Pitch, Paper and Foil

Christopher Bissonnette is a Canadian musician, sound artist, and designer living and working in Detroit and Windsor. He has released three full-length albums for Kranky and a collaborative recording with David Wenngren (Library Tapes) on Home Normal.

Continuing the explorations of the analog synthesizer first revealed on his last album, Bissonnette's deft touch in recording and mixing is a joy to experience. While most contemporary analog synth slingers find themselves unable to not overload the sound-field with the endless array of possibilities the instrument provides, Bissonnette provides a master class in economy and control.

Since his first full album release, Periphery, ten years ago, Bissonnette has been expanding his aural vocabulary and production techniques incorporating elements of concrete, field recording, and modular synthesis. This new series of works reflects an evolution of his adeptness with modular synthesis.

As with his previous release Essays in Idleness, "Pitch, Paper and Foil" was constructed from a range of synthesis and compositional techniques. The goal with this album was to form a collection that exhibits more restraint than previous works. Modular synthesis can be an unruly medium, and taming it in order to produce delicate or subtle tones can be challenging.

As with Essays, Bissonnette has allowed the artifacts of the process to find their way into the finished product. Tape noise, distortion, and by-products of the random sequencing method all contribute to the character of the final recordings.