Marc Soucy

Marc's composer studio is equipped with a huge array of virtual instruments, effects plugins, and sample libraries. In addition, because of Marc's long background as a keyboardist and synthesizer enthusiast, the studio is of course equipped with classic keyboards and alternative controllers for finger played percussion and polyphonic after touch affected synths in both the hardware and software realms. In his teens, before Marc had yet learned what a blues scale or even regular chord changes were, he had already studied classical piano for over eight years. This fact predisposes him to approach music as a series of intersecting musical lines—melodies, countermelodies, harmonies, etc—rather than a series of chords, that being the predominant paradigm in the classical approach. The intersecting lines he creates form chords in many places—sometimes predictably, sometimes not—and tend to float over a binding figure, whether drums, a bass line, electronic pattern, or neoclassical motif. It is common for him to take musical threads from various unrelated styles and find a way to make them play nicely together. One example he frequently uses is to have classical instruments play pop and funk figures instead of what’s expected. “What gives me the greatest pleasure is when this technique actually works. It’s really a satisfying part of my process.” All of this is done as already mentioned with electronic and digital musical instruments.