Laurent Peckels is a bass player, app developer, and music teacher from Luxembourg. Besides his own band, The Aquatic Museum (theaquaticmuseum.com together with Claire Parsons) he is a member of different ensembles e.g. the Luxembourg Jazz Orchestra big band (ljo.lu). He teaches at the Maastricht Conservatorium and at the BTS Game Art and Game Design in Luxembourg while concurrently studying South-Indian rhythmical techniques at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. In addition to his musical pursuits, he enjoys blending his passion for technology and music by developing music apps with a team of skilled musicians and engineers. Some of his projects include the well-received ‘PercussionTutor.com’ and the upcoming ‘FlamencoTutor’ app, featuring Grammy award winner Niño de Los Reyes (peckels.com/projects).

For the residency, the emphasis on the fusion between South Indian and Western music genres is related to two distinct aspects of South Indian music that set it apart from other musical cultures: its highly structured system of creating melodic material and a rhythmic system that, in many respects, surpasses the complexity of most Western rhythmic approaches. These characteristics contrast with Western traditions, which often rely on intricate harmonic structures and large orchestras, often leading to a simplification of rhythm. The pure linearity in the development of South Indian melody and rhythm can be visualized and sonified like the links of an infinite necklace, presenting numerous opportunities for interactive and exploratory engagement in music.