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Montreal Mirror

“Think of the fun Mozart would have had with a harpsichord retrofitted with MIDI ports.”

Think of the fun Mozart would have had with a harpsichord retrofitted with MIDI ports. The musical instrument digital interface, with which one can score, arrange, and play any number of instruments from a lone trigger instrument — keyboard, drums, guitar — would have freed Mozart’s lightning-fast mind to compose works that would make complex and brilliant operas like Cosi Fan Tutte seem like child’s play.

Today, MIDI has become an inexpensive way to get an impossible orchestra sound from just a single instrument. Just ask Alain Thibault. A founding member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, the 34-year old Montréaler composes with a Macintosh mouse and music software rather than quill and quire.

Originally published by Montreal Mirror.Read the full review on Montreal Mirror

17 other reviews

Circuit

“Alain Thibault Volt: Concerto pour piano MIDI, Jacques Drouin, piano; Le soleil et l’acier, Pauline Vaillancourt, soprano; OUT; ELVIS (Électro-lux, vertige illimité synthétique) Quatuor de saxophones de Montréal, arrangement de Walter Boudreau La réponse nord-américaine aux deux disques précédents, qui s’inscrivent plutôt dans la mouvance électrocacoustique européenne, est apportée par Volt, le di”

Vital Weekly

“It was a surprise to listen to Thibault’s cd. Whereas the music of the other cd’s was based on soundscape, on Volt we hear something quite different.”

Paris Transatlantic

“… really packs a punch. It positively pounds!”

Splendid E-Zine

“If the whole electroacoustic thing seems a little too pointy-headed to you, this is the disc that’ll show you how wrong you are.”

Online Digital Music Review

“One of a series of discs from Canada’s DIFFUSION i MéDIA, the organization behind the empreintes DIGITALes label. The basic thrust of the two recent series is the continued exploration of sound via electronics, and an effort to bring real electronic music into the present day.”

SOCAN — Canadian Composer

“Alain Thibault found his niche in contemporary music as others have in traditional classical music: That is to say, in a sincere and entirely natural way.”

SOCAN — Le Compositeur Canadien

“Alain Thibault est venu à la musique contemporaine comme d’autres parviennent à la musique classique tonale, c’est-à-dire naturellement.”

Musicworks

“A new compact-disc label called empreintes DIGITALes has come to the forefront of the “musique actuelle” scene in Quebec.”

Factsheet Five

“Flighty fast-paced instrumental pieces for MIDI-assisted piano. Thibault explores such territory as life in the future and the eight circuits of consciousness as outlined by Tim Leary.”

La Presse

“«Ça fait du bien de mettre ça à jour», lance Alain Thibault, compositeur électroacoustique. Bien qu’il n’eût pas encore endisqué depuis le début de sa carrière, son travail a toutefois été suivi par les médias.”

Audion

“Radically different, and totally out-on-a-limb, this is a very surprising release indeed. A very complex melodic music, both stochastic and rhythmic, often jumping from one to the other.”

Crystal Infos

“Né à Québec en 1956, Alain Thibault a étudié la composition à la Faculté de musique de l’Université de Montréal. Il est lauréat du concours des jeunes compositeurs de Radio Canada en 1982, dans la catégorie électroacoustique.”

Blitz

“Volt, do compositor Alain Thibault, è um trabalho provocador no modo como mistura o Piano, o quarteto de sopros e as gravações.”

Les Cahiers de l’ACME

“Lauréat du concours de jeunes compositeurs de Radio-Canada en 82, il remporte le concours «Sound Page Competition» organisé par le magazine américain Keyboard en 86.”

L’attention

“Troisième de la série de productions électroacoustiques, Volt présente des pièces bien différentes de celles de Calon et Normandeau.”

MTL

“Rien de semblable avec Thibault. Ici, tout est plus direct. Tout tinte et clignote à la façon des flippers qui offriraient une succession de parties gratuites.”

Keyboard

“Alain Thibault: If the name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. Co-winner of Keyboards first Reader Tape Contest (Feb ’86), Thibault focuses on a more rhythmic ancl accessible, less haughty musical feeling.”