From DNA to the Berlin School

"From DNA to the Berlin School, life is made of sequences"
Christophe Bargeault

Christophe Bargeault's testimony
To immerse myself in the universe of Sequentia Legenda

SL: "How did you discover my music?"

Christophe Bargeault: "My name is Christophe and I am passionate about music, mainly electronic. Although this music does not constitute my DNA, it is nevertheless part of my daily life and I consider it as vital, as air and water can be. This passion has led me on a perpetual quest, from my first memories forty years ago, to the present day where musical networks lead me from surprise to discovery.

It is this quest that led me to meet the Patch Work Music association three years ago, and to immerse myself in the universe of Sequentia Legenda.

I discovered the Berlin School late in life, twenty-five years ago, at a flea market, when a record dealer, looking at my T-shirt with a certain JMJ on it, handed me a vinyl and said: "Here, this is for you". I was holding Klaus Schulze's Picture Music in my hands. That was the start of a new musical life."

 

THE UNIVERSE OF SEQUENTIA LEGENDA
Back to my first electronic emotions

SL: "How do you feel when listening to my sound worlds?"

Christophe Bargeault: " The music and the universe of Sequentia Legenda are fantastic in that they instantly take me back to my first electronic emotions. Like Proust's madeleine, the sounds, sequences and rhythms take me back in time, with this incomparable flavour, while keeping this very current signature."

THE RETURN (LONG VERSION)
A return to the roots, a return to the essential

Christophe Bargeault: "Laurent, you offered us at the beginning of this month of July a long version of your track "The Return". This particular track finds its genesis in 1984 when the idea of your project "Over There" was born in your mind. In 2017, an experimental version of The Return was released and in 2019, your 1984 project was realised. Finally, comes this long version from 2021.

Is this song one of the most important of your career? Listening to this new version, we feel that you still had things to express."

SL: "Indeed, you are right, I still had things to say, emotions to share. This title says a lot about my state of mind and my musical vision: a return to the roots, a return to the essential, in every respect. I reworked this track not only in its duration, but also in its depth, in its "soul" if I may say so. There isn't necessarily an excess of artifice as one might expect when a longer version is released. The challenge was, on the contrary, to make this title "grow" a little more, with subtlety, with sensitivity and creativity. I can't say if it's the most outstanding track in my discography, but in any case, it's the one that Tommy and I played in concert with great complicity and aptness. At the end of the concert in Tübingen, Till Kooper, a musician friend of mine, said something beautiful to me that really touched me: "It's as if I'd just heard the third track of Klaus Schulze's Trancefer exclusively!", and Tommy added: "It made me think back to the nightly rehearsals with Klaus, and tonight I felt in a trance again!"

Christophe Bargeault: "You mention in the notes of this new version the use of a new emulated instrument: the Korg modular PS-3300. At a time when physical reissues of mythical synthesizers are commonplace, you use almost exclusively virtual instruments. What led you to make this choice? Doesn't this "distance" between the composer and his instrument, because of this difference in interaction, slow down your creativity?"

SL: "When I was 18 years old, I had a lot of analog instruments: the ARP Odyssey, the Korg PS-3200, MS20 and SQ10, the Oberheim Two Voices and so on. When the MIDI standard came along, I gradually got rid of my analogue synths and bought digital instruments. Then life took me away from music for a while. Just ten years ago, I started making music again and discovered virtual instruments. Their possibilities seduced me immediately, and I was able to work happily with these emulations while combining my knowledge of analog and digital synthesis.

I don't really perceive any distance between my instruments, virtual as they are, and myself. I have taken my marks, my routines and I always discover with pleasure the vast field of action which is offered to me. With the large and beautiful palette of possibilities to express myself, I have the freedom to sculpt my sequences at will and program certain things that I feel cannot be easily done with a hardware synth. But this is subjective, of course, it's my feeling, the fruit of my experience.

Creativity for me is a matter of sensitivity and it is the language of the heart and soul that takes precedence over everything else."

 

THE RETURN (Long Version)

MY VISION FOR THE BERLIN SCHOOL IN 2021
Self-expression, passion to share and authenticity

Christophe Bargeault: "Compared to what it was when it was born, how do you see the Berlin School of 2021?"

SL: "I believe in this beautiful musical movement and I am still convinced that it has great days ahead. The technology may have changed, but the purely musical approach remains much the same. Once again, as far as I am concerned, it is not the instruments that come first, but the self-expression, the passion to share, the authenticity. CELESTIAL will be my vision for the Berlin School in 2021.

I am already looking ahead to 2022 with RESONANCE, where I invite the audience to resonate with my music, with the Berlin School."

ENTER IN RESONANCE

 

Extract of the first track "Three Astral Arches" from Sequentia Legenda's next musical opus "CELESTIAL".

I am very happy to announce that the work on my next opus "CELESTIAL" is progressing in a positive way. The result corresponds to the idea that had germinated a few months earlier in my mind, it is the reflection of what I wish to communicate emotionally and artistically. A new experience, a new sharing, that I will have the pleasure of presenting and highlighting on 21 September 2021, the date of the album's release.

 

 

            

OVER THERE 1984 – 2019

A THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD PROJECT

OVER THERE – 1984

Finally, this project dates back to 1984.
I was nineteen then, three years earlier, I had discovered the music of Klaus Schulze.

I lived with my parents and it is in a room of the cellar that I had installed my home studio. Today I would like to thank them for all the attention they have given me and it is also thanks to them that I have been able to emancipate myself musically.

THE ANALOG ERA AND THE ARRIVAL OF MIDI

We were at the end of the analog era and the MIDI standard was pointing its nose. I bought the PS3200 from Korg during a trip to Paris with my father.

I had my own collection of analog instruments, the modular Korg was surrounded by the ARP Odyssey, the MS20 Korg and its SQ10 sequencer, the duophonic Oberheim 2 Voice, the MultimanS Crumar all accompanied by a Roland RE 201 echo chamber and a TEAC A3340S 4-track tape recorder.

I had the idea to make an album called OVER THERE, imagined its cover and printed it on fabric. Looking back, I think I can remember that I had envisaged a mystical and cosmic soundscape. I can still feel a few loops above my future musical landscapes.

My encounter with the modular Korg PS3200

THE TIME HAS PASSED

I had written a letter to Klaus Schulze, unfortunately without an answer. However, I had the pleasure of hearing him and seeing him several times on stage in my region.

Meanwhile, music technology had evolved. I then separated from my analog synthesizers to the profit of digital instruments, an Atari STF 1024 with the software Pro-24 of Steinberg.

It was during my year of military service that I bought my first digital synthesizer. It was the Korg DSS1 which had totally convinced me notably by its chorus sounds.
The reproduction of human voices fascinated me and I always wanted to integrate this major element in my compositions. For this new project, I opted for the integration of voices from the illustrious Mellotron.

More recently, digital instruments have given way to virtual synthesizers.

OVER THERE – 2019

Thirty-five years later, I decided to carry out this project that is close to my heart.

This opus will be in the lineage of the Berlin School, with my own musical vision, a glance towards the essential, a return to the sources.

From now on, I work with the current instruments. The VST's were hand-picked to "stick" as close as possible to the atmosphere of the period from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
I am attentive to the sound grain, to the particular timbre of the analog era in order to preserve the spirit of this beautiful musical movement. The Minimoog, the Jupiter8, the Modular Moog will be very present as in ETHEREAL and in my last album RENAISSANCE. From now on, the Solina and Mellotron (M-Tron) GForce's will join the orchestration, bringing an extra vintage touch.

Three tracks will compose this album. For the second track "FLOATING TIME",
Tommy Betzler (Klaus Schulze, Peacock, Picture Palace Music, P'Faun) will be present.
The German drummer has the Berliner Schule experience since he accompanied
Klaus Schulze on his tours and participated in two of his albums (DIG-IT and JUBILEE EDITION (1997)).

An extract of what will be the atmosphere of this project

 

This extract is still in its experimental version, it is a foretaste, a perspective of my musical vision for 2019. The work remains focused on the symbiosis of the sequences with the pads. It is a sound palette close to the analog era, with the touch of current instruments. The sound landscape of this title is for me the closest to my musical ambition, to my vision of the Berlin School of today and tomorrow.

 

OVER THERE

Official release planned for March 3, 2019

            

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Mirage : My musical « love at first sight »!

1980 – A real crush

It was in 1980 at the age of 15 that I discovered a new music coming from elsewhere, 

a new tone, an unknown world was going to open to me and somewhat by chance.

Among all the 33-rpm vinyl collection of my parents, a particular album got my attention. 

The particular look of the cover intrigued me. A distinctive style, a refined cover, a face, a name: Klaus Schulze, a title Mirage!

At this time, I did not know yet that by taking out the long-playing off its sleeve and that by putting it delicately on the record player the listening of it was going
to change my musical vision.

It was indeed a crush as from the first minutes!

Unknown sounds, a captivating atmosphere, a journey, a revelation. 

Yes, this record was a revelation to me.

On that day, I began to listen to face A then face B in a continuous loop. I analysed the musical structure, the length of the tracks, the tones, the sleeve, the editorial content. Everything went through.

Few days later, I went to the nearby record shop to find Klaus Schulze’s other albums.

Around me I only talked about my musical discovery.

My vision of Mirage

« Mirages are optical phenomena that are for real and that occur in specific circumstances »

The subtitle « eine elektronische winterlandschaft », an element of the cover that I overlooked at the time, and that can be translated to « an electronic winter landscape », remains a mystery to me.

Here is how I understand and see this album.

Side A: Velvet Voyage

With my very first listen, and despite this subtitle, it was on the contrary desert landscapes that sprang to my mind. I imagined sand dunes, heat, sun, with bright reverberations in the distance, mirages. 

I thought actually that the album title was a reference to the mirages one can see in the deserts. It’s the Sahara that in my eyes, matched the best the sonic space of this album.

In my opinion, in Velvet Voyage, the echoes we hear (it’s Klaus Schulze’s voice if I am not wrong) bring to mind a broad area, space, and little by little (6:20) the track moves towards an eastern atmosphere, where the shape of a caravan in the orange lights of a sunset appears to me in the far distance. I feel a dry and overwhelming heat.

I would like to point out that in this track, which is the most atmospheric in the album, one of the most subtle sequences in Klaus’ body of work can be heard, but it’s just my own opinion of course. This sequence is slowly building at 11:00 before growing and being more present from 13:00 on. I think this sequence is filled with « eastern » colours and is an introduction to side B. Even the first notes of the solos (from 15:55 on) sound to me in an eastern way. There are more and more optical phenomena in this torrid heat. I am all surrounded by this hot feeling and dazed by the smell of the sand. Strange.

« ... ottoman music, arabic music, developed their own modal systems with different features and rules, that include elements of cosmology (time, season or place where to play), morality (angry, sad, happy, etc.) and aesthetics (ascending pentatonic and descending heptatonic scales)» (Source : wikipedia)

« The most frequent type is the hot mirage, or inferior mirage, which develops when the temperature of the ground is very high (desert, asphalted road…) and looks like a lake of water » (Source : intra-science.com)

Side B: Crystal Lake

The sole title made me right about my idea of mirages we see when it’s very hot. I could easily see through this fantastic sequence the light refractions growing as the lines of the sequence were becoming larger.

The heat is also growing, reaching its highest point when the first deep notes appear. I see again the shapes in the saharian back light, and I hear again eastern flavoured sounds when the solo starts (8:00), transporting me above the desert. It’s a truly eastern dance that starts. It’s good, it’s nice, and it’s almost « erotic »…
I share my feeling because I really like this passage (12:00), 
it’s right there that I literally fell in love with this music we call Berlin School !

The heat decreases little by little (14:00), it is even more languid, mirages slowly disappear, the sun bathes the dunes with its last rays. Caravans move slowly towards the oasis. A little wind (16:00) lifts up a soft and thin red dust. Night falls slowly and stars shine. The crimson colour appears. Notes (19:00) bring to mind arabic instruments. Towards (23:00), the sunrise is the sign of a new day in the desert. At (25:00) it’s the East in all its splendour! 

It’s simply NICE !

This is how I see Mirage, it’s far from the winter landscapes, but close to the desert dunes, a Klaus Schulze album that I love with passion,

Sequentia Legenda

Let’s celebrate the 40 years
of Klaus Schulze’s album Mirage

Klaus Schulze Mirage review in French

Klaus Schulze Mirage review in English

Klaus Schulze Mirage Wiki

            

www.sequentia-legenda.com

Sequentia Legenda Interview by Martin De La Woods

Sequentia Legenda Interview

Sequentia Legenda Synthfest 2016 Nantes

You have made it no secret that your music reflects the Berlin School sound especially the productions of Klaus Schulze. When did you first come across this form of music and why do you prefer to emulate this style rather than other genres?

SL: "The comparison with Klaus Schulze is often referred to, which quite satisfies me.
Klaus Schulze was a pioneer with a new musical approach. I appreciate his work. He is without any doubt one of the symbolic figures of Berliner Schule, and he has been a true revelation for me.

It all started while listening to Klaus Schulze's 'Mirage' album, when I was fifteen. I instantly fell in love with this music. That's how my passion for Berlin School developed. I then began to play on synthesizers.

Cosmic Music is a passion. It's a true delight for me to compose and my mind is out of this world during a composition session. I like to share my emotions in my music, give a little bit of dream, allow the listener to relax and escape this world in turmoil where everything goes too fast and where standardization reigns."


Considering the size of the synthesizers and the complexity of creating a basic pattern in the 70's the time saving of soft synths is probably no more applicable than here. To re-create the style do you use hardware, soft synths or a combination of the two?

I first owned a number of analogic synthesizers (ARP Odyssey, Korg PS3200, Polymoog, MS20 Korg + SQ10, Crumar Multimans S, Oberheim Two Voices). Then, when MIDI burst out, I purchased a few digital machines (DSS1 Korg, TG77 Yamaha, D110 Roland, KM1 Kawai, Microwave Waldorf, JD800 Roland). And now, I got only virtual synthesizers.


SL: "The Arturia V Collection is a working tool I often use and the Minimoog V is without a doubt one of my favourite VSTs. After collecting many hardware synthesizers, my current compositions are now built with VSTs. I might buy hardware material again in the future though, especially if I have to deal with stage performance."

Your track 'AU REVOIR' appeared on the compilation album 'Legacy and Evolution: A tribute to Edgar Froese' what did it mean to you to be a part of this tribute to the man who stayed with Tangerine Dream through various changes in the line up till his demise?

SL: "I was honoured and fortunate enough to have Rebekka Hilgraves propose me to be part of her project dedicated to the memory of Edgar Froese. Her project was almost over when I was approached and I had only a few weeks left to get to the final version of the composition that was to become 'AU REVOIR'.

I felt the urge to pay a tribute to one of the forerunners of Berliner Schule. Edgar Froese was instrumental in the development of electronic music. Many thanks to him."



To read the rest of this interview here

Thanks to Martin De La Woods for this interview :)

▶  AU REVOIR on Bandcamp

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▶  Sequentia Legenda in Nantes (SynthFest 2016)