Os Sons em Volta — One Album, 14 Works, 18 Years of Composition

N Studio is proud to have been responsible for the production of Os Sons em Volta, the new double CD by Carlos Caires — a project bringing together 14 works composed over nearly two decades, between 2004 and 2022.

More than a simple compilation, Os Sons em Volta is a portrait of Carlos Caires’s artistic evolution: from chamber formations to symphony orchestra, from solo instrument to real-time electronics, each work reveals a different facet of a composer in constant renewal. The integration of instrumental music and electronics is the album’s guiding thread — not as a hierarchy, but as a dialogue.

A Project for Immersive Listening

Carlos Caires is clear about how he wants this album to be heard: through good speakers or headphones, in absolute silence. And despite warning friends and colleagues about the nearly two hours of music, many ended up listening to each disc in a single sitting. “To be really honest, that is how I would like each CD to be listened to — straight through,” the composer admits.

IRIN Software and Electronics as an Instrument

One of the most distinctive dimensions of this project is the role of technology in composition. Carlos Caires developed his own software — IRIN — which he uses not only as a creative tool but also as an instrument on stage. In one of the album’s works, composed for the Percussion Group of the RAI Symphony Orchestra in partnership with Centro Tempo Reale, the composer himself joins the ensemble as a fifth musician, manipulating the electronics live through a digital instrument built on IRIN.

For Caires, the choice of electronics comes down to “its versatility and adaptability to the musical and expressive context to be achieved” — a premise felt throughout the entire album.

The Challenge of Sonic Coherence

From a production standpoint, Os sons em Volta presented considerable challenges. The works were recorded across multiple locations, with very different instrumental formations — a significant logistical undertaking that demanded constant attention to the coherence of the final result.

The N Studio team — responsible for the recording, production, editing, mixing and mastering of the entire album — worked to ensure that, despite the diversity of works, spaces and formations, the album would sound as a unified whole. “The main concern was never to lose sight of the fact that we were making a CD, and that sonic coherence, as a whole, had to be guaranteed,” the composer explains.

The electronics of all the works were also revised and optimised during the production process, reinforcing the technical and expressive quality of each piece.

Os sons em Volta is a work of remarkable scope — and a testament to what becomes possible when creative vision meets production of the highest order.