By Keith Walsh
With a popular approach to jazz that exploits electronics as well as the unique emotional and percussive nature of the acoustic piano, French composer and performer Edouard Ferlet creates mesmerizing sounds. We discuss his new album ‘PianoïD²’, the choices he makes while composing, his audience, and planned innovations using A.I. in his music.
Popular Culture Beat: I find your novel approaches to composition exciting (the use of mallets, prepared piano, and Disklavier). What was your music like before you adapted these approaches, or conversely what do you imagine the characteristic of your compositions might take if you limited yourself to conventional approaches?
Edouard Ferlet: What makes my compositions special, I think, is first and foremost an awareness of sound. A single sound can determine the direction and narrative of a composition. Then the search for melody with rather disjointed intervals that creates a dramatic tension generated by each interval, rather than a horizontal melody.
And then a harmony that expresses strong colors with chords made up of intervals with a certain dissonance and management of tension/resolution. I also have a predilection for irregular meters and odd rhythms, played as fluidly and naturally as possible. Like a dancing rhythm, under ground and imperceptible. The prepared piano amplifies a form of dramatization through spacialization effects, auditory narration and sonic subtext.
Popular Culture Beat: As you rely heavily on acoustic piano sounds, I get that you feel the piano itself has manifold possibilities to express and inspire emotion (a view I share). Please explain!
Edouard Ferlet: I never forget that the piano belongs to the percussion family! I like to emphasize the notion of “pulse flavor”, which can be exacerbated by certain rhythmic devices such as ostinato, polyrhythm, accents, rhythmic shifts, arpeggios and motif recurrence. I also have a strong feeling for the phenomenon of vibration, which has an impact on emotion: the vibration of the sound, of course, but above all the vibration of the strings.
Harmonic progressions can also express an important emotion, contributing to a sense of travel, and even a cinematic atmosphere.
Popular Culture Beat: “From Z to A,” and “Cécile” are somewhat romantic, yet the possibilities of your training and instrumentation could lead to something more bizarre or eccentric? What limits do you place on your melodic strategies that hold you back from going into sounds that are fully experimental?
Edouard Ferlet: Precisely with this device, I chose to write melodies that are more unifying than usual. I wanted to push myself to create more direct music, which would appeal to a wider audience than just jazz. That’s why some jazz critics didn’t understand my desire to purify, to lighten up, to reduce, to obtain a more stripped-down, more intimate music, aimed at a more open audience than jazz purists.
Popular Culture Beat: “Herd Instinct” and “Twisted Mind” do get somewhat more experimental. What are the downsides of getting more fully experimental?
Edouard Ferlet: The disadvantage may be that it’s not immediately understood by everyone. It can take time for the listener to integrate certain music that has been created in a spirit of innovation. In this case, it’s a matter of the composer keeping his faith and continuing in the direction he’s set.
Popular Culture Beat: In France and elsewhere do you consider the market’s desire for certain types of music and how much do you consider the marketplace’s appeal when composing?
Edouard Ferlet: I take my listeners and viewers into account. I compose and play for them, I want to move them, make them travel, make them discover things, arouse their curiosity. I’m probably influenced by the French style, but I want my music to be universal. It’s even more gratifying to know that cultures far removed from mine are sensitive to my music. And I think that’s the case, judging by the testimonials I receive.
Popular Culture Beat: You lean heavily on Ionic and Diatonic scales. Have you ever studied or composed anything microtonally?
Edouard Ferlet: Yes, for this album I decided to use relatively conventional and consensual scales. As I said earlier, it’s part of my desire to purify and simplify my music. However, I’ve composed a lot of pieces using complex scales. Then there’s the question of the melody’s vocality. Do I want to write a melody that can be sung, or a relatively complex melody?
Popular Culture Beat: What are you working on now? What can we expect?
Edouard Ferlet: I’m continuing to work on the development of Pianoïd with A.I. I’m also working on the music of Erik Satie, whose death will be 100 years old in 2025. Erik Satie himself composed for player piano rolls!
Edouard Ferlet On Facebook
Edouard Ferlet On Instagram
Ferlet.com
Mélisse Record Label
‘PianoïD²’ Review On Synthbeat.com
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