Genesis of the methods
Genesis of the Bousquet method in France
Born in France in 1974, as a child affected by hyperacusis, Frederic Bousquet built his first guitar with his father at the age of 5. In 1981, he entered the National School of Music and Dance in Brive-la-Gaillarde. In 1983, he began his instrumental training on the Baschet pedagogical instrumentarium, in the percussion class opened by Marc-Antoine Millon (1954). From 1992 onwards, he uses this tool as a facilitator of musical practices, from the point of view of so-called active pedagogies, or of awakening-creativity. He became a facilitator for the Ensemble HOPE association in 1994, then a trainer for adults in early childhood institutions, in specialized institutions and in music teaching. In 1998, he became the recipient of François and Bernard Baschet's know-how, who trained him in sound sculpture.
With the association M.E.S.H. (Music for the Handicapped), with the association KOSCHISE (R. Pomedio / H. Butten) and within the association Structures Sonores et Pédagogies, he develops his pedagogical knowledge relating to the musical practices carried out on the Baschet pedagogical instrumentarium. He became a facilitator and then a trainer for the latter until 2012, during which time he was called upon to lead numerous institutional projects in France, notably at IRCAM and Philharmonic of Paris. He developed links with specialized circles, notably at the Genopole in Evry, with the Arc-en-ciel centers and the Perce-Neige Foundation (2007).
In 2004, he founded the association Stolon Arts &Sciences to further the study of the relationship between Arts, Sciences, Nature and Humanities. Numerous one-off, cyclical or pilot projects were then entrusted to him by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the French Ministry of Education, as well as specialized or hospital establishments and nursing homes. In 2005, Frederic Bousquet created an eponymous prize to distinguish a project, or awarded to the project leader(s), in the context of the exploration of the world of sound.
STOLON Arts & Sciences association is the SUPERSONIC PEDAGOGIE SONORE referent in France.
Introduction of the Bousquet method in Europe
The culmination of the work in cognitive science carried out by Frederic Bousquet since 1991 is presented in 2006 at the Summer University of Santander, thanks to Pr. Antonio Jesus Alcazar, a student of François Delalande. The Spanish government, through the Ministry of Education, Social Policy and Sport, whose Higher Institute of Teacher Training published his university article for all primary school teachers: "Towards a methodology for the continuous use of the Baschet instrumentarium in primary school".
He then specialized in the study of contemporary instrument making and its derivatives in terms of educational instrumentarium. It is a long way from the 'home' or school production of sound generators - which have the value of being cherished by their creators - to the musical instrument resulting from instrument making! This reflection obliges us to clearly distinguish the stages that lead to exploring, in one way or another, the world of sound. While organology classifies instruments by families of resonators (cordophones, etc.) or classical (wood, etc.), or materials (metallophones), etc., Frederic Bousquet becomes aware of the importance of the latter. Who would want to play instruments made of biphenyl plastic, lead-painted, zinc-coated or oxidized blades?
From 2012, he began to develop sound modules, initially for hospital environments where urine, blood, saliva, bacteria, etc. are found. Gradually, these sound generators have not only a keyboard made entirely of stainless steel, washable and stérilisables in an industrial dishwasher, but also hemispherical diffusers made of composite materials, plastics and rubber, which are gradually replacing the wooden calabashes.
The LUDOPHONES are being introduced in the framework of educational and cultural projects within various National Superior Schools (Architecture of Lyon, Engineering of Le Mans, Polytechnique Paris), Institutions (Institut Curie Paris, Institut Pierre Daguet, Institut Technologique Européen des Métiers de la Musique - ITEMM, Jeunesses Musicales de France JMF, MACS Pole Sud Musiques Actuelles, foundations (Fondation Perce-Neige, Fondation Ensemble Genève), Universities (Maine, Paris 8, Pierre et Marie Curie Paris, Sorbonne), etc. SUPERSONIC sound pedagogy is also taught in Spain at the University of Barcelona and in Greece at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, within the framework of the C.A.L.M. project led by Elena Lapidaki. It is notably taught from 2016 at the University Jean Jaures Toulouse IFMI - Institut de Formation des Musiciens Intervenants, Montpellier and Perpignan, with the support of various Ministries such as the French Institutes, Youth and Sports, the National Education.
Introduction of the Bousquet method in Brazil
The SESC Pinheiros of Sao Paulo entrusts Frederic Bousquet with the project of creating soundscapes. Frederic Bouquet’s approach to instrument making leaves a great deal of room for intuitiveness and improvisation, which easily refers to the artistic and academic work of Walter Smetak, the study of which is of great importance; particularly thanks to the support of the Smetak family. In the 1970s, François Delalande explained in his book " Music is child's play " that the child begins to build his or her ear through the repetition of a gesture, which gives rise to a sound.
However, classical instruments, far from being accessible at this age, obey a specific system, extremely rich and complex, if not universal.
Educational instruments have therefore been designed that are closer to toys; creating a few notes on a tonal scale (the "scale" notes), so that they can be linked together and a melodic outline can be heard or guessed. In addition to these instruments, which induce sound gestures, listening and socialization (several people can play together) and which are mainly intended for children, there are fortunately many intuitive instruments, accessible to all and for all purposes! They often correspond to a modal scale. All this ground covered since the first steps in the exploration of the world of sound allows one to express oneself within a musical tradition, such as Brazilian popular music, as well as to receive a "classical" culture, based on a musical practice that responds to a highly codified technique, and to progressively access the interpretation of a repertoire, as a soloist or in an ensemble.
Dissemination of the Bousquet method in Switzerland
Martine Pernoud is a trainer of adults in early childhood institutions, in specialized institutions, in higher education and in continuing education organizations. Martine Pernoud is a pioneer of the Bousquet method within the Bulle d'Air, a music school she founded in Geneva in 1993. Various foundations, such as the Fondation Ensemble in Geneva, also adopted it.
The use of ones generators by specialized educators also suggests ease of use, transport and storage. This leads to the sketching of a number of prototype sound walls, amphibious musical instruments, or in light materials such as titanium. Martine Pernoud has been awarded the Frederic Bousquet Sound Pedagogy prize for her long-standing commitment to music education and the consolidation of parent-child relations.
La Bulle d'Air is the SUPERSONIC PEDAGOGIE SONORE referent in Switzerland: click and visit La Bulle d'Air
SUPERSONIC in Canada
We Are All Musicians est un organisme de musique communautaire fondé en 2012 à Ottawa au Canada par musicien et enseignant chercheur Jesse Stewart.
We Are All Musicians is a community music organization founded in 2012 in Ottawa, Canada by musician and research teacher Jesse Stewart. The guiding principle of WAAM is that music is a basic human right. Everyone deserves the opportunity to experience music, regardless of their level of musical training, income, age or level of physical and/or cognitive ability. To realize this vision, the WAAM project uses a variety of innovative music technologies in conjunction with more traditional musical instruments.
This approach aims to foster improvised musical interaction, particularly among individuals and communities who have experienced barriers to music learning in the past, including children and adults living in income poverty, people with all kinds of disabilities, and the elderly. For her historical commitment to the cause of accessibility and inclusiveness, Jesse Stewart is the winner of the Frédéric Bousquet Sound Pedagogy Award.
Film : The Ongoing Story of WAAM
WAAM is the SUPERSONIC PEDAGOGIE SONORE referent in Canada.
An institutional, scientific and educational recognition for SUPERSONIC and its actors
For the excellence of its know-how in instrument making, the TitaniumSound company, founded in 2005, has been awarded the "Living Heritage Company" label by the Ministry of the Economy, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises since 2006. Frédéric Bousquet has been awarded the " Master craftsman in Arts and Crafts ", and holds several patents.
In 2009, Frédéric Bousquet became a researcher associated with the Lutherie-Acoustique-Musique team of the Institut Jean Le Rond d'Alembert (L.A.M., a joint research unit of the UPMC - Pierre and Marie Curie University and the CNRS UMR7190 Sorbonne Universities). As a musicologist, his fields of research concern sound heritage and the history of instrument making.
Part of Frédéric Bouquet’s personal research is gathered in various Master's works in aeronautical mechanical design (instrument making part) and in musicology, while a synthesis and extensions of his articles in the body of his doctoral thesis in musicology defended in 2018 at the Doctoral School of Aesthetics Science and Technology of the Arts (EDESTA) of the Paris 8 University entitled " An approach to the instrumental construction of the Titanium Euphone through the study of the Lasry Baschet glass organ and the Cristal Baschet, extended to the Euphon by E. F. F. Chladni".
Thanks to everyone's involvement in the exploration of the world of sound, the SUPERSONIC Bousquet Method is now present in more than 1500 establishments in 28 countries.
The creation of the SUPERSONIC book and teaching kit
The foundation of the NGO Sound Without Borders, the artistic direction of the Next Music Festival and the Innovation Village (Musicora Seine Musicale Paris), the co-founding of the INVENTOR ensemble - an international ensemble of musical instrument inventors, and the realization of the « Sound Arts Immersion » program supported from 2018 to 2021 by the Gorges Causses Cévennes community of communes, within rural homes, EHPAD, day nurseries, schools and colleges, conservatories, and particularly nursery schools, led him to define the concept of "sound pedagogy".
Within a research in sound ecology, sound pedagogy covers an inductive, accessible, intuitive and inclusive pedagogy; open to the whole world of sound, of which music is only a minor component. With the creation or adaptation of more than 250 sound games, Frédéric Bousquet wants to encourage sound practices from the exploration of the sound world to musical interpretation, according to each person's abilities. The method "SUPERSONIC, Introductory principles of sound pedagogy “ was published in 2020 (Edition Lugdivine). It is enhanced by the original design of an educational instrumentarium of stérilisables melodic percussion instruments, linked to member companies of the French Union of Percussion Instrument Builders (UFFIP) and to various fundamental research groups.