De Laet, Joris

Joris de Laet was born in Antwerp in 1947. Apart from several years at a music academy, where he studied violin and cello, he received no formal artistic training and is essentially self-taught. His work stems from a strong interest in the avant-garde, experimental music, and above all electronic and electroacoustic music. In 1973 he founded SEM, the Studio for Experimental Music, through which he sought to cultivate an audience for new music by means of concerts, lectures, seminars, and the lending of music on tape. A year later, the SEMensemble followed, conceived as a means of performing post-production studio techniques live and using electronics as a tool for real-time communication. Music, theatre, poetry, light, and visual imagery often came together in its work.

Between 1972 and 1975, De Laet undertook a traineeship at IPEM in Ghent, where he met, among others, Karel Goeyvaerts, Lucien Goethals, and Herman Sabbe. He collaborated with Goeyvaerts on projects including Partiduur 12345 and Tot barstens toe. From 15 July 1975, he held the position of lecturer in electronic music at the Royal Flemish Conservatoire of Antwerp; from 1978 onwards, he also taught seminars on electronic sound production, recording techniques, sound editing, and composition. His work evolved from tape and live electronics towards parametric and algorithmic composition, with sound manipulation, spatialisation, and post-production as key concepts.