Towards an Aesthetics of the Sine Wave
THE RESEARCH-CREATION PROJECT
Despite its close ties to the emergence of electronic music in the mid-20th century, the sine wave remains relatively underexplored in terms of aesthetics, and we find no systematic review of its artistic uses. The project Towards an Aesthetics of the Sine Wave helps fill this gap in thinking through several tools:
• Literature review
• Database of works and writings
• Typology of artistic approaches
• Works specifically commissioned for the project
• Analysis of artistic approaches
Distributed across multiple publications, this research contributes to the knowledge and understanding of the application of the sine wave in music and sound art.
BOOK
🝊✩‧NEW‧✩🝊 Boutard, G., Bernier, N., Akama, R., Birolini, H., Payeur, E., van Eck, C., Zareei, Mo. Perspectives sinusoïdales • Sinudoidal Perspectives. Librairie formes • ondes 2024. Download PDF published by Librairie formes • ondes (.zip, 17MB)
RESEARCH PAPERS
Lecours, P.-L., & Bernier, Ni. (Forthcoming). Sound synthesis notation applied to performance : Two case studies.TENOR, Zurich.
Bernier, N.. Between Sine Waves, Synthetic Material, and Structure: The Cycle of Compositions Transfert. Librairie formes • ondes 2023.
Download PDF published by Librairie formes • ondes
Bernier, N., Boutard, G., Traube, C., Schorpp, E., Bellemare, L., & Drouin-Trempe, V.. Sine Wave in Music and Sound Art: A typology of artistic approaches. Organised Sound, An International Journal of Music and Technology 2023; doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355771822000590
In addition to this article, there is a document containing the complete typology: https://www.zotero.org/groups/2521746/sine-references/items/AIGXJECY
Bernier, N., Boutard, G., Traube, C., Sine Waves Interpretations — Notes on an adaptation and transcription process of electroacoustic works. LINE+Librairie formes • ondes 2021. 145p. https://www.lineimprint.com/line_124_book/Sine_Waves_Interpretations.pdf
Bernier, N., Observations on Performing Sine Waves with an Oscillator Ensemble. Leonardo 2021; doi: https://doi.org/10.1162/leon_a_02091
DATABASE
This database brings together works and writings concerning artistic practices associated with the sine wave. It is available for free access via Zotero. Most of the listed writings are categorized in correspondence with the typology described in the article "Sine Wave in Music and Sound Art: A Typology of Artistic Approaches" (Bernier & al., 2022). Initial deployment of the database: Nicolas Bernier, Laurianne Bezier, Julien Champagne, and Erin Gee.
https://www.zotero.org/groups/2521746/sinus-references/library
Send suggestions to sinusoidale@musique.umontreal.ca.
EVENTS
November 24, 2023 : concert and release party of Structures and Waveforms by Nicolas Bernier at Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT). https://www.cirmmt.org/en/events/live-cirmmt/live-at-cirmmt-nov24
April 4—6, 2024 : presentation at the International Conference on Technologies for Music Notation and Representation (TENOR). https://www.zhdk.ch/en/research/icst/tenor-zurich-20252
CREATIONS:
FIVE COMMISSIONED WORKS BASED ON THE SINE WAVE
Five works have been commissioned from five artists with the sole imperative of considering the sine wave as the central element, without regard to the form of the work (fixed, installation, performative, etc.). Accompanying these works, the five artists have also written a text discussing their creative process. These texts will be accompanied (publication forthcoming) by an analysis that situates them within the main conceptual framework derived from the research project. The video documentation of the works is available here: https://lfo.streamlink.to/sinewave-commisions
Ryoko Akama
Inefficient Ways to Comprehend the Matter (2021)
Ryoko Akama is a Japanese-Korean artist working in installation, performance, and composition. Interested in non-Western cultural thought and perception, her artistic practice examines the environment, architecture, cause-and-effect phenomena, and sociological structures. https://ryokoakama.com
Hervé Birolini
Des courants (2022)
Hervé Birolini's music is developed from real, concrete, or instrumental materials, as well as from sound objects produced by a technology that serves both as a tool and a way to question the contemporary production of sensory experiences. His inclination toward live performance leads him to create works that engage with space, the body, gesture, and scenography.
http://hervebirolini.com
Cathy van Eck
Waving Sine Waves (2021)
Cathy van Eck is a composer, sound artist, and arts researcher. She focuses on the relationships between everyday objects, human performers, and sound. Her artistic work involves live electronic performances as well as installations featuring sound objects that she often designs herself. She is interested in connecting her gestures with sound, primarily through electronic means.
http://cathyvaneck.net
Émilie Payeur
Rebellion Against Establishment (2022)
Sacred Space #1 : Healing Machine for a Plant (2002)
Émilie Payeur is a multidisciplinary artist, primarily engaged in experimental music and visual arts. Often described as minimalist and occasionally harsh, her music is primarily based on the no-input technique and embracing risk. In her visual work, she explores the remnants of past events or actions, the concept of the sacred, ritual, and transcendence.
http://emiliepayeur.com
Mo H. Zareei
Prime Frequencies (2022)
Mo H. Zareei is a sound artist, researcher, and professor. Employing custom software and mechatronic objects, his sound experiments span a wide range of practices, from electronic composition to sound sculpture and audiovisual installation. Regardless of the medium, his work is particularly concerned with the intersection between noise and formal structures. Zareei was born and raised in Tehran, Iran.
https://millihertz.net/bio
IN THE PRESS
Primeau, M.-P. (À venir). ENTREVUE Q/R : Entretien avec le professeur Nicolas Bernier. DIRE. https://www.ficsum.com
Entretien avec Nicolas Bernier (No 298). (19 mars 2023). La Croche oreille. CKRL. https://lacrocheoreille.wordpress.com/2023/03/13/emission-298-le-dimanche-19-mars-2023/
Boomkat. (8 octobre 2021). Ensemble d’Oscillateurs : 2 Transcriptions (Oliveros • Pade). Boomkat Reviews. https://boomkat.com/products/2-transcriptions-oliveros-pade
Van Denburgh, D. (7 octobre 2021). Sine of the Times. Another Green Kitchen. https://anothergreenkitchen.com/2021/10/07/sine-of-the-times/
CREATIONS BY THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: NICOLAS BERNIER
The album Structures and Waveforms presents a cycle of works created by the lead researcher concurrently with the project Towards an Aesthetics of the Sine Wave. The composition cycle titled Transfer gathers musical pieces that share a common structural foundation but rely on divergent orchestrations, ranging from sine waves to complex synthesis materials. These divergences allow for the exploration of various forms of dialogue between structure and material. Nurtured by the exploration of the sine wave, this dialogue constitutes the primary theme that fuels the cycle's conceptual framework. Accompanying the album is a text that seeks to explain this framework as comprehensively as possible.
All the pieces were composed, produced, mixed, and mastered by Nicolas Bernier.
Transfer for Piano and Sine Waves (2016-2023)
Performed by the mechanical grand piano equipped with a Yamaha Disklavier system at Studio B-187 of the Faculty of Music of Université de Montréal.
Transfert for 10 Monophonic Synthesizeers (performed by Pierre-Luc Lecours) (2023)
Recording and arrangement : Pierre-Luc Lecours
Synthesizers : Pierre-Luc Lecours
Transfert for 10 Analogue Sine Waves (2023)
Recording and arrangement : Nicolas Bernier at the ModuLAB of the Faculty of Music of Université de Montréal
Oscillator Ensemble : Emanuel Brie, Zakary Colello, Gabriel Geneau, Antonin Gougeon-Moisan, Alexandre Hamel, Antoine Morin, Zacharie Perreault-Samson, Alexandre Sasset-Blouin, Jean-Sébastien Schnubb, Charles St-André
Direction : Nicolas Bernier
Transfert for Digital Sine Waves (2022-2023)
No additional credits.
Transfert for Digital Synthesizers (2016-2023)
Additional synthesizers : Nicolas Bernier
Transfert for 10 Monophonic Synthesizers (performed by Ensemble d’oscillateurs) (2023)
Recording : Nicolas Bernier
Oscillator Ensemble : Marc-Antoine Bernier, Gabrielle Caux, Hubert Crépin, Mathieu Drolet, Gabriela Hébert, Rémy Jannelle, Loic Minty, Gael Moriceau, Zacharie Perreault-Samson, Charles St-André
Direction : Nicolas Bernier
The project Towards an Aesthetics of the Sine Wave stems from the previous project Ensemble of Oscillators, a setup where ten performers manipulate old analog oscillators that essentially produce only sine waves. The project facilitates the development of group electronic music performance techniques, a paradigm still uncommon in this field. Techniques for notation and transmission of electronic music are also developed, all based on a custom-designed application that enables the use of graphical scores.
In addition to the works by the invited composers (Birolini, Corbeil-Perron, Lecours, and Hope), the lead researcher Nicolas Bernier used the ensemble to collaboratively compose a first piece based on sine waves with fellow composer and saxophonist Ida Toninato.
Published on LINE (Los Angeles), a label with a strong international reputation in the world of sound arts, the pieces on this 5th record of Ensemble of Oscillators contribute to nurturing and showcasing the creation of sine wave-based works.
Principal Investigator
Nicolas Bernier
Co-investigators
Guillaume Boutard
Caroline Traube
Collaborators (artists)
Ryoko Akama
Hervé Birolini
Cathy van Eck
Émilie Payeur
Mo H. Zareei
Research Assistants
Laurent Bellemare
Laurianne Bézier
Julien Champagne
Erin Gee
Véro Marengère
David Piazza
Flo Richer
Estelle Schorpp
Kjel Sidloski
Financial support
FRQ-SC
Université de Montréal
Technical Support UdeM
Jean-Michel Dumas