Jean-Francois Charles

The manuscript I scribbled while recording. In the Fall, I was a teaching fellow for Robert Levin . On Friday, September 18th, 2009, he gave a lively lecture during which he shared his passion for Mozart's music. After the lecture, I booked the Huseac's recording studio, and produced this minute of music. As you will hear, it is bathed in a quite Mozartesque spirit. 18th minute of 60/60, True Night was also inspired by the gift I received: Keith Jarrett's Carnegie Hall Concert . Keith Jarrett is certainly the most interesting composer of piano music in the recent decades. The title True Night comes from his True Blues , and from the fact that I made a direct recording of both Bb clarinet and live electronics during the night. Thanks to Bénédicte, the participant to whom this minute of music is dedicated. Download or listen to 18/60 - True Night on last.fm. You can still participate in this composition project: choose a present, I will compose & dedicate a minute...

Many thanks to Ronan, who takes part in the 60/60 composition project with a great book on Afro-Cuban Percussion. I have always been keen on learning more in the vast percussion world, and this volume is an excellent introduction to an important rhythmic tradition. Of course, you really learn by playing with other percussionists, but it's interesting to read the author tell the story of what and how he learnt. I dedicate IM , the 17th minute of 60/60, to Ronan. As you will hear, this minute of music retains the rhythmical orientation of the gift. You may also recognize influences linked to the personal story of the participant (hard work, house door... don't hesitate to invent your own story!) Listen to this new minute, as well as the previous ones, on last.fm - or download the sound files: 17/60 - IM on last.fm License Creative Commons by-nc-sa

As I said when announcing the premiere concert , the piece Bagict (15-16/60) is dedicated to both Ryan Banagale and Michael Cuthbert . Thank you for taking part in the 60/60 project ! Ryan chose the Illustrated History of Magic book , while Michael picked Milton Babbitt's Phonemena CD . Because both presents came at the same time, and Ryan and Michael are almost colleagues, I decided to compose a piece inspired by both objects. The Illustrated History of Magic suggested me to base the composition on the idea of transformation . In the piece, the transformation of a musical material into another is realized/improvised/decided live by the performers. From Milton Babbitt , I stole the series of twelve pivot notes used in the melody and harmony of Phonemena 's first couple of bars. I recorded the premiere performance on a minidisc (in Bien, Switzerland, on August 15th, 2008). The excellent performers were Yuji Noguchi, clarinets , and Vincent Daoud, saxophones . Here are the li...

One year after the premiere concert, here is the video of Live Saturation : Live Saturation for flute and electronic music with Ruth Lepson's poetry This is the live recording of Mario Caroli's Harvard recital , that took place on May 24th, 2008, to the invitation of the Harvard Group for New Music. Mario Caroli plays Ivan Fedele I studied under Maestro Ivan Fedele during several years at the Conservatoire de Strasbourg . Mario Caroli is one of the best interprets of his music. That's why I'm happy to link to two video recordings with ensemble Algoritmo: 1. Notturno , for flute, clarinet, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, harp, 2 violins, viola, violoncello, and double bass. 2. Profilo in eco (first part) , for solo flute, oboe, clarinet, bassoon, horn, piano, percussion, violin, viola, violoncello, and double bass. One more thing that I like in these recordings: the excellent clarinetist Roberta Gottardi is a friend since we played together the premiere and ...

Listen to 13/60 on last.fm One type of clarinet multiphonic is called "split tones". In the duet Play Along 3 , I use the most common root pitch for split tones on the Bb clarinet: the lowest note of the instrument, a written E. The first time I played this particular multiphonic in concert was during the première of Javier Torres Maldonado 's great piece Hemisferios Artificiales . We created this work for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin, and violoncello in February 2002 in Strasbourg. Ivan Fedele was the composition professor, and Armand Angster was leading the rehearsals. First, I had a hard time figuring out how to play this multiphonic sound, but in the end, the concert was great. One breath If you use this study in your teaching, it may be fun to play it in one breath. It may also be fun to watch this video of the fascinating trumpeter Raphael Mendez . For the "one breath" section, watch from 3:03 on. Your dedicated clarinet study As Pla...

This study could be a first introduction to microtones for clarinet students. It's a playful short etude dedicated to Lionel Liebe, a former clarinet student of mine who took part to 60/60 . Have fun with the quarter tones (and no, you don't need a quarter tone clarinet to play this tune)! Listen to 12/60 on last.fm Performers are Petra Stump and Heinz-Peter Linshalm. They recorded several albums. Online, you can get Pierluigi Billone: 1+1=1 More clarinet quarter tones For advanced students, a great clarinet solo with quarter tones is If by Pascal Dusapin . I was lucky to learn it with Armand Angster at Conservatoire de Strasbourg . I highly recommend to meet and learn from him!

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...

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...

Ken Ueno is a great musician, an outstanding composer, and an amazing educator. I am thrilled to announce that the 14th minute of the composition project 60/60 is dedicated to him. Thank you Ken for your participation to the project, and for your great gift: Derek Bailey 's book Improvisation - Its Nature and Practice in Music . An active Composer in Red Sneakers , Ken Ueno is now Assistant Professor at University of California, Berkeley . The miniature 14/60 is called Alive Hic ; you can listen to it and download the file on last.fm . The performers are Vincent Daoud and Yuji Noguchi , two members of the group Hic and nunc . They were recorded in Lausanne, Switzerland. The composition process went like that: I sent the performers a sonorous score based on an improvisation night Ken and I (a.o.) had around Boston. Vincent and Yuji played imitations and reactions to the sonorous score. Finally, the quick editing and sound processing was my first attempt at using and learning ...

Mario Caroli is a great flute player , a real virtuoso as well as a very enthusiastic musician. He authorized me to publish 25 flute samples on the Freesound Project , a collaborative database of sounds. Listen to and download the Mario Caroli Drum Kit . Each sound is unprocessed, as naturally played by Mario. As I described in a post about the recording session , this set of samples has been modeled after Logic Pro's "Classic Hip-Hop Remix Drum Kit", available in the drum machine Ultrabeat. 5/60 - Cell 2 A 6-second ringtone made with these samples. You can hear it around the end of Saturation . Hit play: Or listen to it on last.fm: 5/60 - Cell 2 . These flute samples are made available under a Creative Commons Sampling Plus 1.0 License : use them, and let us know about the music you produce!

Plane Mix is the 9th minute of the 60/60 interactive composition project . Many thanks to Cécile Pécheux for her participation and her present: a great DVD set dedicated to Lon Chaney , The Man of a Thousand Faces . Both Cécile and I have been struck by Tod Browing 's The Unknown with an original soundtrack performed live by ARFI's Marmite Infernale . I discovered this ARFI show (called Tragédie au Cirque ) during the festival Un Doua de Jazz 1994. That was an extraordinary experience, as well as my first contact with Maurice Merle . I strongly recommend to watch this movie, even if it will lack ARFI's powerful soundtrack! My first video remix I first remixed a public domain video: Spot News 1937 (using Apple Final Cut Express ). Then, I composed the soundtrack. Enjoy!     9/60 - Plane Mix on youtube

Do you remember the 60/60 composition project ? I am thrilled to dedicate the first minute to Katherine Lee , who chose in the original list the CD Bach: The Goldberg Variations 1955 Performance: Zenph Re-performance . Here is my composition, titled Aria . Click play to listen:   Music, humans, and machines In the CD that Katherine offered me, the version of the Goldberg Variations raises many questions. The piano plays by itself: it is a Yamaha Disklavier Pro . The Zenph team prepared a high resolution MIDI version of Glenn Gould's famous 1955 interpretation , and recorded the electronically driven piano. They even produced a concert during which the piano played by itself Glenn Gould's interpretation. But the best is here: what do you think about this quote from the booklet ? "In effect, a long-dead pianist can now give live performances or make recordings of interpretations that are still recognizably his ." Speaking about humans and machines making mus...

Tonight, Saturday December 15th, I will diffuse Bleu 2 on the 30 speakers of the Hydra Loudspeaker Orchestra . The mixing consoles driving the Hydra: As I already mentioned in my post Bleu 2 - electronic music - transcription , I composed the electronic music for Bleu 2 using as source material only Bleu 1 , a set of three clarinet improvisations (well, clarinet in its extended meaning: bass clarinet , basset-horn , and contrabass clarinet ). No other sample, nor synthesizers of any kind, but only sound processing of the original recordings. My additional constraint has been to make Bleu 2 the same duration as Bleu 1 . Feel free to remix Now, you can listen to Bleu 1 , download the files, and make your own remix. You can also listen to each of the parts while looking at Miró 's corresponding painting . These 3 improvised miniatures are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License . You can listen to Bleu 2 , my "rem...

60/60 is an invitation to take part in my new composition project. I will compose 60 minutes of music, partly inspired by you and by a present you offer me. Make a present - Receive a minute of music The process is very simple: You make me a present from my amazon wish list (see below) I produce one minute of music The music is dedicated to you (you may stay anonymous if you wish) I e-mail the music to you (if you leave your e-mail address) I tell the story about the gift and the composition on this blog I make the music available here, too Today, there are 60 gifts on my list. At the end of the project, I will have composed one hour of music. Here is the list: Update June 14th, 2010 It's time for me to put this list off-line. You may still participate in the project. Feel free to make a gift of your own choice. FAQs What kind of music will you produce? The music will feature various ensembles: solo instruments, electronic music, chamber music, film music, MIDI inst...