< Mécanes >

Created at the invitation of François Bonnet and following a commission for new works by GRM (Musical Research Group), < Mécanes > extends the "machinic" work begun with Offset, this time recording the materials in a typography workshop. In collaboration with the artisans, and under the pretext of creating the graphic object to be found inside the record, it was possible to bring the microphones even closer to the mechanics, to get even closer to the instrumental possibilities of the machines.

< Mécanes > was released by Universinternational as a 10-inch vinyl record. The first side of the record delicately focuses on the work of the hands, while the second gives free rein to the energy of the presses. The material was recorded in collaboration with the workshop M.U.R.R., and the piece was premiered in January 2016 during the GRM's "Multiphonies" Festival.

The sound materials that make up <Mécanes> were collected at the M.U.R.R. typography workshop in Pantin, during the week of October 5-9, 2015, during the production of this printed work. — Thus, it forms, if not the score, at least the project, certainly the pretext — for what you hear.

But also what you hear — even — in the process of being produced.

Before composing the electroacoustic piece, it was necessary to compose its (pre)text, that is, in professional terms: manually arranging the lead typographic characters to form the matrix of the text. This one was typeset in < Courier >, a typeface from the < Mécanes > family — before being reproduced in 333 unnumbered copies on < Rosa >, the Heidelberg press of the M.U.R.R. workshop.

The text is the direct result of the pretext.

The sound composition is a derivative product, in other words: — a drift (dérive).

< Mécanes > thus focuses on exploring the variations and sonic intensities of the workshop, captured at the moment this document was taking shape.
— [text from the disc insert]

Epilogue: On June 3, 2016, at the album's release party, Méryll Ampe, Jules Wysocki, Stéphane Rives, François Martig, Rodolphe Alexis, and myself proposed An improvised performance in the M.U.R.R. workshop, accompanied by typographers Vincent Busson and Ariel Fleiszbein, “playing” with the press. At the end of the performance, the audience was able to take home a copy of the typographic poem printed during the concert.