Nicolas Bernier (E163)

Nicolas Bernier
Frequencies (Synthetic Variations)
CD (E163)

Edition of 200 copies

Mastered by Giuseppe Ielasi

Frequencies (Synthetic Variations)

Live in Lausanne, October 2013 [Vimeo]

Nicolas Bernier’s Frequencies (Synthetic Variations) is his first piece made entirely of synthetic sounds. Having evolved within the musique concrète and field recording traditions, Bernier wanted to break with habit — the result being

15 short movements of warped and crackling textures, vividly articulated

sine waves and rhythmic bursts of pattern. The piece is designed to be listened to at random (the sound sample above is such a sequence), offering a new duration and dynamics with every hearing. It is also part of a sound and light performance series, where both elements have been precisely knit together in a kind of synaesthesia — enabling the listener to either hear the light or see the sound.

Frequencies (A) was awarded the

Golden Nica at the 2013 Prix Ars Electronica

nicolasbernier.com

Intimate Frequencies

Review

It crackles, rumbles and grooves. Nicolas Bernier’s new EP, his first entirely made of synthesized sounds, evokes the pure electronic experiments of Ryoji Ikeda,
the ultra-minimalist techno of the Raster-Noton label, the trashier glitch aesthetics of early Pita. Frequencies cut each other, extremely filtered-out sounds seep in
through the flaps and pulses. 24 minutes, 15 very short tracks to be listened to in random mode, a surprising record.

Monsieur Délire