A complex and mysterious work by Swiss electro-acoustic artist Israël Quellet
for symphonic bass drum, symphonic tympanies, organ, tibetan horn, homemade horn, triangle, tubular bells, shocks inside the church, anvil metal tank and church bells. A challenging listen, but so rewarding.
Born 1972 in Neuchâtel (Switzerland), Israël Quellet worked in the psychiatric field for several years. At 16, he discovers on his own some different soundworlds, such as Miles Davis's electric era, Sun Ra, Dub, German cosmic music, Magma, Zappa and many more. In 1997, he stepped into the action and, following the advice of a sound engineer friend, bought microphones, a digital mixing board, and studio monitors. Basically, he turned part of his basement into a soundsmithing studio. That is when he started to create, out of his immediate surroundings, sound works that have little to do with what is “normally” being done. Appreciated by composer Jorge E. Campos, Quellet is supported by the Centre Pierre Schaeffer in Paris.
Quellet's music is not really outsider sound art, but it shares strong similarities with it. It explores a debarred universe almost impossible to escape. A minute—albeit extreme—exploration of sound (particularly through saturation), mystical discourse and excesses. However, the composer is also pictured as a regular guy living in a Swiss town, a guy who likes to toy with the local church's organ, accompanied by his wife... Sound materials come from a number of sources: the local church's organ, rented or borrowed percussion instruments (bass drum, timbales, gong, djembe), various objects being struck (his oil tank at home struck with hammers and iron rods), pipes, faucets, telephone touch pads, power tools, sound-producing toys, voice, mouth sounds, throat sounds, and wheelbarrows.
“I made the sounds while I was recording, either alone or with the help of my wife. Once a piece has been edited together, the final mixing is performed live, without automation. In order to retain the original dynamics, I do not use compression or any other specific mastering technique designed to equalize the sound or spatialize the stereo image. However, the heavy saturation used in some pieces limits the range of dynamics. The diverse sounds and the diverse means used to capture them give each piece a different overall sound and stereo image. Therefore, the pieces are not standardized or calibrated systematically; they do not all sound the same”.
— Israël Quellet
