Claude Schryer: Autour: track detail

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Musique de l’Odyssée sonore (1996-97) 11m38s imed_9736-1.1 | 14355 | ISRC CAD509712770

Prologue; Cloches; Envol; Eau; Nuit; Église; Épilogue

Composer: Claude Schryer

To Louis

"Sound Odyssey is a world symphony! Throughout the journey, one is invited to discover the multiplicity of levels of sound as creative material and as an echo of everyday life."

— (NFB, 1997)

Musique de l’Odyssée sonore (Sound Odyssey Music) is a collection of seven electroacoustic miniatures from Louis Ricard’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary about R Murray Schafer’s theories of acoustic ecology and the soundscape of Québec City.

I worked on this film as consultant, on-screen participant and composer. During post-production, I collaborated closely with sound designer Claude Langlois in the development of the soundtrack. From the extensive collection of sounds recorded during the shooting of the film in 1995 and 1996 in Québec City I composed electroacoustic transformations of Québec’s soundscapes which connect narrative elements in the film.

[ix-97]

This is a revised and condensed version of the original music from the film.

Musique de l’Odyssée sonore was composed in my home studio and at PRIM, Montréal. Special thanks to Claude Langlois for the poetry and musicality of his sound editing and to Shelley Craig and her assistant Geoffrey Mitchell for their sensitive sound mix. Thanks to R Murray Schafer, Compagnie Jean-Pierre Perreault, Chœur Maha (Kathy Kennedy, artistic director), Wolf Project members and to the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM). Thanks also to sound recordists Richard Besse, Marcel Fraser, and Gilles Corbeil, and to foley artist Paul Hubert.

1. Prologue (1996-97) 1m48s imed_9736-1.1.1 | 14356 |

MP3 Real

Composer: Claude Schryer

Initiation to the Odyssey

“Long before birth, in its first life, a being floats in a sonic world. Long before sight, there is the ear, a shell of marine depths. Never closing its eyelid, it listens to each moment of its history in a single breath. This is how each one of us possesses a soundscape, untouchable, like air, and unique like an imprint.” 1

Synthesized water, foley of water and rubbed skin, clock crank, train siren, native percussion, improvisational beating on wooden bridge, train bell, native American healing chant sung by members of the Wolf Project, a soldier’s shout and wind.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

[ix-97]

2. Cloches (1996-97) 49s imed_9736-1.1.2 | 14357 | ISRC CAD509712780

Composer: Claude Schryer

Transformation of the city of one hundred bell towers

“One day a bell… The next a cannon. I heard the bronze sing or roar and return to its liquid state and reappear in accordance with the mood of men.” 1

Car horns at a wedding and natural and transformed church bells.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

[ix-97]

3. Envol (1996-97) 1m20s imed_9736-1.1.3 | 14358 | ISRC CAD509712790

Composer: Claude Schryer

A seaplane touches the sky

“In the beginning of the world, the loudest and most powerful sounds came from nature. Mankind listened to thunder, volcanoes and recognised the voice of God. Ever since the first days of humanity, man unifies himself with the soundscape.” 1

Seaplane taking off, water, fire, thunder, crickets and windblown dry grass.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

[ix-97]

4. Eau (1996-97) 1m23s imed_9736-1.1.4 | 14359 | ISRC CAD509712800

Composer: Claude Schryer

The multiple voices of liquid

"At the time of the shaking of the earth, the city emerged from the bottom of the ocean and was always surrounded by water. No two drops of water sing the same note and every river has its own melody. In the winter season, the ice and snow bring to it a particular tonality." 1

Transformed water: streams and creeks, Montmorency falls, Saint-Laurent river, summer rain and winter ice.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

[ix-97]

5. Nuit (1996-97) 59s imed_9736-1.1.5 | 14360 | ISRC CAD509712810

Composer: Claude Schryer

Portrait of a quiet city by night

"In the nocturnal soundscape, sounds become closer. They have much more clarity and are easily distinguishable one from another. The ear is more sensitive. Almost anything makes it vibrate." 1

Electronic music, cries of seagulls, boat horn, earthquake rumble and glissando of electronic music.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

[ix-97]

6. Église (1996-97) 1m57s imed_9736-1.1.6 | 14361 | ISRC CAD509712820

Composer: Claude Schryer

From celestial voices emerges a cry anchored in rock

Grandfather clock, Native American healing chant sung by members of the Wolf Project, vocal improvisation by Choeur Maha, boat horn, church bell, resonant wind, transformed voice reading the poem Vous n’êtes pas écoeurés de mourir bande de caves (Aren’t you tired of dying bunch of idiots) by Claude Péloquin reproduced on a mural by Jordi Bonet.

[ix-97]

7. Épilogue (1996-97) 2m49s imed_9736-1.1.7 | 14362 | ISRC CAD509712830

Composer: Claude Schryer

Conclusion of the Odyssey

“The soundscape is a new territory to discover, at the heart of my city, at the heart of myself. Wind, water, steps, wood, the lost sounds of the past and the overpopulation of sounds today.” 1

“I explored the soundscape and my ear drew me towards the secret path where reality and invisibility meet, and where soul and mind talk eternally.” 1

“Now I will do nothing but listen… I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following, sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night…” 2

Transformed train, electronic music, explosion alarm whistle, dynamite explosion, steps of dancers from the Compagnie Jean-Pierre-Perreault, vocal improvisation by Chœur Maha, human breath, water, flags in wind, transformed water and foley of water and rubbed skin.

1 Excerpts from the narration of the film written by Georgette Duchaîne

2 Walt Whitman (American poet), Song of Myself, 1819-1892

[ix-97]

El medio ambiente acústico de México (1995-96) 16m35s imed_9736-1.8 | 14372 | ISRC CAD509712840

Mosaico; Océano; Transportación; Música; Naturaleza; Campanas

Composer: Claude Schryer

Premiere: March 16, 1996, Chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada (Montréal, Québec)

To Sabrina

"When we walk, as time passes, we enter into an interior rhythm and pass into another state which is much more receptive and pensive."

Knud Viktor, sound artist

In Marche sonore I (Le matin du monde) I questioned the nature of listening and the multiple definitions of acoustic ecology by means of recordings of testimonies of friends, colleagues and family about the soundscape. Five years later, having found answers to these questions, I composed this second radiophonic soundwalk, El medio ambiente acústico de México (The Soundscapes of Mexico), which calls upon the musicality and poetry of the soundscapes I recorded in the fall of 1995 in Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca.

I worked like a photographer who studies and chooses his subject carefully, tries to document the magic of the moment, processes his captured images in studio and composes them into a collection of memories and sensations.

El medio ambiente acústico de México was drawn from Marche sonore II, a 50-minute radio work produced for Radio-Canada.

[ix-97]

El medio ambiente acústico de México was composed in my home studio in March, 1996 (radiophonic version) and revised in March, 1997 (disc version). The radiophonic version of the piece was premiered on Saturday, March 16th, 1996 at 11pm on the Le navire night radio program of the FM cultural network of Radio-Canada (Hélène Prévost, producer). I thank all of the participants in this composition, many who have been recorded without their knowledge. I hope I have presented their soundscapes with dignity. A special thanks to Hélène Prévost for her support and encouragement. Thanks to Studio XX, Aline Barnoti, Gilles Gobeil, Jean-François Denis, Katharine Asals, Kathy Kennedy, Laurie Radford, Ned Bouhalassa, Oboro Gallery and Oscar Hernandez. Special thanks to Sabrina Mathews, to whom this piece is dedicated, who recorded some of the sounds in this composition and helped me bring the piece, and its process, to life.

8. Mosaico (1995-96) 1m04s imed_9736-1.8.8 | 14377 |

MP3

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Mosaic) Introduction to the soundwalk

Fragments from the radiophonic version of the piece.

[ix-97]

9. Océano (1995-96) 2m32s imed_9736-1.8.9 | 14378 | ISRC CAD509712850

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Ocean) Meditation on water and earth

The Pacific ocean at Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), dry corn field in Tenochtitlan del Valle (Oaxaca) and a shepherd with a flock of sheep in Tenochtitlan del Valle (Oaxaca).

[ix-97]

10. Transportación (1995-96) 2m49s imed_9736-1.8.10 | 14373 | ISRC CAD509712860

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Transportation) Choking mobility

A man selling chiclets gum in the subway of Mexico City (DF), a train in Chapultepec park in Mexico City (DF), an old truck coming down a mountain trail in Angangueo (Michoacan), traffic in Oaxaca City (Oaxaca), a firecracker explosion in Xochimilco (DF) and the breath of two climbers on Mount Popocatepetl (Mexico).

[ix-97]

11. Música (1995-96) 2m35s imed_9736-1.8.11 | 14374 | ISRC CAD509712870

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Music) Crossing “à la Charles Ives,” of the sacred, the profane and the military

Woman’s choir singing the Mexican Virgin Mary chant La Guadalupana in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), parade band with firecrackers in Xochimilco (DF) and a military band at the Zocalo, Mexico City (DF).

[ix-97]

12. Naturaleza (1995-96) 2m47s imed_9736-1.8.12 | 14375 | ISRC CAD509712880

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Nature) The melodies of nature

Seaside nocturnal insects in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), wild pigs in a nature reserve (Oaxaca), Monarch butterflies in Angangueo (Michoacan) and rain in Coyoacan (DF).

[ix-97]

13. Campanas (1995-96) 4m17s imed_9736-1.8.13 | 14376 | ISRC CAD509712890

Composer: Claude Schryer

(Bells) Conclusion of the soundwalk

Slow walk towards a church tower at noon with firecrackers in Tenochtitlan del valle (Oaxaca), ocean in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca) and an industrial siren in Oaxaca City (Oaxaca).

[ix-97]

Vancouver Soundscape Revisited (1996) 15m10s imed_9736-1.14 | 14363 | ISRC CAD509712900

Eagle; Fire; DroneSong; Industry; Horns; Beans; Blowin’

Composer: Claude Schryer

Premiere: June 7, 1996, (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)

To Hildi

"Not only have there been enormous changes in the soundscape itself but also in the way the soundscape is documented and thought about. Audio technology and recording equipment can now be used in similarly portable ways as a camera. As a result, the soundscape can be recorded, reproduced, composed and processed by more people than ever before. The activity of ’sketching’ a city’s acoustic image has become a new forum for speaking about place and environment. The Vancouver Soundscape documents are not only meant to expand listeners’ horizon towards Vancouver’s soundscape and raise consciousness about its quality, they also want to raise questions such as: how do we listen and behave acoustically in everyday life; how can we acquire a "sense of place" and belonging from our soundscapes; are there ways to design liveable soundscapes in urban environments?"

Hildegard Westerkamp, from the introduction of the compact disc Vancouver Soundscape 1996 (Cambridge Street Records, CSR-2CD 9701)

Vancouver Soundscape Revisited, an acousmatic work, is an impressionistic portrait of the musicality and poetry of past, present and future soundscapes of Vancouver. The piece was composed using archival sounds dating from the World Soundscape Project in the early 1970’s and from recordings of Vancouver made in the early 1990’s by Bob MacNevin on behalf of the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU).

My method was to select a few hundred sounds from the collection, which I edited and catalogued by spectrum, category, function, pitch, and context. I then experimented with various combinations and modifications of the material until interesting sonic alchemies were found…

The original version of the piece was in eight tracks and in nine movements. This is the stereo version of the piece in seven movements.

[ix-97]

Vancouver Soundscape Revisited was composed at the Sonic Research Studios of Simon Fraser University (SFU) in May, 1996 as part of Soundscape Vancouver 96 and was premiered in its 8-track version on June 7th, 1996 in Vancouver as part of the Vancouver New Music Festival. The production of Vancouver Soundscape Revisited was supported by a Media Arts Audio Production grant from the Canada Council and a travel grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). I thank all of the participants in this composition, many who have been recorded without their knowledge. In particular I thank Bob MacNevin and Barry Truax for use of the Simon Fraser University (SFU) recordings and my Soundscape Vancouver 96 colleagues: Darren Copeland (Toronto), Hans Ulrich Werner (Köln) and Sabine Breitsameter (Berlin) for their support and encouragement. A special thanks to Hildegard Westerkamp, to whom this piece is dedicated. Hildi was the heart and soul of Soundscape Vancouver 96 and helped me bring the piece, and my perception of Vancouver, to life.

14. Eagle (1996) 1m42s imed_9736-1.14.14 | 14364 |

MP3

Composer: Claude Schryer

Five typical soundscapes of Vancouver

Eagle in forest, music in Chinese shop, soft rain, train whistle and echoes of the 9 o’clock gun.

[ix-97]

15. Fire (1996) 3m44s imed_9736-1.14.15 | 14365 | ISRC CAD509712910

Composer: Claude Schryer

Celebrations and a virtual harbour symphony

Chinese firecrackers, folk dancing, Krishna musicians, baseball game, tennis, mechanical piano, gulls in the harbour, 9 o’clock gun, telephone ringing, Skytrain and bus, boat and train horns.

[ix-97]

16. Dronesong (1996) 1m13s imed_9736-1.14.16 | 14366 | ISRC CAD509712920

Composer: Claude Schryer

A song accompanied by a ferry drone

Boats drones, a drunk singing in an alley, seagull cries and ship horns.

[ix-97]

17. Industry (1996) 2m00s imed_9736-1.14.17 | 14367 | ISRC CAD509712930

Composer: Claude Schryer

The sound of money and environmental destruction

Processed seaplane, ocean, chain saw and tree falling, 9 o’clock gun, sawmill, screaming men at a market, stock exchange, elevator door, announcement and industrial pulsation.

[ix-97]

18. Horn (1996) 1m57s imed_9736-1.14.18 | 14368 | ISRC CAD509712940

Composer: Claude Schryer

Electronic O Canada horns accompanied by Wagnerian transpositions

Church bells, horns from Canada Place/BC Hydro building and a squirrel in a park.

[ix-97]

19. Beans (1996) 2m31s imed_9736-1.14.19 | 14369 | ISRC CAD509712950

Composer: Claude Schryer

A walk through commercial, tourist, industrial and residential neighbourhoods.

Chinese bean store, voice on Grouse mountain gondola, shipyard construction, seaplane, fire engine siren, truck brakes, train bell, bus, ice cream vendor, children’s swings, backup beeper of truck, bicycle, 9 o’clock gun and the voice of recording engineer Bob McNevin.

[ix-97]

20. Blowin’ (1996) 1m29s imed_9736-1.14.20 | 14370 | ISRC CAD509712960

Composer: Claude Schryer

Four typical soundscapes of Vancouver

Forest, street buskers, cries of wildlife and soft rain.

[ix-97]

21. Autour d’une Musique portuaire (1996) 12m26s imed_9736-1.21 | 14371 | ISRC CAD509712970

baritone saxophone, trombone, bass clarinet, and tape

Jean Derome, baritone saxophone; Tom Walsh, trombone; Claude Schryer, bass clarinet

Premiere: March 3, 1996, Pointe-à-Callière, musée d’histoire et d’archéologie (Montréal, Québec)

"In the symphonic density of our city, a song emerges from the port, anchored in ice. A naval call, like heavy cargo from our consciousness, abandons itself on our shore. The Harbour Symphonies resonate and invite us to vibrate along with them."

Jessica Jodoin, video artist, Symphonies portuaires 1996 à Montréal

Transcription of dialogue near the beginning of the piece:

Mario Paquet: Producer Hélène Prévost is in front of me and she is giving the ten minute signal to Claude Schryer.
Claude Schryer: Claude to everyone: one minute!
MP: Claude Schryer, composer-electroacoustician. I won’t disturb him now. I know that he can hear me at this moment.
CS: Everything is going well.
MP: Everything is under control. He will give the countdown and will in a way conduct the five boats, the two locomotives and the bells of the Notre-Dame Basilica. There is also a team of volunteers on each boat…
CS: Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. Go!

Transcription of dialogue near the end of the piece:

MP: Harbour Symphony by Claude Schryer. Claude, I know this moment belongs to you. Hey, we can hear the crowd. We must not forget them. I am still inside but I can hear them outside.
CS: Should I salute them?
MP: That’s a nice idea. Claude will go salute the crowd. I remind you that we are still at the top of the tower at Pointe-à-Callière, musée d’histoire et d’archéologie de Montréal…

Autour d’une Musique portuaire (Around Harbour Music) is an electroacoustic composition based on Musique portuaire pour sirènes et cloches (Harbour Music for Horns and Bells), an original environmental composition by Claude Schryer for six boats, two trains and the bells of the Notre-Dame Basilica. Musique portuaire pour sirènes et cloches was commissioned by the FM cultural network of Radio-Canada and was broadcast live on March 3rd, 1996. The premiere of the piece took place as part of a special broadcast from Pointe-à-Callière, musée d’histoire et d’archéologie de Montréal. At 2:30pm on this Sunday afternoon, six boats imprisoned in the frozen port of Montréal, two trains in motion and the bells of the Notre-Dame Basilica performed this 9-minute 30-second piece, conducted with the composer communicating to the performers by walkie-talkie.

Hélène Prévost writes about this piece:

"Schryer’s sensitive and powerful composition created breathing space for nature, sound, listeners, metaphors, and music of matter. It was a perfect opportunity.

The musical and sonic energy generated by this work/event inspired me to invite musicians to improvise with and around the Harbour Symphony. With the consent and participation of Claude Schryer, a virtual score was conceived. Musician/improvisers Jean Derome, on baritone saxophone and Tom Walsh, on trombone, joined by Claude Schryer, on bass clarinet, combined talent and experience in a working session held a few days later in Studio 12, a large digital multitrack studio at Maison Radio-Canada in Montréal.

The acoustics and vastness of the studio placed the musicians in an open space in which to improvise, thus amplifying the paradox of locations: the natural theatre of the port (the Harbour Symphony events took place in a space ranging over one kilometre) combined with the "natural" theatre of the studio (900m2). In the post-production mix of the composition various boat horn, train, bell and musician soloists were highlighted in an intriguing game of hide and seek. Autour d’une Musique portuaire invites the listener to engage in games of timbre, space, dimension, time, transparency and intention.

Our initial effort was also to conserve the real time flow of the original performance. The present recording is the result of a few minor temporal manipulations."

[ix-97]

Musique portuaire pour sirènes et cloches was recorded by Société Radio-Canada live from Pointe-à-Callière, musée d’histoire et d’archéologie de Montréal on March 3, 1996; Hélène Prévost, producer, Pierre Léger and Michel Larivière, technicians. Autour d’une Musique portuaire was recorded in Studio 12 of Maison Radio-Canada in April, 1996; Hélène Prévost and Claude Schryer, co-producers, Yves Lepage et Marc Fortin, technicians. The piece was remixed in May, 1997 in the home studio of Claude Schryer and in Studio 30 of Radio-Canada; Denis Frenette, technician. Autour d’une Musique portuaire was awarded the Prix de la création radiophonique 1996 as part of the Radio Prizes of the French radio service of Radio-Canada. Thanks to Francine Labrosse and Sylvie Durand of Pointe-à-Callière, musée d’histoire et d’archéologie de Montréal, to all the volunteers who participated in Musique portuaire pour sirènes et cloches and to Tom Walsh and Jean Derome for their precious collaboration. Thanks also to Don Wherry and Paul Steffler of the Sound Symposium.

Claude Schryer: Autour: track detail

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