Charles Dubois

Tip! Picot is pleased to present the debut solo album by french percussionist Charles Dubois, inaugurating the label’s very first production. Charles Dubois has developed an all-terrain, rudimentary approach to percussion, blending wood, skins, bells, scrap metal, and other found objects. Entirely acoustic, this solo performance on augmented drums explores paradoxical spaces balanced between organic textures, improvised technoid patterns, mechanical movements, and raw sound materials.

In this nomadic solo, focused on singular acoustics, the drums become the foundation for a collection of found, cut, and hammered objects. The album is a compilation of short compositions produced over the years in his workshop/studio, shaped by his object finds and multiple collaborations. Metal is omnipresent in various forms (stainless steel, copper, brass, old cymbals, plates, rebar...), with bells that ring, resonate, or serve as resonating chambers for other vibrating surfaces. Leather and fabric are carefully used as mutes, supports, whips, mallets, and all of this (almost) fits in a rolling suitcase. 

The first seven tracks, or tableaux, were recorded at La Cuve studio in Angers and are dedicated to the different places where objects, gestures, or ideas have enriched this solo. "D'inox 2" and "D'inox 3" are two “focus” tracks, self-recorded by Charles Dubois, highlighting two large stainless steel discs, bells, and a snare drum.