Sequentia Legenda : un univers musical toujours en expansion…

Interview de Sequentia Legenda par Philippe Vallin

(Clair et Obscur, 2 juin 2016)

Sequentia Legenda : un univers musical toujours en expansion…

Venu d’une planète bleue lointaine située aux confins de notre galaxie, Laurent Schieber (alias Sequentia Legenda) s’est révélé aux terriens que nous sommes il y a deux ans à peine, avec son excellent premier album intitulé Blue Dream. Depuis son atterrissage sur notre petite biosphère, ce passionné des synthétiseurs et de la musique électronique planante façon « Berlin School » n’a eu de cesse de nous faire voyager dans notre cosmos intérieur, en nous livrant du bien bel ouvrage, fortement influencé par le maître Klaus Schulze dont il est l’un des dignes héritiers. Rencontre et entretien avec ce compositeur passionné, dont le travail d’esthète se situe à mi-chemin entre tradition et modernité, au sein d’un genre musical qui semble bien loin d’avoir dit son dernier mot…

C&O : Bonjour Laurent. Tu sembles manipuler les synthétiseurs et autres séquenceurs depuis fort longtemps. Comment est née cette passion pour la musique électronique dite « Berlin School », et comment expliquer alors pourquoi Sequentia Legenda et son remarquable premier album Blue Dream ne se sont dévoilés au public qu’en 2015 ?



Sequentia Legenda : "Tout a débuté avec l’écoute de l’album Mirage de Klaus Schulze, lorsque j’avais une quinzaine d’années. Ce fut un véritable coup de foudre musical. C’est ainsi qu’est née ma passion pour la Berlin School. Dès lors, je me suis mis à jouer du synthétiseur. C’est dans l’arrière-boutique d’un magasin de musique de la ville que débutait mon apprentissage du solfège et du clavier. Bien vite, mon professeur se rendit compte de l’intérêt que je portais pour la synthèse sonore, et les cours de solfège laissèrent place alors à la découverte du synthétiseur. La chance de pouvoir tourner les potentiomètres d’un instrument mythique m’était offerte : il s’agissait du fameux Minimoog !

Les années s’écoulèrent avec l’acquisition d’un bon nombre d’instruments électroniques. Dans un premier temps, ce fut les synthétiseurs analogiques tels que le Korg PS3200, l’ARP Odyssey, le Crumar Multiman S, l’Oberheim Two Voice, le Korg MS20 et son séquenceur SQ10, le Polymoog, le vocoder Roland SVC-350. Avec l’arrivée du MIDI, je me séparais de tout cet arsenal analogique pour passer à l’ère du numérique avec mon premier logiciel de MAO tournant sur un Atari 1024 STF, accompagné de nouvelles machines telles que le DSS1 Korg, le TG77 Yamaha, le D110 Roland, le Microwave Waldorf, le K1M Kawai, le JD800 Roland.

Brièvement, j’avais été le clavier d’un petit groupe rock de la région, cependant, j’étais un musicien plutôt solitaire, s’exerçant dans la cave de mes parents. Je ne pouvais pas vraiment m’identifier à la musique dite « commerciale » des années 80. La musique planante était pour moi le chemin musical que je voulais suivre. C’est donc tout récemment que je me suis lancé dans le grand bain en présentant mon travail au grand jour, le partage était devenu une évidence. Je souhaitais montrer au public ma vision musicale et offrir une partie de moi-même au travers de mes compositions. Mon premier album Blue Dream fut bouclé fin 2014, après seize mois de labeur. Je suis une personne exigeante et cela explique en partie pourquoi mon premier disque mit autant de temps à voir le jour."

C&O : Ton oeuvre est souvent comparée à celle de Klaus Schulze, et pas forcément de manière péjorative d’ailleurs. Il est vrai qu’en écoutant Blue Dream, Vibrations, Au Revoir et Amira, il est difficile de ne pas sentir « flotter » la patte et le style du maître allemand, un peu comme une influence majeure qui te collerait à la peau. Que répondrais-tu à cela ? Et comment définirais-tu ta propre musique pour quelqu’un qui ne te connaît ni d’Ève ni d’Adam ?

Sequentia Legenda : "La comparaison avec Klaus Schulze revient souvent, ce qui n’est pas pour me déplaire. Klaus Schulze a été un précurseur avec une nouvelle approche musicale. J’apprécie son travail. Il est sans aucun doute une des figures emblématiques de la Berliner Schule, pour moi, il a été une véritable révélation. J’ai beaucoup écouté sa discographie de 1970 avec Irrlicht à 1988 avec En=trance.

Si je devais présenter ma musique, je dirais que c’est de la musique électronique, atmosphérique et planante. Une invitation au rêve, une ambiance propice à la méditation. Ce sont mes émotions, ma sensibilité qui transparaissent au travers de mes compositions, une partie de moi que je livre aux auditeurs."

Pour lire la suite de cet interview sur le site de Clair et Obscur c'est par ici.



Philippe Vallin nous a quitté le jeudi 27 octobre 2016 à l’âge de 46 ans.
Mes pensées vont vers lui et vers ses proches.

Philippe Vallin

Repose en paix.






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The spring projects of Sequentia Legenda

Springtime is here. 

Many projects are ongoing.

 

Out of the Silence

The collaboration with Kurtz Mindfields (Jean-Luc Briançon) was a great experience.

After having shaped the structure and finalized the composition of my piece "Out of the Silence", I let Kurtz fully immerse himself in the sonic universe that was then created. He managed to decipher my composition in an intelligent and sensitive way, so that we could be on the same page. With subtlety, he managed to include his touches in my soundtrack. 

The result is a symbiosis of both our musical worlds, a passion we both share: Berlin School music. 

Here is an excerpt of the final mix:




Our exchanges :

Sequentia Legenda: "I am pleased to give you the opportunity to listen to the current version of the track. You may find that several listens are necessary to get all the diversity and the subtleties of it. I wanted the atmosphere to be mystical without being too overwhelming, where a smooth development would allow unveiling of all the different sides of Out of the Silence throughout the nine minutes of the piece. The pads are made of minimalist chords. These are backed first by a modular Moog providing a sequential base with three sonic layers, then by the introduction of slowly progressing percussive elements. Transpositions are made with +3 and +5 half-tones in the closing section. The three choir layers complement each other, while at the same time staying in the background in the overall atmosphere. There you are with a brief outline of the development of Out of the Silence."

Kurtz Mindfields and Sequentia Legenda

Kurtz Mindfields: "I will then send you the extra tracks (in stereo), that are all sourced from real analog vintage masters, I had to get these in and out in a hurry earlier than expected because I really have to keep up with the timelines :-)
I often listened to Schulze in his greatest hours, Pete Namlook and also Jonn Serrie, as well as your demo for the track, already in good shape, in order to get to know your tape...I have asked myself how to bring interesting, landmark and emotional ideas without them being too absent or on the contrary too prominent, so that it can be a fitting part of the vinyl in terms of aesthetics, without affecting too much your great work as well...it was actually a lot of work from your side, and i am very happy about it!"

Around the second Moon

I keep on working on my forthcoming album "ETHEREAL". The second track "Around the second Moon", which features drummer Tommy Betzler, is in the mixing process.

All Tommy's drum parts are placed within the ethereal and cosmic atmosphere of this track.

Sequentia Legenda and Tommy Betzler

Just as for "Stratums of Seraphic Voices", the first track of the album, the sequential structure is based on the use of Arturia Moog Modular V. A Formant filter (not present on the original instrument) was used.


You can learn more about the development of ETHEREAL on my Blog.

Collaboration with Kuutana Serenity

Sequentia Legenda and Kuutana Serenity

And last of the spring news: I plan a collaboration with canadian artist Kuutana Serenity for the end of the year. Once again, any information on this coorperation to come between Ron Charron and me will be shared on my blog.


▶  Sequentia Legenda Work in Progress

▶  ETHEREAL Youtube Playlist

▶  Sequentia Legenda Discography

Great news from The Schallwelle Awards !

The Schallwelle Awards 2016

 I just received this beautiful news from Bochum (The Schallwelle Awards) !
Betzler‎ to Laurent : "Hallo Laurent, wir sind in der gruppe beste Cd international, auf dem 9platz!!!! Jean Michel Jarre ist mit 2cds auf 1😎😎!"

Planetarium Bochum Schallwelle Awards 2016 (Photo Dan Fischer)

 

EXTENDED in the category International Albums arrived in the 9th place!

It's just great :) Jean-Michel Jarre is in 1st place. 

Big thank to Tommy Betzler (P'cock, Klaus Schulze, Picture Palace Music, Michael Brückner, TMA) for all the confidence he gave me during this adventure. I am honored to have been able to work with him. I also thank my family and all those who believed in my music and gave their support.

EXTENDED Somewhere Trailer - Berliner Schule Elektronische Musik

Trailer from the title Somewhere Extended Version

with the participation of Tommy Betzler

▶  EXTENDED on Bandcamp

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▶  EXTENDED Youtube Playlist

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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 :)

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New album scheduled for mid-2017: ETHEREAL !

ETHEREAL by Sequentia Legenda

New album scheduled for mid-2017

ETHEREAL by Sequentia Legenda

Stratums of Seraphic Voices by Sequentia Legenda

The first title: Stratums of Seraphic Voices

Sequentia legenda: "In this first title, the Moog Modular  will generate a large sequence
bringing in its wake seraphic voices and ethereal choirs. Through this musical poem, the listener will be invited to live an immersive experience."

 

ETHEREAL by Sequentia Legenda - Stratums of Seraphic Voices -
(6min. short promo teaser)

The third title: Elevation

Sequentia legenda: "The third track of this album begins with the slow progression
of a cosmic sound texture, allowing the sequential lines of both Moog Modular
synthesizers develop.

In this sound canvas in perpetual evolution, the pads and ethereal choirs, backed by sonic percussions, invite the listener for an ascent to the stars."

An immersive and emotional experience - A tribute to the Moog Modular

▶  ETHEREAL the landing page

▶  Sequentia Legenda Work in Progress

▶  ETHEREAL Youtube Playlist

▶  Sequentia Legenda Discography

Interview Sequentia Legenda by Nani Sound (SynthFest 2016 in Nantes)

Interview Sequentia Legenda 

by Nani Sound - Berlin School music 

Interview Sequentia Legenda
Enregistré en mars 2016 à Nantes par Nani Sound.

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▶ Interview audio exclusive de Sequentia Legenda

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▶ www.sequentia-legenda.com

Sequentia Legenda broadcast on "La Planète Bleue"

The music of Sequentia Legenda broadcast on the program "La Planète Bleue" by Yves Blanc

«Most of the spacey music is made of three components : synth pads, sequencer loops and (sometimes annoying) solos. Sequentia Legenda is intelligent and sensitive enough to create his - strictly instrumental - music with the first two components only: the pads and the loops. In his spacey compositions, where light meets minimalism, and fitted to dream and meditation, there is no room for flashy solo, no room for protruding showing-off, instead the space is filled with highly sophisticated pads, perpetually changing and loops, themselves shaped in ever-changing patterns, sometimes highly complex, even if they often seem obvious.» Yves Blanc (La Planète Bleue)

▶  Link to La Planète Bleue website

▶  Link to radio Switzerland Couleur3

▶  Sequentia Legenda Youtube channel