In the composition "Chant d'Ailleur" Alejandro Vinao varies chants of a fictive culture which develop their own distinct technology despite their folkloristic flair.

"Chant D'Ailleurs" ("Chant from Elsewhere") is a set of three song-like chants from a fictional culture. I imagined this culture as one which had developed technology in spite of having remained rural. This improbability accounts for the ritualistic and at times monodic nature of the singing, coupled to a computer part which seeks not to harmonize or orchestrate the songs but rather to extend the phrasing and timbre of the voice beyond its natural acoustic means.

Our culture has used each new technological development to further its original musical concerns: harmony, large scale form and timbre. My imaginary culture too, used technology to develop its rural and ethnic singing tradition. Based on this idea, I developed an imaginary singing style, with its own melisma, its own ornamental identity, the identity of a chanting "tradition" that I invented. In this tradition, the tune of each chant is less important than its ornaments, which can have a much stronger musical profile. Such a tune is difficult to remember. We may recall the "style" of the phrasing but not the phrase itself. The computer is also part of this imaginary style. The vocal sounds it manipulates and the new timbres it creates are articulated and "performed" in away which is consistent with the chanting style of the singer. When the computer takes the vocal sounds and transforms them into new timbres, it does so following the "stylistic constraints" of this imaginary culture.

I based the invented singing style on the traditions of different Eastern music and in particular on one Mongolian folk tune which I specially like for its beautiful use of melisma and glottal vibrato.

"Chant D'Ailleurs" was commissioned by the French government for Groupe de Recherches Musicales and was premiered by Frances Lynch at the Grand Auditorium of Radio France in Paris, the l0th of February of 1992. The computer part was produced at GRM using a SYTER Computer to process original vocal sounds. (Alejandro Viñao)

Technical Background

HW: Syter, Mac IIFX, S-1000 Synthesizer, Sound Tools
SW: Alquemy-Sound Designer-Performer, Syter

Alejandro Viñao (RA), born 1951, studied composition, guitar and conducting in Buenos Aires and has been a resident of Britain since 1975. He was awarded a British Council scholarship to further studies in composition and electronic music at the Royal College of Music in London. He continued his work in electronic and computer music at The City University, graduating in 1979. After graduation he taught electronic music composition there. In 1988 he was awarded a Ph.D. in composition at the same institution. In addition to his instrumental and electroacoustic music compositions he has also been involved with writing and playing rock music, the creation of multimedia works, and has composed music for some 20 films. In recent years Viñao has produced several radio programs for the BBC where he presented his music and that of other composers who share similar aesthetic and technological interests.