Invented and designed in the late 1970s by Xenakis, with and for the Percussions de Strasbourg, only one set of six sixxens ever existed. These percussion instruments have now been redesigned and manufactured for the fourth generation of the Percussions de Strasbourg, thanks to the help of Paul Gueib, a student in the Grande École Program.
Redesigning the original sound of the sixxens
Paul Gueib began his BachelorArbeit project in 2020 (a second-year project as part of the Franco-German dual degree program). His goal: to redesign the six sixxens, which were never intended to be played in unison by the six percussionists of the Strasbourg ensemble.
Functional analysis and interviews with musicians led him to propose specifications for an improved version of the Sixxens: a lighter frame, easier disassembly, and above all, a sound frequency closer to the original design.
A student project combining engineering and music
Analysis of the sound produced by the blades reveals a discrepancy between the sound produced by the instruments and the initial intention of their designers: the desired difference in pitch of a quarter tone between two corresponding blades on two adjacent keyboards is not achieved on the original instrument.
Paul Gueib then studied the sound of the blades: on their spectrum, the intensity of the fundamental frequency is quite strong, and the harmonics persist for a long time. In numerical simulations, he linked geometric parameters and fundamental frequency to determine the influence of blade geometry on sound. This enabled him to deduce their characteristics: length, thickness, bending radius, etc.
Once these elements have been validated, he defines the manufacturing range and, after a few tests, launches production in the workshops at the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers Metz.
Hear the sixxen
At the same time, Paul Gueib designs and improves the blade/frame connection, dampers, frames, etc. Components are manufactured as needed, tested by musicians, and modified as necessary.
It was during an internship, then a gap year (due to Covid), that he completed his project with the design and coordination of the instruments' manufacture. Re-manufactured for the first time to capture their unique sound, the sixxens will be used in July 2021 to record a new version of the piece Pléiades by Iannis Xenakis, the composer who originally created them.
This piece will be performed by Les Percussions de Strasbourg starting in July at the Reggia di Caserta in Italy, then at the Château du Preisch in Moselle on August 20, and also throughout 2022, notably in June in Strasbourg on the occasion of the ensemble's 60th anniversary (all information available on the Percussions de Strasbourg website).
Around the sixxen
It was the pre-existing links from the time of the creation of the Veme that led Les Percussions de Strasbourg to turn to the Thinktone association, co-founded by an Arts et Métiers teacher Arts et Métiers the Metz campus, to redesign the instruments.
This project was also supported by the company Rythmes & Sons in the production of prototypes, frames, and other equipment, including transport cases.
