DISMANTLING AND REORGANIZATION
At this stage, I need to take the time to review hours of recordings, listening carefully, with the aim of finding a musical connection or intention within the sound itself. The foundation for the composition is discovered within the core of the sound.
I avoid using the material merely as sound samples; instead, I work towards creating a unique mass of sound that I meticulously "clean up," removing anything I find superfluous and that doesn't contribute to the composition. Of course, these considerations stem from my very personal criteria, which guide my choices.
As I continued with this practice, I realized that my point of interest would shift daily, leading me to investigate what actually occurs between the sounds. I began to give more importance to silence and the micro-sounds that make up the attack or the tail of the sound.
My decision to use a tool like Ableton stems from my traditional education as a flute player and composer. To definitively abandon any concept of harmony, melody, virtuosity, etc., which heavily influenced my idea of music, I make use of mass-market software, played in a very straightforward manner. This approach doesn't allow me to hold on to any sterile, pre-established musical notions; it liberates me.
All pre-established parameters in my mind cannot be applied in any way, and it's very interesting and exciting how this approach leads me to solutions and music I could have never imagined, changing my perspective and artistic sensibilities. It offers me a fresh look into the sound. Essentially, I'm trying to find a way to break down the musical structures and dogmas that were ingrained in my mind, without relying on any musical or instrumental skills I used to relate to.
I've come to believe that the source material for any music piece isn't as important as the composer's intent, and any material can lead to new solutions and inspiration if you're able to listen with fresh ears: the tool becomes entirely irrelevant when the result is satisfying.
For now, I've decided to dedicate more time to creating and processing sound material, trying to discover new solutions I hadn't considered yet. The possibilities for combinations are endless. There's a lot of work involved in collecting various new materials and carefully listening to hours of recordings.
I find myself on an exploratory mission, the full meaning of which I cannot yet grasp. What I'm reaching for is unknown, and for now, I'm simply trying to listen and let the sound guide me further.
From a compositional perspective, I feel that I only need to shape the sonic result according to the material, following its potential. It's like excavating a dinosaur from the ground; "everything" is already there, and I just need to remove the "dust." It's as if the core of the sound itself reveals fragments of universal or natural chaotic order.
“When you are involved with a sound as a sound, ..., new ideas suggest themselves, need defining, exploring, need a mind that know it is entering a living world not a dead one.”
Morton Feldman
Within the realm of sonic expression, the liberation of sounds from the confines of composition often precipitates a notable resistance to subsequent control. This inquiry prompts contemplation of the extent, temporal orientation, and necessity of my role as a composer, raising the fundamental question of whether it is opportune to permit these liberated sounds to exist unbounded. Central to this introspective process is my quest to discern the elusive point at which a musical composition may be unequivocally considered complete or whether it should be embraced as perpetually evolving, potentially never reaching a state of finality but rather destined for ultimate abandonment.
My journey from the beginning of this endeavor to the present has been a pedagogical exercise that has revealed essential insights. The moment when I perceive an apparent dead end and potentially perceive myself as having failed, often leads to unexpected and serendipitous discoveries, to results that were not consciously sought but are nonetheless essential. In such moments, it becomes evident that I am heading in the right unknown direction.
DE-COMPOSITION
Processing the audio recordings with a laptop, I developed different improvisation-based methods that leave a lot of space for unpredictable solutions, compacting the sounds in a violent manner, decomposing them into micro fragments merging with each other in a disconnected way; dismantling and reorganization.
Primarily utilizing a few basic parameters on Ableton’s sequencer, enabling to create and change the starting point and length of the recordings, looping them, and experimenting with different warp algorithms (time stretching) offered by the software, resampling the improvisations and processing it over and over; apply basic effects to the material, such as equalizers, compressors, saturators, reverbs (to enhance the sounds). I limited the sound material to a sound bank of electroacoustic recordings realized during the past year in the frame of various diverse projects (strings, vibraphone, piano, voice, flute, flaubosax, sax, guitar). Experimented using more recordings simultaneously, trying different textural combinations, or processing each one as a single instrument at the time; the act of creation/ composition is heavily based on GESTURE, IMPROVISATION, and CHANCE.
Be flexible in the praxis, avoid a rigid systemic approach, and embrace various simple playful solutions; facilitate serendipity, instinct, and chaos as fondant principles of the composition.
It becomes a way to actively include performance, improvisation, and unpredictability in the creation of the piece, but it also it de-attach me from my role of decision maker: I take a step back and let the chance through the act, guide me. It is basically a material generator, leading me to unique, irreproducible odd results, providing me with a huge palette of possibilities: glitchy, disrupted, intensively spatialize, and sometimes disturbing, never presenting a clear regular tempo but always giving the impression to be in constant movement.