Is it over
, by Olivier Colot
Track from the EP "Is it over?" released by Cinematic Electronics.
I must admit that I found a theoretical explanation for the creation of “Is it over?” in hindsight, as I compose “emotionally” and usually work on technique to expand my musical vocabulary. As I often do, I asked myself what constitutes the essence of this track. What a surprise when I discovered how much my unconscious had been working without my knowledge to create this exploration of the relationship between timbre and scales, while I was reading in parallel Arnold Schoenberg’s “Theory of Harmony” which begins with these kinds of considerations!
Here is this somewhat technical theoretical explanation: “Is it over?” is a composition that plays with the concepts of harmonic color and timbre based on the euphony of harmonic series. Working with just intervals (not tempered tuning), I explore the idea that a played note can then give rise to other notes that correspond to the overtones of its timbre. Both in the chordal succession and in the melody, I explore the stability of the euphonics of the first harmonics and then move towards higher order harmonics. The latter not being traditionally used to constitute the Western tempered scales to which we are accustomed, it gives the impression of a harmonic borrowing from another color, whereas it is simply the expression in note of the harmonics of higher order.