David Morneau – Portfolio – 2018

Biophonic Beats

photo: Yuir Pires Tavares

Biophonic Beats (2018– )

Biophonic Beats is a conceptual response to the sonic ecosystem, a structured improvisation that is inspired by Bernie Krause's work on biophony (the collected vocalizations of non-human animals in a given environment.) Created with Melissa Grey (as l'Artiste ordinaire), Biophonic Beats is for benjolin synthesizer, trombone, and beats. We use Ableton Live to apply a custom gating effect to Melissa's benjolin that gives the music its polyphonic, rhythmic bounce. Ableton allows us to modify the structure of the music in performance.

Like many of the projects that we create, Biophonic Beats is a matrix for collaboration. We have performed with bassist Gahlord Dewald, clarinetist Thomas Piercy (performing on hichiriki), live visualist Marc Fiaux, and a consort of toy pianists during our residency at the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve (St. Petersburg, FL) in January, 2018. We have also developed an improvisation workshop for students using this music. During our tenure as Joan C. Edwards Distinguished Professor of the Arts at Marshall University, we led the students through a four-hour improvisation workshop using the structure and language of Biophonic Beats.

Ao Vivo no Casarão | Lado B | Parte 01 | Biophonic Beats
[Released October 22, 2018]
Direction and Production: Cristina Müller and Yuri Tavares
Music composed & performed by: Melissa Grey & David Morneau
Cinematography and Camera: Cristina Müller, Lydia Cornett, and Yuri Tavares
Sound recording: David Morneau, Michael Campos and Miguel Tang
Editing and color correction: Cristina Müller
Mixing: David Morneau and Miguel Tang
Conception: Cristina Müller, Giuliano Rossi and Yuri Tavares

"Ao Vivo no Casarão is a docu-music web series that portraits independent musicians of different styles while they perform in unexpected environments."

music begins at 3:10

performance documentation: Ao Vivo no Casarão video shoot

Tokyo to New York
Featuring Thomas Piercy [hichiriki]
Sunday, June 10, 2018
Spectrum
70 Flushing Avenue, Garage A
Brooklyn, New York

performance documentation

Pine Box Rock Shop with Marc Fiaux
Featuring Marc Fiaux [live visuals]
Sunday, May 20, 2018
Pine Box Rock Shop
12 Grattan St. Brooklyn, NY

performance documentation

Pine Box Rock Shop with Gahlord Dewald
Featuring Gahlord Dewald [bass] & Marc Fiaux [live visuals]
Friday, April 27, 2018
Pine Box Rock Shop
12 Grattan St. Brooklyn, NY

performance documentation

Ab Uno Pluribus
Featuring Marc Fiaux [live visuals]
Ab Uno Pluribus
Saturday, March 24, 2018
NYU Waverly Labs for Computing & Music
24 Waverly Place, New York
ab uno pluribus - from one to many - A monthly, experimental, audio-visual concert event in New York City.