Sometimes a person’s imagination can only be expressed through music.
Frederictonian Joel Leblanc is a co-founder of the improvisational hard)s(core orchestra, where musicians of all instruments and skill levels get together to workshop ideas, practice and jam. Musicians base their improvisations on general ideas and feelings and turn them into music.
Leblanc, 43, performed a free show at the University of New Brunswick’s Memorial Hall Feb. 5 as part of the university’s Music on the Hill series.
Leblanc, a long-time cycling enthusiast, showcased his mental mapping of mountain bike and ski trails through improve guitar playing.
“I always found I’ve had a lot of success if I put myself in an imaginary space and I just went for a walk,” says Leblanc. “With cycling, it gives me these land marks and I can move from to another, and that can help organize an improvisation.”
With only a guitar, amplifier and delay pedal, Leblanc created a mini-symphony of sound that filled the ears of a small but enthusiastic crowd in Memorial Hall’s ornate auditorium.
Unlike most solo guitar performers Leblanc doesn’t use a loop pedal to play a rhythm. He relies on his voice and his delay pedal to give his piece a backbone.
“I prefer a long delay. It becomes a little less mechanical, so the sounds get to wash over one another a little bit more.”
Visualizing trails allows Leblanc to express his thoughts through music. To avoid over-thinking or being too self-critical in the midst of an improvisation, Leblanc uses scenery to become less inhibited in his playing.
“If you’re thinking ‘Oh no, this isn’t going well,’ it could be your mind or your ego tricking you, and it’s actually going really well. I find [visualizing] keeps that at bay.”
His energetic and sometimes frantic playing style combines aspects of jazz, classical and folk genres. Leblanc goes from soft delayed picking to loud aggressive strumming. Occasionally during the performance Leblanc harmonizes vocally with the rhythm.
“It’s kind of a traditional thing. It’s another trick of just being able to keep your mind off the baggage that can slow you down, and if you’re vocalizing your lines it can help lead melodic ideas.”
