Jean-Francois Charles

Granular synthesis is a fundamental sound synthesis or rather sound processing method. Working on a new composition, Electroclarinet 3 for basset-horn and live electronics , I've been studying Native Instruments Reaktor 's take on granulation. When teaching sound granulation , I like to use two engines based in cycling74's Max MSP: granularized , available in the Max examples Nobuyasu Sakonda's granular synthesis patch Granularized, a Max MSP example The interesting approach in Reaktor's Grainstates FX consists in eight "scenes" that can be recalled at will, and in the presence of a rotating buffer easy to freeze. The main adaptation I needed to do was to increase the buffer size from 8 to 60 seconds to record my whole "theme" when it's first played. But I'll let you know more about the composition next year (coming soon!) Grainstates, one of Reaktor's granular instruments. If you want to know and experiment more, one of the referenc...

Armand Angster is my clarinet master. Listen to him talk (in French!) about his ensemble Accroche Note , improvisation, and working with composers. He was the guest of Anne Montaron in the program Le Portrait (France Musique radio) on November 22nd. You can stream the half hour program until December 22nd: Armand Angster on France Musique . Armand Angster and his contrabass clarinet

My friend Michael Heller is the new leader of the Harvard Dudley House Jazz Bands . He is brilliant both as an ethnomusicologist and as a musician. I am thrilled to announce the wonderful program he created for this winter concert: the big band is performing Mary Lou Williams's Zodiac Suite on December 17th at 8 p.m. in Harvard's Paine Hall ( Harvard Music Building ). This is the first large ensemble performance of the work in 65 years: I hope you can attend! More details on the Dudley House web site .

At the beginning of November, I told you almost everything about the multiphonic sounds in Electroclarinet 1 . Here are two excerpts of the score, far easier to read than my manuscript ! It starts like this: On the following excerpt, the framed melodies are turned into chords, harmonies: Well, given the recent weather in France, it makes sense that I speak about frozen sounds.

I first met Marcin Wierzbicki in Cracovie in 2000 during the Acanthes / Ircam summer academy. He is a great composer with a deep knowledge of acoustics, electronic music, interactive music, spectral sound processing, and more! Tonight, he is spatializing my composition Bleu 2 (electronic music) during the Laboratory Festival in Bialystok. In case you're in the area, make sure to attend the concert: you'll get to hear Marcin's brand new composition Transient Music for computer.

Yesterday, Jacques Steinberg wrote an article about the use of "clickers" in education: More Professors Give Out Hand-Held Devices to Monitor Students and Engage Them . I'm glad to read about this pedagogical tool in the Times, but it's important to mention that the benefits of the clickers, when backed by a great pedagogical approach, go far beyond the article description. In The Physics of Music & Sound , a course from the General Education program at Harvard , the clickers are part of the numerous tools Pr. Eric Heller uses to engage the students in a deeper level of reflection (I was a Head Teaching Fellow for the class in the Spring). He uses them to make the class as participatory as possible. Discussions, live demonstrations of experiments, student demonstration of voice and instruments, computer experiments that you can also easily do, peer instruction and PRS "clicker” participation are all part of the experience . In Pr. Heller's class, peer i...

Last year, I invited you to the concert of the Dudley House Jazz Bands , during which we performed three versions of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue . Here is the live recording of Duke Ellington 's 1932 arrangement ( also on youtube ): Featuring: Piano & musical research: Ryan Raul Bañagale Clarinet intro & musical direction: Jean-François Charles Soprano & tenor saxs: Eric Diebold Alto saxs: Kimberly August, Jillian DeMair & Richa Gawande Baritone sax: Aaron Silberstein Trumpets: Evan Biela, Gary Smiley, Chris Zuidema & Stephen Furqueron Trombones: Ethan Fenn, Rob Cautillo, Cara Takakjian & Tim Fung Guitar: Jonathan Buonocore Bass: Andres Enrique Drums: Max Behrens Update after L's comment. CDs and mp3s of the two other versions we played during the concert: Billy Strayhorn's Rhapsody in Blue (Duke Ellington's band) and Bill Putnam's Rhapsody in Blue (Stan Kenton's band). Amazon.com Widgets