2023-08-21 04:42:42
«For me, as a musician, starting from a blank canvas is extraordinary. Giving life to silence without contaminating it is both a challenge and a pleasure,” he says. Jean Michel Jarreone of the French pioneers of electronic music, and the last composer to be recruited by a manufacturer to give the electric car its characteristic sound.
Leaving behind the purring of the pistons and the bellowing of the exhaust pipes is a challenge that brands face on their path to zero emissions. In almost every other way, a clean vehicle could be considered superior to a thermal one: it doesn’t vibrate at idle, there’s no visible smoke anywhere, and above all, there’s no smell.
However, the sound has been one of the difficult aspects to emulate. It is true that there is no such thing as the mechanical rattling of a V8, but more than recording it and playing it through the speakers as some manufacturers have done, electric ones open the door to absolute creativity.
A blank score is much more intimidating because it allows you to break with a past of more than 100 years by associating a sound with a vehicle. But BMW knew how to seize this opportunity and hired Hans Zimmerthe German composer behind the soundtracks of Gladiator, Interstellar or Dune, to give voice to his i4 electric sedan and its acceleration, which looks like a spaceship.
In the case of the diamond mark, Jean-Michel Jarre will not make the sound of the vehicle moving, but a warning signal so that pedestrians are aware of the approach of the car –called VSP–, as well as the welcome melody to the enter the cabin.
The idea was born at the 2021 Munich Motor Show, when Jarre met Renault CEO Luca de Meo and they made the decision to work together. Known for his futuristic synthesizer sounds, the composer was assisted by specialized teams from the manufacturer and those responsible for UX/UI, Sound Design and Interior Acoustics, Bénédicte Le Nindre, Laurent Worms and Louis-Ferdinand Pardo, respectively.
The recordings were carried out at the Institute for Acoustic Research and Coordination (Icram) in Paris. The starting point was the last album by the Frenchman, Oxymore, released in 2022. According to the brand, sound textures were recreated that evoke the desired sensations: “a light and peaceful mobility”.
The new sounds will be unveiled at the presentation of the Renault Scénic E-Tech on September 4. The brand and Jarre already plan to continue their collaboration for the future.
#composers #working #electric