Do you have a particular compositional process that is a starting point for each album or do you approach each one differently?
My compositional method is a form of controlled improvisation. At the start of a recording session, I choose one of my favorite instruments and browse through its sound bank, usually without any preconceived ideas. The starting point for the first track will therefore be the inspiration I get from a preset, the intuition of its creative potential here and now. I record a first track, choosing a particular key and a set of rules, for example in terms of rhythm, repetition, melodic pattern, or something else. On this first layer, I choose a new instrument or different sounds from the same instrument to start recording a second track. The complementarity of sounds and textures is essential here. Then I do the same again for a third track, a fourth, and so on. In this overdubbing process, I ultimately reproduce what we used to do in Lightwave in our studio sessions or concerts, where everyone played while listening to the others, trying to provide a counterpoint, a complement, a punctuation, and sometimes also introducing a climatic change to move the piece forward. Playing in a group taught me to think about the big picture rather than my personal contribution, so it was the opposite of filling in or ego-driven one-upmanship. In fact, very often, when listening back to a Lightwave recording, Christoph and I were, and sometimes still are, unable to tell who did what: the result was coherent, organic, and structured music, and not the juxtaposition of disparate tracks. So it's a bit the same principle that I apply to the multitrack recording process of my solo music. Each track must make sense, bring something to the previous ones: it must emphasize, complement, but not confuse or disrupt. It must have a purpose and meaning, and not be a gratuitous addition.
When we recorded live, on Revox or DAT, this co-composition work had to be done in the moment. An untimely sound or phrase would ruin the entire recording: we had to start all over again, with no guarantee of recapturing the same feeling. Cités analogues and Nachtmusik were recorded under these conditions, which is why they are so magical. When we were able to equip ourselves with the wonderful Alesis ADAT multi-track digital recorders, we each had our own stereo tracks, sometimes for each keyboard, so it was possible to make corrections afterwards.
Today, a DAW offers this flexibility, both for a band and for a solo musician. This is why, after recording the basic tracks, the editing stage follows, which is in fact the composition stage itself, where the different parts come together to form a coherent whole. I listen to what I have recorded several times, I make a first mix, and I delete, aerate, and declutter the tracks, one after the other. This stage allows the music to “breathe,” weaving sounds into silence, giving them depth and space. It's a very intuitive process. I listen with an open mind and know that I need to delete this note or pattern at this moment. It's a split-second decision, and when I listen back, I almost never restore what I've deleted. There's another aspect to this editing work: its visual dimension. The arrangement window allows me to see the topography of the MIDI notes, instrument by instrument, on the layered tracks. It's like a map, but also a form of abstract art, where the spatial distribution of notes creates visual rhythms, geometric patterns, and labyrinthine intertwining. The final composition is the result of this micro-work of spatialized calligraphy in the DAW's arrangement window.
Next comes the fine tuning of levels, effects, spatialization, and sometimes modifying the tempo of the piece to slow it down and create completely different atmospheres, through time stretching, which completely reconfigures the composition and its harmonic landscapes.
When the mix seems stable, I export the audio file and let it rest for a while before listening to it again the next day. At this stage, I often go back to the multitrack recording to correct levels, rebalance the mix, calibrate differently effects, or, in some cases, further refine the instrumental tracks.
Originally published in AUDION MAGAZINE #83, August 2025.
Interview by Andy Garibaldi.
),
but it's definitely a direction I'd like to explore in the future...
(I've acquired other IRCAM softwares, I'm at the beginning of the
learning curve, it's exciting!).
