Review on Estonian premiere of Transduced
The Estonian cultural weekly Sirp published Sander Saarmetson’s review “Heli naha all ” (“Sound Under the Skin”) of Ensemble U:’s concert, which featured my IRCAM Cursus piece Transduced (2020) for percussion and electronics, performed by Vambola Krigul.
Translation from Estonian:
“Transduced” for percussion and live electronics hurled the most direct physical energy onto the stage. The very title points to transformation - a process in which one form of energy is converted into another. Individual percussive impulses were transmitted into an electronic processing chain, developed there in parallel with the live performance, and returned to the acoustic space through miniature loudspeakers (transducers) attached to the drumheads. The fusion of percussion and electronics created an environment in which the listener seemed to be placed almost inside the (drum) sound itself.
The intensifying electroacoustic field began to resemble an approaching whirlwind. I closed my eyes and realized, unexpectedly, that I felt held. There is a particular quality in this music: it can be forceful without pushing the listener into a defensive position — even with closed eyes, there is no sense that anything might threaten you.
Vambola Krigul himself stood at the center of this vortex, at times surrendering control to the self-resonating system. It was a moment in which the performer’s presence seemed to dissolve without disappearing entirely - rather, it receded into the background. In fact, throughout the entire work he remained in constant dialogue with the composer through the medium of live electronics, but here that relationship became perceptible.
At the end of the piece, Krigul returned to active playing, bowing a metal cymbal on the drumhead, whose sound was in turn amplified and distorted by its electronic reflections. Transduced concerns not only the transformation of one form of energy into another, but also the slow dissolution of the boundary between composer and performer.
“Justina Repečkaitė „Transduced“ löökpillidele ja live-elektroonikale paiskas lavale kõige otsesema füüsilise energia. Juba pealkiri osutab muundumisele – protsessile, kus üks energialiik teisendub teiseks. Üksikud löökpillide impulsid kandusid elektroonilisse töötlusahelasse, arenesid seal paralleelselt mängitavaga ning naasid trumminahkadele kinnitatud miniatuurkõlarite kaudu tagasi akustilisse ruumi. Löökpillide ja elektroonika sulam lõi keskkonna, kus kuulaja näis olevat paigutatud justkui (trummi)heli sisse. Tihenev elektroakustiline väli hakkas meenutama lähenevat keeristormi. Sulgesin silmad ja tajusin üllatuslikult, et olen hoitud. Muusikas on mingi eriline kvaliteet, mis võib olla jõuline, ent ei sunni kaitsepositsioonile – isegi suletud silmadega ei teki tunnet, et miski võiks ohustada. Ka Vambola Krigul oli keset seda keerist, loovutades vahepeal ohjad iseresoneeruvale süsteemile. See oli hetk, kus esineja kohalolu justkui hajus, kuid ei kadunud – pigem nihkus tagaplaanile. Tegelikult oli ta kogu teose vältel elava elektroonika vahendusel heliloojaga pidevas dialoogis, kuid siin sai see suhe nähtavaks. Teose lõpus naasis Krigul aktiivsesse mängu, poogendades metalltaldrikut trumminahal, mille heli elektroonilised peegeldused omakorda võimendasid ja moonutasid. „Transduced“ ei tegele üksnes ühe energialiigi teisendamisega, vaid ka helilooja ja interpreedi vahelise piiri aeglase lahustamisega.”
