L'orgue de synthèse Dereux : le précurseur des samplers modernes, le second et le bâtard de l'orgue à tuyaux

Details

Supervisors

Ceulemans, Anne-Emmanuelle

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire de l'art et archéologie, orientation musicologie, à finalité spécialisée: musique-musicologie

Abstract

enFor several years now, the world of music has been experiencing the rise of the "sampling" phenomenon, and more particularly of "samplers", instruments that produce sound from audio samples; whether these instruments are physical or virtual. Some instrument designers of the last century worked their whole life to produce electro-mechanical instruments based on sound samples. These instruments were meant to faithfully reproduce the sounds of their models, as if their designers had foreseen the triumph that these same processes would prove half a century later. This is the case for the creator of the electrostatic Recording organ Dereux, also called the Dereux synthesis organ. It is an instrument that according to a large number of testimonies was the best electric organ of its time, considerably superior to the then world market leader, the Hammond organ, in terms of fidelity compared to the pipe organ. This thesis is a study of the Dereux Recording Organ, focusing not only on the technical aspects of the instrument, but also on the issues related to the historical context, the goals of its inventor and the evolution of the instrument itself. The second intention in this study is to place the Dereux organ in a history of sound-sampled instruments of which it is an important milestone. The last part is a study of society's reaction to the organ, and more particularly within the ecclesiastical and organist community to whom the making of this instrument was ultimately addressed. We’ll learn that Dereux devoted all his efforts to designing an instrument that would satisfy both the need for the religious community to obtain a solution to the lack of instruments in churches without sufficient funds for the purchase of pipe organs, but also to satisfy the rigorous conditions imposed by the church authorities and especially the organists on the electric organ builders, whom the latter do not always take to heart.