electrocd

Track listing detail

Bucolic & Broken

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

  • Year of composition: 2016-17
  • Duration: 12:32
  • Instrumentation: 28-channel fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Ymx média
  • ISWC: T3073840189

Stereo

ISRC CAD502110043

  • 44,1 kHz, 16 bits

This piece is an ode to the fragile beauty of post-industrial rural England: crumbling in this Brexit era (since way before, some might say) yet still holding together by some strange magic, or by force of habit. It is a sonic commentary on my new home, the North, which is in fact in the middle of the island that forms most of the country in which I settled with my family many years ago: a divided kingdom.

It is a sort of anxious love song contemplating the area’s bucolic beauty, with its protected moors, its omnipresent stone walls dividing minuscule allotments, its fashionably converted factories, its refreshing replanted forests; all intermingled with mementos of a more prosperous era: the unkempt gardens, the ash-stained walls, the many broken windows (when not actually bricked up), the closed shops in cheap architectural atrocities… On the one hand, the orange colour of the sunlight gives to nature’s greenery a pictorial shade; on the other hand, the frequent cloud ceiling mixes everything into a soup of brown and grey.

It is also an affectionate nod to its people, with their resilience, composure, and stoicism, where a cup of tea seems to put everything into perspective. Anywhere else, such a division would create chaos and unrest. Here, it seems as though everyone is taking a deep breath, pausing to observe the waters, before taking the plunge.

[vii-21]


Bucolic & Broken was realized from October 2016 to April 2017 in the SPIRAL (Spatialisation and Interactive Research Lab) of the University of Huddersfield (England, UK) and in the Studio 3 (hemisphere) of Notam (Olso, Norway), with a testing session in the spherical studio of the University of Hull (England, UK). The work premiered on April 29, 2017 during the BEAST FEaST festival in Birmingham (England, UK). The 5.1 version was realized in 2021. Thanks to Scott Wilson and Annie Mahtani at BEAST for their trust; to Jörn Nettingsmeier and Anders Tveit for sharing their real-life ambisonic knowledge; to Anne Sèdes and Pierre Guillot for the Université Paris 8 (France) HOA tools; to Alex Harker for his support through the Creative Coding Lab; to Notto Thelle, Thom Johansen, Cato Langnes, and Jøran Rudi for making the Notam residencies so fruitful; to Robert Normandeau for the GRIS support; to Robert Mackay and Matt Barnard for the University of Hull studio residency; and to Fabian Brinkmann for the custom HRTFs.

Preparation

Composition

Premiere

  • April 29, 2017, BEAST FEaST 2017: Concert 7, Elgar Concert Hall — Bramall Music Building — University of Birmingham, Birmingham (England, UK)

Mixing

  • 2021, version 5.1: Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering


asinglewordisnotenough

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

  • Year of composition: 2014-16

“Traduttore, traditore,” says the Italian proverb. “Traduire, c’est avoir l’honnêteté de s’en tenir à une imperfection allusive”, nuances the translator Pierre Leyris. The cycle of pieces entitled asinglewordisnotenough looks at the impossibility of translating, firstly, the text, then, the context. The multiple nuances of words and images, flattened, lost, elusive.

Moreover, it is also a reflection on the inexpressible, where music and silence allow some states / sentiments / experiences to be expressed with more power / precision / nuance. Therefore, this suite of pieces should be taken as different expressions of a single impression, whose sense is multiplied by their common / composed / remembered past. Explain / comment / multiply the music by music, or as Harold Bloom says so elegantly: “The meaning of a poem can only be another poem.”

[vi-21]


nureinwortgenügtnicht1

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

  • Year of composition: 2014-15
  • Duration: 15:20
  • Instrumentation: 5.1-channel fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Ymx média
  • ISWC: T9191418209

Stereo

ISRC CAD502110044

  • 44,1 kHz, 16 bits

This first piece / iteration / instance is the ‘theme’ of the cycle, in three movements, each musing on one approach to the action of defining: by stubborn repetition, by nuanced contemplation, and by logical development.

[i-15]


nureinwortgenügtnicht1 [asinglewordisnotenough1] was realized from June 2014 to January 2015 at the composer’s studio in Huddersfield (England, UK) and in the Elektronisches Studios of the Technische Universität Berlin (TU, Germany), and premiered on January 26, 2015 during the CTM Festival at HAU2 in Berlin (Germany). Thanks to Stefan Weinzierl, Volker Straebel, and Andreas Pysiewicz, for the warm inclusion within the community of the studios of the TU; and to Jan Rohlf and his team, for the ideal conditions for the concert premiere.

Composition

Premiere

  • January 26, 2015, CTM Festival 2015: Un Tune I: Rezza, Tremblay, HAU2 — Hebbel am Ufer, Berlin (Germany)
  • May 25, 2016, Premiere of the 8-channel version: EM4 — Berliner Studios für elektroakustische Musik (4): Elektronisches Studio der Technischen Universität Berlin, Akademie der Künste — Hanseatenweg – Studiofoyer, Berlin (Germany)

Mastering


Tentatives d’immobilité

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

  • Year of composition: 2017
  • Duration: 16:17
  • Instrumentation: fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Ymx média
  • Commission: Český rozhlas
  • ISWC: T3073839911

Stereo

ISRC CAD502110045

  • 44,1 kHz, 16 bits

Happy humans in troubled times. A privilege, and a recurring source of angst and guilt, as most of my pieces betray. Moreover, I am saturated, like most people, by the incessant stream of stimuli: ads, social media, (curated) news of the unfair world, fascinating discoveries, and whatever else. It all resonates a little too much with the natural thunderstorm in my hyperactive head.

To cope, I attempt mindfulness. Actually, I do that more to truly enjoy my privileged life as it is: a rather difficult task. I therefore share here a sonic musing on the pleasure of contemplating the complex ebb and flow of the million things that fight for my attention, when I manage to weaken the grip of this frenzy on my angst, guilt and powerlessness, and just observe it with open curiosity.

[vi-21]


Tentatives d’immobilité [Attempts at Stillness] was realized between April and November 2017 at the composer’s studio in Huddersfield (England, UK) and premiered on the radio on November 29, 2017 during the rAdioCUSTICA program of Český rozhlas (Czech Republic). The 5.1 version was realized in 2020. Thanks to Pavel Klusák, Édouard Levasseur, and Maxime Levasseur for blindly lending me their voices, and Michal Rataj, for the absolute trust and the stimulating discussions. Part of the creation process was supported by the FluCoMa project (European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, grant #725899).

Composition

Premiere

  • November 29, 2017, rAdioCUSTICA, Český rozhlas, Czech Republic

Mixing

  • 2020, version 5.1: Huddersfield (England, UK)

Mastering


Newsfeed

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay

  • Year of composition: 2018-20
  • Duration: 24:25
  • Instrumentation: 5.1-channel fixed medium
  • Publisher(s): Ymx média
  • ISWC: T3073841046

Stereo

ISRC CAD502110046

  • 44,1 kHz, 16 bits

I am addicted to information. To the constant updates, to

(everything / everyone)
(broadcasting / repeating)
and (transforming / judging)
curated (stories / opinions / news)
on (local / global)
(small / large)
(trivial / essential)
(real / fake)
(events / facts / ideas / truths / people).

This piece is made of saturations. Of exaggerations. Of stamina-based arguments. Few silences, many cuts. A news feed in newspeak, (from / to) my echo chamber, between a musical metaphor and a mimetic narration.

This piece is made of archetypes, of their memories. Of misled expectations. Of comforting predictability. Of meandering and flâneries.

This piece is made of repetitions. Mediatised, edited, amplified, hyperreal, humdrum, dramatized.

[vi-21]


Newsfeed was realized from 2018 to 2020 at the composer’s studio in Huddersfield (England, UK) and the stereo version premiered on the radio on May 19, 2021 during the rAdioCUSTICA program of Český rozhlas (Czech Republic). The multitrack version premiered on July 8, 2021 during the Dialogues Festival in the West Court of the Edinburgh College of Art of The University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK). Thanks to Alex Harker, Daniel Barreiro, Daniele Ghisi, Dominic Thibault, Frédéric Dufeu, Gerard Roma, Hans Leeuw, Hans Tutschku, James Bradbury, Miguel Carvalhais, Rodrigo Constanzo, and Ted Moore for the male voices; to all those who listened to and commented on the work in progress; and to the European Research Council (ERC) for the financial support, as a large part of the creation process was supported by the FluCoMa project (European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme, grant #725899).

Composition

Premiere

  • May 19, 2021, rAdioCUSTICA, Český rozhlas, Czech Republic
  • July 8, 2021, Dialogues Festival 2021: Newsfeed Fractals, West Court — Edinburgh College of Art — The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (Scotland, UK)

Mastering