébastien se considère comme faisant partie de cette nouvelle génération d’étudiants en musique qui utilisent le « laptop » comme instrument musical. Et cet outil de composition lui permet de se développer autant sur scène que dans un studio. Explorateur sonore, il parcourt les différentes avenues bruyantes et musicales afin de saisir et de composer les chemins menant vers des sons nouveaux. Sébastien est un gagnant du concours annuel du projet Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) de la CÉC.

In 2007, Sébastien began his electroacoustic music studies at the Université de Montréal in Canada. Since 2013, he holds a Master’s degree on “The Integration of Spatialization in Acousmatic Music as well as its Performance in Concert.” In 2014, Sebastien started his PhD research and is currently working on the hybridization of electroacoustic and electronic dance music with his research director Monty Adkins at the University of Huddersfield (UK). Sebastien regards himself as belonging to a new generation of students in music who use the laptop as a musical instrument. This compositional tool allows him to develop his musical skills as much on stage as in the studio. A sound explorer, he travels through the diverse avenues of noise and music in order to capture and compose the novel sounds. Sebastien is a 2014 winner in the CEC’s annual Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) project.

Pierre-Luc LECOURS — Éclat | Rouge (11:11 / 2015)

Éclat|Rouge - Note La murmuration des naufrages. Frappant l’aube. Tuant le temps. Surgit l’écume. Le soleil meurt. |Piano.Under.Pressure| Cette pièce explore les constructions rythmiques et mélodiques résultant de différents procédés de jeu appliquées à un piano. L’idée fut d’articuler et de créer des structures sonores cohérentes avec des sons de piano préparé et de synthèse sonore pour former un duo dans lequel ils interagissent, se répondent et fusionnent.

Éclat|Rouge - Note La murmuration des naufrages. Frappant l’aube. Tuant le temps. Surgit l’écume. Le soleil meurt. |Piano.Under.Pressure| This work explore rhythmical and melodic constructions resulting of different playing processes applied to a piano. The idea was to articulate and create a coherent structure of prepared piano sounds and synthesis sounds to form a duet in which they interact and respond to each other.

Compositeur et multi-instrumentiste, Pierre-Luc Lecours a débuté son parcours musical en tant qu’autodidacte pour ensuite entamer des études en composition électroacoustique à l’Université de Montréal. Il a participé à la composition et la production de plusieurs albums de musique et de bandes sonores de films, pièces de théâtre et applications numériques. Bien que les œuvres de Pierre-Luc Lecours couvrent un large éventail esthétique, il cherche avant tout dans ses pièces à créer un impact émotif et à faire jaillir des images, des impressions. Son travail fut primé par différents concours : Concours de composition de la fondation Destellos 2014, Concours des jeunes compositeurs de la Fondation SOCAN 2014 et le concours Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) de la CEC en 2014.

Composer and multi-instrumentalist, Pierre-Luc Lecours began his musical career as a self-taught musician before studying electroacoustic composition at Université de Montréal. He has participated in the composition and production of several albums and film soundtracks, theatre and digital applications. Although his work covers a wide range of æsthetics, Lecours always aims to create emotional impact and to create successions of images with his music. In 2014, his work was prized in the Destellos Foundation Electroacoustic Compositions Competition and in the SOCAN Foundation Awards for Young Composers and in the CEC’s 2014 Jeu de temps / Times Play (JTTP) competition.

Tyler LEWIS — Spring Whine (8:04 / 2015)

This particular composition came out of nowhere for me. I was listening through some recordings that I had made in the last couple years with my handheld Tascam recorder, and came across a 5 min. recording of one walk along some of the streets west of Concordia. I felt that there was already a decent compositional form inherent in the recording, complete with articulations at transition points and a great variety of sounds to process further, varying its wide sound palette even more.

Tyler Lewis first engaged with the world of sound during his childhood, growing up near Seattle. Piano lessons, participation in choirs and forming bands with friends all allowed for the exploration of relationships within music and sound. Currently Tyler lives and works in Montréal, attending Concordia University’s electroacoustic studies program. His compositions are detailed and precise, and some have been used to support visual artists, provide accompaniment to dance routines, sound installations, cellphone applications and the soundtrack for a documentary.

Xavier MADORE — Récit d’un presqu’aller-retour (8:45 / 2014)

Impression de fausse progression; continuité indéniable du temps qui passe biaisée par une stagnation matériologique, forçant du même coup un retour obsessionnel et persistant aux même éléments. Dans ce contexte, c’est avec peine et misère que le couple « articulation /appui », saturé de redondance et au seuil du changement d’état, finit par aboutir sur une contemplation des objets précédemment insinués. Tout ça pour ré-aboutir dans un territoire micro-articulé, cette fois-ci armé d’une fluidité et d’un débit énergétique renouvelé, concluant donc un aller-retour… ou presque.

False impression of progress; undeniable continuity of time passing distorted by a material stagnation, forcing a return to the same obsessive and persistent elements. It is with difficulty and misery that the couple “action / holding” — saturated by redundancy and at the threshold of changing states — eventually leads to a contemplation of objects previously insinuated. Falling into a familiar micro-articulated territory, this time armed with a fluidity and a renewed flow of energy, and concluding — almost — a round trip.

Xavier Madore a d’abord été piqué par l’art sonore avec Michel Tétreault et Pierre-Marc Beaudoin. Clarinettiste à la base, c’est son penchant pour la chanson et la poésie qui déteint le plus sur son travail. Ses réalisations sont notamment axées sur la recherche d’une narrativité structurelle et préconisent un discours aux gestes articulés.

Xavier Madore was first “struck” by sound art while studying with Michel Tétreault and Pierre-Marc Beaudoin in Montréal. Primarily a clarinettist, his inclination for song and poetry are important characteristics in his work. His pieces are particularly focused on finding a narrative structure and advocate a discourse of articulated gestures.

Eric MAKWICH — Another Place (April 14th, 4:34 AM) (5:50 / 2015)

Another Place is a study of oppositions, and how two opposing paths can lead to the same destination. Using quiet, home-based fiend recordings, and juxtaposing them with a large swell of noise, the listener may find that while these sounds are very different, they can both lead to a place of serenity, comfort, or intrigue.

Eric Makwich is a fourth-year student at the Alberta College of Art and Design, majoring in Media Art. His practice lives mostly within sound, installation and performance. Within much of his work, Makwich examines the space between dichotomies. By putting these polarized ends together, not only do their differences come to light, but more often than not, and more importantly, so do their similarities.

Enzo MARCEAU — Iki no chōsa (7:44 / 2015)

Troisième volet d’une série de pièces explorant les frontières entre les musiques électroniques modernes et l’acousmatique, Iki no chōsa (Étude de souffle) s’inspire de la musique noise, du death métal et du drum and bass. Réalisée avec une matériologie très restreinte, cette étude se veut une analyse des multiples possibilités que peuvent offrir de très courtes unités sémiotiques de base, dans ce cas-ci des échantillons de saxophone. Ici on oppose des trames à des rythmiques ambiguës et à des impulsions distortionnées dans une chorégraphie imprévisible.

Third installment in a series of electroacoustic works exploring the fine line between acousmatic and modern electronic music, Iki no chōsa (Breath Study) is inspired as much by death metal as noise music and drum and bass. A study making use of a limited number of sound objets, in this case saxophone samples, I analyse the multiple links and possibilities that exist between short duration units. This piece clashes uneven rythms and distorted impulses in an unpredictable choreography.

Immergé dans un monde musical dès un très bas âge, Enzo Marceau adopte la batterie comme instrument principal pour poursuivre des études en musique jazz au collégial. S’intéressant au studio d’enregistrement, il étudiera en Sonorisation et Enregistrement au Cégep de Drummondville où il découvrira la composition électroacoustique avec Gilles Gobeil. Par la suite, sa curiosité piquée, il étudiera la composition à l’Université de Montréal sous Martin Bédard, Robert Normandeau et Nicolas Bernier pour développer son style unique.

Immersed in a musical world from a very young age, Enzo Marceau took up the drums as a primary instrument, pursuing jazz studies at college, only to discover the world of the recording studio. While studying under Gilles Gobeil in Drummondville during a Sound Engineering course, he discovered electroacoustic composition and decided to pursue his studies at Université de Montréal. Since 2012, he has been honing his unique style and æsthetic under the guidance of Martin Bédard, Robert Normandeau and Nicolas Bernier.

Daniel MARQUEZ — Rediscovery (2:21 / 2015)

Rediscovery is a five-channel acousmatic piece that serves as a gallery for aural paintings, that portray the composer’s affinity with the sounds of his home country, Venezuela, as well as his passion for creating new sound objects. The sounds in this piece were created via the editing and processing of recordings from four instruments bought by the composer in Venezuela: Cuatro (Venezuela’s national instrument), charrasca, maracas, and a rainstick.

Daniel Marquez is a Venezuelan composer and sound designer based in Montréal. He is currently pursuing an undergraduate, double major programme at Concordia University in Electroacoustic Studies and Communication Studies.

Nathan MARSH — Retrieval (12:02 / 2015)

Clouds of rose-coloured nostalgia taint the purity of memory. While tinges of truth pierce through the fog, the harsh realities of past experiences remain shrouded in a veil. The retrieval of things that are lost in time leaves the hungry mind with little sustenance.

Nathan Marsh is an emerging composer based in Vancouver. He studies composition at Simon Fraser University under Owen Underhill, David MacIntyre and Janet Danielson, and has studied electroacoustic music and soundscape studies under Barry Truax. In his music, Marsh is interested in combining the tactile realities that derive from physical sound with the other-worldly possibilities that are associated with digital sound. These two sound worlds collide often in day-to-day life, and as such, this collision serves as an interesting point of exploration in creating music.

Andréa MARSOLAIS-ROY — Jardin de combustibles (14:34 / 2014)

Jardin de combustibles est une composition qui alterne entre des parties rapides et agitées et des univers sonores plus lointains et calmes, dont l’énergie est latente. Ce qui a donné l’élan à mon projet fut un film qui présente une réaction en chaîne faite par un parcours d’objets quotidiens et de substances chimiques qui sont déclenchés les uns par les autres, Der Laufe der Dinge (Fischli et Weiss, 1987).

Andréa a étudié en composition électroacoustique au Conservatoire de musique de Montréal et elle poursuit ses études à l’École Nationale de Théâtre en production théâtrale (conception sonore, conception d’éclairage). Puisant son inspiration dans la matérialité et dans l’imaginaire du son, elle s’active à composer des univers sonores prenant plusieurs sens. Depuis la prise de son, jusqu’à l’écriture de la pièce, en passant par le traitement, elle explore les différentes facettes des objets sonores, tant leurs pouvoir d’évocation que leurs qualités intrinsèques. Elle s’intéresse depuis ses débuts à la collaboration avec des artistes d’autres spécialités (vidéo, danse, cirque). De plus, elle cherche à travailler avec l’espace, à la fois en studio et lors de concerts acousmatiques.

Sylvain MONHCOCÉ — Ici comme ailleurs (11:31 / 2013)

Inspiré par le roman de Lee Seung-U et par le cinéma Japonais d’avant-garde des années soixante, « Ici Comme Ailleurs » a été pensé et conçu comme une oeuvre cinématographique. La matière sonore a été modulée et transformée pour pouvoir dépeindre des images stylisées et contrastées similaires à celles qu’on peut trouver dans les films en noir et blancs d’avant garde. L’idée a été de tirer parti de l’avantage que présente une oeuvre purement sonore en comparaison d’une oeuvre littéraire ou picturale. Un livre impose une histoire sans vraiment imposer d’image, c’est au lecteur de créer ses propres images à partir de mots. Si on demande à deux lecteurs de représenter une histoire, chacun d’eux imaginera un cadre, un décor et des personnages différents, seul le corps de l’histoire sera identique. Au cinéma, le spectateur est encore moins libre. On lui impose à la fois une histoire, des images et des sons, évidemment la voix des personnages, mais aussi la musique et les différents bruits. La matière sonore d’un film est conçue de manière à renforcer l’image, pour accentuer les sentiments du spectateur. Si on supprime l’image, rendant les sons « neutres », neutres dans le sens où ils évoquent bien entendu un sentiment ou un souvenir, mais de manière imprécise ou plutôt ambivalente, on arrive ainsi à « libérer » le spectateur de l’histoire qui lui est présentée, imposée. Le spectateur devient en quelque sorte le maître du jeu, c’est à lui de décider de l’histoire qu’il veut vivre. Seuls ses sentiments et ses capacités imaginatives seront responsables de son expérience. « Ici Comme Ailleurs » est un film sans image réelle, utilisant la matière sonore comme créatrice d’images imaginatives, différentes pour chacun.

Inspired by the novel of Lee Seung-U and by the avant-garde Japanese filmmaking of the sixties, «Ici Comme Ailleurs» has been composed and created as a cinematographic piece. Sound has been worked, transformed, to obtain stylized and contrasted images, similar to the ones that can be found in the black and white avant-garde films. The idea was to use the advantage that sound can carry in comparison to litterature or cinematography. With sound, nothing is imposed, the listener is free to draw images, conclusions, to live and interprete what he hears in the way he wants it to be. In a film or in a book, the plot of the story is clear and does not allow one be creative, whereas with sound two different people can get different feelings with the same sound, peace or fear, happyness or sorrow, reflecting only their own mood at the time they hear it. They are therefore free to create their own world/story during the listenning time. To reinforce this ability of sound, in this piece each layer of sound is used to create a composition of ambivalent «polyphonic-images» and «polyhonic-stories». Each voice of this polyphony convey a particular atmosphere and its own source of story telling and image drawing, different for everyone, which melt one into another to form a strong evolving structure. The listener has to decide the story he wants to live, only his feelings and his imaginative abilities will be responsible for his own experience.

Sylvain Monchocé est un compositeur et multi-instrumentiste (saxophones, flûte, piano, instruments traditionnels) basé à Ottawa. Principalement autodidacte, il joue du jazz, de la musique classique et de la musique électronique, et s’est produit régulièrement en France avec le collectif de musique contemporaine Atmosphery.

Sylvain Monchocé is a composer and multi-instrumentalist, playing the piano, saxophones, flute and some traditional instruments, living in Ottawa. Mainly self-taught, he plays jazz or classical music as well as electronic music, and performs regularly in France with the contemporary music collective Atmosphery.

Christian OLSEN — Eaves Drops (6:00 / 2015)

Eaves Drops is the result of a Canada Council funded 10 day field recording workshop that I attended last year in Iceland with Chris Watson and Jez Riley French. It is a soundscape composition that explores multiple perspectives of water in its three states : liquid, ice, steam. The recording of the source material was made with hydrophones, contact mics and a stereo condenser set up. The piece explores the infinite variety of sound generated by water in these states and barely uses any signal processing in its composition; only editing, small amounts of EQ, reverb and compression.

Born in Montréal, Christian Olsen is a sound artist / composer, who has been soundtracking for film and installation for the last six years. His compositions are heavily informed by his background in electroacoustics and by contemporary electronic music.

Aaron OPPENHEIM — October 12, 2014 (11:25 / 2014)

This piece is an unadulterated live performance recorded in New York on October 12, 2014 at the COMA improvisation series. It uses only speech samples manipulated in real-time using a Max/MSP instrument developed by the composer.

Aaron Oppenheim is an American-Canadian Canadian-American composer and improviser currently based in Oakland (California). In 2013 he received a master’s degree in Electronic Music from Mills College, where he studied with John Bischoff, Pauline Oliveros and Fred Frith. His work primarily focuses on laptop-based improvised music and group electronic / acoustic free improvisation.

Lucas PARIS — Candeur (8:59 / 2015)

Cette pièce est issue d’un souvenir d’enfance: par temps brumeux en Bretagne, mes premières improvisations avec un piano. Exploration naïve de l’harmonie: découvertes et émerveillements des différentes couleurs d’accords que je semblais inventer, l’expression d’un monde émotif inexprimable.

This composition comes from a childhood memory. In rainy Brittany, my first improvisations on a piano. It was a naive exploration of harmony, discoveries and amazement at the different colors of the chords I seemed to be inventing. The expression of an emotive world that can’t be put into words.

Lucas Paris est un compositeur et programmeur audiovisuel. Ses œuvres sont issues d’un nouvel artisanat numérique : un lien étroit entre le compositeur et la technologie. Il développe ses propres outils et est en constante recherche des limites artistiques de nos technologies actuelles afin de favoriser l’expression et la spontanéité musicale. Tout en finissant ses études en musique numérique à l’Université de Montréal, il créé des logiciels pour Herman Kolgen et Pierre Michaud. Ses œuvres et ses collaborations au sein des ensembles électroacoustiques BetaFeed et Quadr ont été présentés lors de la BIAN 2014 de Montréal, et de la série de concerts UltraSons.

Lucas Paris is an audiovisual composer, performer and creative coder. He develops his own digital tools and tries to push the artistic boundaries of current technologies so as to favour musical expressivity and spontaneity. He seeks to establish an intimate link between the composer and technology. While finishing his studies in digital music at Université de Montréal, he developed custom software for Herman Kolgen and Pierre Michaud. His works and his collaboration in the electroacoustic ensembles BetaFeed and Quadr have been show at BIAN 2014 Montréal and the UltraSons concert series.

Sabet Sarvestani PARISA — Visiting Grandpa (15:00 / 2015)

In April 2014, Iran痴 Revolutionary Guards begun demolition of a historic Baha段 cemetery in Shiraz, Iran. About 40 to 50 trucks lined up to remove the earth and accelerate the work by early May. The Guard removed human remains from some 30 to 50 of the 950 graves of Baha段s in the cemetery and placed them in an open canal to make way for the construction of a new cultural and sports complex (http://iranpresswatch.org/post/10659/). My paternal grandfather was among those who were buried there. I wrote a memoir in honor of him and those who were buried there and later on decided to create a sound scape in order to share the story with others. I would like to thank my husband, Kamran Fallah, for translating the original text into English, Nika Khanjani for narrating the story so powerfully and Roya Sepehri for chanting prayer with her beautiful voice.

Parisa Sabet is an Iranian composer based in Toronto. Her compositions have a unique and lyrical quality that stem out of blending elements of Eastern and Western musical languages. She brings a vast range of colour to her compositions by incorporating varied timbral and instrumental effects. Parisa’s repertory consists of pieces written for solo, duo, film music, and small and large ensembles. Parisa is the recipient of several grants and scholarships including 2014–15 Ontario Graduate Scholarship and the John Weinzweig Graduating Scholarship. She also received an SSHRC Canada Graduate Scholarship in 2013–14 to research the indigenous music by women in her native Iran and to write an original composition related to this theme. Professionally, her compositions have won various competitions and been performed in different venues in North America. Currently, she is pursuing her DMA in composition at the University of Toronto under the supervision of Christos Hatzis.

Jean Philippe PIERRE-LOUIS — Casi Linea (7:21 / 2015)

Cette pièce serait comme un rare moment de vie où ,soudainement, on serait conscients de toutes ces choses qui bousculent notre parcours. Ça serait une ligne brisée, tordue et cassée qui se dessine parmi toutes les possibilités à chaque nouvelle décision qu’on prend où qu’on subit.

Né à Quito, Pipo Pierre-Louis grandit dans un milieu multiculturel dès sa plus jeune enfance. Il entreprend depuis 2006 des études en musique à l’École de musique Vincent-d’Indy puis à l’Université de Montréal. Tout le long de son parcours il étudie, entre autres, le jazz, les sciences de la perception, la musique du monde et il réussit à imprégner au final, sa production artistique d’une touche unique. Depuis 2010 il se consacre à la création d’œuvres qui mélangent musiques numériques, vidéo et dispositifs interactifs. Son travail est fortement inspiré par des problématiques sociales, la modernité et l’engagement environnemental; concepts qu’il essaye de rendre perceptibles à travers une poésie audiovisuelle épurée.

Matthew SCHOEN — Musicality (12:08 / 2015)

Dans Musicality, un ensemble de sons d’accords, d’arpèges, de percussions et de sons de synthèse sont organisés d’une manière nerveuse et agitée pour créer alliage entre la musique électronique populaire et le genre acousmatique. Cette pièce est séparée en 5 mouvements: 1.Fragments of Tonal Noise 2.Extended Fragments of Tonal Noise 3.Diatonic 4.Dotted Note 5.Musicality

In musicality, a nervous collection of synthesizer chords, arpeggios, pads and base drums are frantically thrown together to create a musical language that uses sounds typically associated with electronic popular music in an experimental fashion. It is divided into 5 movements: 1.Fragments of Tonal Noise 2.Extended Fragments of Tonal Noise 3.Diatonic 4.Dotted Note 5.Musicality

Le travail de l’artiste montréalais Matthew Schoen s’étend aux médiums de la vidéo, de l’installation et de la composition musicale électroacoustique. Il a complété un baccalauréat en composition électroacoustique avec Louis Dufort, avec lequel il complète présentement une maîtrise au Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Son travail s’intéresse notamment aux systèmes interactifs, avec lesquels il a réalisé de nombreuses performances avec musique et vidéo en temps réel, qui ont été présentés au festival Akousma, ainsi que dans le cadre de la série de concerts Codes d’accès. Il récemment participé au San Francisco Tape Music Festival et au Festival OFF Interference en Pologne. Il a collaboré avec la danse et le théâtre, et il est un membre fondateur de la série de concerts Soundwich, qui promeuvent la relève en musique expérimentale.

The work of Montréal artist Matthew Schoen extends towards various media such as video, installation, and electroacoustic music. In his work, he explores interactive systems with which he has created several live video and sound performances. These have been presented at the Akousma festival as well the Codes d’accès concert series. He was recently featured at the San Francisco Tape Music Festival and the OFF Interference festival in Poland. He has previously collaborated with dance and theatre productions and is a founding member of the Soundwich concert series, promoting young talent in experimental music.

Maximilien SIMARD-POIRIER — Journey Home (7:47 / 2014)

Une pièce qui me ressemble un peu plus que ce que j’ai déjà fait auparavant. Un ramassis de connaissances et de techniques de mes dernières années au baccalauréat et dans un contexte plus professionnel. Je préfère ne pas en parler trop avant, disons juste que j’aimerais vous faire voyager un peu.

This piece resembles me a bit more than what i did in the past. A combination of various techniques and knowledge i have learned during my last years of my Bachelor’s degree and in a professional setting. I rather not talk about it too much before you hear it, lets just say i’d like to make you travel a bit.

Finissant du Baccalauréat en Musiques numériques de l’Université de Montréal et Concepteur sonore a titre professionnel, le son m’as toujours passionné. Issus du domaine du de la production cinématographique, j’ai acquis mon expérience en son a travers de multiples emploi en post-production sonore ainsi que mon travail lors de mes études.

As a student in Digital Music at Université de Montréal and as a sound designer by trade, sound has always interested me. From an initial background in cinema production, I acquired most of my experience in sound through jobs in audio post-production and sound design as well as my work during my studies.

Remy SIU — Qanimts (11:18 / 2014)

“Qanimts” is a collaboration between Coast Salish artist Russell Wallace and myself. I was invited to participate in an evening retrospective for “Neo-Nativism” held at the Western Front. Originally imagined as a “Salish Beatbox,” the piece uses Coast Salish consonants as its dominant sound material. The voices featured are that of the Russell and his daughter, Justine Wallace. The process involved questions between the artists on the subject of language, Russell’s childhood, and the political activity of First Nations peoples in British Columbia. (Names have been removed from this programme note to remain anonymous)

Remy Siu (蕭逸南) is an emerging composer based in Vancouver. He studied at SFU Contemporary Arts with David MacIntyre, Owen Underhill, Janet Danielson, Arne Eigenfeldt and Barry Truax. He has also studied with Rodney Sharman. His work has been performed in Canada and the USA by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Victoria Symphony, the Turning Point Ensemble, the Erato Ensemble, Musica Intima, Quatuor Bozzini, aTonal Hits and others. He also composes and performs with Dissonant Disco (a Vancouver music collective) and Hong Kong Exile (an interdisciplinary art collective). He has also worked with Henry Daniel, Steven Hill, Rob Kitsos, Pi Theatre, Centre A Gallery and the Western Front, among others in the Vancouver arts community. In 2014, he won a SOCAN Foundation Young Composers Award. He is currently the Emerging Composer-in-Residence for the Turning Point Ensemble.

Kaitlin SLY — Progress (5:00 / 2014)

Lyrics: Tranquil and peaceful woods engulfed in flames light a match we’re so detached we’re just animals who’ve sold our souls estranged reclaim your sight Downpressor man where you run to? Progress Our sordid boon Material lust All too dust It’s our midas touch Our ways are so trite Our source of plight Dismay Shape progress today Downpressor man When you run to? Downpressor man Where you gonna run to?

Kaitie Sly is an award-winning bassist, singer-songwriter, music producer and music educator. She spent her formative years studying and performing on piano, bass and vocals in Canada and the UK. Sly has an Associates Degree in music from the Musicians Institute in Hollywood and a Bachelor’s Degree in Digital Media from Vancouver Island University. Currently, Kaitie continues to work as a session bassist, music educator, singer-songwriter and electronic music producer in both Canada and the US and has been a featured artist on the player spotlight notreble.com. Additionally, Sly writes original music that has been featured in videos and short films. Kaitie is currently recording and producing her debut solo EP.

Charles-Philippe TREMBLAY-BEGIN — Valsalva (7:30 / 2014)

Du nom de son inventeur Antonio Maria Valsalva, la manœuvre consiste à rétablir la pression intra-auriculaire en se bouchant le nez et en soufflant relativement fort par celui-ci. Après plusieurs écoutes, cette méthode semble nécessaire pour un retour au calme. La pièce utilise trois types de stratégies compositionnelles : les itérations, des portions tramées et de brusques impacts. Tout au long de l’œuvre, ces divers procédés d’écriture se recombinent jusqu’à saturation. Les sons métalliques ont été privilégiés dans l’élaboration de la pièce. On y trouve plusieurs percussions : tamtams, crotales, cloche plaque et diapasons, mais aussi plusieurs objets usuels et même un large escalier résonnant utilisée comme instrument percussif et non comme un espace acoustique. Pour garantir une certaine unité dans l’œuvre, pratiquement tous les matériaux ont étés modelés uniquement par la granulation qui cause une impression de fourmillement à l’intérieur des sons.

The Valsalva manœuvre, named after its inventor, Antonio Maria Valsalva, consists in recalibrating intra-auricular pressure by blocking the nose and blowing relatively strongly with it. After listening a few times at loud levels, this method seems essential. The piece uses three compositional strategies: iterations, drones and sudden impacts. Throughout the work, these procedures are combined to the point of saturation. Metallic sounds were preferred in the making of the piece, and different orchestral percussion instruments can be heard: tam-tams, antique cymbals, bell plates, tuning forks, many usual objects, and even a staircase used as an instrument rather than an acoustical space. To ensure a sense of unity to the work, almost all of the musical material was shaped through granular synthesis. The process gives an impression of swarming in almost each and every sound. In 2014, Valsalva won 2nd Prize in the SOCAN Awards for Young Composers and has been played in Buenos Aires during Sonoimágenes festival.

Avant de compléter un baccalauréat au Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Charles-Philippe Tremblay-Bégin s’est frotté au monde de la composition par l’entremise de Michel Tétrault au Cégep de Saint-Laurent. Son travail est principalement orienté vers la composition assistée par ordinateur et l’inclusion d’éléments scéniques ou de vidéo lors des concerts. Les matériaux de ses pièces ou leur projection formelle sont souvent basés sur une donnée extramusicale, puisque sa musique est pensée comme une métaphore du réel. Il complète actuellement sa maîtrise.

Before completing a BA in music composition at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, Charles-Philippe Tremblay-Bégin studied composition with Michel Tétreault at Cégep de Saint-Laurent. His recent work is mainly oriented towards the inclusion of scenic elements or video during multimedia concerts. He works frequently with composer and video artist Jonathan Goulet towards the goal of making immersive events. His work has been played by emerging groups such as Ensemble Paramirabo and Magnitude 6. He is presently completing his master’s degree at the Conservatoire.

Paul TREMBLAY — Étude synthétisé (2:45 / 2015)

Étude Synthétisé was conceived as a curation of different recordings from the Doepfer A-100. With the help of the VCA, VCO, filters, sequencer and other modules of the modular synthesizer, I explored the gestural properties through many-processed sound in a mixture of point source and immersive context. The three different movements explore the individual sound types and musical gestures in the piece, sometimes inside a relative stasis, and sometimes a complete disorganization of transients.

Née à Montréal, Paul Tremblay étudie actuellement à l’université Concordia en études électroacoustique.

Born in Montréal, Paul Tremblay is currently an Electroacoustic Studies major at Concordia university.

Georgios VAROUTSOS — Chase Away The Animals (3:16 / 2015)

Chase Away The Animals by Georgios Varoutsos is an acousmatic sound piece which developed over the span of two months. All of the sounds originate from a modular analog synthesizer, the Doepfer A-100. After numerous amounts of my own patch creations and recording them onto my DAW, the sounds were then virtually post-edited with use of VST’s and micro-editing of the waveforms. The piece is originally created for 5.1 multichannel listening experience to interplay with sound localization. The title of this piece correlates with the three themes created around three time durations, Animals [0:00-1:00], Storm[0:45-1:45], and Chaos [1:46-3:17]. This piece is formed to be perceived as an abstract sound piece with these three themes in mind. It begins with animals running forward and frantic movements, then the storm moves in to overshadow the animals, in which turns in to the final theme, chaos.

Georgios Varoutsos began studying electroacoustics at Concordia University in 2014. Realizing there is more to the fundamentals of sounds, he is pursuing research and knowledge of the variations one can create with sound.

Timothy WALTERS — Stilicidium (4:13 / 2015)

Timothy Walters started studying music at the age of nine with the accordion as his instrument of choice. While studying composition under Aris Carastathis and Darlene Chepil Reid, he also performed many classic Romantic compositions as well as new premiere works by other Lakehead composers.

Xintong WANG — Query, Fear, Hate, Struggle, Free (7:52 / 2015)

It is an electroacoustic piece for tape and Erhu (Chinese instrument). Every sound from the tape is the reflection of transformation developed only by Erhu sound. Before start to write, I bring a Erhu player to a studio and did something randomly and saved those materials into my sound library where I found quite a lot of interesting things happened, which inspired me of writing a piece in a way of using the same materials and mixing together original sound and transformation sound.

Xintong Wang was born in China and is currently studying her Master of Music in Composition at University of Toronto under the guidance of Christos Hatzis. Previously, she received her bachelor’s degree in composition at Central Conservatory of Music. Her compositions have been performed by such ensembles as the China Youth Symphony Orchestra and Zafraan ensemble. In 2008 she was awarded the third Palatino Award for her duet Zhuan. In 2012, her “First Symphony” was performed at the Beijing Concert Hall, and she was commissioned by the Beijing International Composition Workshop to compose a quartet for violin, viola, Guzheng and Sheng that was premiered in 2013. Later in February of 2015, Her string quintet was performed in 2015 as part of the University of Toronto’s New Music Festival 2014–15 season of events.

Sean WARKENTINE — Sonic Detritus (11:50 / 2015)

In the fall semester of 2013, I created a piece of noise music, titled “Lethbridge Detritus,” made entirely of sounds recorded at various steps in the process of recycling, as a critique of the recycling program in Lethbridge, AB. One mid-semester class discussion about noise music, brought up the components ‘melody’ and ‘rhythm’ as some of the most important aspects of what constitutes “music.” As a final project of the Bachelor of Music degree in Digital Audio Arts, I worked through my entire portfolio of musical and audio projects, specifically to find recording clips that featured audio distortions, outtakes, and other such disturbances, which had been removed from each project’s respective final form. From these noise samples, I sought to create music based on the aspects from the previous project’s discussion. Three pieces were composed, one with a focus on melody, another on rhythm, and a third on those two, amounting to music. I set some limitations on how I was able to edit the sounds as well. I allowed myself to cut and splice the samples, plus adjust only the pitch, speed, and, in very few instances, the direction of playback. In the final mix, delay and reverb was also applied to allow for sounds that are more realistic and smooth to listeners. The resulting work creates a unique listening experience that varies immensely between myself and other listeners. All of the sounds used in the final pieces were originally set in very specific contexts. Unlike myself, however, most people will be able to listen to these sounds without hearing and understanding exactly which project, take, and sample they were taken from. While experiencing these pieces, I encourage reduced listening to the ‘audio trash,’ to the sound objects for their own sake.

Barry WILLIAMS — Terry (4:57)

This piece is based on a story told by Terry Weaymouth and is accompanied by electronic and field recordings. The story maps Terry’s personal journey throughout his life and the music is meant to be informed by that story. Terry’s story, among tracing his path in history, also explores intense themes that are relevant to the treatment of First Nations people in Canadian history, a story that most definitely should be heard. The accompanying music is meant to be a subjective interpretation of Terry’s ideas and words.

In some ways this piece can be categorized as “aleatoric music’” because it leaves some element of the composition up the performer, or in this case Terry’s story. Using Terry’s story as a base of composition allowed me to create and find specific sounds that could relate to what Terry is saying. Terry’s story is important to focus on, because of the topics he explores are all themes that are important in subjectively gaining a better understanding of our history, culture and society. How Terry frames all of these themes shapes his philosophy, with which I try to explore those themes with audio accompaniment. Sometimes literal references and other times more abstract ideas play off Terry’s story to create a consensual narrative.