Envelop the Waves

video upload by MAKEN0ISE

"The envelope is a container. It’s the thing you place the message in before you send it. The envelope of a sound is its shape, or as Pierre Schaeffer called it, the “profile.”

In a modular synth, you can use an envelope to "envelop" any kind of sound, including one that already has its own envelope or profile!

Born and raised in New York, Anthony Baldino is an LA based composer and sound designer whose work spans an enormous range of production avenues. The likelihood that you haven't heard his work is nearly impossible, with music and sound design in too many trailer campaigns to list, including Tenet, Prometheus, Interstellar, Ex-Machina, Star Wars: Rogue One, and Avengers: Infinity War and End Game just to name a few. From there, his work ventures to the opposite pole of production with custom sound design based compositions for Dolby Labs mixed in Atmos, beautifully glitched out remixes, and continues on to mind-bending modular synthesizer performances.

Download Anthony's Morphagene Reel here: https://freesound.org/people/makenois...

Anthony's latest release:
https://anthonybaldino.bandcamp.com/a..."

http://www.makenoisemusic.com

The Gmebaphone Concept and the Cybernéphone Instrument

This one is in via Asbjørn Blokkum Flø. "Here is an interesting synth produced in various forms from 1973-2001. It was produced in various analogue and digital forms. If you do a Google image search for 'Gmebaphone' you will see a few different versions. The music of Christian Clozier and Françoise Barrière probably includes the instrument. I tried the instrument at the Bourges festival in 2004, and it was quirky but fascinating."

via https://ur.booksc.eu/book/43779232/b24219

"The Gmebaphone is an instrumentarium consisting of amplifiers, sound-treatment systems, loudspeakers, a console, and a processing system designed and built for live diffusion and performance. The specifications for the instrument were dictated by musical criteria. The musical interpretation of a work is based on analysis of the work and on analysis of its physical signals. Thus, the instrument is able to provide a pertinent acoustic rendering of a work’s sonic complexities (in terms of timbre, time, and space) directly under the performer’s control, thereby allowing transparent and expressive interpretations. The Gmebaphone is a processor/simulator of sonic electroacoustic space, as well as a polyphonic acoustic synthesizer of musical spaces. It is an instrument comprised of the hierarchical combination of a control system with memory, tablatures, and combinatory modes of play that give rise to a rich and workable system of interpretation and expression."

Also see https://collectionsdumusee.philharmoniedeparis.fr/

Image below with an E-Mu Modular in the back ground, and EMS Putney on the left via here.  Not sure what the black system on the farl left is.  If you know feel free to leave a comment. Also if you know if any demos of the Gmebaphone let us know!

P.S. The design reminds me of various equipment featured in synth rorschach posts.

See the exclusive label for more of the rare of the rare in the synth world.

Update: additonal info in via Asbjørn Blokkum Flø:

I've looked further into the Gmebaphone.

It basically looks like a system for live surround sound for electronic music, or as it is called "diffusion" of electroacoustic music. The surround setups could be very complex with up to 50 loudspeakers of various shapes and placements, a bit like the Acousmonium (GRM 1974-) [link]

The term 'acoustic' is used several times in the article. This seems to describe how loudspeakers interacts with the acoustics of the space, and not acoustic sound sources in the traditional meaning the word.

Being built as a custom instrument for live performance of electronic music, it is more of a musical and compositional tool than a conventional analogue or digital mixer.

It evolved over the years, but the latest model seemed to have a 76 channel mixer with 8 inputs and 16 outputs, with the possibility of digital treatments (phasing, delay, reverberation, and detuning).

From the article:
'The console has a total number of 76 channels of diffusion (36 are touch-controlled and 40 are digitally controlled via the screens) spread over 16 master outputs and eight master inputs. [..] Pull-down menus control digital treatments (phasing, delay, reverberation, and detuning).'

The article describes 6 different models (with photos):
Gmebaphone 1 (1973)
Gmebaphone 2 (1975) - 6 inputs, 2 "networks" (outputs?).
Gmebaphone 3 (1979) - 8 inputs, 22 outputs. Manual analogue control as well as digital computer control.
Gmebaphone 4 (1983) - Digital playback of soundfiles. Digital treatments (phasing, delay, and timbre).
Gmebaphone 5 (1992) - sequencing, graphical interface, automation.
Gmebaphone 6 - (renamed Cybernéphone) (1997) - 8 inputs, 16 outputs, 50 loudspeakers. Possible to save files to CD-ROM.

This page mentions the Gmebaphone number 7 / Cybernéphone (2005): [link]

The convoluted language of the article reminds me of the writings of French composer Pierre Schaeffer, and can be a bit hard to decipher.
--------
There is also some information on a large number of synthesizers that they produced between 1973 and 2008. called Systhysysop (1976), Charybde (1985), Gmebogosse (1972-1999) and Cybersongosse (??-2008?).

They are described in this article (with images): [link]

Many nice images here: [pdf link]

Another article: [link]

More images: [link 1 Also captured here] [link 2] [link 3 Also captured here]

These instruments was also made at the International Institute of Electroacoustic Music at Bourges /IMEB. Read more about IMEB here (use Google translate). [link]

You have written about the Cybersongosse before: [link]

I could not find any audio clips.

All the best"

The Universal Symphony

video upload by MAKEN0ISE

"The act of listening is itself the generation of music, to paraphrase Pierre Schaeffer. All the parts are always there, and our ear generates the score.

Discussed in this video:

Kri Samadhi, “Serge MOTS 7-25-21”: https://krisamadhi.bandcamp.com/track...

Pierre Schaeffer, "Treatise on Musical Objects": https://www.ucpress.edu/book/97805202...

Strega Patch Corner Noise Patch: https://makenoisemusic.com/content/ma...

David Dunn, “Angels & Insects”: https://daviddunn.bandcamp.com/album/...

http://www.makenoisemusic.com"

MAKEN0ISE Acousmatic Gestures

MAKEN0ISE

"Let's use some simple control voltage shapes to inscribe rhythm and intelligibility on unrelated sounds with the Tape & Microsound Music Machine.

"Acousmatic music" is, nominally, music whose sonic origin cannot be seen. It is commonly associated with the GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) and the composers there, including Francoise Bayle, Bernard Parmegiani, Beatriz Ferreyra, Pierre Shaeffer and others. Some info about the importance of gestures to this "school" of composition can be found here: https://www.inventionen.de/Inventione...

Further reading on shapes and gestures in music and listening:

Pierre Schaeffer, Treatise on Musical Objects
James Tenney, Meta Hodos
Allen Strange, Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls

http://makenoisemusic.com/synthesizer..."

The Galaxy Electric - Improvised Electroacoustic Music - Pierre Schaeffer Influenced

Published on Mar 6, 2020 The Galaxy Electric

"Pierre Schaeffer - LIVE Improvised Cosmic Tape Music

Do your ears crave NEW sounds?

Inspired by the pioneering innovations of the father of Musique Concréte, Pierre Schaeffer, we set out to improvise with found sounds, synthesizers, loopers and effects.

Join us every Wednesday for a ride on The Galaxy Electric Express 🚀

We perform a LIVE (improvised) Cosmic Tape Music soundtrack for your retro-futuristic travels 💫 You never know what planet you will land on…but you know it’s going to be an unforgettable journey…

Gear:
Buchla Music Easel
1979 Digital Resonator
FM Radio (Koma Elektronik field kit)
Mellotron
Boss RE-20 Space Echo Pedals
Pigtronix Infinity Looper
Monome Grid + MRL

Thanks for listening! Come on a musical voyage with us where we'll send you a new song every day, a cosmic story, and a chance to earn space treasure: https://thegalaxyelectric.lpages.co/5..."

Luc Ferrari Complete Works

Available at CONTROL

"French composer Luc Ferrari (1929-2005) was one of the progenitors of Musique concrète and a pioneer of and resolutely idiosyncratic voice within electroacoustic music. Ferrari was an early participant in the Groupe de Musique concrète and, with Pierre Schaeffer and François-Bernard Mâche co-founded the Group de Recherches Musicales (GRM) in 1958. Throughout his career, Ferrari worked in multiple forms: instrumental works, vocal music, text scores, electronic and electroacoustic music, Hörspiele, theatre and films. This is the first English monograph on Luc Ferrari and includes writings, original compositions, notes, text scores, artworks and interviews. Edited by Brunhild Ferrari. English translations by Catherine Marcangeli. Foreword by Thurston Moore. Introduction by Jim O’Rourke. Preface by Brunhild Ferrari. Afterword by David Grubbs."

Islas resonantes, Eliane Radigue on ARP 2500

Published on Nov 25, 2012

This one was spotted by brian comnes. You can find an article to go along with it here. Check out previous posts mentioning Eliane Radigue here.

Note the above video is followed by:
Eliane Radigue ‎- Triptych (1978) FULL ALBUM
Eliane Radigue | Feedback Works 1969-1970 [2012, Full Album]

Video Description:

"Un día me encontré con esta obra casualmente se mimetizaba con el sonido ambiente, fue en una casa de playa , por lo que no era fácil oír por el intenso sonido del mar, estaba atenta, quería escuchar que era lo que realmente sonaba, y no lo encontraba, hasta que aparecen fantasmagóricamente las voces soprano, despacio, atrás de todo, incorporándose poco a poco sutilmente la encuentro reproduciéndose en un lector de cd , aparece mi amigo Gerardo Figueroa, y me presenta a Eliane Radigue, máxima exponente de la música electrónica desde los años en que compartía con Pierre Schaeffer. y Henry en los años 60.............. nunca mas pude encontrar este disco, hasta hoy....por eso lo comparto. tiene la simpleza y sutileza de mezclar los sonidos puros y perderse infinitamente en las islas resonantes..."

Googlish:

"One day I found this work coincidentally blending in with the ambient sound, it was in a beach house, so it was not easy to hear from the intense sound of the sea, I was attentive, I wanted to hear what it really sounded like, and I could not find it, until the soprano voices appear spookily, slowly, behind everything, gradually incorporating the encounter reproducing in a CD player, my friend Gerardo Figueroa appears, and introduces me to Eliane Radigue, the greatest exponent of music electronic since the years I shared with Pierre Schaeffer. and Henry in the 60s .............. I could never find this record, until today ... that's why I share it. the simplicity and subtlety of mixing pure sounds and getting lost infinitely in the resonant islands ... "

Upcoming Hyve Touch Synthesizer ElectroSound Exhibit in Paris

The Hyve Touch Synthesizer will be at the ElectroSound Exhibit in Paris May 25 to 2 October 2016. You'll find the ElectroSound site in French here and Googlish here.

via Skot Weidmann, creator of the Hyve Touch Synthesizer and the man behind Motus Mavis:

"I am so excited to be a part of the ElectroSound exhibit in Paris.

The Hyve Touch Synthesizer will be included in the Future section of the show, and visitors will get to play it!"

We have Skot to thank for bringing the event to our attention!

Exhibits will also include (apologies for the translations via Google):

Pictured: Daphne Oram

"Jean-Yves Leloup and NoDesign, the commissioners Electrosound, chose a unique perspective to talk about, with the red wire machines and technological innovation. They plunge us into an immersive, interactive experience scanning a wide spectrum of musical productions, from 1945 to today, pioneers and scientists from 1950 to 1970 (Pierre Schaeffer, Robert Moog, Peter Zinoviev, Brian Eno, Jean-Michel Jarre ...) to the current and popular triumph electro. Electrosound, the lab at the dancefloor going back in time, over the 20th century that saw the electricity and electronics invest the musical field, until emergence of a major cultural movement, which is called 'electro', 'house' or 'techno'."

"Electrosound, the lab at the dancefloor, is an exhibition aimed at a wide audience, the curious beginner to the connoisseur. It is divided into six chapters decrypting the major stages of this musical revolution. Around a timeline, she meets machines and period instruments (synthesizers, drum machines, and other strange machines), popular objects of broadcasting and listening to music, archives (from the GRM, EMS studios and many international sources) and artistic photographs by Jean-Jacques or Jacob Ader Khrist, showing changes since search studios 1950s until the DJ culture."

RIP Else Marie Pade

Atomic Shadow wrote in to let me know that one of his favorite artists, Else Marie Pade, has passed away at the age of 91. Many of you should recognize her name from previous posts here on MATRIXSYNTH. She was an early electronic music artist, one of the pioneers of Musique Concrete. For those not familiar with the term, via Wikipedia: "Musique concrète (French pronunciation: ​[myzik kɔ̃.kʁɛt], meaning 'concrete music') is a genre of electroacoustic music that is made in part from acousmatic sound, or sound without an apparent originating cause. It can feature sounds derived from recordings of musical instruments, the human voice, and the natural environment as well as those created using synthesizers and computer-based digital signal processing."

Wikipedia on Pade: "Pade was born in Aarhus, and was educated as a pianist at the Kongelige Danske Musikkonservatorium (Royal Danish Academy of Music) in Copenhagen. She studied composition first with Vagn Holmboe, and later with Jan Maegaard, from whom she learned twelve-tone technique. In 1954, she became the first Danish composer of electronic and concrete music (Bruland 2001). She knew and worked with Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Stockhausen as well as Pierre Boulez.[1]" See the full article for more on her incredible life.


Else Marie Pade - Faust (1962) Published on Oct 18, 2013 Mors Mea

Prolog I Himlen 0:00
Faust Og Mefisto 4:21
Faust Og Magrethes Kærlighed 11:22
Magrethes Fordømmelse 18:46
Rejsen Til Bloksbjerg Og Valborgsnat 23:03

http://www.discogs.com/Else-Marie-Pad...

Else Marie Pade - "Syv Cirkler" (1958)

Published on Feb 27, 2015 One Eyed King

"From "Electronic Works 1958-1995".
Label: Important Records.
2014."

What is Krell? Louis & Bebe Barron - Ancient Krell Music (Forbidden Planet) & More

video upload by SoundtracksForLiving

You'll often see videos with references to "Krell" patches. Where did the reference come from? The 1956 film Forbidden Planet and specifically the sounds created for it by Bebe and Louis Barron. The Krell was the intelligent alien race in the film. The above is a playlist I found of various Krell style compositions starting with "Louis & Bebe Barron - Ancient Krell Music." The actual style of composition is considered Musique Concrete which began in the 1940s, much earlier than the film.

"Musique concrète (French pronunciation: ​[myzik kɔ̃.kʁɛt], meaning 'concrete music') is a genre of electroacoustic music that is made in part from acousmatic sound, or sound without an apparent originating cause. It can feature sounds derived from recordings of musical instruments, the human voice, and the natural environment as well as those created using synthesizers and computer-based digital signal processing. Compositions in this idiom are not restricted to the normal musical rules of melody, harmony, rhythm, metre, and so on. Originally contrasted with 'pure' elektronische Musik (based solely on the production and manipulation of electronically produced sounds rather than recorded sounds), the theoretical basis of musique concrète as a compositional practice was developed by Pierre Schaeffer, beginning in the early 1940s."

And on the soundtrack for Forbidden Planet via Wikipedia:

"Forbidden Planet‍ '​s innovative electronic music score, credited as 'electronic tonalities,' partly to avoid having to pay any of the film industry music guild fees,[citation needed] was composed by Bebe and Louis Barron. MGM producer Dore Schary discovered the couple quite by chance at a beatnik nightclub in Greenwich Village while on a family Christmas visit to New York City; Schary hired them on the spot to compose his film's musical score. While the theremin (which was not used in Forbidden Planet) had been used on the soundtrack of Alfred Hitchcock's Spellbound (1945), the Barrons' electronic composition is credited with being the first completely electronic film score; their soundtrack preceded the invention of the Moog synthesizer by eight years (1964).

Using ideas and procedures from the book, Cybernetics: Or, Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine (1948) by the mathematician and electrical engineer Norbert Wiener, Louis Barron constructed his own electronic circuits that he used to generate the score's 'bleeps, blurps, whirs, whines, throbs, hums, and screeches'.[12] Most of these sounds were generated using an electronic circuit called a 'ring modulator'. After recording the basic sounds, the Barrons further manipulated the sounds by adding other effects, such as reverberation and delay, and reversing or changing the speeds of certain sounds.[21]

Since Bebe and Louis Barron did not belong to the Musicians Union, their work could not be considered for an Academy Award, in either the 'soundtrack' or the 'sound effects' categories. MGM declined to publish a soundtrack album at the same time that Forbidden Planet was released. However, film composer and conductor David Rose later published a 7" (18 cm) single of his original main title theme that he had recorded at the MGM Studios in Culver City during March 1956. His main title theme had been discarded when Rose, who had originally been hired to compose the musical score in 1955, was discharged from the project by Dore Schary sometime between Christmas 1955 and New Year’s Day. The film's original theatrical trailer contains snippets of Rose's score, the tapes of which Rose reportedly later destroyed.[22]

The Barrons finally released their soundtrack in 1976 as an LP album for the film's 20th anniversary; it was on their very own Planet Records label (later changed to Small Planet Records and distributed by GNP Crescendo Records). The LP was premiered at MidAmeriCon, the 34th World Science Fiction Convention, held in Kansas City, MO over the 1976 Labor Day weekend, as part of a 20th Anniversary celebration of Forbidden Planet held at that Worldcon; the Barrons were there promoting their album's first release, signing all the copies sold at the convention. They also introduced the first of three packed-house screenings that showed an MGM 35mm fine grain vault print in original CinemaScope and stereophonic sound. A decade later, in 1986, their soundtrack was released on a music CD for the film's 30th Anniversary, with a six-page color booklet containing images from Forbidden Planet, plus liner notes from the composers, Bebe and Louis Barron, and Bill Malone.[21]"

So now when you see a Krell patch posted here on MATRIXSYNTH, you'll know exactly where the reference came from; Bebe & Louis Barron, in 1956, for the film Forbidden Planet.

An Interview with Barry Schrader

Hi everyone! As you know Barry Schrader will be giving his farewell concert at CalArts on September 26. The following is the beginning of my interview with him. I opted to post the questions and answers as they come in.  New QAs will get a new post so you do not miss them and they will be added to this post so we have one central post for the full interview. This should make it easier for all of us to consume in our busy lives, and it will allow you to send in any questions that may come to mind during the interview process.  If you have anything you'd like to ask Barry, feel free to send it in to matrixsynth@gmail.com.  This is a rare opportunity for us to get insight on a significant bit of synthesizer history, specifically with early Buchla systems, and I'd like to thank Barry for this opportunity. Thank you Barry!

CLICK FOR MORE »

Cliff Martinez Playing the Crystal Baschet

Published on May 30, 2012 zunkfloop

via wikipedia

"The 'Cristal Baschet' is a novel acoustical music instrument of a type of friction idiophones. Vibration as an element is used to produce musical tones by means of friction. These vibrating elements are metal rods embedded onto a heavy plate. The pitch of the sound tone is determined by the rod's length and weight position at the equilibrium point. The vibration is caused when an attached glass rod is gently stroked with wet fingers...

The Cristal Baschet was developed around the same time as musique concrète (Avant-Garde musical style introduced by Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry), Electro-Acoustic music and early Moog synthesizers. The Cristal Baschet produces music similar in style with these other musical forms, but it's completely acoustic without the involvement of an electric amplifying-device."

"Poetry at the core of arts" with a Dedication to Pierre Henry by Marc-Henri Arfeux & the Access Virus

Many of you will be familiar with the Access Virus compositions by Marc-Henri from previous RADIOKLOW posts. Marc-Henri bridges the gap between electronic music and other forms of art. His most recent work is a poem in tribute to Pierre Henry accompanied by the Access Virus. The tribute is hosted on La poésie au cœur des arts : le Blogart which translates to "Poetry at the core of arts". Click through and click on the Access Virus image to get to the piece.

via Marc-Henri:

"This site called 'Poetry at the core of arts' is the net the extension of a book of the same title, an anthology of poetry published by the french publisher : Editions Bruno Doucey. The book contains a poem I wrote about electronic music. The site was conceived to developp an exploration for some of the poets and artists of the book. I am one of them for, poetry , music and painting.

You will find the poem I wrote for the book, three pieces of music composed in january 2014, four poems by other authors of the anthology, three improvisations performed in early february 2014, a former composition called De Haute Vallée you have seen in the form a video in late 2012, an interview in french and some photographs taken at my flat when I was interviewed."

The following is Marc-Henri's poem translated into English:

"Orpheus veil"

Fly down into Orpheus ear,
Where roll clockworks
Of the forbidden stars
And voices shreds seeking vision.

Listen at the well of walls
Echoes of illuminated faces
In their bronze palaces.

Pavings, folds of roses,
The naked heels
Playing the freshness game
With embers
And the childhood kisses.

Travelling back to horizon,
In the limestone of nights,
Is now the prophecy of the spices,
With its tissue gifted with red
And the sobbings of an initiation.

Marc-Henri Arfeux - 2013

----------

Update: the following an English translation of the interview with Marc-Henri Arfeux on "Poetry at the core of arts". It is a fascinating read and reminds me of why I initially got into synths. My first synth was a brand new Oberheim Matrix-6 back in 1986. When I first started exploring the Matrix-6 I had no idea what the parameters did, so I just dived in. For me it was an exploration of sound for the sake of sound and a fascination in creating musical instruments never heard before. The focus was on that exploration rather than the attempt to mimic real world instruments. Much of this spirit is covered in the world of musique concrete and is captured in the interview below. Do not miss the part on the short wave radio. Truly fascinating and an inspiration for sonic exploration.

CLICK FOR MORE »

Halim El-Dabh - Pest Control, Tape Manipulation & The RCA Synthesizer

Astronauta Pinguim has published yet another interview with one of the pioneers of electronic music.  This time around we have an interview with Halim El-Dabh (Portuguese version here).  It is a fascinating read.  He was the first person to create a musical composition using tape manipulation, and the source of his inspiration came from his work in agriculture.

"'My first exposure to electronic sound devices was back in 1943. As an agriculturist studying pest control, I wanted to see if sound-emitting devices could control tiny beetles that attack wheat, corn, alfalfa and beans. I thought that rather than getting rid of the beetles, we could distract them. I used to experiment with clanging together iron rods like bells; then I tried scratching the rods together to see if it discouraged the bugs.'"

"In 1944 Halim decided to record the ceremony of the Zaar (a female religious ceremony), he then treated the recordings he made on the ceremony using studio techniques and electronic devices and voilà, the first piece of tape manipulation in the world was born! (Note that it happened four years before Pierre Schaeffer released his first published works in France). The Expression Of The Zaar was Halim's only piece to be published from this period, but he created another pieces of tape manipulation mostly of street vendors in Cairo."

In essence, this was the birth of musique concrete.

On The RCA Synthesizer: "'The synthesizer was an innovation that gave us a larger expansion of sound manipulation. We used punch cards to input and receive sound from the machine. It took up a whole wall, it was huge. We were able to get very clear sounds of whatever we synthesized whether it was trumpet, violin or any other sound. I especially liked to input my voice. Luening did an input of his piccolo to transform it. I did an input of my drum to transform it and then took the sounds back from the synthesizer.'"

Be sure to read the full interview on Astronauta Pinguim here.   You can find links to additional interviews on Astronauta Pinguim here.

via Fabricio Carvalho aka Astronauta Pinguim on The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge

RIP Bernard Parmegiani - Electronic & Acoustic Composer

Marc-Henri (aka RADIOKLOW) wrote in to let me know electronic acoustic composer Bernard Parmegiani has passed away at the age of 86.  He was mentioned here on MATRIXSYNTH a few times in the past.

The above image is from conceptoradio where you'll find a feature on him in Spanish. The following is some of the text translated to Googlish:

"Editions Mego is refocusing on the work of Bernard Parmegiani under his Recollection GRM series. reissued it "De Natura Sonorum" album first published in 1975 and probably one of the most important works of the French composer. This work consists of twelve movements, constituted in two series of six, combining analogue sounds with electronics, and is a true reflection of his studies at the Research Group Concrete Music (GRM) of Pierre Schaeffer. This work was also inspired by artists such as Aphex Twin or Autechre, since, as well quote the press release, 'has indelibly marked the classical period of electroacoustic music.'"

Bernard Parmegiani: De Natura Sonorum (1975)

Published on Jun 3, 2012 TheWelleszTheatre·1,789 videos

"Bernard Parmegiani (*1927): De Natura Sonorum (1975).
Création 3 Juin 1975, Paris.
Dédié a Michel Descombey et au Ballet Indépendiente de Mexico."

You can find a bio on Wikipedia here.

via Marc-Henri: "By a strange mystery of time, the INA-GRM has just released a few days ago a new version of his most important works in CD. Bernard Parmegiani was not so famous as Pierre Henry (still living and now around 85 years) but of the same artistic level in a very different style."

Parmegiani: "La Création du Monde" (Complete)

Published on Aug 29, 2012 NewMusicXX·836 videos

"Bernard Parmegiani: 'La Création du Monde' (1982-84) (Complete)
Lumière Noire (Black Light), Métamorphose du vide (Metamorphosis of the Void), Signe de vie (Sign of Life)

I have received many requests to post this work in its complete form, so here it is."

Make Noise Phonogene in 5U Format

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Brand new never used Make Noise Phonogene in 5U MU DOTCOM Synthesizers.com format. Limited edition of 20 units and we had an extra one left so someone out there is going to be a happy camper...

The Phonogene is a digital re-visioning and elaboration of the tape recorder as musical instrument. It takes its name from a little known, one of a kind instrument used by composer Pierre Schaeffer. It is informed by the worlds of Musique Concrète where speed and direction variation were combined with creative tape splicing to pioneer new sounds, and Microsound where computers divide sound into pieces smaller then 1/10 of a second to be manipulated like sub-atomic particles..."

MakeNoise Phonogene Eurorack Synthesizer Module

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"The Phonogene is a digital re-visioning and elaboration of the tape recorder as musical instrument. It takes its name from a little known, one of a kind instrument used by composer Pierre Schaeffer. It is informed by the worlds of Musique Concrete where speed and direction variation were combined with creative tape splicing to pioneer new sounds, and Microsound where computers divide sound into pieces smaller then 1/10 of a second to be manipulated like sub-atomic particles."

Live at the Graham Foundation, Madlener House, Chicago, IL, March 10th, 2012 ; presented by Lampo.

Update: the original video for this post (via kwf on Vimeo) appears to have been removed from Vimeo. Above is a playlist of the event from seijinlee on YouTube.

"KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN
SAT MAR 10 8pm
Graham Foundation
Madlener House
4 West Burton Place

At long last, Keith Fullerton Whitman makes his Lampo debut. To mark the special occasion, he offers the U.S. premiere of "Rhythmes Naturels," created at the legendary INA-GRM studios, plus a live modular synth improvisation.

Alors, last October Whitman spent a week in Paris, commissioned to develop a new piece for François Bayle's Acousmonium, an 80-speaker sound system designed in 1974 for the Groupe de Recherches Musicales. Pierre Schaeffer formed GRM, a studio and collective, in the late 1950s to encourage the development of electronic music. Members included Luc Ferrari, Iannis Xenakis, Bernard Parmegiani, among other lions; in the late 1960s Bayle became its director. For a whelp like Keith, the residency was "a life-long dream come true." And, he says, "The piece turned out exactly as I hoped."

Here, he'll do his new work in a 4-channel mix. Here, he talks about the residency, etc.

Keith Fullerton Whitman (b. 1973, Bergen County, N.J.) is a composer and performer obsessed with electronic music, from its mid-century origins in Europe to its contemporary worldwide incarnation as digital music. Currently he is working towards implementing a complete system for live performance of improvised electronic music, which incorporates elements from nearly every era. He has recorded albums influenced by many genres, including ambient music, drone, drill and bass, musique concrète and krautrock. He has recorded and performed using several aliases, of which the most familiar is Hrvatski. Today most of his work is recorded under his real name. Whitman lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts."

Pierre Henry documentary - The Art of Sounds

YouTube Uploaded by straypixel on Mar 19, 2011

"Experimental French composer Pierre Henry, one of the pioneers of musique concrète, is the subject of this documentary that traces his development of a new sound that shocked the music world. During the 1950s, the radical innovator and his colleague Pierre Schaeffer created a unique form of music based on electronically modified environmental noises.

Director: Eric Darmon"

phonogene

YouTube Uploaded by DrOctave1 on May 17, 2011
Audibly NSFW.
"scarface in the phonogene and some 4/4 just checking it out and playing around"

via Make Noise
"The Phonogene is a digital re-visioning and elaboration of the tape recorder as musical instrument (Firmware Engineered by Flemming Christensen, Gotharman). It takes it’s name from a little known, one of a kind instrument used by composer Pierre Schaeffer. While it is not an emulation, it does share the primitive, tactile nature of it’s namesake, and expands upon the original concepts. It is informed by the worlds of Musique Concrète (where speed and direction variation were combined with creative tape splicing to pioneer new sounds) and Microsound (where computers allow for sound to be divided into pieces smaller then 1/10 of a second, and manipulated like sub-atomic particles). Having voltage control over every parameter, it is most successful as a digital audio buffer for the modular synthesist.

The Phonogene is comprised of a pair of tool-sets which work well together. Tape Music Tools allow for sounds to be recorded on the fly, layered using the internal Sound On Sound function, manually cut into pieces using the SPLICE function, and re-organized with the ORGANIZE control. Once it is Spliced up, it is possible to create nearly infinite variations of the original loop by modulating the ORGANIZE parameter, and VARI-SPEED allows for the speed and direction of playback to be controlled continuously with one control signal. GENE-SIZE, GENE-SHIFT and SLIDE make up the Microsound Tools. GENE-SIZE divides the audio buffer into progressively smaller pieces called Genes (aka particles, grains, granules). A clock signal applied to GENE-SHIFT will step through those pieces in chronological order, while a control signal (such as the Wogglebug Smooth CV) applied to SLIDE, moves through those pieces in a nonlinear fashion. Using SLIDE, random access of the audio buffer is possible. Obviously, functions such as VARI-SPEED and ORGANIZE are useful for Microsound as well, which is why these functions were grouped into one module. The end result is a sampler/ looper/ audio buffer that is able to exist within a modular synthesizer system, and offer a vast amount of real-time sound manipulation in a fast and tactile way.

There is often the expectation that “bad sounds” such as clicks, pops, distortions, wrong notes, phase in-accuracies and otherwise, should be impossible with modern musical instruments. Many designers are making instruments which are fool-proof, and which guarantee some specific musical result, thus making it easy to create the same music, over and over again. The Phonogene does NOT use this approach. In fact, we have made it very possible to make the “bad sounds” and “mistakes” that have led to some of the greatest moments in musical history (and of course, some of the worst!). With the Phonogene, it is possible to Splice sounds in such a way that you will hear sharp contrasts, clicks and pops. This is the physics of sound! It is possible to slow down a recording to point of complete decimation, so that all that remains is trail of digital artifacts. Such are the limitations of digital sound (at the moment). It is possible to render the source material completely unintelligible, to cut busted loops, to distort digitally, to obscure, to regenerate to the point of almost no signal integrity. This is the nature of the Phonogene. If you seek the perfect looping tool, in the most contemporary sense of the word, then please look elsewhere. If you desire to explore the realm of modular, digital sample manipulation and microsound, welcome!

This module is 20HP and consumes 70mA worth of current."