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PHI Event Centre Habitat Sonore SE Ov3
Photo: ©Julien Grimard

Habitat Sonore: Listening room

  • Experience
  • Music
  • Immersion
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PHI Centre Salle d'écoute
407 Saint-Paul St
Montreal, Quebec, H2Y 2M3

Monday and Tuesday:
Closed

Wednesday to Sunday:
12 PM to 7 PM (last entry at 6 PM)

Duration: Approximately 60 min.

All ages

General admission: $12.50
Price including service fees, excluding taxes

Tune out the everyday noise and lose yourself in Montréal’s new immersive listening room.

The experience inside the listening room is in constant evolution. Please check back regularly to discover newly added artists and more time slot availability.

CURRENT ARTISTS

Coming September 27 → Akousma festival

PROGRAM 5

MUSICAL COMPOSITION IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 60'

August 23 - September 24
Wednesday, Friday & Sunday:
12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM
Thursday and Saturday:
1:30 PM, 4:30 PM

September 27 - October 20
Wednesday & Friday:
12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM
Thursday:
1:30 PM, 4:30 PM

PHI Centre Event Habitat Sonore Mai2023 Quatresurlechemin Program1 credit Laurence Dompierre Major

Quatre, sur le chemin
by Christophe Papadimitriou

Combining acoustic music, nature sounds and the latest technologies in sound spatialization, Quatre invites us to encounter nature in a different way and to recreate a link with the precious. Created throughout the year 2021, the work is a tribute to the cycle of the Quebec seasons. Each movement is a series of tableaux, where the music sketches nature in constant transformation. The musicians, inhabited by distant musical languages, bring a new sound to this world. An old film that was thought to be forgotten, but which comes back more vibrant than ever.

Musical direction, compositions and double bass: Christophe Papadimitriou
Accordion and marimba: Luzio Altobelli
Viola, oud and nay: Omar Abou Afach
Sound design: Florian Grond


Christophe Papadimitriou wishes to thank the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec for its support.

Photo: Laurence Dompierre-Major

PROGRAM 6

MUSICAL COMPOSITION IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 40'

August 23 - September 24
Wednesday, Friday & Sunday:
1:30 PM, 4:30 PM
Thursday and Saturday:
12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM

September 27 - October 20
Wednesday & Friday:
1:30 PM, 4:30 PM
Thursday:
12 PM, 3 PM, 6 PM

PHI Event Centre Habitat Sonore Mai2023 Sofie Birch IMG2

Lolupupi Kutiku
by Sofie Birch

"Lolupupi Kutiku is a land of invisible forests of crackling plants, humid melodies and curling flowers that lull you into a mysterious silk trance.


Asking 'Who are you? Where are you going? What’s in front of you if you listen?' The work combines nature recordings, synths, and sound therapeutic instruments distributed through Habitat Sonore’s speakers, and is an experiment to create contemplative space that embalms the busy spirit."


—Sofie Birch




Immersive mix: Sofie Birch et Phil Rochefort at the PHI Centre Recording Studio

Photos: Natasha Post Penaguiao

PHI Event Centre Habitat Sonore Mai2023 Sofie Birch IMG3

COMING SOON 🎶

For 4 weekends, our listening room will be captivated by programs specially designed for Habitat Sonore by the artistic director of the Akousma festival of immersive digital music. The perfect way to celebrate the 75th anniversary of musique concrète!

We invite you to explore the artists taking part in these programs. From September 30 to October 22, on weekends only, Habitat Sonore will be the setting for some exciting creations you won't want to miss!

PROGRAM 1 - INHABITED SPACES

MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 66’19’’

September 27 - October 22
Saturday: 1:30 PM
Sunday: 12 PM, 6 PM



PRESENTED BY

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 David Ledoux

Ville Aux Cent Clochers (2018)
by David Ledoux

Duration: 11'30

Excerpt from Cathédrales, an acousmatic journey, conceived for a dome of loudspeakers, that presents sound immersion as a “montrage” (from the French montrer and montage) for the ear, inspired by the physical and sonic presence of churches in Montréal.

Photo: Milan Maracek

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Melanie Frisoli

About Strings (2023)
by Mélanie Frisoli

Duration: 13'42

About Strings is based on two trivial spacetimes: the recordings of the different strings, slowly, of two strange instruments: a laboratory "monochord" and a ukelin (the mix of a violin and a ukulele), for sampling purposes. These sound recordings serve as a guideline for the piece and are kept whole, with their faults, their sudden movements and their roughness.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Ana Majek

Akheta's Blues (2012)
by Ana Dall’Ara Majek

Duration: 9'14

The title of this piece refers to the cyclical and repetitive song of the Acheta domesticus, better-known as the house cricket. Its song served as a model for the construction of the piece.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Simon Chioiniv2

Réservoir IV (2022)
by Simon Chioini

Duration: 14'02

Following the Climat avenir cycle published in 2021, Reservoir IV pursues a representation of nature through synthetic music. In this perspective, the Sound Habitat of the PHI Center is considered as a reservoir where water collides with walls, deposited on the outskirts of an unknown territory.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Francisco Lopez

untitled#385 (2020)
by Francisco López

Duration: 17'51

Composed, mixed and mastered by Francisco López at ‘mobile messor’ (The Hague) and Dune Studio (Loosduinen), 2020. Includes some electronic voice phenomena (EVP) samples by Michael Esposito.

PROGRAM 2 - REMINISCENT SOUNDS

MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 60’44’’

September 27 - October 22
Saturday: 3 PM
Sunday: 1:30 PM



PRESENTED BY
PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Marcelle Deschenes

Big Bang II (1987,1995)
by Marcelle Deschênes

Duration: 7'40

In a postnuclear setting where all trace of human life has vanished, crushed remnants emerge from the layers of sand and stone, and the fragments of memory burst through the shadow mouths forming, singing, shutting up, screaming.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Roxanne Turcotte credit Martine Doyon

Alibi des voltigeurs (2012-2014)
by Roxanne Turcotte

Duration: 8'09

This electronic poem is in four parts: Le cadran déchu (The Deposed Dial); L’obsession (The Obsession); La va-et-vient (To and Fro); L’horloge ambulante (The Walking Clock). I have an uneasy relationship with time… Present, past, and future times. – With the voices of Laur Fugère, Céline Bonnier and Pierre Lebeau.

Photo: Martine Doyon

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Nicola Giannini credit Louis Cummins

Rebonds (2021)
by Nicola Giannini

Duration: 12'50

Winner of the Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux prize at the first edition of Montréal international competition of immersive multichannel music AKOUSMAtique (2022).

A playful piece that explores the boundaries between rhythm, pitch, texture, and space. The work is inspired by the rhythmic figure of the rebound, a recurrent figure in electroacoustic music, characterized by the repetition of an element at a progressively increasing speed. The goal is to create sound choreographies, exploring sound spatialization possibilities.

Photo: Louis Cummins

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Hildegard Westerkamp credit Peter Grant

Beneath the Forest Floor (1992)
by Hildegard Westerkamp

Duration: 14'02

Following the Climat avenir cycle published in 2021, Reservoir IV pursues a representation of nature through synthetic music. In this perspective, the Sound Habitat of the PHI Center is considered as a reservoir where water collides with walls, deposited on the outskirts of an unknown territory.

Photo: Peter Grant

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Robert Normandeau credit Caroline Campeau

Melancholia (2015-2017, 2018)
by Robert Normandeau

Duration: 14'42

Melancholia has eight movements: black humour, nostalgia, anguish, boredom, reverie, anger, exhaustion, sadness. The only sound material of the piece comes from the bandoneon, a typical instrument of Argentine tango.

Photo: Caroline Campeau

PROGRAM 3 - ENERGETIC EMERGENCE

MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 62’44’’

September 27 - October 22
Saturday: 4:30 PM
Sunday: 3 PM



PRESENTED BY
PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Hans Tutschku credit Tony Rinaldo

Provenance-émergence (2022)
by Hans Tutschku

Duration: 18'30

This composition takes us on a path inside. Fragments of dreams and memories meet in a vast space full of dynamic movements. We fly, swim, dive in an unknown medium between air and liquid. In three slow, big waves, individual voices become more apparent and offer connecting points between the other elements.

Photo: Tony Rinaldo

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 John Young credit Amalia Young

Le chant en dehors (2022)
by John Young

Duration: 10'11

Winner of the Francis-Dhomont prize at the first edition of Montréal international competition of immersive multichannel music AKOUSMAtique (2022).

Le chant en dehors creates an atmosphere of evolving connection between sonorities of definite and indefinite pitch, or ‘tone’ and ‘noise.’ The title is taken from an instruction used by the French composer Francis Poulenc, meaning ‘bring out the tune.’

Photo: Amalia Young

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Natasha Barrett credit Kyrre Lien

Dusk's Gait (2018)
by Natasha Barett

Duration: 12'00

Dusk's Gait celebrates moments of real nature that may easily expire. The composition captures many late evenings and nighttime experiences of nature, and fantasies behind the veil of darkness.

Photo: Kyrre Lien

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Monique Jean credit Monique Bertrand

Volt 3 (2016-2017)
by Monique Jean

Duration: 10'57

The multitrack considered as if it was delimiting a physical place — a public square, empty — but radiating and vibrating with the rumor of the multitude of singularities that were still there not long ago. An intertwining of lines and occasional agglomerations that come together and come apart. The sound materials were made on Oboro's modular synthesizers.

Photo: Monique Bertrand

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Line Katcho credit Janeath

Aiguillage (Switches & Crossings) (2013-2014)
by Line Katcho

Duration: 11'06

This work bases itself on the engineering, the mechanics, the forces and physical energies underlying the operation of roller coasters. Circuits of long serpentine paths are triggered by a single initial state, the origin of unfolding activity that replenishes and renews itself within itself.

Photo: Janeath

PROGRAM 4 - NATURE SYNTHESIS

MUSICAL COMPOSITIONS IN SPATIAL AUDIO

Duration: 60’12’’

September 27 - October 22
Saturday: 12 PM, 6 PM
Sunday: 4:30 PM



PRESENTED BY
PHI Habitat Sonore Sept23 Christian Bouchard credit Julia Jones

Birdscape (2021-2022)
by Christian Bouchard

Duration: 14'15

I have always heard bird songs as the Earth’s sonic flowers, the first terrestrial melodies, but also as oscillators with complex modulations. After testing a few transformations, I felt like I had at my disposal the tools that would allow me to twist, transpose, and explode them into other materials in order to create new bird species.

Photo: Julia Jones

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 France Jobin

spring meanderings (2023)
by France Jobin

Duration: 15'12

As I run all year around on Mont-Royal, spring is a special time when all things come to life. I feel very lucky to witness the changes through the seasons. This is simply a meditation on the wonderful life cycle that keeps repeating.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Panayiotis Kokoras

Al Phantasy (2020)
by Panayiotis Kokoras

Duration: 11'12

One of the main sound-producing mechanisms in the piece is a vacuum cleaner. The airflow travels from the motor through the suction hose and telescopic tube to the end nozzle. The excitation signal is produced by various membranes and other probs vibrating at the end of the suction tube. Sound from there is then modulated following the Fab Synthesis paradigm, a sound synthesis practice I used throughout the piece.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Laurie Spiegel IMG2

Appalachian Grove II (1974)
by Laurie Spiegel

Duration: 7'56

I composed this set of three movements during May of 1974, when I had been studying computers for nearly a year. At that time, I had a research fellowship from the Institute for Studies in American Music, and was studying American music with H. Wiley Hitchcock. While composed under the influence of the rhythms, modes, and energies of that music, these pieces are probably best placed in that large category of composed music which distorts or alters more than it embodies folk material. Still, as with much of my music, both my earlier folk music roots and the practice of improvisation make the piece what it is.

PHI Habitat Sonore Sept2023 Louis Dufort Credit Valerian Mazataud

Monts Valin (2021)
by Louis Dufort

Duration: 11'37

Based on field recordings, this piece is inspired by a collection of meaningful moments experienced during my many hikes on Monts Valin, located in Saguenay. It was composed on the octophonic system of the Chicoutimi Musical Experimentation Center during a residency and mentoring activity (Achicoutimatique) and premiered at the same place on August 12, 2021.

Photo: Valérian Mazataud

PHI Event Centre Habitat Sonore IMG2
Photo: ©Julien Grimard

ABOUT
HABITAT SONORE

Habitat Sonore offers a new way of appreciating the local and international musical landscape by proposing a different kind of auditory experience beyond stereo listening. 

The albums and soundscapes proposed in Habitat Sonore are the result of a thorough reflection from the artists on how their work should be presented and experienced. 

Tune out the everyday noise and lose yourself in Montréal’s new immersive listening room.

FAQ

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