NEW RELEASE: AMBIENT CHAMBER MUSIC

 

Classical and contemporary music have played, and continue to play, an important role in my musical universe: chamber music in particular, for string quartet, woodwind and wind ensembles.

I love the purity of sound and instrumental lines, and in contemporary music, harmonic explorations that sometimes border on dissonance...

The experimental dimension lies in the writing and the choices of instrumental playing, a set of constraints in relation to the infinitely open palette of electronic instruments.

“Ambient Chamber Music” is an extension of this fascination, an attempt to blend textures and sound spaces, and to approach the expressivity of a small mixed electro-acoustic ensemble, crossing both minimalist and contemporary threads.

I tried to imagine a small ensemble of musicians, strings, winds and electronics playing and composing in mutual listening, following open scores, where writing coexists with improvisation.

This is basically how Lightwave has functioned, in its various configurations, around the core of Christoph Harbonnier and myself, not forgetting the important creative contributions of Renaud Pion, Jacques Derégnaucourt and Paul Haslinger, trying to approach the intuitive interactions of a small classical formation and the freedom of a jazz trio or quartet...

“Ambient Chamber Music” is a new stage in one of the parallel paths I intend to follow from now on. A chamber music oscillating between electro-acoustic and mixed music, sculpting ambient sound objects that unfold adventurous listening spaces... 

DOES AMBIENT MUSIC FORM A REPRODUCIBLE REPERTOIRE?

I've done a bit of music journalism over the last century (Crystal Infos, Keyboards magazine...) and I remain an attentive and passionate observer of the new and electronic music scene.

 

Basically, I wonder whether one of the characteristics of ambient music is that it doesn't constitute a repertoire that can be interpreted by musicians other than its original creators...

 

No doubt because most of this music is not "written" in the traditional sense of the term, and so its score cannot be interpreted in the same way as a Chopin Nocturne or a Bach sonata. The ambient genre also differs from jazz in that it does not give rise to a tradition of "standards" that can be reinterpreted with greater or lesser degrees of creativity by new musicians.

 

One explanation undoubtedly lies in the nature of ambient music, where sound design and production choices, even more than musical writing itself, are constitutive of the genre.

 

It is undoubtedly difficult, if not impossible, to make a new interpretation of Klaus Schulze's "Mirage" or Brian Eno's "On Land".

 

But there are, of course, counter-examples in the remix genre. Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream have offered us year after year multiple reinterpretations and remixes of some of their "classics", for better, and sometimes for worse.

 

We also remember the "Synthesizer Greatest Hits" compilations, commercial operations that invaded supermarket shelves with ad nauseam versions of "Oxygène" and others.

 

Some of Brian Eno's compositions, such as "Discreet Music", "Music for Airports" and "Thursday Afternoon", have also been reinterpreted by acoustic ensembles: I'm thinking of the Dedalus Ensemble and Bang on a Can, as well as Brian Eno's recent concerts with the Baltic Sea Philharmonic conducted by Kristjan Järvi. Piano lines and vocal parts undoubtedly lend themselves more readily to new orchestrations.

 

 

 

Are there any tribute bands in the field of electronic music, like those that exist for Pink Floyd or Genesis, proposing a musical and scenic reinterpretation of the original works?

 

In today musical scene, I can only think of Mark Jenkins, who is currently offering a reinterpretation of some Kraftwerk classics.

 

But these are exceptions which, it seems to me, confirm the rule. And beyond the technical tour de force and the fidelity of the performance, we can also wonder about the meaning of such a "close" reproduction of originals that ultimately remain irreplaceable.

 

Ambient music, especially that which relies more on sound design than on "classical" writing, remains linked to its original creator and does not become a "repertory work". Each recording remains a unique artefact, and in many cases, a unique masterpiece.

 

The most creative musicians in the genre have created musical styles and currents that give rise to innumerable creative variations: think of the "Berlin School", which still plays such a structuring role in today's electronic scene, or the Eno-Budd-style ambient movement.

 

 

Ambient music would thus be similar to classical music in that it too gives rise to different "schools", distinguished by their sound, compositional principles, degree of abstraction, rhythmic structures, and so on.

Music and Words

  

Composing and recording music is for me an indispensable, essential form of personal expression... I have the impression of expressing and objectifying parts of myself that words cannot convey... There are undoubtedly many links between the music I create and the texts I may write at other times in my life...

Above all, this form of expression obeys a desire and an obviousness: to move from the writing keyboard to the musical keyboard is essential at certain times, often in the evening, in that transition time between day and night, between light and darkness, when sounds and silence take on new reliefs...

Basically, my compositions and the albums I build, often in parallel, are like the pages of a diary...

I write down states of mind, ideas, thoughts, memories, projects...

I create this music first and foremost for myself, as a soundtrack to my inner films, my days and nights...

I only release it, on Bandcamp and other platforms, after careful consideration, but in the end, I don't know whether I'm publishing a musical album or a notebook of my diary... Probably a bit of both... And the attentive listener will be able to read between the sounds and notes the words I haven't been able to say...

I currently have three albums well advanced in the “draft” section of my Bandcamp page.

The first is finalized and will soon be released... “Ambient Chamber Music”... The title says it all...

The second to come, a little later, is “Views of Mind”. A little more work and reflection on the order of the tracks... Release later this summer?

I recorded “Lignes de fuite” this evening, which could in fact become the first track on the album...

Coming Soon...

 

Christian Wittman’s “Temporal Fragments” – An Immersive Journey in Sound (electronica.org.uk)

 

"Christian Wittman’s latest track, “Temporal Fragments,” envelops listeners in a warm, rich soundscape characterized by gentle piano elements and metallic, percussive tones. The track’s ethereal synth elements drift seamlessly, shaping the structure and creating an engaging, atmospheric experience. The combination of emotive piano echoes and rhythmic percussive accents lends an organic, meditative quality to the music.

“Temporal Fragments” is part of Wittman’s new album, “Music for Sound Installation,” an ambient project designed to evoke immersive and atmospheric soundscapes. Drawing inspiration from the pioneering work of Brian Eno, each track in this album serves as a sonic counterpart to a visual experience, inviting listeners into a realm of auditory exploration. Just as a sculpture or painting transforms physical space, Wittman’s compositions aim to transform auditory space, fostering a serene and contemplative atmosphere.

As a founding member of the French group LIGHTWAVE, Wittman has been a significant figure in electronic and ambient music since the 1980s. LIGHTWAVE has collaborated with notable artists such as Paul Haslinger (ex-Tangerine Dream), Jon Hassell, Michel Redolfi, and Hector Zazou. Wittman’s music sits at the crossroads of ambient, space, and contemporary classical genres, with a strong emphasis on sound design and atmospheres. His work draws inspiration from a wide range of influences, including Brian Eno, Harold Budd, the early “Berlin School,” and the atmospheric classical genre."

 

Link to electronica.org.uk

 

About the process of musical creation...

 

I don't claim to be an important musician on the ambient scene...
I know there are many of us in this crowded niche... And there are far more talented than me...
I do what I can, what I know how to do, I chart my course, and I make music first and foremost because it's an important part of my life, of who I am...

As I was thinking tonight about how I make music, I was thinking that improvisation and spontaneity are essential aspects... Of course, there's the mediation of the computer, software and sound banks, but it's improvisation and intuition that are at the forefront...

I have the impression of approaching composition and mixing with a "floating attention", intuitive, spontaneous, making decisions in the moment.

It also reminds me a little of the automatic writing of the French Surrealist poets André Breton, Philippe Soupault, Tristan Tzara...

These poets emphasized the role of the unconscious in the creative process... Letting the flow of words unfold without trying to control the writing hand...

I likewise let the flow of sounds, silences and harmonics unfold...

I slice and dice into what I've recorded, I move, I shift, I erase.

Reflective, rational thinking is not at the forefront. It's intuition that provokes my gestures on my DAW. Cut, copy, paste, move. Listen, re-listen. Saving. Or deleting.

I imagine myself as a painter retouching a sketch until my hand is in suspension: "Do nothing more".

I imagine myself as a sculptor, reshaping a block of stone, rounding angles, polishing surfaces, until my hand remains suspended: "Any further chiseling is useless...".

I imagine myself as a poet, letting words, sounds, rhymes and rhythms flow from my pen or typewriter: "Don't change anything, preserve the flow...".

In my modest musical practice, I don't see myself as an engineer, nor as an artist... But rather as a medium: something passes into me, through me, and materializes in a musical artefact

Maybe that's what inspiration is all about... Something wants to pass through me...

TACTILE AMBIENT

 

Sometimes, at the right moment, the right person finds the right words, when energy, self-confidence and creativity need to be restored...

Thanks to Thierry Moreau for this magnificent text on my music, a veritable aurora borealis in my night sky!

 

          CHRISTIAN WITTMAN OR TACTILE AMBIENT

Ambient has changed a great deal since the early days of Discreet music's Brian Eno, to the point of distorting the original concept. In the meanders of Bandcamp's plethora of productions, Christian Wittman's work stands out.

Exploring divergent sound cardinal points, Christian Wittman marks his cartographies with tactile reliefs that resemble decorative environmental structures or lunar chords, suspended modulations and filigree percussion.

These are all sonic incidences that occupy our inner spaces, and go hand in hand with filmic visions without actors. We're reminded of David Lynch or Wim Wenders atmospheres.

His tableaux d'une exposition sonore invite us to procrastinate on our temporal fragments. As if savoring Proust's madeleines. Medical music.

In a world of time-compressed reality, he reinvents the praise for slowness, repose, the value of timbre and suggestion.

His virtuosity is not "dazzling" but layered and subtly organized.

Christian Wittman's music proposes a relative time, a tactile music with a poetic sound design, far removed from elevator music. Precisely.

Thierry Moreau