SAXLETON LIVE

In order to create my ‘hybrid instrument’ I tried to morph the saxophone and the DAW into what I ironically call Saxleton Live. As I said, I accepted to hinder my comfort of play on the saxophone to better control the FXs, willing to put the 2 instruments on an equal foot.

A demonstration video of the template and how I use it can be found at the bottom of the ‘instruments’ page.

I have been gradually building up and experimenting a lot with this set up and it led me to the recording of this EP. After recording short samples of what I could do and searching for ways to express various emotions or states, I got to the stage of actually recording tracks that I would consider relevant and representative of my work. I realised again how my conception of sonic modulation today is somehow linked to minimal music, where there is room for modulation without risking that it would fill in all the silences, all the free space in the music which is necessary to me to leave room to the listener’s imagination. I personally enjoy playing music not destined to overwhelm the audience senses, but rather to invite them to dream, to imagine the music with me. Using electronics actually inspires me to leave more space in the music, more silence than before and I am happy I learned that important parameter along the way.

Track 1 is dedicated to my second son and his overflowing imagination. It is a meditative piece exploring how my hybrid instrument can stay very human while rather heavily modulated. I composed it around a repeated pattern constantly evolving, answered by rhythmical and melodic elements which are never repeated either; Even the synth-like pulsating background rhythm stays hesitating until the end. I see it as a comprehensive and melodic introduction to this sonic universe.

Track 2 is an exploration of a semitone and the beating vibrations it creates when I manipulate it. This one is recorded in one take, which I think gives it a very honest character which depicts best my research on sonic hybridity. Further in the track, I introduce multiphonics (as a contraction of the semitone) and play with the balance between air and sound, summing up other very idiomatic elements of my research and musical language on this instrument. It is also a good example of the silence I want to leave in the music. I was looking for what music I wanted to play with my new setup to really feel it and this is maybe my best answer so far.

Track 3 creates a freeform counterpoint by superposing ascending scales loops of uneven length featuring different sound treatments. A polyphonic possibility of the instrument I wanted to explore for a long time. Then comes in a rather atonal melodic ‘voice’ quickly joined by my ‘actual voice’ using a technique I developed where I sing beween the saxophone notes. I then manipulated the voice sound differently to give the resulting dialog a more ‘dreamy’ character. I think listening to Ars Subtilior a lot lately also influenced this track. I would say it is an experiment in blending this new instrument with a personal musical approach that defines me as a musician outside this project. The question was: Can I combine this new sound with ‘my music’? And I believe the answer is yes.