Winesthesia - Wine and sound design
A tasting of wine by the ear
What would you say about discovering a bottle of wine in music ? What if hearing was involved in the tasting process ? Can music modify or amplify the perception of sensations ?
So many questions asked in the context of an experience of wine tasting that took place on Thursday, November 22, during the Slash convention, an event organized by Trempolino as the conclusion of the first edition of the European Music Incubator (EMI).
EMI is an experimental training program co-funded by the Creative Europe Program of the European Union. It aims to question the future of the musician profession and the challenges due to the transformation of the sector. In this context, we accompanied seven musicians around the creation of music for brands. On 22 and 23rd of November 2018, to conclude the project, Trempolino organized “Slash”. During this event, the artists who attended the training had to present a public creation, part of one of the themes addressed by the EMI (for more precision click here).
Wine, sound design, live music
We started on the idea of working on a subject that we are passionate about as much as music : wine. And how to offer a live experience, with music and by working around a brand? By organizing a wine tasting, embellished with sound creation, inspired by the terroir, the estate, the various tastes components of the wine. This experience is also an opportunity for Sara Renar to put into practice what she has been able to learn with us during these two years.
We chose to work around Muscadet “Granite”, Domaine de l’Écu, a very popular area for muscadet lovers and one of the pioneers of biodynamic agriculture in the region.
The D Day
Gathered in the premises of a Nantes wine specialist specialized in natural wine, Very Good, about forty guests divided into three groups were able to discover the music of “Granite”. The tasting is accompanied step by step by a musical creation, written for the occasion and interpreted live by Sara, the opportunity for some people to discover the traditional steps of a wine tasting.
At each stages, colors, smells or tastes have been transcribed in music, in production choices, harmonies and sound textures are also the result of taste sensations. After a short presentation of the appellation Muscadet, the project, the estate and the cuvée, the tasting can start.
The first encounter with the wine is visual, we observe its dress. Its color, its transparency, suggests certain types. Here, a dress “light gold”, of great purity, a light color due to a recent vintage (2017). The mind can already begin to imagine smells, flavors. Musically, the creation is building, we put the harmony, low volume, looping guitar chords that play backwards.
Then comes the olfactory encounter, with the first and second noses. With the first, we discover the great families of scents : mineral, and fruit. After a slight oxygenation of the wine by turning it in the glass, we go to the second nose. Wine expresses more character, and notes of gunflint, flint, citrus, and subtle notes of oyster shells appear. With the succession of the two noses, we complete our visual perception, adding the olfactory elements. We will translate this path with the music, by adding musical and sound elements: a breath, to symbolize this new stage of the meeting, a guitar arpeggio, for the big family of smells, and a discreet melody for the oyster shells.
The last step is that of the mouth, one stops the music to create contrast with the previous stage, one and the revival when the wine enters the mouth. The frank and powerful attack is symbolized by the addition of an impacting and deep kick. The crystalline mouth has just been reinforced by a tambourine sound, and vocal waves for the atmosphere of the sea.
The different characters of the wine are exposed to the oral, synchronized to the music, and once the process is complete, we start again : the dress, the first nose, the second nose, the mouth, but this time without words, leaving the guests experiment the wine, and the music.
Watch the video of this experience :
Video Credit: Hiboo Films
For more articles click here. To see our works, follow this link.
