Artist DeLaurentis Collaborates with Producer/Engineer Herve Dejardin on Musicalism with L-Acoustics

	Radio France's Le Cube experimental audio lab in Paris, where DeLaurentis and Herve Dejardin developed their collaborative approach to spatial audio composition and mixing using L-Acoustics L-ISA technology. Photo: Dominique Gau

French electronic artist DeLaurentis has released Musicalism, a new full-length album that translates her synesthetic experiences -- an experience that causes sensory crossovers, such as tasting colors or feeling sounds -- into an immersive audio journey. The project was mixed by Herve Dejardin, head of audio innovation at Radio France, using L-ISA Studio spatial audio mixing tools from L-Acoustics. Dejardin also co-composed "White Opening" the album's opening track, and the pair have launched a live immersive audio-visual show scheduled to tour France and Great Britain throughout 2025.

The collaboration began when Dejardin and DeLaurentis met at Radio France's Le Cube, an experimental audio lab at the broadcaster's Paris headquarters. Discovering shared musical inspirations -- including Bach, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Jay-Jay Johanson, with whom DeLaurentis has collaborated many times and Jean-Michel Jarre, with whom Dejardin has worked -- they found creative common ground that led to their partnership.

"DeLaurentis knew my work with Jean-Michel Jarre and wanted me to create the immersive mixes," Dejardin explains. "But she was equally drawn to my sound design capabilities, which became essential to realizing her vision."

"For me, music and innovation are intrinsically linked," says DeLaurentis. "I've had the opportunity to work with IRCAM and Sony CSL on AI-based tools, and I had always dreamed of collaborating with Radio France -- especially on electroacoustic music. That's why meeting Herve was the starting point of the album."

Musicalism takes its title from a 1930s French artistic movement where painters translated sounds into visual art to evoke specific emotional responses -- a concept that resonates with DeLaurentis' own synesthetic experiences. To bring this concept to life, Dejardin and DeLaurentis began by creating an extensive library of sounds associated with visual art: the scratch of brushes on canvas, the texture of palette knives, the ambient sounds of an artist's studio.

DeLaurentis invited Dejardin to her recording studio in the south of France, where together, they recorded the sonic universe of a painter's studio. "We wanted to capture the sonic essence of the creative process itself." says Dejardin.

The material was then edited, mixed, and shaped into a library of artistic sounds that DeLaurentis was able to use throughout the album's production.

Their collaboration deepened when DeLaurentis suggested they co-compose "White Opening." Conceived as an electroacoustic piece that gradually evolves into electronic music, the track represents an entry into the painter's sonic universe. "We tried to capture that sensation of beginning a new work -- facing a blank canvas full of possibilities," explains Dejardin. DeLaurentis has described the piece as "a sort of blank canvas of all possibilities" that opens each of her performances. Through this track, they also discovered how spatial composition was particularly enhanced by the presence of electroacoustic sounds, which added depth and texture to the immersive experience.

DeLaurentis conceived Musicalism as a "spatialized auditory experience" from its inception, producing it in Dolby Atmos while simultaneously developing a 360-degree live experience in partnership with Radio France, La Generale de Production, and France Televisions.

Working in Le Cube's 12.0.6 loudspeaker configuration, Dejardin leverages L-ISA Studio to manage up to 96 audio objects before rendering the spatial mix into Nuendo with the Atmos monitoring plug-in. This workflow allows him to maintain both L-ISA object mode and Atmos object mode within the same project, enabling seamless reference between 7.1.4, 5.1.4, and binaural formats.

"I constantly monitor through the Atmos renderer because it simulates the audience experience," Dejardin notes. "If the mix works in 5.1, I know the 12.0.4 version will translate beautifully."

Dejardin's relationship with L-Acoustics extends beyond using their tools -- he actively contributes to product development through ongoing dialogue with the company. "As a composer and engineer, I can communicate specific needs for functionality, and they listen. That collaborative approach is invaluable."

He particularly values L-ISA's stability during extended studio sessions and its seamless translation from studio to live performance. "I can design an album mix and translate it directly to live performance using the same toolset. That continuity is crucial for maintaining artistic vision across formats."

With nearly two decades of experience in immersive audio, Dejardin views spatial sound as more than a technical advance. "It's truly a new art form. The creative universe available in immersive formats offers possibilities that continue to inspire me after 20 years. Each project reveals new potential."

DeLaurentis discovered spatial audio mixing with L-ISA, and says it was a revolution in her artistic approach. "I tend to orchestrate my musical productions extensively, and for years I was frustrated by having to make compromises in my stereo mixes," explains DeLaurentis. "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."