This piece was born of a desire, after fifteen years, to collaborate again with the guitarist René Lussier. Using his talent for improvisation, I have employed the wide variety of timbres and sonic materials found in his playing. The tape consists of a succession of very dense and expressive scenes onto which the guitar’s living and playful gestures are placed.

— Gilles Gobeil [English translation: François Couture, xii-23]

Associations libres [Free Associations] was realized in July, 1990 at Studio Ondes (Montréal, Québec). Thanks to the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA). Associations libres was awarded the Silver Award — Most Outstanding Sound Design at the British Design & Art Direction 2002 (UK).

Composition

• July 1990, Studio Ondes, Montréal (Québec)

Premiere

• November 2, 1990, Montréal musiques actuelles / New Music America, Acousmonium: Concert 6: Électro clips, Théâtre Les Loges, Montréal (Québec)
• March 7, 2015, Premiere of the mixed version: Patrice Soletti, electric guitar; Julien Guillamat, diffusion • Figures du siècle, Salle Pasteur — Le Corum, Montpellier (Hérault, France)

Awards

• Silver Award, Most Outstanding Sound Design, British Design & Art Direction 2002, UK

About this sound recording

Patrice Soletti rose to the challenge of playing this piece live, and quite a challenge it was, for that was not part of the original plan. Here, the guitar gestures of the first version, though perfectly followed, are dressed in new sonic materials that bring a breath of fresh air and a new perspective to the piece.

This mixed version of Associations libres was performed by Patrice Soletti and recorded on May 30, 2019 at the Musiques & Recherches studio in Ohain (Belgium), and mixed at the composer’s studio. Thanks to Annette Vande Gorne for welcoming me at Musiques & Recherches and to Rafael Muñoz Gomez for setting up the studio.

Recording

• May 30, 2019, Gilles Gobeil • Musiques & Recherches, Ohain (Belgium)

Mixing

• Gilles Gobeil • Personal studio, Montréal (Québec)

Mastering

• November 2023, Stéphane Claude • Laboratoire nouveaux médias — Oboro, Montréal (Québec)
• January 18, 2024, Stéphane Claude • Laboratoire nouveaux médias — Oboro, Montréal (Québec)

Performers

• Patrice Soletti, electric guitar