Audiovisionen Ahmed Essyad and Gilles Aubry

Concert program

Part I – Electroacoustic works by Ahmed Essyad

Toubkal (1972, 11:40)
Sultane (1973, 14:00)

Part II – Live set by Gilles Aubry (modular synth and computer)

L'makina (2023, 40:00)

Program Notes

Toubkal (1972) by Ahmed Essyad

Toubkal refers to the summit of the same name that dominates the Moroccan High Atlas range, cradle of Amazigh culture. The title appears as a gesture of affection and solidarity with this culture, which is stigmatized and threatened. The use of synthesizers and the manipulaton of recorded sounds allow for an imperceptible, almost subterranean evolution of timbres, in the manner of the progressive temporal modulations of ahwach music.

Sultane (1973) by Ahmed essyad
Sultane is the fruit of a reflection on earth and soil. The first movement is festive, inspired by a warrior song recorded in Taza in the 1950s. Each of the five movements has its own character, alternating between dense, rhythmic parts and slower passages, from which electronically distorted voices emerge.

L'Makina (2023) by Gilles Aubry
Gilles Aubry’s composition L’Makina is a haunting soundscape that combines AI-generated sound textures with modular synths. Structured in two parts, the piece explores the spectral possibilites of a virtual sound model developed using a machine learning algorithm, in collaboraton with Moroccan musicians Ali Faiq and Idr Basrou. The title, L’Makina, references a 1930s song about the phonograph by Amazigh musician L’Haj Belaid. In the original song, Belaid marvels at the machine’s ability to replicate human speech with uncanny precision, prompting the poet to question whether he should continue composing verses. This reflection resonates with current debates surrounding artifcial intelligence and the interplay between humans and machines. In live performances, Aubry improvises on a quadraphonic sound system, integrating modular synths with elements from the recorded work.

Links
Ahmed Essyad's record on Subrosa : https://subrosalabel.bandcamp.com (released on 6.12.2024)
Ahmed Essyad live at La Coupole, Casablanca, 2023: https://youtu.be/BF5uvtsFlGQ
Interview with Ahmed Essyad on norient.com
Gilles Aubry's record on Corvo : https://corvorecords.de/release/gilles-aubry-lmakina (to be released on 15.5.2025)
Gilles Aubry live at La Coupole, Casablanca, 2023: https://youtu.be/-eq_SKLiTkI
Gilles Aubry's website : http://www.earpolitcs.net
Project info: http://www.earpolitcs.net/scem/

Biographies
Ahmed Essyad is a composer born in 1938 in Salé, Morocco. Afer studying music at the Rabat Conservatory in Morocco, he moved to Paris in 1962, where he became a pupil and then assistant to Max Deutsch. Trained in the avant-garde processes of Western musical compositon, he also claims the Amazigh folk music of Morocco as a fundamental source of inspiraton for his work. Interested in ethnomusicology, he focused his research on orality and notaton (Le Collier des ruses, 1977), as well as on musical time and pulsation (cycle L'eau, 1980-1993; Héloïse et Abélard, 2000). His electroacoustc pieces were produced between 1972 and 1974 in the music studio (S.M.E.C.A) of the American Center in Paris.

Gilles Aubry is a Swiss sound artist, experimental musician, and researcher. His practice relies on research methods and transdisciplinary knowledge from across the arts, humanites, and technology studies, including film, compositon, field recording, performance, installation, radio art, curation, and partcipatory interventions. His projects have been shown at numerous festivals and art institutions, including Impulse Festival Leipzig (2023), Sea Art Festival Busan (2023), Rewire Festival The Hague (2023), Norient Festival Bern (2023), Tuned City Festival (2018), documenta14 in Kassel (2017), café Oto London (2017), Ultraschall Festival Berlin (2016), Kontraste Festival Krems (2011), and GRM
Paris (2010). He released several albums, in solo and with the noise collective MONNO.