I am somewhat of a music veteran, a former lazy apprentice organist who fell
in love with synthesizers during the golden age of the
Juno 106,
DX7, and other
Poly-800.
But above all, I am passionate about sound in all its forms and mixing.
The wonderful world of computer-aided music, which I discovered when the
Atari ST
was launched, became a passion for me.
It was Pro 24 and Cubase that allowed
me to hone my skills, long before I explored Pro Tools, Logic, and,
more recently, Studio One.
Since adolescence, I have also been an indefatigable gamer.
From Arkanoid
to Baldur's Gate 3.
My advanced age has, for example, allowed me to discover and play all the episodes of
Civilization
since the first episode of the saga in 1991.
At the beginning of the summer of 2022, I embarked on a very experimental project,
with no real purpose other than to explore musical genres that I had never
practiced before. From June to August, 4 tracks emerged.
If the first 4 tracks allowed me to imagine the world to which they referred,
the creative process almost immediately reversed.
Indeed, as I imagined the story of the two brothers and the crew of sailors,
I now composed the tracks to set their adventures to music.
In January 2023, the storyline was finally complete, but the album still
only consisted of 13 tracks for a total duration of about 41 minutes.
The 4 tracks that were the origin of the project are included
in the final album. Here they are, in the order of their composition:
"The Journey" draws much of its musical inspiration from the world of video games.
But also in film music, progressive rock, electronic music, or, more broadly,
in pop culture. I have been influenced by all kinds of music since my childhood.
This variety matters.
If I had to remember just one influence, it might be the extraordinary work done
by Jeremy Soule
a few years ago in his compositions for the games
"The Elder Scrolls" and
"Guild Wars".
I do not consider this as a direct influence, I never thought about it during the album's
conception. But it is an absolute reference in how I approach these musical adventures.
When you place your hands on the keyboard, with an idea in mind,
your overall musical culture and experience are always there to influence you,
guide you, or suggest some tricks, often in a completely unconscious manner.
From the beginning of the album production, I didn't want to create
something that was 100% electronic (only using synths) or
100% pseudo-classical (only using orchestral libraries or acoustic instruments).
What interested me was the fusion of these two worlds, the way they wove together.
This guided my work on every track.
In the end, the album was mixed and mastered "in the box," in my home studio.
During the mixing process, I sought to find or preserve a balance so that
the different types of sounds mentioned earlier could blend harmoniously.
I also like to talk about fusion.
I recorded a real bass guitar on all the tracks, instead of using a synth for that.
There are also some additional real background vocals.
Thinking about the album's accompanying booklet and website, I quickly
wanted to delve into visualizing the story told by the album. I needed
to make the world of musical adventures and its characters more tangible.
After some frustrating attempts with generative AI, I decided starting
in the summer of 2024 to create the visuals from scratch using
Blender
software. A time-consuming project, but rewarding, as it now allows me
to present visuals that are quite close to the vision I had imagined.
In the future, I would like to collaborate with an illustrator to
further develop the visual aspect of the musical adventures. But it
is currently beyond my capabilities.