Watch: DeLaurentis & Hervé Déjardin bring ‘Musicalism’ to life with L-Acoustics technology

French artist DeLaurentis and producer-engineer Hervé Déjardin, Head of Audio Innovation at Radio France, have teamed up on ‘Musicalism’, a full-length immersive audio project that uses L-ISA Studio spatial audio mixing tools from L-Acoustics.

While the album was released in January this year, the collaborative and technical process behind it continues to draw attention from electronic music and audio technology communities.

‘Musicalism’ was developed as an exploration of synaesthesia (since DeLaurentis herself experiences sound and colour as interconnected) and draws inspiration from the 1930s French “musicalisme” movement, in which painters translated music into visual art.

Their creative partnership began at Radio France’s experimental lab, Le Cube, sparked by shared influences ranging from Bach and Ryuichi Sakamoto to Jay-Jay Johanson and Jean-Michel Jarre.

“DeLaurentis knew my work with Jean-Michel Jarre and wanted me to create the immersive mixes,” says Déjardin. “But she was equally drawn to my sound design capabilities, which became essential to realising her vision.”

The album’s opening track, ‘White Opening’, co-composed by the duo, sets the tone: an electroacoustic canvas that unfurls into layered electronica.

“We tried to capture that sensation of beginning a new work—facing a blank canvas full of possibilities,” Déjardin explains.

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Technically, the album was spatial from the outset.

Working within a 12.0.6 speaker array at Le Cube, Déjardin used L-ISA Studio to position up to 96 audio objects. The mix was rendered via Nuendo and Atmos, allowing flexible translation across binaural, 5.1.4 and live formats.

“I can design an album mix and translate it directly to live performance using the same toolset. That continuity is crucial,” Déjardin notes. “If the mix works in 5.1, I know the 12.0.4 version will translate beautifully.”

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This dual-format mixing allowed the album to retain its integrity across stereo, binaural, surround sound and immersive live environments.

And because L-ISA Studio is designed to integrate directly with live setups, the studio mixes seamlessly inform the live AV show without requiring re-engineering.

For DeLaurentis, spatial sound unlocked new compositional freedom: “With spatial sound, there is no longer a hierarchy of sounds, ornamentations and appoggiaturas are just as important as the main melodies. All elements of the score coexist harmoniously.”

L-Acoustics has released a video on how DeLaurentis and Hervé Déjardin created the album using their tech. Watch it below.

Amira Waworuntu is Mixmag Asia’s Managing Editor, follow her on Instagram.

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