François Houle Electro-acoustic Quartet
[1997 & 2000 Tic.Toc]
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François Houle (Vancouver): woodwinds
Ron Samworth (Vancouver): guitar
Chris Tarry (Vancouver): bass
Dylan van der Schyff (Vancouver): percussion
François Houle’s clarinet playing reflects his ongoing interest in jazz experimentalism, contemporary classical vocabularies and instrumental extended techniques. His improvisational style draws from Evan Parker and William O. Smith’s multi-layered sonic explorations, and Anthony Braxton’s catalog of linear sound formings to create a highly personalized language synthesis.
"This renegade classical virtuoso has, in not much more than five years, established himself as one of Canada’s leading improvising musicians, with a following that extends beyond our borders and into the upper echelon of the world’s creative players." —Alexander Varty, The Georgia Straight
Au Coeur du Litige, notes by F.H.
Au Coeur du Litige is an improvisation-based work for four instrumentalists, sound objects and electronics. The project, inspired by the ice storm that ravaged large parts of Quebec and Ontario, makes use of an innovative live interactive electroacoustic set-up inspired by current works in the field of audio research. Technically speaking, the work aims to free instrumentalists from the electroacoustic domain’s usual constraints, and to generate a sound world more akin to improvisation-based environment, in which all participants play a decision-making role.
"Au Coeur du Litige" is a French expression meaning "At the Heart of the Matter". This title came to me as I was watching the news on Radio-Canada in January 1998, when Bernard Derme, anchorman for "Le Téléjournal", was describing the ice storm's devastating impact.
This storm was a catalyst for me to compose a work that dealt with the way media transforms our perception of reality, and with the emotional detachment we sometimes experience as we witness dramatic events on television or radio from the comfort of our own homes. I wanted it to reflect my own experience of powerlessness while confronted (via television) with the actual events that severely disrupted the normal day-to-day life of so many people. Because of radio and television I was better informed of the efforts made to help the stricken population than my family members in Châteauguay, who were stranded and cut off from the outside world for over two weeks because of the black out, wrecked phone lines, and the extreme weather.
This work utilizes pre-recorded tape realizations manipulated live by the quartet through various playback units (such as samplers, CD players, tape recorders), and signal processing electronics. In addition, each instrumentalist is capable of capturing, processing, and transforming what is being played by the other three musicians. This configuration allows for a greater amount of freedom and, paradoxically, of control over the music in comparison to a traditional mixed electroacoustic setting of tape and soloists.
The tape realizations are derived from interviews and environmental sound archives developed with the assistance of Frédéric Trudel and Hélène Prévost at Radio-Canada in Montreal. The clarinet recordings were created at Radio-Canada's Studio 12 in Montreal for "L'Espace du Son", a radio program of experimental music produced by Mario Gaulthier. Additional materials were designed with the invaluable assistance of Paul Dolden, Shawn Pierce, and Paul Shatto in Vancouver. Some parts were recycled from a previous work entitled "Black Triangle" that was commissioned by Frozen Eye Dance in 1998. The work also incorporates texts by Canadian poets Nicole Brossard and Catriona Strang.
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