Jacques Chabot and the Acxel Resynthesizer

http://www.myspace.com/jacqueschabot

"In the course of the second phase, I acquired an Acxel resynthesizer, which at last enabled me to make the most of the composition and interpretation method I had designed with less performing equipment. In some ways, my new album “Des musiques de fous” is both continuity and a culmination as regards this method. It also marks the starting point of a third phase, “Les installations instantanées” that should result in at least a new album in 2009.

COMPOSITION AND INTERPRETATION: TECHNICAL NOTES

I have been using an extraordinary device for several years: an Acxel resynthesizer. This musical instrument serves as a synthesizer with subtractive synthesis and additive synthesis as well as a resynthesizer, and has an unparalleled capacity (256 independent oscillators that are programmable in real time). Québec engineer Pierre Guilmette created it. About ten or so working Acxels can still be found worldwide.

Thanks to this device, I developed an interpretation technique that enables me, each time I play a piece, to add improvisations to it while keeping its “essence” intact. The Acxel is so powerful that I no longer need sequencers and I merely use the keyboard as an “On-Off” trigger. After I play some notes, I activate the sustain mode and interpret the music by “sculpting” the sounds on the Acxel’s touch screen. Each sound therefore becomes a complete music that can hold several melodic or noise-like themes. In addition, in order to increase tenfold the power of the device, I sample the sounds that do not need to be modified in real time.

I developed this composition and interpretation method some 13 years ago. However, putting it into practice before owning the Acxel was far more limited."

More info on the Acxel at: Technos axcel