Sonde was a music design and performance ensemble based in Montreal who explored the relationship between sound, music, space and time. Sonde members were inspired by Italian composer Mario Bertoncini who taught a Music Design course in McGill’s Faculty of Music in the early 1970s. Bertoncini proposed that composition begin before the instrument, requiring the composer to explore the acoustic properties of materials and structures and invent new instruments as part of the creation of a new composition.
Sonde was formed in 1975 and originally called MUD (an abbreviation of Musical Design). MUD gave their first performance in 1975 at Pollack Hall, McGill University in Montreal. Sonde’s instruments (sound sources) were designed and constructed by members of the group. The original members of MUD were Andrew Culver, Pierre Dostie, Chris Howard, and Charles de Mestral.