What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter — a soothing, calming influence on the mind.
— Henri Matisse
 
And then the ‘note bleue’ resonates and there we are, in the azure of the transparent night.
— George Sand

 

It’s so hard for me to talk, especially about myself. Also… “When words fail, music speaks.” Yet here I am trying to find a few words.

I play the piano, I play synthesizers, which I don’t program that much, I prefer direct live takes. Each performance has its unique spontaneous sound, energy, and emotion.

An acoustic piano allows so much expressiveness. Pianists interact with its thousands of moving parts. Each key they touch directly vibrates sound waves through the air and their body, without computer latency. Sometimes an unexpected yet natural squeak happens, like the sound of crackling wood from a fireplace. Close mics capture it all for listeners, as well as the pianists’ breathing, their fingers jumping to keys or their feet activating the pedals. While with synths, their electronic sensors, their invisible electrical connections, their programming, musicians can paint immersive, evocative ambiences and get showered in sound, with perhaps less connection to the intimacy of nature and the human touch.

I record music by my grandmasters – Vangelis, Chopin, Mozart,… I hope my performances feel like the originals (which is an interesting thought regarding Chopin and Mozart) while sounding personal, always honoring the beauty of the score and my instruments, touching hearts with my fingers touching the keys. I try to find my sound and get you lost into it.

Thank you for reading this. Maybe these words resonate with you, may you find something more in what I say through music.

Olivier Lebra
INSTRUMENTS

Klavins Una Corda acoustic piano No. 021
Dexibell VIVO S9 master keyboard
miniKORG 700FS analog mono synth No. 1405

Expressive E Touché 3D controller
Haken ContinuuMini fingerboard No. 001079
with EaganMatrix modular digital synth
WARBL2 wind controller

Waldorf Blofeld wavetable synth
Roland JU-06A virtual-analog synth
Roland S-1 virtual-analog synth
ARP 2600 M semi-modular analog synth 
Behringer Solina String Ensemble analog synth
Yamaha reface CP mini electric piano
KORG NTS-1 mkII digital synth kit No. 709
KORG volca drum digital percussion synth
Beetlecrab Tempera sample granular synth No. 050240

+ EFFECTS

Strymon BigSky MX reverb machines
Strymon Volante magnetic echo machine
Hologram Microcosm granular effects No. 28137
Hologram Chroma Console multi-effect No. 12504
MXR Tremolo
Make Noise Mimeophon repeater No. 9879
Elektron Heat +FX distortion sound processor

ROUTING

OXI One sequencer
Lehle Dual Expression pedal
Lehle Mono Volume S pedal
M-Audio EX-P expression pedals (3x)
Yamaha FC3A continuous sustain pedal
Boss FS-1-WL + FS-7 footswitch

RECORDING

Extinct Audio BM9 ribbon mics No. 149 & 150
Warm Audio WA-84 pencil mics
Helpinstill pickups
La Voix du Luthier Onde resonator No. 325
Koss KPH40 Utility headphones
Audient iD48 audio interface
Ferrofish Pulse8 AE converter

SWISS ARMY KNIVES

Blokas Midihub MIDI processor 
CME H4MIDI WC USB host MIDI interface
Behringer XENYX 1003B analog mixer
ART SPLITMIX4 passive splitter/mixer
ART SplitComPro mic splitter/combiner
ART TPatch patchbay
Swiss army knife

PRODUCTION

Apple MacBook Pro M1 / Logic Pro
Focal Shape 40 monitoring speakers
AKG K702 headphones

SCORES

C.P.E. Bach • Craig Armstrong • David Arnold • Ennio Morricone  • Erik Satie • Frédéric Chopin  • George Frideric Handel • Harry Gregson-Williams • J.S. Bach  • John Ottman • John Ottman • John Powell • John Williams • Kanye West • Leonard Cohen • Ludovico Einaudi • Ludwig van Beethoven • Maurice Ravel • Max Richter • Michael Nyman • Michael Price • Miche Polnareff • Mike Oldfield  • Nils Frahm • Nino Rota • Paul de Senneville • Paul Mauriat • Philip Glass • Pink Floyd • Ryuichi Sakamoto  • Samuel Barber • Serge Gainsbourg • Sergei Rachmaninoff • Vangelis  • Vladimir Cosma • Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart • Yann Tiersen

and me

O l i V i E R

crafted with ♡ in vienna