Percussion and Live Electronics: Composition and Performance

Roland Auzet’s approach to percussion reflects the movement of contemporary music, while nonetheless drawing its inspiration from the African and Middle-Eastern traditions of storyteller-percussionnists. For several decades, the expansion of the performance techniques has renewed gesture; the voice, often internal, participates in this musical practice. In the traditional performance of storyteller-percussionists, musical discourse, serving the dramaturgy of the tale, is simultaneously borne by voice, percussion and gestures intrinsically tied to them. Coupling percussion with a computer device leads the composer/ performer to redefine his relationship with the instrument. Roland Auzet chose to draw on this internal voice accompanying performance: he materializes the gesture and reveals it musically through live electronics.