Oppressum by Israël Quellet

Swiss electro-acoustic artist Israel Quellet's first opus.

Introduction to Israël Quellet - His Sound

Quellet's music is not really outsider sound art, but it shares strong similarities with it. It explores a debarred universe almost impossible to escape. A minute - albeit extreme - exploration of sound (particularly through saturation), mystical discourse and excesses. However, the composer is also pictured as a regular guy living in a Swiss town, a guy who likes to toy with the local church's organ, accompanied by his wifeŠ

Sound materials come from a number of sources: the local church's organ, rented or borrowed percussion instruments (bass drum, timbales, gong, djembe), various objects being struck (his oil tank at home struck with hammers and iron rods), pipes, faucets, telephone touch pads, power tools, sound-producing toys, voice, mouth sounds, throat sounds, and wheelbarrows.

Israël Quellet's Sound, In His Own Words :

I made the sounds while I was recording, either alone or with the help of my wife. Once a piece has been edited together, the final mixing is performed live, without automation. In order to retain the original dynamics, I do not use compression or any other specific mastering technique designed to equalize the sound or spatialize the stereo image. However, the heavy saturation used in some pieces limits the range of dynamics. The diverse sounds and the diverse means used to capture them give each piece a different overall sound and stereo image. Therefore, the pieces are not standardized or calibrated systematically; they do not all sound the same.