Practicing Live Electronics

With my classical instrumental training, I naturally opted for this mode of expression to interpret my electroacoustic works. From my very first concert, I took advantage of the sequencer and considered it a multi-instrumentalist partner. I use several techniques to add a human touch to my compositions.

Arrange on the fly

In this first example, the sequencer plays five short loops that I composed beforehand. These activate a drum machine and virtual synthesizers that I configured beforehand. The MIDI controller on my left allows me to bring different elements in or out on the fly, as well as adjust the timbre of certain sounds. The MIDI keyboard allows me to play a virtual instrument "live," and using a piezoelectric microphone, the sound of the guitar is recorded directly into the software that centralizes everything.

Humanizing a one-second pattern

In this second example, short one-second motifs, preprogrammed in the two sequencers, activate the drum machine and an analog synthesizer. During playback, I manipulate the timbre, volume, and spatialization effect on the synthesizer. The typical compositional technique of cross-rhythms, which consists of crossing a binary and ternary rhythm, helps to stimulate the brain over such a short period of time. But that's not enough, and without my intervention, the result would be mundane and, in the long run, too repetitive. This is a typical configuration of live electronics in the field of techno music.