Ableton Live Version 2020 - UNTESTED Éclair de lune Bruno Mantovani

The setup and the execution of the electroacoustic part of this work requires a Computer Music Designer (Max expert).

Table of contents

Documentation date: May 21, 2020

Version state

Valid

Validation date: June 9, 2020

Version documentalist

  • poletti (Manuel.Poletti@ircam.fr)

Version realisation

  • Manuel Poletti (Computer Music Designer)

Version length

16 mn 41 s

Upgrade Motivation

Porting of the original patch into an Ableton Live session. The session hosts soundtrack, audio and visual click-tracks, and facilitates the navigation in the timeline when rehearsing.

Comment

The new form of the live-electronics allows a sound engineer to mix the live-electronics easily, without the need for a computer music designer.

Detailed staff

  • 2 clarinets, bassoon, horn, trombone, 3 snare drums, piano, viola, cello, double bass
(Detailed staff comes from Brahms, send mail to brahms-contenu@ircam.fr for correction.)

Electronic equipment list

Computer Music Equipment

  • 1 MacBook Pro - Apple Laptops (Apple)
    Apple laptop - runs the Live session
  • 1 Mac OS - OS (Apple)
    Mac OS Mojave 10.14.6 or later
  • 1 Live - Music Software (Ableton)
    Live Suite 10.1.14 or later
  • 1 Sound Board - Sound Board
    Outputs 3 audio channels - 2 channels sound-track + 1 channel click-track
  • 1 Footswitch / Sustain Pedal - Footswitch / Sustain Pedal
    Optional: remote triggering of the sound-track and the click-track for the conductor
  • 1 Midi interface - MIDI Interfaces
    Optional: hosts MIDI signal from the optional on-stage sustain pedal
  • 1 MIDI booster - Booster
    Optional: when using the footswitch on stage

Audio Equipment

  • 1 HF System - HF System (Sennheiser)
    Optional: may be used for the audio click-track for the conductor
  • 2 Loudspeaker - Loudspeakers
    Frontal diffusion with 2 x full-range speakers
  • 2 subwoofer - Subwoofers
    Bass reinforcement
  • 1 ear-monitor - Headphones
    Conveys the audio click-track to the conductor
  • 1 Digital Mixing Desk - Digital Mixers
    Generic

Video

  • 1 Screen - Screen
    Optional: remote on-stage screen for the conductor - ideally using HDMI - displays a visual click-track

Premiere

  • March 21, 2007, Paris, Ircam, Espace de projection

Publisher:

  • Lemoine

Realisation

  • Sébastien Roux

Work length

  • 21 mn
Download all files
File Author(s) Comment
Download [2.8 MB] Document Documentation Manuel Poletti
Download [11.5 MB] Document Documentation Pages Manuel Poletti
Download [2.7 MB] Document Documentation Word Manuel Poletti
Download [525.5 MB] Ableton session EclairDeLune-2020-Live Manuel Poletti
Download [757.1 KB] Document Technical Setup Max Manuel Poletti

Instructions

 

Global description of the live-electronics

An Ableton Live session plays a stereo soundtrack through a stereo P.A., in sync with the conducting.

The synchronisation is achieved using an audio and/or visual click track.

The click track is sent to the conductor using an in-ear module, via a wireless (HF) connection, while the visual display is broadcasted using a video signal from the computer (HDMI recommanded) to a video screen placed on stage.

An optional on-stage MIDI pedal allows the conductor to trigger the start of the piece, if required.

 

What was achieved in this version

  • technical setup drawing & documentation
  • separated the 3-channels soundtrack into one stereo file for the live-electronics and one mono file for the click-track, so these may be imported into any DAW
  • reported all tempo and time-signature changes according to the audio click-track in the session
  • created a Max For Live device which displays a visual click-track with tempo, time-signature, bars, beats and smpte timing, to be displayed on a remote screen on stage
  • created a MIDI file containing notes for click-track, which may be used in any DAW

Read the detailed documentation.

 

WARNING: due to the lack of musical score in the previous versions, the new Live session needs to be checked and compared to the original score, when available.



© IRCAM Creative Commons License
This documentation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


Program note

À la fois sonate pour piano, œuvre d'ensemble et électronique, concerto pour trois caisses claires, pièce acousmatique, étude sur la spacialisation de groupes instrumentaux, Éclair de lune marque mon retour à l'électroacoustique après sept années durant lesquelles je me suis consacré à la musique instrumentale. Toujours réticent à l'idée d'être confronté à l'inertie du studio, mais conscient que mon oreille a été formée par l'expérimentation que j'y ai menée depuis mes 15 ans, j'ai décidé, sur ce projet, de me concentrer sur l'enrichissement réciproque de l'écriture et de la manipulation sur la matière sonore. Ce sont de multiples enregistrements de caisses claires qui m'ont permis d'élaborer la partie électronique, par un long travail de montage et de transformations (dans lequel j'ai été secondé par mon assistant musical, Sébastien Roux). Mais les sons obtenus ont aussi nourri les parties instrumentales, le tout visant à créer un continuum sonore reposant sur la construction de trames à partir de sons isolés. C'est la « coagulation » d'impacts qui crée ici la trame, dans une logique de synthèse granulaire (ce procédé avait été à l'origine du [work:10501][Grand jeu] composé en 1998-99). C'est ainsi que l'unification sonore entre l'électronique, les caisses claires, et un ensemble composé de bois, cuivres, piano, et cordes, se fait plus par des relations verticales d'écriture que par une homogénéité sonore.

Bruno Mantovani.

Version documentation creation date: May 21, 2020, 12:55 p.m., update date: May 6, 2021, 3:09 p.m.