Subterranean Changes: Electronic Music in North Africa

The concert program highlights the convergence of traditional and avant-garde music in Morocco. Ahmed Essyad’s electroacoustic compositions from the 1970s evoke popular music heard in Moroccan villages in the late 1950s. Gilles Aubry performs with modular synths and an AI sound generator inspired by a song about machines composed by the rais musician Haj Belaid in the 1930s.

Concert Program

Toubkal (1972, 11’40) electroacoustic work by Ahmed Essyad
Toubkal refers to the summit of the same name that dominates the Moroccan High Atlas range, cradle of Amazigh culture. The title appears as a gesture of affection and solidarity with this culture, which is stigmatized and threatened. The use of synthesizers and the manipulation of recorded sounds allow for an imperceptible, almost subterranean evolution of timbres, in the manner of the progressive temporal modulations of ahwach music.

Sultane (1973, 14’00) electroacoustic work  by Ahmed essyad
Sultane is the fruit of a reflection on earth and soil. The first movement is festive, inspired by a warrior song recorded in Taza in the 1950s. Each of the five movements has its own character, alternating between dense, rhythmic parts and slower passages, from which electronically distorted voices emerge.

L’Makina (2023, 30’00) live set by Gilles Aubry (modular synth and computer)
Aubry’s composition L’Makina is a haunting soundscape that combines AI-generated sound textures with modular synths. Structured in two parts, the piece explores the spectral possibilities of a virtual sound model developed using a machine learning algorithm, in collaboration with Moroccan musicians Ali Faiq and Idr Basrou. The title, L’Makina, references a 1930s song about the phonograph by Amazigh musician L’Haj Belaid. In the original song, Belaid marvels at the machine’s ability to replicate human speech with uncanny precision, prompting the poet to question whether he should continue composing verses. This reflection resonates with current debates surrounding artificial intelligence and the interplay between humans and machines. In live performances, Aubry improvises on a quadraphonic sound system, integrating modular synths with elements from the recorded work.

Biographies
Ahmed Essyad is a composer born in 1938 in Salé, Morocco. After studying music at the Rabat Conservatory, he moved to Paris in 1962, where he became a pupil and then assistant to Max Deutsch. Interested in ethnomusicology, he focused his research on orality and notation (Le Collier des ruses, 1977), as well as on musical time and pulsation (cycle L’eau, 1980-1993; Héloïse et Abélard, 2000). His music is a blend of Berber oral tradition, serial writing and Gregorian and modal influences.

Gilles Aubry is a Swiss musician and sound artist based in Berlin. He creates experimental sound pieces using field recordings, electronic manipulations, and feedback processes. He is also known as a member of the noise collective MONNO, who released five albums between 2003 and 2015. As a sound artist, Aubry’s practice includes film, installation, radio, and performance. His work has been showcased at numerous art institutions and music festivals, including Impulse Festival Leipzig (2023), Sea Art Festival Busan (2023), Rewire Festival The Hague (2023), Norient Festival Bern (2023), Tuned City Festival (2018), documenta14 in Kassel (2017), Café Oto London (2017), Ultraschall Festival Berlin (2016), Kontraste Festival Krems (2011), and GRM Paris (2010).

Links
Interview with Ahmed Essyad on norient.com
Ahmed Essyad’s bio
Gilles Aubry’s website

Ahmed Essyad’s album on Subrosa

Gilles Aubry’s album L’Makina on Corvo records

 

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