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    The fundamental principle of IRCAM is to encourage productive interaction among scientific research, technological developments, and contemporary music production. Since its establishment in 1977, this initiative has provided the foundation for the institute’s activities. One of the major issues is the importance of contributing to the renewal of musical expression through science and technology. Conversely, sp…

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  • Research

    The fundamental principle of IRCAM is to encourage productive interaction among scientific research, technological developments, and contemporary music production. Since its establishment in 1977, this initiative has provided the foundation for the institute’s activities. One of the major issues is the importance of contributing to the renewal of musical expression through science and technology. Conversely, sp…

    • Research Topics
    • The STMS Lab
    • Research Teams
    • Sound Systems and Signals: Audio/Acoustics, InstruMents
    • Acoustic and Cognitive Spaces
    • Sound Perception and Design
    • Sound Analysis-Synthesis
    • Sound Music Movement Interaction
    • Musical Representations
    • Analysis of Musical Practices
    • Projects
    • Sound Workshop
    • The Musical Body
    • Creative Dynamics
    • Finished Projects
  • Creation

    IRCAM is an internationally recognized research center dedicated to creating new technologies for music. The institute offers a unique experimental environment where composers strive to enlarge their musical experience through the concepts expressed in new technologies.

    • Composers & Artists in Studio
    • Sivan Eldar in Studio
    • Mauro Lanza in studio
    • Chloé Thévenin in studio
    • Oren Boneh in studio
    • Tristan Murail in studio
    • Martin Matalon in studio
    • Sébastien Gaxie in studio
    • Murcof in the studio
    • Vimala Pons in studio
    • Lucie Antunes in studio
    • Deena Abdelwahed in the studio
    • Music-Fictions
    • Artistic Research Residency
    • Artistic Residencies: The Blog
    • Rendez Vous 24.25
    • 2024-2025
    • Replay Concerts
    • Seasons from 1996 to present
    • ManiFeste-2024 Website
    • ManiFeste festival from 2012 to 2024
    • L’Étincelle, IRCAM’s journal of creation
  • Transmission

    In support of IRCAM's research and creation missions, the educational program seeks to shed light on the current and future meaning of the interactions among the arts, sciences, and technology as well as sharing its models of knowledge, know-how, and innovations with the widest possible audience.

    • Training Courses
    • Training Courses 2025.26
    • Max, Max for Live
    • Computer-Assisted Composition
    • ASAP & Partiels
    • Sound spatialization
    • Creation of interactive environments
    • Practical Information
    • Higher Education
    • Cursus Program on Composition and Computer Music
    • Master ATIAM
    • Sound Design Master's Program
    • Mixed-Music
    • AIMove Master
    • Discover Research at IRCAM
    • Cultural Outreach
    • Cultural Mediation at Middle School Students
    • Médiations culturelles au lycée
    • Digital Workshops
    • TACT
    • Images of a Work Collection
    • Group Tours
    • ManiFeste-2025 Festival Academy
    • 2025 ÉLAN award
    • Spatial Composition Workshop
    • In Situ Polytopes
    • ULYSSES Ensemble
    • Auditors
  • Innovations

    Engaged with societal and economic issues at the intersection of culture and IT, research at Ircam has forged a reputation for itself in the world of international research as an interdisciplinary benchmark in the science and technology of sound and music, constantly attentive to the new needs and uses in society.

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Oren Boneh in studio

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Als ich tot war, Music for the Film When I Was Dead by Ernst Lubitsch
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From Lubitsch to Lynch | Artistic Issues

When asked what interests him so much about composing music for a silent film, the first thing Oren Boneh mentions is his love for the absurd situations found in everyday life. ‘We put so much effort into trying to maintain control over our lives, to eliminate any randomness from the universe: absurdity is what happens when randomness tears at the surface of this illusion of control. In silent comedy films, and particularly in Lubitsch's Quand j'étais mort, these everyday absurdities are often at the forefront of the plot.The music can highlight them, or play with the image/sound relationship to distort the perception of the images, so much so as to alter people's emotional experience of the film. In Quand j'étais mort, Lubitsch's imagery provides a space for music and its power to recontextualize; the husband's suddenly carnivorous smile, for example, can be nuanced by the score's undercurrent of suffering."

Lubitsch's silent films presented an additional challenge for the composer: the famous ‘Lubitsch touch’, praised by film buffs. ‘What fascinates me about Lubitsch's style is his attention to detail; tiny but essential details, suggesting a hidden meaning beneath the very surface of a society that seems devoid of it. Lubitsch makes bold narrative choices that subtly blend a kind of freshness with a certain feeling of inevitability. These little individual gestures, facial expressions and other gestures, were my gateway to the film, shaping my musical vocabulary. Having said that, beyond this granular level, two other dimensions emerge. First, at an intermediate level, we discover the three main protagonists - the cunning husband, the suspicious wife and the wicked mother-in-law - and the specific conflicts that drive the plot. Then, if you zoom out completely, you can see the general architecture of the film, stripped of its idiomatic details (according to the writer Kurt Vonnegut, this is the archetypal ‘man in a hole’ plot). It was at this level that I built the musical form and organized the variations in energy.”

‘My primary goal is to focus the listener's attention on the film, not distract from it. This means capturing the essence of each character, both their cartoonish nature and the many layers of their personality. One possible approach involves exaggerated literal sound effects, tailor-made to express specific physical events. I am particularly inspired by the stop-motion animated shorts of Jan Švankmajer, in which humorous acoustic sounds combine with surreal images to generate a visceral meaning for the viewer.“

“A second approach is rooted in the films of David Lynch, who creates mystery by superimposing Angelo Badalamenti's dark musical textures onto emotionally neutral images, playing with the clichés of film noir. This approach has also been taken to the height of absurdity by the viral videos for Sein Peaks, which superimpose Badalamendi's iconic Twin Peaks music over scenes from the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld: this deliberate combination transforms the comedy of everyday life into an ostensibly horrific thriller, to the point of sheer absurdity. Here again, Lubitsch's exaggerated comedy lends itself to a similar approach. Film music can also, sometimes subliminally, nuance viewers' emotions without them even noticing. By contrast, these two approaches elevate the music to the same level of awareness as the image, without shying away from playing with viewers' expectations or even clichés.”

The Comedy of Electronics | Technological Issues

Lubitsch biographer Scott Eyman wrote that his films “take place neither in Europe nor in America, but in Lubitschland’”. For Boneh, electronics help us get there. Creating a dialogue with the instrumental ensemble in a world of immersive sound, computer music tools are used to create a counterpoint between sound and image. “What is particularly exciting is using electronic means that are completely anachronistic in relation to the film—which was made over 100 years ago—with the insightful help of computer music director Dionysios Papanikolaou,” says Boneh.

“After recording more than seven hours of improvisation on the modular synthesis rack at IRCAM, I was overwhelmed by the expressiveness of this instrument. This discovery, and the catalogue of sounds I subsequently built up, had a profound influence on my instrumental writing. Conversely, certain instrumental passages led me to use electronics as a sound mirror for the ensemble.”

From a more practical point of view, the main role assigned to the electronics is to underline the humor of the film, notably through anachronistic sounds or exaggerated sound effects: ‘For example,’ says the composer, “The synthesized sounds I use to accompany the characters’ gestures often don't quite correspond to the movement. With the RAVE synthesizer, which is based on deep learning models, we have also produced a whole series of grotesque sounds that contrast comically with the gentle, refined scenes they accompany. We also use computer music to extend the textures of the instrumental ensemble: in extremely rhythmic passages, the electronics accentuate certain aspects of the instrumental textures to make them sound more real than life, by blurring the nature of the sounds, whether computer or acoustic.”

Photo 1: Oren Boneh © Juan Francisco Gonzalez
Photo 2: Oren Boneh and the computer music director Dionysios Papanikolaou

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Listen to: Oren Boneh

  1. Her Majesty the Fool (binaural) by Oren Boneh (recorded at the Centre Pompidou, 2020)

Biography

person

Oren Boneh

Composer Oren Boneh (United States, b. 1991) writes music characterized by its energy and dynamism. Its foundation is made up of vastly contrasting characters, ranging from abrasive and mechanical to humorous and supple. The music plays with listener ex…

À découvrir lors du concert

Cine-concert
Creation

Film in concert Lubitsch

Thursday 20 February 2025
Cité de la musique
Oren Boneh and Martin Matalon with Ensemble intercontemporain
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