François de Roubaix

Composer, musician, and conductor François de Roubaix was born in Neuilly-sur Seine, France on April 3, 1939. He was best known as both a film composer and an avant-garde pioneer who blended electronic and traditional instrumentation into his recordings. Born the son of Academy Award-winning filmmaker Paul de Roubaix, François de Roubaix taught himself music without a formal education and immersed himself into jazz at the age of 15. His father asked him to compose scores for many of the educational films he produced, which led to François de Roubaix composing the scores to several films by director Robert Enrico: Thaumeatopoea, la vie des chenilles processionnaires du pin et de leur extermination controlée (1961), Montagnes magiques (1962), Contre-point (1964), and Les Grandes Gueules (1965). After working on many other scores throughout the 1960s, he assembled one of the very first eight-track home studios – located in his Paris apartment - in 1972. Using early electronic and traditional instruments, he composed and recorded music for film, television, and adverts. He would incorporate synthesizers and drum machines into his recordings, making him one of the pioneers of the French electronic music scene. Some of his most celebrated works include the scores for 1967’s The Adventurers and 1972’s La Scourmoune (1972). François de Roubaix died on November 22, 1975, during a diving excursion in Spain. Since his death, his music has influenced several generations of electronic music fans and his recordings have been sampled numerous times over the years. His catalog has been reappraised over the years by critics and new audiences alike and his music has been compiled numerous times on titles such as Du Jazz À L’Electro 1965 – 1975.

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