Setup for Stockhausen's SYNTHI-FOU 2022

SYNTHI-FOU setup on stage, July 2022, at the Stockhausen Courses Kürten

Between 2021 and 2022 I had the pleasure to work with Carlos Castro van der Elst to prepare a completely new version (and hence a new keyboards and equipment setup) of Stockhausen's SYNTHI-FOU for his final exam at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague (Den Haag Koninklijk Conservatorium).

Myself and Carlos in my studio, preparing for SYNTHI-FOU at the Stockhausen Courses Kürten 2022.

We spent countless hours in my studio preparing the 131 plus sounds required for the score, deciding on the equipment and talking about how we could make this new version really become alive.

We were so happy with the result of the new version that decided to push forward and try presenting it at the Stockhausen Courses in Kürten on their 2022 edition. We first performed for Kathinka Pasveer who enthusiastically enlisted us for the Saturday July 16th 2022 participants concert.

We were delighted that we were chosen to perform in the participant's courses.

First page of the score of SYNTHI-FOU

SYNTHI-FOU plays out as the last scene of the opera DIENSTAG aus LICHT. While the synth player plays out the 'Signals' (musical phrases), the electronic music OKTOPHONIE is being projected in an octophonic cube that encloses the audience completely. All of the sounds in OKTOPHONIE are already spacialized in the tape material. As for the sounds produced by SYNTHI-FOU they are all spacialized live during the performance. For this I used the included joystick in the DiGiCo SD7 that we had available during the courses.

Unfortunately not much of the spatialization can be perceived in the video due to the fact that the performance that night was recorded with a simple one-camera and one-mic setup and it was ment for archival purposes only.

I write this post in loving memory of Carlos who left us about a year ago.

Dear Carlos may your soul brighten other worlds like you brighten this one.

Carlos Castro van der Elst

R.I.P. 1996 - 2025