This work was composer for the 2010 Cut & Splice festival (London, England, UK) which theme was “radio and transmission.”

Now what the radio in 2010? What are the sounds of the radio? What is the sound signature of the digital radio transmisssion? I then grouped the various audio material collected over the years and I tried to give them a radiophonic colour. The use of filters and the intimacy of voice, longing for the days when radio played an important role in society? Perhaps, but also a memory: one of the first electroacoustic work that I listened was Kurzwellen (1968) by Karlheinz Stockhausen based on shortwaves. Is that the radio sound?

Moreover, when this work was commissioned to me, I was also told that the sound spatialization for the premiere would be made of 4 speakers. As I’m used to more complex system I was first caught off guard but then I remembered my first sound spatialization experience: a Pink Floyd concert in Québec City in 1971 or ’72. They have played Alan’s Psychedelic Breakfast (from the disc Atom Heart Mother, 1970) in quadraphony! So, Pink Floyd and Stockhausen, like in the good old days! Maybe this is what the radio in 2010, the nostalgia of the past.

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Like Radio was realized in 2010 at the composer’s studio in Montréal (Québec) and premiered on November 6, 2010 during the Cut & Splice festival in London (England, UK). The piece was commissioned by Sound and Music for its Cut & Splice festival.

Premiere

• November 6, 2010, Cut & Splice 2010: Day 3 — Apartment House / Robert Normandeau / Ma la Pert, Wilton’s Music Hall, London (England, UK)