Spencer Salazar

RIP ER. Here's an excerpt from my chapter on EA/hip-hop. Éliane Radigue's work with the ARP synthesiser exemplifies how artists could transcend tech- nological constraints through creative innovation. Radigue first encountered the Buchla synthesiser during a workshop at New York University and was drawn to its experimental potential. However, she ultimately chose the ARP 2500 for its distinctive matrix switch system, which replaced the delicate and cumbersome patch cords of other modular synthesisers, offering a more streamlined experience. "Only about 100 ARP 2500 systems were made, with an estimated 50 remaining in working condition today" (Thatcher 2018, n.p.). Radigue valued the ARP's versatility, but even as digital technologies emerged, she remained committed to analog sound. "Analog sound is continu ous.... But digital sound is by nature discontinuous... I knew it wasn't for me," she explained (Zanca 2023, n.p.). Radigue's Jetsun Mila (1986) fully harnesses the expansive sonic capabilities of the ARP 2500 to create immersive, meditative soundscapes characterised by gradual and subtle shifts in timbre and texture. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Radigue's approach centred on patience and critical listening, often dedicating months to meticulously shaping the fine details of her composi-tions. The ARP 2500's flexibility and stability (lacking the pitch 'drift' of other analog synths) was ideally suited to her process, allowing her to stack multiple immaculately tuned and timed tracks onto tape. Her process relied on: Usral - an abbreviation of 'ultrason ralenti', or slowed-down ultrasounds... Radigue took ultrasonic tones obtained through electroacoustic feedback techniques, then iteratively re-recorded the material onto magnetic tape, slowing the playback speed during each suc- cessive iteration in order to transpose once-ultrasonic tones into a human audible range. This technique exemplifies Radigue's distinctive interest in revealing what she called "le jeu des harmoniques" (Silliman 2023, 540) - the play or game of partials - where complex sonic elements emerge and recede through careful manipulation of the synthesiser's parameters. This long work rewards patient listening to fully understand its subtle changes. Figure 23.2 shows how Jetsun Mila begins with simple beating patterns and tape loops then evolves through various sonic transformations, incorporating heterodyning, filtering, and crossfades around fundamental frequencies (primarily E2/E3). As it develops, the texture gradually shifts from purely synthetic elements to more organic-like sounds, introducing chant-like vocals and granular textures in the later movements. Filters bring out different partials, and the piece concludes with a beating G2 spectrum in the final movement. The piece's gradual evolution emerges fully when one relinquishes any sense of time and accepts its gentle shifts in texture.

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