Nicolas Basque & Andrew Watson - Pour Chirstian

Program Notes

Pour Chirstian a été réalisé dans le cadre d’une recherche sur l’improvisation en électroacoustique et la diffusion sur système de multi haut-parleurs. Il s’agit donc d’une improvisation entre deux musiciens où tous les sons  ont été transformés et diffusés en direct sur une configuration asymétrique de huit haut-parleurs. La pièce étant destinée à un public mobile, chaque individu, dépendamment de son emplacement, perçoit différemment la même composition. La musique produite aborde un volet social et humain puisque l’interactivité s’effectue entre musiciens et entre musiciens et public. Une configuration asymétrique nous offre donc une grande flexibilité au niveau de la division de l’espace. Nous avons remixé l’improvisation pour le système de l’événement Pleine lune d’automne.

Biography

The creation of Vertex, by Andrew Watson and Nicolas Basque, emerged from different collaborations in the domains of dance and improvised electronic music. Our association is founded around similar ideas with regards to electroacoustic music, artistic sensibility and a desire to realize our aesthetic. The main focus of Vertex is to create and explore electroacoustic music through improvisation. Our first forays into 'live' and improvised electroacoustic music revealed strong dynamics and an apparent human element brought forward by the interplay between two performing composers.

Through the use of different technologies (computers, samplers, multi-effects, etc.) we have been developing techniques and a vocabulary designed specifically for improvisation. We use found sounds, field recordings, of urban and natural settings, as well as recordings of the human voice (crowd sounds, single voice, singing). The important human quality inherent in these sounds leads to a richness and dimension that resonates closely with our stylistic goals. The use of space and multi-speaker configurations is an integral part of our approach, as is the interaction between performance disciplines and audience. Previous projects include sound installation concepts with audience interaction, improvised performances with dance, workshops and community participation, etc. Each performance context allows us a unique opportunity to explore the qualities of situation and circumstance through concepts and techniques developed to exploit the particular time and space. Towards this end, we recently received a grant from the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Quebec to research electroacoustic improvisation with simultaneous multi-speaker diffusion. Our latest projects have focused on the use of asymmetric speaker configurations designed within a space to stimulate a mobile audience.