Archive for the 'Blogue' Category

Have you ever wondered where that lovesick rooster/guitarist that identifies me on the home page of this website comes from? It’s a creation of the visual artist Manu, who also created the whole superb cover of my second album, Rumeurs dans la basse-cour (Rumours in the barnyard), in 1977.  At the time, we even had a large cardboard cut-out of the rooster on stage with me when I played!

After so many years of friendship, even with little contact brought on by our respective work, I am very proud to announce a new collaboration with Manu and his associate Marie-Laure in the production of videos which represent living quotations of one of the greatest Canadians, Jean Vanier. Philosopher, theologian and humanitarian, Jean Vanier founded L’Arche, an international federation of communities for people with developmental disabilities and those who assist them.

Here is the first “living quotation.” This represents a new way of letting people discover the richness of the message through a sequence of images enhanced by music. It’s also a first try so please share your comments.

Here’s my new MIDI guitar, a Ztar Z6S made by Starr Labs of San Diego. It has small keys, similar to those of a piano, and string “triggers” that send MIDI signals corresponding to the fingering you use. A guitarist can then enjoy the same advantages of a keyboard, which is a much better MIDI controller than conventional MIDI guitars.

To demonstrate the possibilities of this MIDI guitar, here’s a new arrangement of an old piece, “Tenderness”, recorded in 1976 as a guitar solo on my album “Rumours in the Barnyard.” I knew at the time that the piece needed something more than an acoustic guitar but we didn’t have the means to do anything else. Click on the arrow below to hear the piece, recorded entirely with my MIDI which, like all MIDI controllers, can play any sound. The main voice is a vibraphone, an instrument I’ve loved since hearing Lionel Hampton play with Benny Goodman. Also, Gary Burton has always been one of my favourites. The vibraphone is backed by an electric piano and a layer of basses.

[audio:http://eng.richardaseguin.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tenderness4.mp3|titles=Tenderness]

To download a copy of “Tenderness, right-click on the link below and save.

Tenderness MP3

You can also watch a video of this piece at this address:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVT8hZ32o6I&feature=g-upl

This music is protected and any commercial use is strictly forbidden.

Production and Publishing: Pentafolio inc.

Copyright: SOCAN