Etude IV: points-lines-landscapes' (1979). This work is designed as an all-electronic piece without considering any configuration with soloist parts for later use (unlike the two following pieces featured on this CD).It was realized by Jean-Claude Eloy in 1979 on the CEMAMu's UPIC upon Iannis Xenakis's invitation to whom this work is dedicated as a friend. The UPIC (Unité Polyagogique Informatique du CEMAMu) is an electronic tool invented by Iannis Xenakis in the 1970s. It is a graphic interface designed to create sound and compose music, whose first version featured a big drawing board (a sort of architect desk) equipped with a ballpoint electromagnetic pencil, surrounded by a computer (mini-computer solar 16/55 ESMS - memory of 32 K) and a monitor. All kinds of forms could thus be drawn with the electronic pencil based on time parameters (moving from left to right) and frequency spaces (from bottom to top, from the lowest to the highest register). Before each drawing (or for every line or arch - from an architectural point of view) the appropriate banks would be successively selected with the electromagnetic pencil: a waveform bank, an envelope bank, which could also be drawn and stored in advance. Piling up such arches you could obtained more or less complex drawings filling a page that could be calculated by the computer upon completion. Today, such operations are widely used by every computer (including consumer computer) whiz. However, in 1979 (when this work was produced) such opportunities were unique and, as Eloy said ... were like a miracle for the instrumental and orchestral composer that I mostly was.
'Of a Forgotten Star' (1986), electro-acoustic part alone from Sappho hiketis. Originally, this work was part of Anâhata but did not end up in its final production. It was later used as a supporting structure for the Sappho hiketis piece with the solo vocal parts especially written for Fatima Miranda and Yumi Nara. During the electro-acoustic production of Anâhata this mixing was entitled Indian-Plates. The basic material is exclusively made of prerecorded sounds from metal percussion instruments (sampled in 1984 in the early stage of the production of Anâhata with Michael W. Ranta, Asian Sound, Cologne).
'The Great Wave' (1991) (a tribute to Hokusai), electro-acoustic part alone from She (from the Gaia-Songs cycle). This work was originally realized to fit into Erkos but was not used in the final production. It was later integrated into the Gaia-Songs cycle for the fourth piece: She (The consecrating mother) based on Anne Sexton's poem (integral part of Two American Women) serving as a backbone for a written piece completed in keeping with the sung-spoken voice technique (Sprechgesang). During the production of Erkos this terminal mixing was entitled Biwa-Tutti because of the various Biwa sounds and glissandi that were stacked and sampled at the studio by Junko Ueda, solo performer for Erkos. This work was completed in 1990-91 at the WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk) Electronic Studio of Cologne.