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Showing posts from December, 2008

Extreme time stretching with Max/MSP/Jitter

2020 update: if you are looking for the Max for Live device, check out the post Max for Live: Extreme Time Stretching with Spectral Stretch . Using a phase vocoder is one way of stretching the length of a sound without transposing it. The following video is related to the free pdf article A Tutorial for Spectral Sound Processing with Max/MSP and Jitter , published in the Computer Music Journal, Fall 2008. It illustrates extreme time stretching and audio freeze. Your own Max/MSP/Jitter Phase Vocoder If you are using the Max/MSP/Jitter development environment to design audio & video interactive applications, make your own phase vocoder. In this series of Max/MSP/Jitter tutorial patches for sound processing in spectral domain (link updated 01/12/2010) , patches number 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 are the most directly related to this video. Of course, the MSP Tutorial 25 and Tutorial 26 will be will get you started with the FFT inside Max/MSP, in case you are new to the spectral doma

Un-Music Conference - Call for Works

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The Graduate Music Forum at Harvard organizes a yearly Graduate Student Conference. Last Spring, the conference was entitled music & the urban . This year, the committee choose another exciting topic: Un-Music . Last week, composers Bert Van Herck, Hillary Zipper, and myself met with organizers Michael Heller and Ryan Banagale to discuss the participation of composers to the conference. We are all very eager to host a great musical conference during which we want to facilitate a natural flow between the fields of musicology, ethnomusicology, theory and composition. Are you a composer? Here is the official announcement, as it was recently published on the American Composers Forum : Call for Works: Un-Music, Harvard Graduate Music Forum Conference, March 7, 2009 In light of the pluralism, stylistic diversity, and incorporation of new sounds in contemporary performance, we invite you to re-examine our definition of music: what is music and what is "un-music," and wher

11/60 - Play Along 1 - Mouthpiece and Voice

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In May 2008, I announced the première of my series of three Bb clarinet studies . I'm happy to share with you the recording of this live performance, featuring two amazing musicians: Petra Stump and Heinz-Peter Linshalm . Petra and Heinz-Peter during their concert in Vienna (Austria) on June 13th, 2008. The first of these pedagogical miniatures is a very simple melody to play with just the clarinet mouthpiece , to whistle, and to sing and play at the same time. Here is the score for two clarinetists: the teacher and the student. Listen to 11/60 on last.fm Singing and playing at the same time is less common on the clarinet than for instance on the trombone or the flute. I strongly recommend to listen to composer and clarinetist Evan Zyporin's "Tsmindao Ghmerto" (look for the title on the page, you should be able to download a mp3 version). It's a written solo for bass clarinet, to be sung and played at the same time. A great piece in a recital. Beginning of

Aqua in Florence

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Aqua is a composition for solo double bass, aquaphone, clarinet, and live electronics. It is the 5th part of the Arc-en-ciel cycle. It was created by the Ensemble New Flore during our tour "Spirales" in the Fall of 2004, with Jean-Daniel Hégé - double bass, Brenda Ohana - aquaphone, Elsa Biston - live electronics, Amandine Grevoz - stage assistant, and myself - clarinet. Italian première anniversary The first Italian performance took place in Florence exactly 4 years ago, on December 10th, 2004. Time to share a few pictures . Thanks to photographer Eric Cordier! The piece was a joint commission by Montbéliard Music School and Centro Tempo Reale in Florence. I was invited to spend two weeks in the French Institute in Florence in July 2004, where I composed part of the work. Thanks to the Tempo Reale team for playing the live electronics, and to all the great musicians: Giulio Rubino - double bass, Joël Lorcerie - aquaphone, and Véronique Ngo Sach Hien - stage as

1-5/60 - Live Saturation (starring Mario Caroli)

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Here is the recording of Live Saturation , for flute and electronic music. Flutist Mario Caroli was recorded live on May 24th, 2008 in Paine Hall, Harvard Music Department . I already told you about my collaboration with poet Ruth Lepson for the production of the electronic music. That was a real pleasure to see her come not only to the concert, but also to a whole rehearsal. Read her texts on www.ruthlepson.org . Hit play to listen: 1-5/60 - Live Saturation by Jean-Francois Charles You will find on a previous post the program notes . The flute part The complete performance score is only 3 pages long. Cues from the electronic music part are rather easy to hear. As you can see (click on the pictures for more details), the degree of synchronization between the flute and the electronic music is left quite free. The performer must trust his/her ears and musical sense; by listening to t