Music
Composition, score edition,
recording and post-production
Le cubre de sucre - Short fiction film - Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux - 2024
The project
Le cube de sucre is an ambitious film project in several aspects. Taking place during over three years, from pre-production to post-production, this collaboration with filmmaker Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux allowed me to apply the expertise acquired during my studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec while enjoying great creative freedom.
The experience acquired during our previous collaborations led Jean-Philippe to include me from the preliminary stages of the project. I therefore had quickly access to the freshly written screenplay as well as with the director's vision, which certainly contributed to the success of the project.
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
Inspirations
Spectral analysis of the sound (841ms)
At the heart of the film's identity, the sugar cube is the central element of several aspects, including the sound design. It was therefore normal that it should also be the central element of the music. To do this, I quickly asked the sound designer Ludovic Fleury to provide me with the sound he created for this sugar cube, to then do a spectral analysis and extract the dominant frequencies.
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These frequencies have therefore been objectified to then serve as basic material for musical writing. The main melodic theme of the film's music comes from this analysis.
The music of the film is therefore based on the principle of theme and variations where the main melodic cell is developed in a sometimes contrasting way to adapt to the narrative needs. We thus get a tonal contrapuntal music alongside a spectral music more loaded with dissonances.
Inventory of frequencies from the spectral analysis of the sound
Sugar Cube Soundtrack (extracts)
Here are the main musical themes present in the film. Some of these musics include several extra-musical elements and sound effects. This fusion between music and sound design is the result of a collaboration with designer Ludovic Fleury and is an integral part of the musical universe. The recording took place in studio 29 of the Conservatoire de musique de Québec.
1st violin
2nd violin
Viola
Violoncello
Piano
Harp
Sound design
William Foy
Jana Kaminsky
Jean-Renaud Labrecque
Nathanaël Cardinal
Laurent Porter
Raphaëlle Guy Dorion
Ludovic Fleury
Recording of the string quartet parts
Trailer (soon available)
Le film
Director
Productor
Distributer
Editing
Sound design
Music
Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux
Productions Phare Bleu
Spira
Stéphane Thériault
Ludovic Fleury
Alexandre Côté
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
Canada, 1918. A group of French-Canadian resistance fighters wage a civil war following compulsory conscription declared by the British Crown. Winston Gottinham, as an English-Canadian officer, had to face the disobedience of his french-speaking soldiers in the field. After this defining moment, when he prepares his tea, the sound of sugar on porcelain will no longer be the same. A timeless tale about consciousness, Le cube de sucre explores the consequences of violence.
--- 2024
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Point bleu pâle - Quintet for strings and soprano - 2022
The project
« Consider again that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. » This phrase from Carl Sagan is the initial spark of this chamber music project. Composed at the end of my bachelor degree, Point bleu pâle is the culmination of more than a year of work, ranging from conceptualization and writing to work with the musicians and production.
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This lyrical music project was, among other things, an opportunity to work with a student ensemble from the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. This residence of more than three months allowed me to experiment with new possibilities and to deepen the idiomatic writing for strings and voice. This perpetual collaboration with the musicians fueled the creative process on several levels, even in the late stages of the project.
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Inspirations
Pale blue dot - Voyager 1 - 1990
Photo credits: Nasa / JPL - Caltech
Launched more than 45 years ago, the Voyager 1 probe, now more than 23 billion kilometers from Earth, is still in operation today and continues to transmit data on the interstellar environment in which it evolves. Voyager 1 is, for me, both a source of wonder and inspiration; the amount of data and knowledge it generated for the time period is impressive, and the poetry behind its final visual contributions from 1990 touched me enough to dedicate this piece to it.
The path of the probe has been following a trajectory leaving our solar system for several decades, which has allowed Voyager 1 to reach an increasingly global point of view on it. Thus in 1990, more than six billion kilometers from Earth, the probe took a series of photographs, the mounting of which was baptized “Family Portrait”. Among this series of photographs, the one representing the Earth was named "Pale blue dot" by the astrophysicist and philosopher Carl Sagan who published an eponymous book in 1994.
Family portrait - Voyager 1 - 1990
Jovian system
The first target of Voyager 1, Jupiter and its satellites are at the heart of the development of Point bleu pâle. To integrate them into the music, I developed a melodic-rhythmic structure inspired by the revolution periods of its most massive satellites (Calsito, Europe, Ganymede, Io, Metis, Himalia, etc.). Thus, by considering that each completed revolution produces an iteration, it is possible to extract a proportional rhythm. In the same way, it is also possible to calculate the frequency ratios between the satellites in question which can then be converted into simple acoustic ratios, therefore defining a pitch system.
Jupiter and it's moons - Voyager 1 - 1979
Photo credits: Nasa / JPL - Caltech
Jovian system simulation
Created with Celestia
A midi simulation integrating the rhythms and pitches of the revolution periods of the main satellites of the jovian system:
In comparison, the final result
in Point bleu pâle:
Production (making of)
Director / Editor
1st violin
2nd violin
Viola
Violoncello
Mezzo-soprano
Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux
Laurie-Ann Moreau
Marie Jobin
Jean-Renaud Labrecque
Vincent Dorion-Thériault
Rébecca Veilleux
---2023
Point bleu pâle
--- 2022
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Memoria - for mezzo-soprano and piano - 2023 (on a text by Jeane Skura)
The project
This lyrical piece is a commission from mezzo-soprano Rébecca Veilleux for her master's degree final exam at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. This was an opportunity to compose music on a text by author Jeanne Skura written especially for the project. This piece was performed in concert at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal in April 2023 as part of the performer's exam.
Memoria
Mezzo-soprano
Piano
Text
Music
Rébecca Veilleux
Martin Dubé
Jeanne Skura
Alexandre Côté
Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, 2023
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Composed in the spring of 2019, Errances lumineuses was born during my first year at the music Conservatory of Québec. First contact with modernity, this project defines the beginnings of an artistic approach that is dear to me: conceptual music. This approach has since accompanied me in all of my musical creations.
3751 Errances lumineuses - for Yamaha DisklavierTM - 2019
Divided into twelve miniatures for Yamaha DisklavierTM, 3751 Errances lumineuses explores the link between music and light. This light, and in particular its speed, are at the center of the combinatorial development of the work
The project
Inspirations
T-CUP : the fastest camera in the world
In 2018, the work of the researchers from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) led to the development of the fastest camera ever built; it can freeze time in ten billion frames per second. For the first time in history, it is now possible to see the fastest thing in the universe spreading over time: light.
Liang, J., Zhu, L. & Wang, L.V. Single-shot real-time femtosecond imaging of temporal focusing. Light Sci Appl 7, 42 (2018). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41377-018-0044-7
Cover images of the music score of Errances lumineuses,
taken from de camera T-CUP showing a laser beam spreading over time.
This technological breakthrough inspired me: what do the 299,792,458 meters per second of photon speed represent on our scale? In other words, how far does light travel in a given time? This concept is at the foundation of Errances lumineuses; the distances are considered and integrated into the combinatorics using topographic coordinates.
Liang, J., Zhu, L. & Wang, L.V. Single-shot real-time femtosecond imaging of temporal focusing. Light Sci Appl 7, 42 (2018).
Production
The project was produced on a Yamaha Disklavier piano belonging to Avatar studio, located in the Méduse complex in Québec city. This production was, among other things, a great opportunity to collaborate again with director Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux, who took care of the image and editing. This project also allowed me to experiment with a particular light installation: the sound intensity controls the light intensity in real time by means of a projector connected to a dedicated microphone and an audio interface.
The sound intensity controls the light intensity by means of a projector connected to a dedicated microphone.
The director, scriptwriter and autor Jean-philippe Nadeau Marcoux taking care of the video recording of the project.
3751 Errances lumineuses
--- 2019
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Productor
Director / Editor
Sound recording
Light conception
Music / Sound post-production
Classe de création musicale du Conservatoire de musique de Québec
Jean-Philippe Nadeau Marcoux
Benjamin Ligas
Alexandre Côté
Alexandre Côté
Franciszka - Dance short film - Elias Djemil-Matassov - 2018
The project
The Franciszka project represents for me a special stage in my career. Much more than a simple film soundtrack, this sound universe pushed me to surpass myself, both creatively and technically. First real contact with orchestral music, this project undoubtedly influenced my choice to continue my studies at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec.
This project allowed me to work, during over nearly eight months, on a complex musical form merging two distinct styles, as well as to deepen the work with several musician performers. This work of composition and sound design will lay the foundations for a fruitful collaboration with director Elias Djemil-Matassov.
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
Inspirations
Franciszka Mann, to whom the film is a tribute, is an early 20th century Polish dancer who died in the Auschwitz concentration camp. This particularly heavy historical context will be a source of inspiration, as much for the music as for the sound design. Thus, it was quickly established that this sound universe would be a fusion between Klezmer and orchestral music; a major challenge, considering the
remote nature of these two genres.
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
This fusion was possible, among other things, thanks to the sound design occupying a leading role. A long segment of sound narration detailing the concentration camp unfolds in the middle of the film, helping to bridge the gap between klezmer and orchestral material.
Location, recording and broadcast
The filming location of the film, situated in downtown Québec city in an old abandoned shoe factory, greatly contributed to the musical and sound inspiration of the project. All is needed is a quick visit to the factory to realize that the recording of the music had to take place there.
Sound recording and sound design session at the filming locations.
As a former abandoned shoe factory, this place was inspiring both visually and audibly.
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
Photo: Elias Djemil-Matassov
In view of the musical needs of the film, my colleague Mathieu and I made the decision to collaborate with the Klezmer Ensemble of Sainte-Nigoune in Québec city to help me in the composition process; Klezmer music was almost unknown to me until then. This project was also the opportunity to collaborate again with cellist Nathanaël Cardinal.
The Ensemble Klezmer de Sainte-Nigoune warming up before the recording.
As part of the Prix Excellences 2018 gala, the film was screened in the form of a cine-concert at the Musée de la Civilisation in November 2018.
In four years of screening, the film won fourteen awards through more than forty film festivals in the country and abroad, including the award for best cinematography, best actress and best experimental film.
The movie
Director
Distributier
Actresse
Director of photography
Editor
Sound design
Music
Artistic directors
Elias Djemil-Matassov
Spira
Marie-Chantale Desrosiers
Stéphane Thériault
Elias Djemil Matassov
Stéphane Thériault
Mathieu Grégoire / Alexandre Côté
Alexandre Côté / Ensemble Klezmer de Sainte-Nigoune
Sophie Boonen / Jean-Nicolas Demers
1943, a revolt breaks out at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Among the resistants, a famous Polish Jewish ballet dancer. It is said that she disarmed a cruel SS officer with the simple grace of a ballet movement. Only her story has survived until today. Her name was Franciszka Mann.
--- 2018