Composer, experimental organist, human rights defender, ex-DevOps. My weblog is largely dedicated to my travels and the reflections I make along the way, or in the quiet spaces between them. Perhaps, you could even call it a kind of public journal. My email address for feedback can be found in the footer on any page of the weblog.
I no longer intend to maintain my personal weblog, and therefore I’m shutting it down. The project’s source code remains available on GitHub. When I have more spare time, all entries will be moved to an archive, and the weblog’s main page will be replaced with a new static one. Most likely this will be a simple page with brief information about me or something of that sort. So long, and thanks for…
Old steam trains often had whistles that worked much like organ pipes, as both are labial aerophones, instruments where air splits against a sharp edge to create sound. Perhaps that’s why trains always seemed so alive to me. I breathe. They breathe. Organs breathe. This might be how a choir of trains would sound, gathered together in a depot before sleep. coignard.org/wiegenlied-fuer-zuege
2025 was tough, but 2026 will be even better than 2027.
As usual, I don’t do year-end summaries, but why not try summing up the first quarter of this century? Summarising all of this in text would be completely pointless, far too much has managed to happen. So instead, let there be a video assembled from bits of various other recordings I’ve filmed over 2024-2025. The video with music is from September, but it turned out so saturated that it makes an…
Recently I’ve been composing a short organ dedication to a close friend of mine in honour of her birthday. Despite the fact that I mainly work on experimental organ music these days, composing something simple and uncomplicated for a change turned out to be quite inspiring as well. coignard.org/fuer-irina
In addition to my recent notes about the experimental organ ambient album “Wolfen”, I’d also like to share a short video I’ve assembled from parts of the documentary “Original Wolfen. Aus der Geschichte einer Filmfabrik”, filmed in 1995 by Niels Bolbrinker and Kerstin Stutterheim. Overall, the resulting work complements the musical composition rather well, particularly because with that…
Recently I shared a couple of useful templates for Dorico, the notation software, on the Steinberg forums, and I’d like to briefly mention this here in my weblog. The templates are made to simplify composing for Organteq 2, the physical model of an organ. The first template allows opening and closing stops using their names in notation, making it easier to compose drafts. The second template is…
In this brief note I’d like to share two things. Firstly, an event of considerable personal significance: I’ve created my own record label, “Living Conscious Systems”, for experimental organ ambient music, something I’d been thinking about these past few months. Actually, this is quite a logical development, because I’ve been composing organ music all this time: this week, for instance, saw the…
Wolfen, and Wohnkomplex II in Wolfen-Nord in particular, is sort of East Germany’s field of experiments. It once experimented with communism here, and now I sit on the top floor of what they built here, experimenting with organ music. This album is a musical portrait of Wolfen-Nord as I saw it in December 2025, and I seriously think Wolfen-Nord has the sound of an organ, as no other instrument…
These words began one of the letters I recently discovered in my (physical) letterbox. In this note, I’ll explain how it came to pass that my surname has only been displayed on my letterbox since the beginning of December. It’s rather easy to deduce that I was once called by a different name, since I explicitly reference my previous name in my weblog’s description. And, of course, I’ve already…
It so happens that since August, I’ve had my own dedicated server in Falkenstein running Proxmox to handle my various tasks, but in parallel, my close friend and I decided to set up a hosting service. We already have several clients under management, including but not limited to B2B: from small personal projects to business solutions. Clients have remarked upon their websites’ loading speeds…
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noticed that the Fediverse has been consuming a rather substantial amount of my attention and emotional resources (which are already in rather limited supply at the moment). Therefore, I’ve decided to take a break for a couple of years, and we’ll see how things go after that. I’ll be posting here predominantly music updates (only finished releases), and I won’t…
I’ve deleted my u/coignard account on Reddit and stopped using Spotify. Regarding Reddit: I found myself today reading comments under a post discussing a rather contentious topic, and suddenly thought: “what am I doing here?” Indeed: what am I doing there? It seems to me that Reddit has long since become just another internet cesspit. In the Russian-speaking segment, an analogous cesspit exists…
If you would like to send me a postcard or correspond with me by regular mail, I hope you will find my current postal address useful. René Coignard OT Wolfen Fritz-Weineck-Straße 3 06766 Bitterfeld-Wolfen GERMANY You can also send mail to my PO box: René Coignard Postfach 11 03 06754 Bitterfeld-Wolfen GERMANY
Today marks four years since I registered the domain for my weblog, renecoignard.com. I’d never kept count of how long I’d been using it, but recently I noticed quite by chance that its birthday was coming up. Well then, I thought, this is a good opportunity to share something interesting related to it. Say, the history of the surname I once chose for myself in place of the one I inherited from my…
Today in Brussels, a closed-door session of an EU working group will discuss Chatkontrolle 2.0. This legislative package would entirely strip EU citizens of their right to private communications. Rather amusing that only recently I wrote about EU parliamentarians proclaiming their victory over this idiotic bill, whilst in reality they’re now preparing to push through an even more aggressive…
Back in September I needed a console tool that would take one of my high-entropy master passwords (the ones I keep in my head) plus some context, and deterministically generate a password from that. Same inputs, same output, every time. The use case: I have several critical things that need strong passwords (disk encryption, PGP keys, SSH keys, cryptocurrency wallet passphrases, Proxmox backups),…
A random thought that came to me today: even if it seems like my actions back in Russia didn’t lead to any visible result (the war is still going on), that’s only how it appears. Every time I protested and people saw it (in person, online), it connected them through me. If someone couldn’t directly and openly express their disagreement with what was happening, they had an alternative: share a post…
Merz has a simple solution to every problem: deport migrants. It’s rather remarkable watching a chancellor whose rhetoric echoes Goebbels. The man literally said: “But we naturally still have this problem in the cityscape, and that’s why the Federal Minister of the Interior is now enabling and carrying out deportations on a very large scale.” In the context of migration, cityscape naturally refers…
I mean, seriously. Of course, this sounds like I’m dismissing Carlo Cipolla, who argued we systematically underestimate the number of stupid people around us, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who observed that stupidity is a sociological phenomenon rather than an intellectual defect, arising when external power discourages independent thought. But actually, I agree with both, and my position complements…
Today, incidentally, is the fête du prénom René — in other words, my name day. It’s actually the feast day of René Goupil, a surgeon born in France who later emigrated to New France (that is, Canada). He lived among the Huron people for two years, performing two jobs: working as a surgeon and as a catechist. In 1642, René Goupil was returning to Huron territory, accompanying the missionary Isaac…
For those holding copies of my public keys, please take note of the following updates: The PGP key with ID 0802 BDCD 5265 6EE9 has had its validity extended to 1 January 2027. The PGP key with ID 4435 E28E DEAD BEEF has also had its validity extended to 1 January 2027. The PGP key with ID 0802 BDCD 5265 6EE9 now includes the UIDs René Coignard "> and René von Wolfen-Nord ."> .
It so happens that, unfortunately, I’ve found myself in hospital once again. I’ve been here for a couple of weeks now and will be staying for roughly another 5-6 weeks or so. I may respond less frequently and be online less often, so if you’re wondering, I’m still alive, just enjoying the complimentary accommodation.
I suppose I’ll write about how the day went, while I wait for my Magdeburg-Halle train to depart. My good friend from Berlin and I decided to meet up today and wander around the Zitadel Spandau and its surroundings. The forecasters had promised so-so weather, but Spandau gave us a rather warm welcome: the sun even peeked out from time to time. The sky, though cloudy in places, wasn’t the least bit…
Like any other decent German on the nationwide warning systems test day, I’m filling out the survey on the official website about what I thought of the performance and what could be improved. It contains the question: “Wovon waren Sie in der Vergangenheit schon einmal unmittelbar selbst betroffen?”, which you could translate as “what from this list have you personally experienced?” And for me,…
Alright, Falkenstein. A small town in the Vogtland district. How did I end up here? I keep a list of towns to visit on weekends, and I periodically pick a random one from this list when the mood strikes. At some point, Falkenstein made its way onto the list: one of my prod servers is located there, so I thought it would be nice to pay my comrade a visit when I had the chance. The internet also…
I’ve already given up on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram in the past, and now it’s time to say goodbye to Telegram as well. I won’t be deleting my account there just yet, because plenty of my friends still use it and aren’t planning to migrate anywhere else, but I’m no longer going to use the official Telegram clients. Instead, I’m now using the mautrix-telegram bridge, which lets me chat with my…
A couple of weeks ago, before I ended up in hospital, I successfully passed my telc Deutsch A2, and B1 awaits me in September. I have to say, I’m speaking with much more confidence now after being stuck in hospital for ages. Hardly anyone there spoke English, so I had to chat with everyone in German. After a while, I didn’t even need to say things like “Ich kann noch nicht fließend auf Deutsch…
I was away for a bit due to some health problems — hope no one worried. Just so you know: I’m out of hospital and all good now.
Today brought a completely spontaneous trip to Görlitz (and just across the river, the Polish town of Zgorzelec) with Anton, which we hastily planned yesterday evening and managed to pull off today. Yes, you know I love this sort of thing. We particularly wanted to visit the area in Zgorzelec called Manhattan, which consisted mainly of prefabricated panel buildings, similar to the ones where I…
I’ve recently joined the Fediverse — think of it as a decentralised social network where different platforms can talk to each other through an open protocol called ActivityPub. I’m using Pleroma because it’s lightweight on resources and its functionality suits my needs perfectly well. You can now follow me using my username @rene@wolfen-nord.social ."> @rene@wolfen-nord.social . It’s very cool…
Today, Anton and I spontaneously decided to go hiking in Sächsische Schweiz, the German part of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains. To be precise, we wandered around the area near Königstein, and managed to climb the table mountain Pfaffenstein, from where breathtaking views opened up. I think the last time I enjoyed hiking and the views this much was in Mestia, in Georgia. In Garmisch-Partenkirchen it…
Exactly one year ago, I moved from my previous neighbourhood in Wolfen, Krondorf, to where I live now, Wolfen-Nord. What a year it’s been. So much has changed in just twelve months: the people around me, my work, what I expect from life, how I see myself, and of course, where I live. I’m living in the epicentre of Wolfen now, or at least what was once the epicentre of its life. Now it’s quite…
I’ve finally got round to sorting and publishing photographs of German towns that I took this year with my Nikon D7000. There are also a few shots that were taken, shall we say, with a little help from Agfa Optima 200, but still using the Nikon. If you want to see what life’s like in Germany beyond the major cities and where I’m currently living, I’d highly recommend checking out the “Wolfen-Nord”…
Nur als Hinweis: a quick note about a place I visited with Alexander on May 11th. It’s a small district of Schönwalde-Glien that houses an abandoned military settlement from DDR times. Since 1949, this spot sat right on the West Berlin border, and sadly some people lost their lives trying to escape here. It’s not just a few derelict buildings — I’m talking about a proper abandoned settlement:…
Yesterday I was in Dresden with Anton, where I went so he could show me around the city. We had been planning this trip since March, and I decided it was finally time to meet in person and wander through the city. I’m embarrassed to admit that in Dresden, I had essentially only explored the Altstadt, while the rest of the city remained unknown to me until now. The walk, by the way, turned out to…
I always try to escape Wolfen at weekends to meet friends and explore new towns. I typically plan my weekends well in advance, and this Sunday was meant to be dedicated to a trip with Timofey to the Dessau-Wörlitzer Gartenreich, a landscape park created in the English style, located relatively close to where I live. Unfortunately, a combination of circumstances prevented us from visiting this…
Relatively recently, about a couple of weeks ago, I created a new Facebook account. I had written previously that I no longer use this social network, but after much deliberation, I decided to start a new account with one purpose: to communicate with residents of the city where I currently live. I mainly shared photographs taken during my walks. People were delighted. However, one day Facebook…
Last Saturday I visited München to volunteer with the Bavarian Red Cross alongside a friend. My previous visit to this city was marred by Deutsche Bahn’s infrastructure issues; however, this time everything went wonderfully: the city blossomed and revealed itself to me in a completely different light. I brought my Agfa Optima 200 to take some photographs. Granted, it’s not in working condition,…
I’m making this note whilst already sitting on the train that will depart for Leipzig at any moment. It’s half past two now. Today I’m travelling to München, and to arrive earlier, I have to improvise: unfortunately, there are no buses or trains from Wolfen to Bitterfeld at this hour, from where my first train departs, so I decided to go on foot. It’s nearly ten kilometres, but that doesn’t…
Last Saturday, my friends from Stuttgart and other cities and I set off to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a town surrounded by the mountain ranges of the Bavarian Alps. Near the town is Germany’s highest point, Mount Zugspitze, and so we thought it would be interesting to see both the town itself and the natural landscapes there. The trip turned out to be wonderful, I would even say full of adventures,…
I’m excited to share some good news: recently, composer Evgeny Petukhov from Berlin and I formed a new musical group called “The Coignard-Petukhov Project”. Yesterday we finally released our piece for piano and string instruments named “Wolfen-Nord”, inspired by the area where I currently live. coignard.org/wolfen-nord
It was exactly two years ago today that I publicly announced my name change to the world, and since then I’ve been known as René Jean-Michel Yves Coignard. Though I haven’t changed my name on official documents, nor do I plan to in the future, it has nonetheless become an important milestone in my life. In my social circle, there’s no one left who addresses me by my old name. However, I do allow…
The past six months have been particularly generous with all sorts of twists and turns, and I have to admit, most of them haven’t exactly been the easiest trials for me. Fair enough. I’ve already travelled a long and thorny road, and none of it has been enough to break me. Rattled me a little? Sure. But I still find the strength to pick myself up and keep moving forward. I like to think of my life…
I decided to shake things up a bit this weekend and went completely bald. It looks fantastic — my skull was practically crying out to be freed this whole time! Think I’ll stick with this look. My profile is turned out a bit rough around the edges, but I’m actually into it. Such an interesting experience. Reckon I’ll keep it this way and not bother growing my hair back. Admit me to the bald club,…
I can hardly believe that exactly three years ago, at the very moment I’m writing this brief note, I was heading to Moscow to hold a solitary anti-war protest with a placard reading “Putin, Stop the War with Ukraine!” outside the Presidential Administration building. Even then, I understood that irreversible changes had begun in my life, and the path would be rather straightforward — leading out…
I developed this real-time bus arrival tracker for Tbilisi public transport in early 2023 while living in the city, and have been continuously improving it since then. The service has grown to serve around four thousand regular users who rely on it to check their bus arrival times in Tbilisi. Whilst it’s quite a straightforward piece of software, I thought sharing the code might be useful for…
Somehow it’s worked out historically that my worst experiences in Germany always end up being connected to Deutsche Bahn. That’s exactly why I’m going to work there as a train driver — to make everything even worse. I’m joking, of course. But the topic I’m about to discuss is serious stuff. After all, German humour itself, which I’m slowly starting to get used to, is no laughing matter. Today I…
I’m continuing to compose music for piano and violin, and I’m happy to present my new piece “Message à Daria”, which I’ve been working on since the beginning of this month. It’s now available on Bandcamp — you can listen to it for free or get a copy for 4 €. coignard.org/daria
I’ve just finished the first module of my integration course, where I’m learning German in hopes of becoming a train driver for Deutsche Bahn. That means I’m now officially at A1 level! Though I should mention — it wasn’t just the course that got me here. I’ve been putting in extra work on my own, learning about 45 new words each day and working through a self-teaching guide to get my head around…