Bouches II

Multiple mouths A single Mouth of many vocalitiesMouthssinging the vocal materialfreeing auralityexercising constant phonationMouth - Memory"the central actor of the drama" which is singing
"Bouches" has been composed for the 2E2M Ensemble and has been commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture and the French Radio and has been worked at La Muse En Circuit and the GRM studios.This is a new version for solo female voice and electronics.The piece is dedicated to the singer and performer Demétrio Stratos. It is a vocal cycle of four pieces: "Screams & Parasites", "Fragments d'une Berceuse Étirée", "Slow n'Low" and "Vocalism". The voice uses multiple phonation types: sometimes "brut" vocalizations and sometimes adopts Demétrio Stratos' path or that of the oral traditions.The material of "Fragments d'une Berceuse Étirée"  (Fragments of An Extended Lullaby) comes from a popular french lullaby. The lullaby (extremely slowed down) is being sang by a voice masked with a small piece of paper. "Screams & Parasites" is composed by vocal interjections and quickly alternating phonations; they form an obstinate and accelerated rhythm leading to scream. The tape uses recorded screams of Avant-Rock vocalists who have deeply influenced my way of perceiving the voice (and its body): The Residents, Patti Smith, Captain Beefheart, Pink Floyd.In "Slow n'Low" the voice imitates the machine and the electroacoustic transformation of the recorded voice:extreme slow down and transposition, reverse, fragmentation. The electronics reinforce the natural voice imitations of the machine.In "Vocalism" the voice recites in a rythmic and monotone way a list of words inspired by the homonymous poem of Walt Whitman.