SERENDIPITY
This album collects music I created starting in 1980, the year that my LP Cinema—featuring Dutch-language songs—was released by Polydor. That same year, I began my civil service at the Audiovisual Services of KU Leuven (AVD). I had become familiar with this department during my Art History studies when I took an elective course in film history. The course included a seminar (practical workshop) on audiovisual techniques.
I primarily learned to work with video there, but there was also an audio studio where voice recordings were made for video productions mainly for education and scientific research. The studio also produced sound montages with background music. For this purpose, three professional tape recorders (Studer B67) were available, one of which had adjustable speed. This allowed sounds to be mixed and adapted to the length of the footage. To process the voice recordings, the studio had a noise gate, an expander gate, and a de-esser. There was also a ‘spring reverb’ stored in the basement.
For about twenty years, this studio was my playground for video and music creation, particularly on weekends and during long evenings. The night watchmen became my closest allies.
I used the studio as a kind of workshop to create sounds and musical experiments, not to record existing or pre-composed songs. This approach is a constant in my artistic practice, including my video productions and earlier graphic works like etchings. I never start with the idea of perfectly capturing a developed concept. Instead, I engage with the available materials and techniques during the creative process. I push the boundaries of the tools at hand and am always surprised by the results, as I am never a specialist but rather a ‘keen amateur’. My method could be described as ‘creating an environment for serendipity’, a technical setup designed to produce unexpected outcomes.
This sensory approach is central to my work. My creations arise from sensory experiences, not from theoretical thoughts, opinions, or messages. During the process, I observe and listen to what the images and sounds evoke in me at that moment. That ‘emotion’ serves as the starting point for a next step, should one present itself.
I often compare this method to the stages of creating an etching: you start with an initial treatment of the etching plate, expose it to acid, and print the result. For most artists, this involves drawing with an etching needle on wax, but I typically combined photographic processes with a type of aquatint, where a photo-sensitive film was applied to the plate and exposed with an ultraviolet lamp like in silk screen printing. Based on that first print, you decide what to add or to erase parts of the image. This process continues until the result feels complete. The challenge lies in knowing when to stop—a common issue in both visual arts and the recording studio, especially with this approach.
You could say that all the recordings I made back then were improvisations, each layer added in an improvisational manner. I called them demos, but in fact they were unique artifacts whose strength lay in how the layers formed a musical landscape. They were impossible to recreate in a professional studio, as I discovered when I recorded for the musical Adeline and Pas De Deux’s albums at ICP Recording Studios. The technical quality of my demos wasn’t suitable for commercial use, but their atmosphere was often much more personal and fresher than what we eventually produced in professional settings.
Much respect is due to the musicians and technicians who helped me back then, especially Jean-Marie Aerts and Christian Ramon (ICP), who greatly contributed to the musical and technical quality of what I released. However, to meet the industry standards, we often had to sacrifice that initial freshness.
In the early days, I owned only one synthesizer, a Yamaha CS40M, which I bought second-hand from my cousin Jan Hautekiet. It was a duophonic instrument, which was perfect for me since I am not a skilled keyboard player (nor a proficient musician in general). Pressing two keys at once was already more than enough for me. Initially, I didn’t own a rhythm machine, but I occasionally borrowed a BOSS DR-55 from Jean-Marie Aerts or a Roland TR-808 from Pieter Vereertbrugghen. Pieter also frequently lent me his Pearl Syncussion SY1. Since Pieter worked at the AVD, this arrangement was convenient. Over time, I saved up enough money to buy a DR-110. For the rhythmic layer of my recordings, I often used the ring modulator on my synthesizer.
Due to my limited playing skills, I was always looking for ways to connect my instruments. My synthesizer didn’t have MIDI capabilities, but sometimes the noise gate offered solutions, in combination with the trigger output from the synthesizer. When MIDI technology eventually became available to me, it completely transformed my workflow.
In addition to the duophonic Yamaha, I sometimes used a Hohner Clavinet D6, which I had bought from Jean Blaute. Occasionally, I also brought my Fender Jaguar (from 1962) to the studio. I had purchased this guitar a few years earlier with Jean-Marie Aerts at Rudy’s Music Shop in Sint-Niklaas. I still play it today.
I frequently worked with tape loops, usually short loops for rhythm, but sometimes very long ones. These longer loops would run through different rooms of the AVD, passing strategically placed microphone stands. I developed a fascination for this technique after hearing Marc Moulin’s Mes Chers Compatriotes on the album Noises by Kamikaze Records. Back in 1978, I had designed four album covers for that label. Philippe Cortens of Cortizona reissued the Noises album as a facsimile in 2018. That’s how we met, when he asked if he could use the original cover design.
The AVD didn’t have a multi-track recorder, but I managed with the three Studer B67 tape recorders available. Typically, I used all three simultaneously: one for playback of previously recorded material, a second for recording a new layer, and the third for adding delay effects via the variable-speed control. Mixing wasn’t part of the process: it just happened during the recording of each additional instrument. The sound levels and equalization adjustments of the recorded and the new layer had to be precisely balanced during the recording itself. Each new recording was a copy of the previous one, which degraded the sound quality with each new layer. The sound level and tonal quality of each layer were critical during this process.
Given my limited technical playing skills, one can imagine how many times I had to start, stop, rewind, and restart the three tape recorders while recording new parts without too many errors. Since I worked alone, it was always a complex operation to launch everything and then start playing. When acoustic instruments came into play, they were often in a different room than the tape recorders, so you can sometimes hear a door closing at the start of a recording.
A significant recording location was the entrance hall of the student restaurant located above the AVD-studios: Alma 3. This large entrance hall had a natural (and very long) reverberation time. In the evenings, the building was empty, so I could work there without prying eyes or disruptive noises. I placed microphones in the hall and connected them to the mixing console two rooms away using long cables. When I played an instrument myself, this setup made the ‘pre-roll time’ for recording even longer. Occasionally, I invited Frank Michiels to play percussion instruments in the entrance hall. These sessions were sometimes filmed with a video camera. With these recordings, I gradually built up a sound and video archive on tape, which I could later use for new video compositions. This process led to Videorhythmics, Sonate Part III and the creation of the opening sequence for Kunst-Zaken ’87.
I didn’t just use the entrance hall for acoustic recordings, it was also used to add reverb to pre-existing recordings. I would play a recording through a speaker out there and then record the reverberated sound. I learned this technique from Jean-Marie Aerts, who would place his guitar amplifier with a microphone on the other side of his kitchen. The empty kitchen provided the perfect natural reverb for his guitar sound.
The audio studio of the AVD was also equipped with a U-matic video recorder. Its primary purpose was to transfer soundtracks to the video master. However, I could also use it the other way, recording sounds from the video tape, such as a dialogue or ambient noise from TV or film, and mix them into my compositions. I took advantage of this feature regularly.
I eventually acquired a MIDI-enabled Roland JX-3P, which I received as payment for creating a promotional video for Roland Benelux. This video showcased the Juno 6 and Jupiter 8. The JX-3P was my first synthesizer with MIDI and included a simple built-in sequencer. During this period, I frequently worked
with Roland’s sponsored equipment, such as the S-550 sampler, which I used to compose soundtracks for theatre and dance performances. For example, Peter Vermeersch and I created a score for Catherine Massin’s dance performance ‘Games Room’ (1988, Vooruit now vierNulvier), using only basketball sounds. The S-550 sampler was programmed via the MC-500 sequencer, a very time-intensive process I must say.
By 1990, I gradually started working more at home. Initially, I used an Atari computer with Cubase, but soon after, I purchased my first Power Macintosh 7100. My collection of instruments steadily expanded, with an AKAI S1000 sampler and a Korg Wavestation WS1. Mixes were created with MIDI instruments, analog delays, and reverbs, and then dumped onto DAT (Digital Audio Tape).
When I began preparing for the video concert XAfrika in 1996, I purchased a digital 8-track recorder, the Roland DM-800, and a Yamaha 03D digital mixing console. These devices profoundly influenced and changed my approach to making music until I transitioned to working with Pro Tools and Logic.
At this time, digital video editing also transformed my video work. I began using the program EditDV and later Final Cut Pro, combining these tools with music software. This period marked the realization of a long-standing dream: the ability to seamlessly synchronize video and music with precision.
In 2001, when my organization Corban received a working grant as a musical theatre, I settled in Brussels. That marked the start of a series of collaborations with dancers and musicians from various styles and cultures. From then on, my focus shifted primarily to the creation of interactive systems and rhythmically edited video. The music I created from that point was mostly connected to this and was not included in this compilation.
My archive of reel-to-reel recording tapes and DAT masters stopped growing because from then on, I could bounce recordings onto hard disks. I also started digitizing my analog archive myself. This allowed me to make corrections to the sound and structure of the recordings and to use my analog ‘vintage sounds’ as samples.
This is how this compilation came to be. It became an eclectic mix of styles and atmospheres. Unedited recordings, whether or not cut up, alternate with new arrangements and structures of existing base riffs, supplemented with samples from my video music library. Fragments from my video concerts and installations can be heard, as well as from my work for theatre and audiovisual productions.
End note: all my gratitude goes to Philippe Cortens for initiating this project. His belief in my work has been truly motivating and I deeply appreciate the trust he has given me throughout the process. Without his enthusiasm, this album would not have been made.
Walter Verdin, January 2025
A
1 SHE LOVES ME 1981 > 2020 4:34
The original version of this song was part of Act23, a short theater production by Myriam Thys for Theater Vertikaal in Ghent. I composed the music and performed live over a playback track. My sister Mieke played the lead role.
The foundation is a rhythm created using a metal ashtray, a glass, a plastic cup, and other items found in the studio. I used a tape recorder to create a short delay effect.
The sound of a ‘music box’ is prominently featured. It was a device that played a tune when you placed the receiver of a telephone on it, often serving as hold music for a call mistakenly answered by the wrong person. I later reused these sounds for my version of Cold Turkey (Pas De Deux). In both cases, I ensured the music box melody was unrecognizable, using a noise gate to achieve this.
The remix: I digitized some existing analog recordings (from different stages) and restructured them, added drum machine patterns and various synthesizer sounds. I recorded new vocals as well. In some of the original recordings, my voice is faintly present as a guide for the theater performance, which can be heard clearly at the end of the track.
109,24 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-55, Yamaha CS-40M, metal ashtray, plastic cup, music box, hand claps, various soft synths Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW remix: Pro Tools
2 DANSONS DANS 1981 > 2024 5:10
The foundation for this track was a simple drum machine loop and a tape loop of a slowed-down beat, which was not synchronized to the rhythm. A bass riff and a synthesizer melody were added. The lyrics “Dansons, dans” were already in my head when I recorded the basic track in 1981, but the vocals in this version were not recorded until 2024.
For the remix, I brought a structure to it, incorporating some phrases that are commonly used in popular stadium music to give the audience a sense of togetherness that bounces back to the musicians and dancers on stage, who get a warm feeling of importance and self-affirmation from it.
91 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, Yamaha CS-40M, Pearl Syncussion SY-1, tape loop, various soft synths, vocals Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW remix: Pro Tools, Logic Pro
3 NOBODY MOVED 1995 > 2024 2:15
The music for this track was originally saved as ‘PIANOPIAbrass’ because I initially created a version using the piano set of the Korg WS1. In this version, I used a system where drum programming was also assigned to sampled melodic instruments, which I sourced from the S1000. (See more under MISSION CONTROL) Later, I improvised and added some other instruments to the track.
In 2024, I mixed in the fragment of the JFK assassination, which I had transferred from a vinyl record to a reel-to-reel tape years before and later digitized. I had previously combined that voice with the backing track of IOOTD Dream.
117 BPM Instruments: AKAI S-1000, Korg Wavestation WS1, Tape loop Original recording: Cubase, dumped on DAT DAW remix: Logic Pro
4 DANCE RIFF 1984 > 2024 4:55
One of many ‘riffs’ I recorded in the 1980s at AVD. These were usually long recordings (this one exceeded 9 minutes), with no predetermined structure, often consisting of two parts, which would later evolve into a structured piece. For the overdubs, I improvised with reverb and delay effects using a variablespeed tape recorder, giving the recording a dub atmosphere with oscillating delays. I later added harder drum sounds, manually triggered during overdubbing.
For the remix, I doubled the tempo feel to 158 bpm and added rhythmic and melodic elements to create a more compact structure, inspired by the delay improvisation in the original recording.
158,16 BPM Instruments: Roland JX-3P, BOSS DR110 and DR55, Various soft synths, loops, and drum machines Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW remix: Logic Pro
5 NO TRIP 1995 3:13
During the preparation for the XAfrika video concert, I was fascinated by beat and counterbeat. The original track was (again) 7 minutes long. For this compilation, I shortened it without adding instruments or altering the structure.
118,1 BPM Instruments: Wavestation WS1, Akai S-1000 Original recording: Cubase to DAT DAW edit: Logic Pro
B1 SHADANCE 1982 3:45
This is the original version of a song that over the years was adapted into countless versions, including a Dutch version (‘Cello’) that we performed with Pas De Deux during Eurosong, the Belgian preselection for the Eurovision Song Contest in 1983. Apart from ‘Cello’ and ‘Rendez-Vous’, which won Eurosong and became Belgium’s entry for Eurovision, where we finished third to last with 13 points, we presented a primal version of ‘Cardiocleptomanie’, our most popular song on streaming platforms.
With Pas De Deux, we recorded a very long version of “Shadance” in the ICP Studios, but it was never mixed down.
This version is the original, which I recorded solo over some evenings in the recording studio of the AVD.
95 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, Yamaha CS-40M, Fender Jaguar, voice Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW: Logic Pro (no edit)
2 SEQUENCE X 1985 > 2024 4:14
Originally a long improvisation over a sequence I programmed on the JX-3P, paired with a rhythm from the DR-110. I selected the best passages and structured them, adding a handclap rhythm from 1985 with a short stereo delay and long reverb. I also improvised some rhythms using studio furniture, reversing some of these elements. TR-606 sounds were added, with the result that four distinct handclap sounds come together in this mix.
To enhance the percussion improvisation, I used a fragment from the video 'An Interview', that I created for my video concert
“Somewhere Else/In The Meantime” (1985). Video frames (1/25 of a second) from a TV interview with Jane Birkin about the film La Pirate (Jacques Doillon) were repeated so that Birkin appeared to ‘sing’ in both image and sound. These visuals were also used in my video installation ‘Preview/Review’, combined with a ‘singing’ Valérie Kaprisky. These audiovisual frame-byframe montages were created analogically.
When showing this tape to Chris Dercon (curator and art critic at that time) he found that this cut-up-technique with images from commercial media aligned well with postmodern ideas and chaos theory, popular in the art world back then.
I started the editing process with trashing all the images with subtitles, in order to erase all the anecdotical content from the interview and only keep the images that evoke 'pure emotion'.
154 BPM Instruments: Roland JX-3P, BOSS DR-110, Roland TR-808, wooden furniture, soft synths, U-matic Original recording: reel-to-reel, U-matic DAW edit: Logic Pro
3 A CUT & A WIPE 2024 1984 > 2023 4:04
‘A Cut & A Wipe’ is a videotrack created for the video concert VIDEORHYTHMICS, for which we made two versions in 1984 and 1985. This new track is based on the 1984 version, where vibraphones and marimbas played prominent roles. The concert was performed for a week at the EX- nightclub in Brussels, in coproduction with PSK 'Jeugd en Plastische kunst' and VUB 'Dienst Cultuur', and it marked my transition from pop music to video art after Pas De Deux’s Eurovision participation. I used a recording I made at the AVD as a base, with the reverb of the Alma 3 entrance hall clearly present. I looped the intro (percussion and DR-110) and re-recorded all the instruments (soft synths, samplers, and vibraphones). I applied a chain of filters and edited a bridge, led by my voice. The bridge has a 4/4 feel, while the rest of the track is dominated by the 7/4 rhythm of one of the vibraphones. The shift in time signatures made editing the originally much longer track quite challenging.
84,87 BPM Instruments: Wood blocks, congas, guitar, BOSS DR-55, Soft synths and samplers Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW edit: Pro Tools
4 ACETON 1985 - 2019 6:04
A new composition starting from the sound of an ’80s dot matrix printer, recorded at the AVD offices. By slowing down the recording and adding delay, I created a regular, danceable rhythm. I made tape loops at different speeds, sometimes reversed them and experimented with various delays. The sloweddown sound reminded me of compositions by Thierry De Mey with Maximalist for Rosas danst Rosas.
“Aceton” was created using these tape loops, improvising in my home studio with TAL sampler sounds and soft synthesizers.
167,53 BPM Instruments: Soft synths, Tape loops Original recording: reelto-reel DAW edit: Pro Tools
5 IOOTD DREAM 1990-1993>2001>2018>2024 5:53
This track started with a rhythm I programmed on the DR-110, titled ‘Iets Om Op Te Dansen’ (IOOTD) (Something to Dance To). I sequenced it in Cubase, connected to an S1000, loaded with a S1000-drum set of exotic percussion (castanets, berimbau, tablas, etc.) I created in 1989 for Paul Pourveur’s theater project Annie.
Adrienne Altenhaus’s voice was initially recorded for the video installation Videolepsia (1993) as part of ‘Games Room #2’, where viewers triggered sound and video via infrared sensors. Her text comes from Mind Games by Masters & Houston (1972). I rediscovered this recording while archiving my videotapes in 2001.
117 BPM Instruments: AKAI S1000, Voice Original recording: reel-to-reel, DAT from Cubase and Logic DAW edit: Logic (Emagic) and Logic Pro
Walter Verdin, A CUT & A WIPE videotrack N°8 (1985)
Walter Verdin, A SHADOW videotrack N°14 (1985)
C1 CONSTANT CLICK 1993 > 2024 4:24
This recording was featured in the ‘Preview Room’ of the video installation VIDEOLEPSIA (Antwerp, 1993). The clicking sound came from a video frame of a falling coffee cup (1/25 of a second), alternating with a black screen. The video was shown in a completely dark room, what made the space illuminated by a rhythmic pattern of flashes. It served as an audiovisual introduction to prepare the viewer 'sensorially' for the installation.
The text is a free adaptation from the book Mind Games.
60 (!) BPM Instruments: video image of a falling coffee cup, voice Original recording: betacam SP, reel-to-reel, betacam SP DAW edit: Logic Pro
2 MISSION CONTROL 1995 > 2024 1:46
Originally saved as ‘Old Beat’ on an MC300 sequencer, this track was later programmed into Cubase and linked to my S1000 drum set (see also IOOTD Dream). All additional instruments were 'real' sampled instruments loaded into the S1000. These samples, sold on floppy disks, were widely shared among musicians at the time.
The MIDI notes from the drum track also controlled the other sampled instruments. This technique, which I often used, sometimes led to unexpected harmonies (as drum sounds and melodic instruments are both controlled via MIDI notes, which correspond to pitches in the Western musical scale).
The voice recording was made via telephone in 1983. I called NASA using a phone number that allowed listening to communications from the Control Center in Houston during the Space Shuttle Columbia mission. So, now the KU Leuven knows where those long, expensive calls to the U.S. went! I made various loops from this recording and used them in several videotapes and installations, including Somewhere Else/In The Meantime (1985) and VIDEOLEPSIA (1993).
117 BPM Instruments: AKAI S1000, voice via telephone, on tape Original recording: reel-to-reel, Cubase bounced to DAT DAW edit: Logic Pro
3 PRINCETON 1983 2:19
A demo for Pas De Deux, with versions featuring the then band members Koen Leeman (bass) and Frank Michiels (percussion). Vocal lines or lyrics were never added, though there is a Bpart. The title clearly shows my admiration for His Royal Badness (Prince) at the time (and still of course).
109 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-110, Yamaha CS-40M, Hohner Clavinet, Fender Jaguar Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW edit: Logic Pro (no edit)
4 A CAR 1985 5:03
This is the music for a video track from the VIDEORHYTHMICS video concert (1984, see also A Cut & A Wipe). This version is based on the first version of the video concert, where melodic percussion played a significant role (see also A Cut & A Wipe 2024). The recording was made on an evening with Frank Michiels in the AVD studio. The reverb of Alma 3’s entrance hall is clearly audible on several instruments, including my added vocal exclamations, gated handclaps, and the cabasa. Incidentally, the same cabasa appeared on TV during our Eurovision performance in Munich in front of 500 million TV spectators.
115 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-55, vibraphone, Yamaha CS-40M, handclaps, cabasa, voice Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW edit: Logic Pro (no edit)
5 SONATE PART III 1986 > 2024 8:16
This track is based on a video I made for the Hus/Verdin video concert (1985, Worldwide Video Festival, The Hague, and 1986, De Singel, Antwerp). Part of this concert was ‘Sonate voor piano en video’. The video, which Walter Hus improvised over, was created for the third part.
The video was a rhythmic montage of percussion instruments played by Frank Michiels (again) in Alma 3’s entrance hall. I created short sequences in both sound and image, repeated and superimposed them to create more complex rhythms. The most striking instrument in the video is a bell string with tingshas and zen bells.
Walter Verdin, A CAR videotrack N°5 (1985)
Walter Verdin, MINIMALIZE video dance N°1 (1981)
For my setlist at the Cortizona label night concert in Botanique (May 2024), I revisited this video and added drum machines and bass synthesizers. Later, I invited Bert Hornikx to play snare drums live during the Leuven concert. I also incorporated samples from XAfrika, a video concert created with Frank Michiels in 1996, featuring recordings he made in Burundi.
150 BPM Instruments: pandeiro, bell plate, Chinese gong, vibraslap, ikembe, acacia seeds, nightingale whistle, sleigh bells, bell string with tingshas and zen bells on video, snare drums, soft synths and drum machines, African samples by Frank Michiels (including singers from Burundi) Original recording: U-matic DAW edit: Logic Pro, Ableton Live
6 KUNST-ZAKEN ’87 1986 0:17
This is the opening theme for a short daily TV show on BRT (now VRT) that highlighted key cultural events of the moment.
I was asked to realize the leader with images by visual artist Narcisse Tordoir and make a tune to go with it. I agreed on condition that I could create the music on video, the same way I worked for VIDEORHYTHMICS. However, I wouldn’t use my own visuals and instead had to use Tordoir’s ten images. I quickly decided that the transitions between images would be done with a ‘push up’ effect synchronized to the sound of a cello. The cello came from the video Olivia Sky, which I had previously made for Somewhere Else/In The Meantime. Other video elements included a balafon (recorded with Frank Michiels), a flute (played by my sister Kristien), a berimbau, and a tennis match between MartinaNavrátilová and Gabriela Sabatini.
125 BPM Instruments: Video images of a balafon, cello, berimbau, flute, and TV footage of a tennis match Original recording: U-matic DAW edit: Pro Tools (no edit)
D1 MINIMALIZE 1981 9:51
‘Minimalize’ is the soundtrack for a video I created for the launch party of vzw Nervoso, held at the Lido venue in Leuven. It was displayed on a tower of three large black-and-white video monitors.
The video begins with flashes of the word ‘minimalize’ and the sounds of a mother’s heartbeat and umbilical cord as perceived by a baby in the womb. These sounds were used in some specific therapy for schizophrenia. During the therapy, heartbeat and umbilical cord sounds were played underwater in a pool where the patient was submerged within a transparent plastic dome painted with veins. The dome had air inside, allowing breathing while the sound was audible through the water. This ‘return to the womb’ concept was enacted quite literally and fascinated me, especially since it resembled an immersive installation. This resonated with me due to my latent aqua phobia, which stems from childhood swimming lessons at the Ceria pool in Anderlecht.
The lyrics of the video consist of a litany of words I impulsively jotted down, starting from the word ‘life’ and moving through associative connotations. These notes served as the basis for both the voice recording and the input for a ‘text roll’ displayed via an ASTON character generator. Aside from a completely black or white screen, this scrolling text is the sole visual element in the video.
I recorded the litany twice, improvising slightly to extend the text, as the original notes were too brief. This resulted in shifts, as I didn’t always begin phrases at the same rhythmic point (in a 6/4-time signature). These shifts between the two vocal takes amplify the disjunctions between sound and visuals in the video.
The video’s audio track was also used as the introduction to Pas De Deux concerts.
122,46 BPM Instruments: BOSS DR-55 Dr. Rhythm, Pearl Syncussion SY-1, Yamaha CS-40M, Casio VL-1, Samples of mother’s heartbeat and umbilical cord, voice Original recording: reel-to-reel, U-matic DAW: Pro Tools (no edits)
2 LINDA 1982 1:51
This is the theme music I composed for a program by the AVD, which I also directed. Linda, Therapeutic Intake Models was created for the Faculty of Psychology. The track was much longer. In the video I used it in different lengths with a fade at the end.
I used only the CS-40M. For the rhythmic base, the ring modulator, with delays. That gave me the idea of handclaps.
87,8 BPM Instruments: Yamaha CS-40M Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW edit: Logic Pro
3 À SAINT-TROPEZ 1982 3:13
Like ‘Linda’, this track is built around a rhythm of the CS40M’s ring modulator. It's clearly inspired by Grace Jones’ Nightclubbing.
The title was recently devised because the music reminds me of a holiday in the south of France, where I visited a war memorial in Saint-Tropez that bore the inscription: ‘Armée de terre, de mer, de l’air’ (the original, albeit overly long, title for this track). And Saint-Tropez seemed like a nice tribute to Telex too.
141 BPM Instruments: Yamaha CS-40M Original recording: reel-to-reel DAW edit: Logic Pro
4 A SHADOW 1984 > 2024 4:19
(See also ‘Shadance’) This is one of many versions of this track, based on a video version created for my 1984 video concert VIDEORHYTHMICS. The three-part vocal intro is rooted in the version we recorded with Pas De Deux at ICP Studios. Even the video itself exists in multiple versions.
During a 2024 workshop where I shared my 'Videotracks' with PXL students for their own compositions, this track emerged as the most popular.
Given the numerous versions of ‘Shadance/A Shadow’, I could now assemble a substantial vinyl box set. For this version, I used samples from various iterations over the years. One fragment, isolated using AI, became the looping centerpiece of this version.
95 BPM Instruments: Voice, Ableton loops, LALAL (instrumental AI splitter) Original recording: U-matic DAW edit: Logic Pro
5 ABSTRACTIONS 1985 1:18 (Locked groove)
Two tape loops of different lengths, extracted from a scientific program by the BRT. These loops were part of the video concert ‘Somewhere Else/In The Meantime’.
Instruments: Studer B67 Original recording: U-matic, reel-to-reel DAW edit: Pro Tools, Logic Pro
Composed and performed by Walter Verdin
except Adrienne Altenhaus voice (IOOTD Dream & Constant Click)
Bert Hornikx snare drums, live in concert at Opek 21 June 2024 (Sonate Part III)
Frank Michiels percussion (A Cut & A Wipe 2024) percussion & vibraphone (A Car)
Used instruments
YAMAHA CS-40M - Roland JX-3P, TR-808, TR 606 - AKAI S-1000, S-5000 - BOSS DR-110, DR-55Pearl Syncussion SY-1 - CASIO VL1 - KORG Wavestation WS1 - Hohner Clavinet D6 - Fender Jaguar 1962
Used audio and video samples
A live radio report on the assassination of JFK in Dallas, 22 November 1963 (Nobody Moved)
Jane Birkin on a TV interview with Roland Lommé (Sequence X)
A dot matrix printer recorded at the offices of the Audiovisual Services (Aceton) Control Center in Houston communication with the Space Shuttle Columbia 1983 (Mission Control) Vocals from singers in Burundi recorded by Frank Michiels (Sonate Part III)
Frank Michiels percussion on video rushes (C5 Sonate Part III), (Kunst-Zaken '87)
Kristien Verdin transverse flute on my video 'A Laska' Videotrack N°10 (Kunst-Zaken '87)
Gabriela Sabatini and Martina Navrátilová on TV at Wimbledon, semi-final 1986 (Kunst-Zaken '87)
Olivia Struyven cello on my video 'Olivia Sky' 1985 (Kunst-Zaken '87)
Uterine sounds of the heart and umbilical cord, audio (Minimalize)
A TV presenter & a scientist on TV BRT 1984 (Abstractions)
Thank you
Philippe Cortens, Didier Deneuter, Kevin Strauwen (artistic advice), Steve Habsch (graphic advice), Vince Cornwell, Gert Van Hoof, Arne D'hondt, Frank Michiels, Bert Hornikx, Adrienne Altenhaus, Joannes Van Heddegem, John Zwaenepoel, Miel Engelen, Paul Poelmans, Mathy Vanbuel, Sally Reynolds, Peter Schreurs, Filip Vandoorne, Senjan, Jean-Marie Aerts, Christian Ramon, Pieter Vereertbrugghen, Kris Soret, Barbara Brugmans, Sonia Gasparini, the Audiovisual Services KU Leuven, Het nieuwstedelijk and all the sampled voices from Burundi to Mission Control Houston.
Recorded and mixed by Walter Verdin at the Audiovisual Services KU Leuven (1980-2000), the studios of Corban in Brussels (2001-2013) and different home studios in Leuven & Brussels (1990-2024)
Mastered by Gert Van Hoof at Cochlea Mastering, Antwerp
Cut by Dubplates & Mastering, Berlin
Compilation by Philippe Cortens & Walter Verdin for Cortizona
All songs published by Videolepsia. Licensed by Pasdedisx Manufactured & distributed by N.E.W.S. www.newsdistribution.be 2025 ℗ Pas De Disx © Walter Verdin Cortizona 030
hasta la victoria sensorial