Pluies et dialectes

The instrument in this piece has to be made. The idea is to arrange 24 objects or sound utensils, musical or otherwise, in a keyboard setting. Each object is assigned a note, which has nothing to do with the sound it produces, this system of notation being designed to facilitate reading and performance, as a kind of tablature.

These objects can be placed on a table, on a marimba covered with a cloth or a foam pad, or any other convenient solution.

It may be useful to secure some of the objects with two-sided tape, as the speed of perfor- mance can make some lightweight objects unstable.

It is important to ensure that resonant objects do not cover drier objects. Adhesives or “moongel” can be used to attenuate harmonics.

The objects can be modified at will, but it is important to respect the place of resonant objects and of objects with sounds that are more or less hollow or dry, as well as to respect the balance of materials (metal, wood, ceramics, seeds, paper, etc.) because the writing of the piece has been tuned to these contrasts.

This piece is a way of objectifying a recurring fact: the composer creates his own instrument internally before writing. The score 'Pluies et dialectes' (Rainfalls and dialects) proposes to share with the performer, to transfer to him, this making of the instrument, a making that is both imaginary (one must dream these sounds before producing them) and effective.

The only restrictive rule is never to perform the piece in a version that would use only the notes as written, because then the idea of the work would lose its meaning. Many other ideas for combining fictitious and real notes are possible.

Each “making” of this keyboard of objects, as well as each additive instrumentation, will create its own dialect.

• Commissioned by ensemble Ars Nova
• Recorded by Isabelle Cornelis and broadcast online on December 16, 2021 as part of the Mosaic project.