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MOIRES(Opus 73)
June 199415'30Chamber music , Mixed music
Aperçu partitionNotice
The synthetic sounds were produced on the Upic machine, and sometimes reworked using an Akaï S3000 sampler and GRM Tools software. As in several earlier mixed works (Naluan, Amorgos, Nocturne etc.), the instruments almost always play in unison with the recording, which presupposes a meticulous transcription of the latter on the score. The title can be read in two ways: as a textile metaphor, alluding to the changing effects of light interference; and as a mythological reference to the Moirai, Greek divinities presiding over human Destinies. The work comprises seven linked movements, with a total duration of around 15 and a half minutes.
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Comment
In this work, it is often the elaboration of recorded sounds that comes first, followed by their transcription on score and the writing of the quartet. Most of the time, the instruments are in unison with the loudspeakers, for moire effects. This technique, originally applied to textiles, was defined by the physicist Chevreul: Practice, in perfect accord with theory, teaches that moire appears in a more advantageous manner on monochrome fabrics than on glazed fabrics, because in effect, the beauty of moire residing in the variety of designs changing with the position of the spectator, the changes in color of the glazed fabric come, as it were, to counteract the simplicity and purity of the designs of moire (Journal des savants 1866, p. 648 ). In the sound field, I thought I could achieve an effect comparable to this luminous interference by writing “monochrome” music, in which the recorded sounds add timbre effects rather than polyphonic components. The first experiment in this direction, in Nocturne, showed me that this was one of the interesting possibilities of synthesized sounds. I have rarely explored the relationship between the visible and the audible, which is mostly metaphorical, and just as rarely attached much importance to the spatialization of my music, but here I felt I had to specify the best device for letting the moiré effects be perceived. I have drawn up some technical recommendations, whose partial obsolescence, less than twenty years on, does not suggest a quiet longevity for this kind of work:
The electro-acoustic part is supplied on a DAT cassette, allowing one of the quartet members, equipped with a remote control, to start any of the seven numbered tracks at will. The DAT recorder and the amplification and sound system are controlled by the performers themselves. Copying to ordinary cassette is not recommended, as the playback speeds of most cassette recorders are neither precise nor stable. If you have a technician in charge of the starts, he or she should be able to communicate easily with the quartet, rehearse with it sufficiently to ensure precise starts, and adjust the intensity of the electro-acoustic part so as to obtain the most perfect fusion with the instruments. The synthetic part should neither be a background sound nor appear more intense than the quartet.
Another solution is to use a 4-track analog tape, on which 2 tracks are used for the electro-acoustic part broadcast over the loudspeakers, and one for the metronomic clicks and spoken announcements (giving cues every ten bars), broadcast for the instrumentalists only over one or more headphones. This tape is available from the publisher.
Loudspeakers should be placed frontally. At least 4 are desirable, so that each instrumentalist can easily perceive the synthetic sounds to which he or she must synchronize. There should be no loudspeakers at the sides or rear of the room. For small venues (30 to 100 seats), 4 loudspeakers (2 x 2), lined up behind the quartet, may be sufficient. In a larger hall, it will generally be necessary to provide the performers with at least 2 returns (1 for the violins and 1 for the viola and cello) located close to them, in addition to the two groups of loudspeakers (2 x 2 or better 2 x 4, oriented towards different points in the hall). In general, avoid placing the loudspeakers closer to the audience than the instrumentalists, and aim for a stereo image that is almost no wider than that of the quartet.
The terminology of so-called art music (?), classical (?), written (?), contemporary (??) is the object of chronic dissatisfaction. The terminology of recorded, fixed, electroacoustic, electronic, digital sounds, etc. is just as ill-suited. Rereading such a text less than twenty years later, one can only wonder at its relevance. So-called “fixed” sounds are condemned to continual migration from one medium to another. DAT cassettes have often joined analogics in the silence of attics. Magnetic tapes already belong to the archaeologists of technology. Rabelais wanted us to build with “living stones” – people. But we could still use buildings made of dead stones. In a world without projects and archives, objects will, for the first time, age much faster than their creators.
In this work, it is often the elaboration of recorded sounds that comes first, followed by their transcription on score and the writing of the quartet. Most of the time, the instruments are in unison with the loudspeakers, for moire effects. This technique, originally applied to textiles, was defined by the physicist Chevreul: Practice, in perfect accord with theory, teaches that moire appears in a more advantageous manner on monochrome fabrics than on glazed fabrics, because in effect, the beauty of moire residing in the variety of designs changing with the position of the spectator, the changes in color of the glazed fabric come, as it were, to counteract the simplicity and purity of the designs of moire (Journal des savants 1866, p. 648 ). In the sound field, I thought I could achieve an effect comparable to this luminous interference by writing “monochrome” music, in which the recorded sounds add timbre effects rather than polyphonic components. The first experiment in this direction, in Nocturne, showed me that this was one of the interesting possibilities of synthesized sounds. I have rarely explored the relationship between the visible and the audible, which is mostly metaphorical, and just as rarely attached much importance to the spatialization of my music, but here I felt I had to specify the best device for letting the moiré effects be perceived. I have drawn up some technical recommendations, whose partial obsolescence, less than twenty years on, does not suggest a quiet longevity for this kind of work:
The electro-acoustic part is supplied on a DAT cassette, allowing one of the quartet members, equipped with a remote control, to start any of the seven numbered tracks at will. The DAT recorder and the amplification and sound system are controlled by the performers themselves. Copying to ordinary cassette is not recommended, as the playback speeds of most cassette recorders are neither precise nor stable. If you have a technician in charge of the starts, he or she should be able to communicate easily with the quartet, rehearse with it sufficiently to ensure precise starts, and adjust the intensity of the electro-acoustic part so as to obtain the most perfect fusion with the instruments. The synthetic part should neither be a background sound nor appear more intense than the quartet.
Another solution is to use a 4-track analog tape, on which 2 tracks are used for the electro-acoustic part broadcast over the loudspeakers, and one for the metronomic clicks and spoken announcements (giving cues every ten bars), broadcast for the instrumentalists only over one or more headphones. This tape is available from the publisher.
Loudspeakers should be placed frontally. At least 4 are desirable, so that each instrumentalist can easily perceive the synthetic sounds to which he or she must synchronize. There should be no loudspeakers at the sides or rear of the room. For small venues (30 to 100 seats), 4 loudspeakers (2 x 2), lined up behind the quartet, may be sufficient. In a larger hall, it will generally be necessary to provide the performers with at least 2 returns (1 for the violins and 1 for the viola and cello) located close to them, in addition to the two groups of loudspeakers (2 x 2 or better 2 x 4, oriented towards different points in the hall). In general, avoid placing the loudspeakers closer to the audience than the instrumentalists, and aim for a stereo image that is almost no wider than that of the quartet.
The terminology of so-called art music (?), classical (?), written (?), contemporary (??) is the object of chronic dissatisfaction. The terminology of recorded, fixed, electroacoustic, electronic, digital sounds, etc. is just as ill-suited. Rereading such a text less than twenty years later, one can only wonder at its relevance. So-called “fixed” sounds are condemned to continual migration from one medium to another. DAT cassettes have often joined analogics in the silence of attics. Magnetic tapes already belong to the archaeologists of technology. Rabelais wanted us to build with “living stones” – people. But we could still use buildings made of dead stones. In a world without projects and archives, objects will, for the first time, age much faster than their creators.
Instrumentation
string quartet and fixed soundsFirst performance
12.2.94 Radio-France, Arditti quartet
