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Sébastien Roux's music is generally based on simple foundations: pure sinusoidal waves and a single rule of generation and structuring at the source of the compositions. Reading the titles of the pieces in Musiques d'ordinateur and their synopses, one expects to hear algorithmically generated sound illustrations of abstract patterns, far removed from any sensible artistic experience. The first sounds emitted by each of the tracks seem at first sight to confirm this prejudice. Yet, if you stop for a few seconds longer, the emotion arises, each piece revealing itself as a novel acoustic experience that shakes the ears deeply, sometimes literally, sometimes figuratively.
Sébastien Roux is a champion of the algorithm. The apparent simplicity of his compositional rules is matched only by the power of the effects they generate on the listener, notably through the multiplication of simple basic data. For example, on ' 100 sine waves reaching 1kHz at the same instant ', one of the most impressive pieces on the record, the space between each wave remains the same, simultaneously shrinking in microtonality until unison is reached, and then increasing again in the reverse process of moving away, inspired by a Sol LeWitt drawing. The result is a feeling of irresistible sonic power, like being immersed in the heart of a reactor, as well as the appearance of numerous uncontrollable effects that gradually emerge in the hollow of the ear, vibrating artefacts that scratch and tickle the eardrums as the waves approach each other. The principle of this piece has been transcribed for the acoustic instruments of theDedalus Ensemble:
Another remarkable piece is " 47 pulsating sine waves, 1ms out of phase, 7/8ths of a tone apart ". The illusion of a techno kick set to the lowest wave, which returns at regular 500ms intervals, the appearance of slides and the sensation of sonic filtering quickly sets in. Yes, we did write "techno": 120 beats per minute techno, which is highly psychedelic and mental, despite the algorithm's rigorous calculation. When mathematics puts us in a trance, and in a long-term trance: these ten minutes are only the beginning of a process that will return to its starting point "after about 2 x 1066 millennia", it makes you dream!
Computer music to listen to on the black mountain label ICI
Between these two monuments, Sébastien Roux presents five of the one hundred and sixty " Vuza Canons " he composed. These rhythmic canons, based on a principle developed by the mathematician Dan Tudor Vuza, are based on two simple rules: none of the sounds emitted by the different voices of the canon that enter in turn on the same rhythm in a shifted manner are superimposed on another; at the end of the canon, all the time units are occupied. The canon thus ends in a continuous tremolo, except that Sébastien Roux has chosen to place each of the voices on distinct (sometimes moving) pitches in order to differentiate them. Some of Vuza's canons have been taken up in an acoustic version, in collaboration with the percussionist Stéphane Garin, as in this video:
Split screen cannons - cannon 1 from Sebastien Roux on Vimeo.
A more complex programme on " 5 Synthèses DSF " (Discreete Summation Formulae) closes the record, a sound continuum in five parts with multiple shimmers and sizzles. Sébastien Roux regularly opens his music to other arts. This is the case for his collaboration with the choreographer DD Dorvillier, with whom he wrote the piece Only One of Many, a game combining the principles of same and different applied to sounds and movements. It was in this context that he and Charles Bascou designed the program that generates the first piece on the record, " Never repeated never repeating music (12/17/2020 version) ", in which the computer is invited to make choices that never produce the same sound twice on the different synthesizers available.
Sébastien Roux's works have the art and manner of reconciling a surgical construction with a very sensual rendering. They can be listened to simultaneously in two ways: with an analytical ear, which decodes the processes and locates the algorithms in action; and with a sensitive ear, which fully enjoys the sounds as they emerge. The two complementary ways of listening remain eminently playful, but the game is not of the same order.
Sébastien Roux offers commented listening sessions of his works, to be followed on France Musique, Alla Breve.
Guillaume Kosmicki
