Matheus Souza: Bridging Classical and Electronic

- What initially drew you deeper into the world of electronic music and synthesis?

Matheus: While practicing violin, I found myself deeply appreciating the intellectual and practical aspects of sound production. I realized that several sound parameters could be transformed by making very fine movements with the tips of my fingers and hands. I also remember how these sessions often led to hours of improvisation, during which I discovered and explored new sounds. This process of discovery, transformation, and organization of sounds into musical material resonates with Varèse’s definition of music as the 'organization of sounds'.

During the bachelor’s in music in the Villa-Lobos Institute, I attended Contemporary Composition and Multimedia Improvisation lessons taught by Arthur Kampela. In those lessons I was introduced to electroacoustic composition and the concepts of the musique concrete - tape techniques applied to pre-recorded materials in a DAW.

My path in electronic music started on the computer by learning coding in SuperCollider and taking programming lessons on Max - sound synthesis and sound processing - from an online course taught by Matthews Wright. After that, the computer for me has become a composition, performance, and improvisation tool for live electronic, acousmatic, and mixed music works.

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

Currently I am in the second year of my master’s studies in Contemporary Performance and Composition (CoPeCo) at the CNSMD de Lyon, being guided by Michele Tadini and Jean Geoffroy. During the first semester as an Erasmus student at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre (EMTA), I had lessons on Live Electronics Ensemble taught by Taavi Kerikmäe. In this course, Kerimäe introduced us to modular electronic music instruments, and the vibrant underground electronic music scene in Tallinn reinforced my growing conviction. I felt a strong urge to focus my practice on the field of electroacoustic music and to immerse myself deeply in these instruments.

As an Erasmus student at KMH in Stockholm, where they have the EMS VCS3 and a Buchla 200/200e system available for students in the Electroacoustic Music department, I was able to deepen my understanding and enhance my skills in modular synthesis and improvisation. During this time, I also began to consider a documentation path for live electronic music works using modular instruments. At the end of the semester, I produced my debut album 'Terra,' a 34-minute solo work divided into two parts, each recorded and performed in one take using the Buchla 200/200e system. Following this, I acquired my first Buchla, and similar to the way a classical musician practices, I have rigorously focused on and strategized my practice with the 208c nearly every day since.

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

- Matheus, what's the origin of your journey in music?

Matheus: I started my journey in music creation as an improviser. Initially, I had ideas about structure and sound materials, and I made plans for improvisations. From there, I would notate and elaborate on the musical ideas that emerged, using traditional notation. This process marked the beginning of my path in instrumental composition.

- Can you tell us about your formal education in music? How did these experiences influence your musical direction?

Matheus: I have a background in classical music as a violinist and hold a bachelor's degree in music with a major in violin. While I admire the repertoire of classical and 20th-21st century music, merely interpreting these pieces was never enough for me. What I have always valued more are the musicological studies - “music analysis” of the pieces rather than their performance. My interest lies in the intellectual and artistic exploration of the composition process and the co-creative process of interpreting them.

During my tenure as a regular student at the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique et Danse de Lyon, I focused on several areas: enhancing my modular synthesis skills by practicing on their Eurorack system; bridging the analogue and digital realms by developing VCV Rack patches inspired by the 'West Coast patching style'; and programming Max patches for sound processing and spatialization using ambisonics, particularly for the Easel.

Additionally, I participated in the Lab’Ópera project, a collaborative venture between CNSMDL and ENSATT, where I served as a composer-performer. This project involved working alongside a singer and professionals in costume, stage, lighting, and video design to conceptualize and produce an immersive electroacoustic operatic scene for voice and electronics. The performance featured Marie Brendle singing a composition I wrote, with me processing her live vocals through a Max patch that functioned as a pedalboard with 10 effects, while also playing my Buchla and VCV Rack patches.

- How has your shift from classical violin to modular electronic music reshaped your musical approach?

Matheus: Transitioning from being primarily a violinist and instrumental composer to using modular electronic music instruments has intensified many of the concepts that initially fascinated me. Not only have new perspectives and ideas become integral to my music practices, such as music as an organization of sounds (Varèse) and the notion that sound itself is already music (Cage), but also the approaches of composition and performance as seen by Cage and Tudor. This transition has deepened my engagement with free or guided improvisation, which brings a certain vitality, and my fascination with the practical and intellectual aspects of sound production. Additionally, the ability to transform sound parameters through subtle movements and my interest in complex sounds—both spectral and typo-morphologically—have grown. Interestingly, despite the influences of Cage and Tudor, one of my artistic research interests involves requiring intense physical engagement, using CV controls in modular performance to create complex sounds live.

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

- What’s your musical mission?

Matheus: If I could imagine an answer to that question at this moment in my life, it would center on an individual aim that might also influence the collective. Inspired by one of my supervisors, Jean Geoffroy, my goal is to move forward with the honest and respectful development of myself as an artist by searching for and respecting my singularity, and to understand my role in society.

So, in a collective perspective, I would be very happy if I could contribute a little bit to a process of thinking and rethinking upon the world to build a different reality as defended by Paulo Freire, and if I could contribute for people to find their singularities as artists. This is one of the reasons for my wish to become a lecturer on electroacoustic music.

- What brought you to our studio?

Matheus: This is quite an interesting story to tell. In March, in the gap between semesters, I was renting the room from a Latvian friend of mine that lives in Riga, but is doing his Erasmus at Lyon. I combined the wish to travel and explore new places to the fact that the trip and the renting here would be way cheaper than staying in France. This friend of mine told me about a masterclass taught by Oğuz Büyükberber on improvisation on modular synthesizers at the Latvian Academy of Music. This masterclass was organized by Erica Synths, and Girts was there. During the masterclass, Mr. Büyükberber required the listeners to give a sort of analysis of what he played. I did an overview analysis on the structure of the improvisation, the typo-morphology of the sounds, and the sound synthesis process he carried out during the performance. From his reaction, he seemed impressed by my work!

After the masterclass, I was talking with Rita Toscano [an intern at Erica Synths] and we exchanged contacts because we were both happy to have a conversation in Portuguese. The day after she told me that she talked about me to Girts and that he invited me to watch the performance at the Erica Synths HQ. Once there, Girts showed me the studio and invited me to stay for an artistic residency. I took the opportunity with absolute happiness. I started the work as soon as the studio was available and it was great!

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

- Are there any elements or techniques you have adopted in this stay, that you will carry forward into future projects?

Matheus: During my stay I focused on learning to use Erica Synths modules available in the Megarack, and on learning the Buchla 200 modules I never had the chance to try out before, such as the MARF and the dodecamodule. I built a patch for each system and during the improvisations I carried out on them I eventually had many ideas of what to do when I go back to my own instrument.

After that I started to plan which of the gears I could use in the performance. The idea of combining and reducing the systems that I spent many hours learning and practicing during the residency was sounding very appealing. Then I had the idea of creating a set made up of the Buchla Easel Command and an Erica Synths system I put together after my friends Emils and Otomars provided all the modules I wanted. Once I mounted the system, a “Buchla” way of thinking guided the patching on the eurorack, and I managed to have much more than what I was expecting.

I am now saving money to bring home the Erica Synths system I built during residency and make it part of my live electronic music set, for sure! Since I have the Buchla, which is a very powerful instrument, I find the idea of processing its sounds by Erica Synths modules very good.

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece

- How did you manage to stay focused and maintain a clear vision of your project despite the amount of gear lurking over your shoulder every day?

Matheus: I thought that if I reduced the options, I would be able to learn and develop skills even more. It would force myself to go deeper on the things that I had available and to find solutions for doing more with less. In the same direction, I also prefer focusing on doing less in the best quality I can do in that moment rather than doing a lot with questionable quality. But, because of the focus and the intense working process I end up being able to produce more than expected not only in one work but also in others.

- What cultural differences, including those related to music and everyday life, did you observe during your visit?

Matheus: For me, in terms of music culture, the scene of electronic music made with modular and analogue instruments is much stronger here in the North, and the factor that the currency exchange, shipping and inflection increases hugely the prices to South American countries, which reduces the accessibility to those gears. Another interesting difference, that also happens in Tallinn, is the option of education in music schools instead of a scientific school, which puts it all in a different level of quality and accessibility to the education.

The everyday life in comparison to Rio is immense. In terms of food, all sorts of soups, pastries, breads, and drinks are very different from the ones in Brazil and I appreciate most of them very much. A drink that I tried and that intrigued me a lot is Kvass. Something I noticed here in Erica Synths HQ is that you really like cooking and preparing spicy and very tasty food! People in Rio have the tendency to mostly use just onion, garlic, olive oil and black pepper. In terms of dressing, it's also very different, due to the weather, of course, but I got used to it from the time living in Tallinn and Stockholm. In Rio, my mother always makes fun of how in Ipanema you look to your left side and there is a person with very serious clothing going to an office and you look to your right and see someone wearing a bikini on their way to the beach.

- How was your live performance - did everything go as planned?

Matheus: After practicing a lot for many hours, I would say that the performance went well. Of course, there are details that could be better, but this is the beauty of live performance, of live electronic music, and of this kind of quasi-opened compositions. Of all the times I walked through the piece, the one in the performance was the most fluid one and I think it was so because I had my mind present in that moment, giving my best. Nothing could be more beautiful than that. I am extremely happy being an electroacoustic musician and playing modular.

- What were your weapons of choice in this studio and why?

Matheus: I chose to use my Easel Command and the Erica Synths system that I built as my weapons of choice because I knew I would be able to focus on being efficient in performance-oriented systems and I would manage to make music following the truth of my heart.

- How did you enjoy Riga? Did you have a chance to experience the music scene here?

Matheus: I really like Riga - the Art Nouveau buildings are stunning, the parks are beautiful, the churches are breath-taking, you have nice bars and restaurants and I loved spending my time there with the friends that brought me here and my new friends from Erica Synths and Latvian Academy of Music.

I was able to watch Oğuz Büyükberber performance and to go to some concerts of Contemporary Music at the Latvian Academy of Music. I wanted to watch Don Giovanni in the Opera, but I missed it, unfortunately. I would also have loved to see more of the underground electronic scene of the city but most of the time I was working, reviewing and correcting my master thesis to submit it and the deadline was on the same day of the masterclass. Then, after that I was sort of free to dedicate myself to the works on the residency, while I was also preparing myself for the thesis defense.

Linda Dambeniece-Migliniece