To Louis

“Sound Odyssey is a world symphony! Throughout the journey, one is invited to discover the multiplicity of levels of sound as creative material and as an echo of everyday life.”

— (NFB, 1997)

Musique de l’Odyssée sonore (Sound Odyssey Music) is a collection of seven electroacoustic miniatures from Louis Ricard’s National Film Board of Canada (NFB) documentary about R Murray Schafer’s theories of acoustic ecology and the soundscape of Québec City.

I worked on this film as consultant, on-screen participant and composer. During post-production, I collaborated closely with sound designer Claude Langlois in the development of the soundtrack. From the extensive collection of sounds recorded during the shooting of the film in 1995 and 1996 in Québec City I composed electroacoustic transformations of Québec’s soundscapes which connect narrative elements in the film.

[ix-97]

This is a revised and condensed version of the original music from the film.

Musique de l’Odyssée sonore was realized in my studio and at PRIM, centre d’arts médiatiques, Montréal. Special thanks to Claude Langlois for the poetry and musicality of his sound editing and to Shelley Craig and her assistant Geoffrey Mitchell for their sensitive sound mix. Thanks to R Murray Schafer, Compagnie Jean-Pierre Perreault, Chœur Maha (Kathy Kennedy, artistic director), Wolf Project members and to the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM). Thanks also to sound recordists Richard Besse, Marcel Fraser, and Gilles Corbeil, and to foley artist Paul Hubert.