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 (2x)
    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
    Arturia AudioFuse X8 IN 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