Des Spheres is inspired by the movement of the planets closest to the earth. the Sun,
which begins the piece, is positioned in the central axis. Each planet is represented by
two sounds: one from a natural recording (Water-Air-Earth-Fire), the other from a
tiny analog synthesizer. This involves a cross synthesis, in which natural sounds
remain inaudible, but modulate synthetic sounds by varying their amplitudes and
frequencies over time in order to obtain an evolving, and partly random timbre.
The relative orbits of each planet around the solar axis have been reproduced in
stereo space. To make them audible, I have had to greatly accelerate these
movements. The 51 minutes of the piece represent over 100,000 years. Likewise, the
ambits of the stereo pans for each planet/track correspond to the relative distances of
the planets in the solar system from the Sun. Saturn therefore undergoes a left/right
movement over several minutes, while it takes Mercury only a fraction of a second for
the same movement.
Each planet corresponds to a pair of different sounds (natural/synthetic), composed
from distinct pitches, textures, and timbral colors. It is these differences which, by
coming together in the same listening space, express an auditory vision of the solar
system.
Most of the time, I worked in a daze, feeling that the mixer was becoming an
extension of myself. I composed daily according to the star which corresponded to
the day of the week (Monday: the Moon - Tuesday: Mars - Wednesday: Mercury etc.).
Des Spheres is therefore a piece recorded over 8 days, but involving more than a year
of preliminary research.
Far from being music for relaxation, Spheres has a quasi-hypnotic effect, due to the
fact that the piece consists of a single large chord of 8 notes, but whose timbres vary
in tone and duration. It is not uncommon for listeners to fall asleep on this trip,
which is fine with me...
Refusing to reproduce an existing astronomical model in which models of reality are
taken for reality itself, the piece refers instead to an organic vision, which in olden
times was called “the spheres”, the idea that the forces expressed in humans are
linked to the movements of celestial objects.


Trackliste

A1 Des Sphères Part I
B1 Des Sphères Part Ii