is a trio of EMS synth plus turntables; full tracks on the Synthi blog courtesy the composer. Really brilliant sounds:Trios associates improvisation within a set of defined parameters. Its score includes a notebook with instructions for playing, 16 VCS3 patches, and two 33rpm records on which 2x16 sound events are recorded. The macrostructure is not determined, and both the duration and the temperament of the piece depend on the chances of the combinatorial principle. 16 sequences of VCS3 follow one another, and these are answered by 2x16 pre-recorded sequences, whose order is defined in real time according to the throwing of three dice. While preserving most principles of the original composition, we allowed ourselves some free interpretation: the VCS3 patch is the original one, but its variations, the order, the development, and the duration of each sequence are left to the player's determination.
Although the order of playback of the 33rpm records depends on the random results of the dice, the duration of each pre-recorded sound, and the possibility of playing multiple layers are made thanks to the recording and the simultaneous replay on computer. The original score was written for three players, but as the composer's notes state in the booklet, adaptations for one or two interpreters may occur. We, to some extent, combined these last two interpretations, that inevitably induce pre-recorded elements. No other effect has been used except speed variations. Even when there was need for free interpretation, we tried to remain as close as possible to the will of the composer although we added playing functionalities that the equipment of the era did not offer, but which we imagine he would probably have made use of if it had existed. i.e. The varispeed of commercial turntables, enhanced possibilities of the portable computer. We also preserved its original rough aspect, as well as the inevitable clicks and pops typical of vinyl records, which gives its obsolete charm. To exhume Trios was for us an exercise of style, a kind of Ôarcheosonic' re-enactment, a respectful appropriation that pays tribute to this curiously still little known, talented and prolific composer. Trios was played for the first time in France since its creation, at the occasion of the Sonorité Festival in Montpellier, September 2006. Note: the present record may be used to re-enact the piece in addition with a synthi VCS3 according to the solo version instructions
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