Timbre Spatialization

ABSTRACT

by Robert Normandeau

Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium, Keynote Lecture 2
Saturday 9 August, 15:30–16:30, Church of St.Andrew-by-the-Lake, Toronto Islands
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In the instrumental music of the 1960s, composers created unique experiences where the performers were assigned to different locations in the concert hall. However, these works are limited to the timbre of the instruments: the violin on the left side will always sound like a violin on the left. As the trumpet in the back will always sound like a trumpet in the back. The sound and the projection source are linked together.

What is specific to the acousmatic medium is its virtuality. The sound and the projection source are not linked together. The speaker can “project” any kind of timbre, just as well as all other speakers can. And today, with the appropriate software, all these sounds can be located at any point between the loudspeakers.

What is unique here is the possibility to fragment the spectra in the space, an experience completely different than that of instrumental music. With the violin came the whole spectra of the instrument, whereas here the timbre can be distributed over the available virtual points. This is what I call timbre spatialization: the whole spectrum is found only virtually in the space of the concert hall. Each point represents only a part of the ensemble.

This kind of unique projection shows that composers have the right tools when they are working in the studio. It is not a space that is added at the end of the composition, at the end of the timeline of the work — like one sees very often (especially with today’s multitrack softwares) — but a real composed spatialization. It is a musical parameter that is exclusive to acousmatic music.

Biography

Après avoir obtenu un baccalauréat en composition de l’Université Laval en 1984, Robert Normandeau  s’installe à Montréal où il obtient une maîtrise (1988) et le premier doctorat (1992) en composition électroacoustique de l’Université de Montréal, sous la direction de Marcelle Deschênes et de Francis Dhomont. Il a été l’un des membres fondateurs de la CEC, de 1986 à 1993 il est membre de l’ACREQ, et en 1991, il co-fonde Réseaux, une société de concerts dédiée à la diffusion des arts médiatiques qui a produit les séries de concerts Rien à voir. Après s’être porté sur quelques œuvres instrumentales et mixtes, son travail de compositeur est aujourd’hui essentiellement consacré à la musique acousmatique. Plus spécifiquement, par les sonorités utilisées et les choix esthétiques qui la tendent, sa démarche s’inscrit dans un « cinéma pour l’oreille » où le « sens » tout autant que le « son » contribuent à l’élaboration de ses œuvres. Robert Normandeau est lauréat de nombreux concours internationaux, dont Ars Electronica, Bourges, Luigi-Russolo, Métamorphoses, entre autres. Il est professeur de composition électroacoustique à l’Université de Montréal depuis 1999. [electrocd.com, 2004]

After a BMus in Composition (Electroacoustics) from the Université Laval, Robert Normandeau moved to Montréal and completed an MMus in Composition and the first Ph.D.Mus. in Electroacoustic Composition, under Marcelle Deschênes  and Francis Dhomont. He is a founding member of the CEC. From 1986 to 1993, he was an active member of ACREQ, and in 1991, he co-founded Réseaux, an organization for the production of media arts events, notably the acousmatic concert series Rien à voir. After a certain interest in instrumental and mixed works, his current endeavours are focused on acousmatic music. More specifically, his compositions employ esthetical criteria whereby he creates a “cinema for the ear” in which “meaning” as well as “sound” become the elements that elaborate his works. Robert Normandeau is an award winner of numerous international competitions, Ars Electronica, Bourges, Luigi-Russolo, Métamorphoses, among others. He is Professor in electroacoustic music composition at Université de Montréal since 1999. [electrocd.com, 2004]

http://www.electrocd.com/fr/bio/normandeau_ro

Paper originally presented at the Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium 2008, August 2008.