DESCRIPTION:
Volumétriques, for 2 synthesizers & bande spatialisee (1983)

Trio Instrumental Électroacoustique

To the instrumental range of two synthesizers, Yann Geslin brings the particular qualities of sound in motion in space.

Using an output console, a third instrumentalist breaks up a tape recording of a continuous material and distributes the resulting "sound figures" over different speakers. The number of speakers and their location in the concert hall define the general space in which the figures evolve.

The console's normal function is thus somewhat modified in order to spatialize sounds. The performer creates a sound (by suddenly pushing the volume control) and gives it a precise location in space, as indicated on the score. This is echoed in the parts for synthesizers where the sound shifts from one speaker to another with a slight rise in pitch (imitating the Doppler effect), an important element in the overall conception of the composition.

Different modifications in speed -acceleration, contraction, dilation, arrested movement...- are the leading elements (on the level of intensities, as well as on that of pitch) of the vocabulary of Volumétriques.

The form is continuous. It is not based on specific thematic elements, but develops in a linear fashion. The different parts generate each other until a culminating standstill point is reached, when the initial idea re-appears and is amplified, stamping the particular character of the composition on the listener's mind, and bringing the work to a close. [INA-GRM ‎– 9115-16 TM]

Art by Larry Poons