La Nuée
(English: The Flock)

Johannes Eimermacher – composition, alto saxophone
Audrey Lauro, Frans Van Isacker – alto saxophones
Sylvain Debaisieux – tenor saxophone
Hanne De Backer – baritone saxophone

A flock is a gathering of gregarious birds, generally made up of the same species, but can also be composed of mixed species. A lot about the behaviour of flocks is still unknown. The formations they fly seem to serve not only as a means of locomotion or protection against predators, but also as a form of expression, an art comparable to music based on a feeling for rhythm and movement. Some suggest, that the birds are keyed up to a state of quickened responsiveness, possessing an extra sense which allows them a kind of telepathic communication. The birds gather to form one whole organism. The character of this new organism is not recognizable in any of the individuals that constitute it, it is a unique character born out of the relations between them. The individuals follow very simple rules, and although there is no centralized control structure dictating how they should behave, local, and to a certain degree random interactions between them lead to the emergence of intelligent global behaviour, unknown to the individuals.

- use the upwash from one of the wingtip vortices of the bird infront of you to fly upwards
- move towards the middle of the group of birds that are within sight
- move away if someone comes too close
- follow the same direction as your neighbors
- mimic their maneuvers

Each bird in the flock, despite his place, can decide a change for the whole formation.

My initial motivation is to bring together a group of musicians that blend into one sound body. One single organism that can move as an entity, breathe, change its form, its density, its maneuvers, its direction, its speed, an entity that can divide itself into subgroups, in individuals and reunite. A body that is more complex than the sum of all its elements. It is the relationship between these elements, their reciprocal influences that give life to the individual character of this new body. I conceive this group as a single instrument, from which due to the limited choice of instruments a particular timbre and playing technique arises.

Though La Nuée is esthetically inspired by composers like Helmut Lachenmann, Jürg Frey, Sofia Gubaidulina, György Ligeti and others, our main inspiration is the instrument itself, and it's various possibilities of sound production. We usually start exploring new techniques like multiphonics, quartertones, air-sounds or slaps by group improvisations. Alternating between playing and discussing the outcome, we dive deeper and deeper into the given material. The so found results I then structure into compositions. Depending on the piece, I try to find different ways of framing and communicating the idea of the composition. In some cases it is necessary to write down every single note or sound (like in our quartetone piece “Flottant” or the multiphonic piece “L'Éveil” on our first album), whereas in other cases (“Le Départ”) a graphic or verbal score might be desirable to predefine the overall form, leaving freedom to spontaneous internal interactions between the musicians. Sometimes there are no indications at all of what to play, but instead instructions of how the musicians should interact with one another.