science

Pierre Bastien

Pierre Bastien is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Pierre Bastien rather than just read about it. In short: Pierre Bastien (born 1953 in Paris) is a French musician, composer, and experimental musical instrument builder. Life and career Bastien began building mechanical-based musical instruments at an early age, using items such as metronomes, cymbals, and pulleys.

Key takeaways

Pierre Bastien belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Pierre Bastien to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Pierre Bastien from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Pierre Bastien (born 1953 in Paris) is a French musician, composer, and experimental musical instrument builder.

Life and career Bastien began building mechanical-based musical instruments at an early age, using items such as metronomes, cymbals, and pulleys. In 1977, he began collaborating with Pascal Comelade and composing music for dance companies. He performed in ensembles such as Operation Rhino, Nu Creative Methods, and Effectifs de Profil. In 1986, he formed his own orchestra, Mecanium, composed of Meccano machines which play various instruments, such as Chinese lute, Moroccan bendir, Javanese saron, koto, and violin. These machines were often driven by the rotation of old turntables. By the 1990s, Mecanium consisted of up to 80 machine 'musicians', and toured various art and music festivals, including events in Norway, Australia, Japan, Canada, Poland, and the United States. Bastien has collaborated with artists such as Robert Wyatt, Jac Berrocal, Emmanuelle Parrenin, Jaki Liebezeit, Pierrick Sorin, Lukas Simonis and Issey Miyake. He has released material on record labels such as Lowlands, Rephlex, Tigersushi, and Alga Marghen. He has also completed a doctorate on 18th century French literature, writing his thesis on pre-surrealist Raymond Roussel. In 2001, Bastien released an album, Mecanoid, on Rephlex Records. In 2008, he released an album, Visions of Doing, on Western Vinyl. In 2014, he made installations with paper as the main sound source. In 2015, he came up with a new project called Silent motors, two frames with wheels and gears that are beamed on a screen with an overhead projector. In 2016 Bastien had a big exhibition of his mecanoids at November Music Festival in The Netherlands.

Discography Albums Nu Jungle Dances (1978) (with Bernard Pruvost, as Nu Creative Methods) Le Marchand De Calicots (1981) (with Bernard Pruvost, as Nu Creative Methods) Superstitions (1984) (with Bernard Pruvost, as Nu Creative Methods) Hommage à Jean Raine (1988) (with Peter Bastiaan and Bernard Pruvost) Mecanium (1988) Musiques Machinales (1993) Eggs Air Sister Steel (1996) Oblique Sessions (1997) (with Pascal Comelade, Jac Berrocal, and Jaki Liebezeit) Mécanologie Portative (1998) (with Klimperei) Neuf Jouets Optiques (1999) (with Karel Doing) Musiques Paralloïdres (1999) Mecanoid (2001) Musique Cyrillique (2001) (with Alexei Aigui) Mots d'Heures: Gousses, Rames (2002) (with Lukas Simonis) Pop (2005) Sé Verla al Revés (2005) Téléconcerts (2005) Les Premières Machines: 1968-1988 (2007) Visions of Doing (2008) Rag-Time Vol. 2 (2008) (with Dominique Grimaud) Occupé (2011) (with Claude Parle, Michel Potage, Jac Berrocal and Bernard Vitet,) Machinations (2012) Entomology (2012) (with The Insects Orchestra and One Man Nation) Blue as an Orange (2015) Phantoms (2017) (with Eddie Ladoire) The Mecanocentric Worlds Of Pierre Bastien (2017) Novia 391 (2017) (with Eduard Altaba) Tinkle Twang ‘N Tootle (2019) Impressions de Meccano (2019) Bandiera Di Carta (2019) (with Tomaga) *Room Sessions (2020) (with Gonçalo Almeida) Live Ateliers Claus (2021) (with Tomaga) Suspicious Moon (2022) (with David Fenech) Sonic Folkways Baba Soirée (2023) (with Michel Banabila) EPs Boîte N°3 (1996) Boîte N°7 (2004) FTR003 (Split 12" with Anna Homler, Adrian Northover & Dave Tucker (TRIO) on First Terrace Records) (2018) Singles XVII La Estrella (1993) Automatic Music (2010) Among the Skulls (2010)

References

Further reading Huggett, Stuart (October 1, 2010). "Mechanics Made Easy: Pierre Bastien Interviewed". The Quietus. Wyse, Pascal (October 18, 2010). "Pierre Bastien: the man who makes Meccano sing". The Guardian. "RWM Son(i)a: Interview with Pierre Bastien, conductor of mechanical orchestras consisting of self-playing sound sculptures". Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art.

External links

Official website Pierre Bastien at AllMusic Pierre Bastien discography at Discogs

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Pierre Bastien

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Pierre Bastien claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Pierre Bastien before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Pierre Bastien ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Pierre Bastien

In research: Pierre Bastien appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Pierre Bastien in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Pierre Bastien is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1953 births, French musicians, Inventors of musical instruments, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Pierre Bastien outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Pierre Bastien in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Pierre Bastien means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Pierre Bastien out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Pierre Bastien in simple terms?

Pierre Bastien (born 1953 in Paris) is a French musician, composer, and experimental musical instrument builder. Life and career Bastien began building mechanical-based musical instruments at an early age, using items such as metronomes, cymbals, and pulleys.

Why does Pierre Bastien matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Pierre Bastien?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Pierre Bastien.