Music electroacoustic

The music electroacoustic (or electroacoustics) is a gathering kind of many musical currents. The expression " music électroacoustique" in the middle of the Années 1950 was born to indicate a made up music using recorded and/or synthesized sounds. It thus draws its origin at the same time in the Concrete music initiated in France by Pierre Schaeffer in 1948 and in the Electronic music developed with beginning of the year 50 in Cologne. It gathers currents as various as the acousmatic Musique, the mixed Musique, the Live electronic or the sound Paysage.

While being often regarded as the superset of the electronic music, its definition and its characteristics remain prone to many debates.

The field of the music electroacoustic is vast. Important research centres and of musical composition exist throughout the world and there are many festivals and conferences presenting the music electroacoustic, in particular the International Conference of the music on computer (International Computer Music Conference, ICMC), the International Conference on the new interfaces for the expressions musical (New Interfaces for Musical Expression, NIME), conference EMS (Electronic Music Studies Conference, EMS), the International festival of Music and Créations Electroacoustics of Bourges and the Festival Presences and electronic Présences in France and the festival Ars Electronica in Linz in Austria.

A certain number of national associations promote this musical current, such as the Communauté Canadian Electroacoustic (CEC), the Groupe of Music research (GRM), the Research institute and Acoustic Coordination/Musique (IRCAM) in France, the Institut Music Electroacoustic of Bourges, IMEB, the SEAMUS in the United States, the ACMA in Australia and the network Sonic Arts in the United Kingdom.

The reviews devoted to research in music electroacoustic Computer Music Newspaper (of the Massachusetts Institute off Technology) and Organized Sound are among the internationally most recognized reviews. Many of other national publications exist in printed or electronic form.

The question of the definition

The definition of the music electroacoustic always caused many debates. However, four definitions are often defended:

the term music electroacoustic indicates any type of music in which electricity has a role other than the simple use of the microphone or amplification for the production of this music (Leigh Landy)
all that uses the conversion of an acoustic signal into electrical signal and defect and poured
music using technology to record, produce, create, handle and diffuse the sound
all the activities using electricity to produce, to handle, diffuse and study the sound (what one names “Electroacoustics” in the Anglo-Saxon countries)

Even if any music electroacoustic is created starting from electronic technology , work having met the most success in general implies the aspects of sound creation which were hitherto inaccessible to the musical play carried out with the traditional Musical instruments. The majority of the electroacoustics compositions use sounds inaccessible to, for example, the traditional Orchestre. These sounds can include sounds preregistered in nature or in studio, of the sounds of synthesis or produced by computer.

The electroacoustics compositions also frequently explore the space characteristics of the sound. The trajectory and the distance from a sound can be parameterized compared to its field of listening. The music electroacoustic is worried typically less concepts " traditionnelles" dependant on the metric partition and its rates/rhythms, to the harmony and the melody, but well rather of the interaction between the gestural one and the texture of the sound and what Denis Smalley called the " spectromorphologie" , of the sound Specter in time is the sculpture.

History

Several place the beginnings of the music electroacoustic of the end of the the Forties with the beginning of the the Fifties and in particular with work of two groups of type-setters whose esthetic orientations were radically opposite.

In Paris, the group of research in " Concrete music " had as a pioneer Pierre Schaeffer. Its musical design was based on the juxtaposition and the transformation of natural sounds, i.e. real sounds preregistered (but necessarily not produced by the forces of nature) on tape or disc. Beyond the origin of the sounds, Pierre Schaeffer defended especially the idea of a concrete music on the basis of the sound to lead to an abstract realization: music. The Concrete music is thus placed in opposition with, in particular, the instrumental music on the basis of an idea abstracted to concretely carry it out at the time of the concert.

With Cologne, the group Elektronische Musik set up about 1949-51 by the type-setter Herbert Eimert and the physicist Werner Meyer-Eppler worked only on sounds generated by electronic means, in particular the sinusoidal waves. The accurate check carried out in studio allowed what Herbert Eimert regarded as the electronic extension and even the improvement of the serialism. In studio, serial operations could be applied to the sound elements such as the stamp and dynamics. The common bond between the two schools was that the music was recorded then played by loudspeakers, without interpreter.

Even if the serialism were largely given up by the various electroacoustics mediums, it remains that the majority of the pieces electroacoustics use a combination of sound preregistered and sounds of synthesis. The schism between the approaches of Schaeffer and Eimert was overcome. The first example of this is the piece Gesang der Jünglinge of Karlheinz Stockhausen created in Cologne on May 30th 1956.

It is it should be noted that there were some experiments isolated from electronic music having preceded those by Pierre Schaeffer in 1948. Ottorino Respighi used a phonographic recording of a song of nightingale in its orchestral work the Pines of Rome in 1924, before even the introduction of the electric gramophones. The experimental scenario writer Walter Ruttmann created Weekend , a sound joining carried out on a Bande its optical in 1930. John Cage used phonographic recordings of tonalities of test mixed with instruments played on line in Imaginary Landscape No 1 in 1939. In first half of the 20th century, a big number of type-setters asserted also the use of its electronics in their composition, among which in particular Ferruccio Busoni, Luigi Russolo and Edgard Varèse.

During the the Sixties and the years the Seventies, many studios were created in the world and various currents appeared of which:

the acousmatic Music around GRM directed of 1966 to 1997 by François Bayle to France, Francis Dhomont in Quebec and Denis Smalley in the United Kingdom. This current defends a music only on support, diffused on an orchestra of loudspeakers and built starting from Image-of-sounds
the sound Paysage (Soundscape composition) around Murray Schafer and Barry Truax in Canada, movement very close to the acoustic ecology produces works starting from recording of real sound landscapes
the Computer music in the United States defends as for it the use of the computer to carry out all or part of work

Other currents touched the whole of the studios and seem transverse movements: the Live electronics (sometimes near to the current Free jazz) or the mixed Music mélant sounds recorded and one or more musicians on scene.

Characteristics

There are also several other expressions which are either synonymous with the music electroacoustic, or of the subbranches or of the currents chapeautant the music electroacoustic. We can quote several here of them: Electronic music, experimental Music, impromptu electroacoustic (EAI), Music computer-assisted, sound environment, sound design, audio Art, radiophonic art, concrete music, " field recording" , electronics experimental, sound Art…

Nowadays, the électronica, from its technique, is increasingly related to the music electroacoustic. For a few years, several musicians of électronica have had summers very influenced by the type-setters of music electroacoustic, for example Amon Tobin, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Gescom and Squarepusher.

Some precursors

the Italian bruitists of the Years 1930

Edgard Varèse, which in 1934 composes Ecuatorial , written for organ, trumpets, trombones which gueulent ( sic ), percussion, two Thereminvox and two votes soprano and low.

Outstanding works

Orphée 53 of Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry
Variations for a door and a sigh of Pierre Henry
De Natura Sonorum of Bernard Parmegiani
the Creation of the world of Bernard Parmegiani
Symphony for a man alone of Pierre Schaeffer

National institutions

GRM - Group of music research of the National institute of audio-visual (INA) in Paris, France
CEC - the Community Canadian electroacoustic
S.A.N. - Sonic Arts Network (Network of sound arts, England)
SEAMA - Society for ElectroAcoustic Music in Australasia (Company of the music electroacoustic of southern Asia)
SEAMS - Society for ElectroAcoustic Music in Sweden (Company of the music electroacoustic of Sweden)
SEAMUS - Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (Company of the music electroacoustic of the United States)

Various organizations

IRCAM - Research institute and acoustic coordination/music in Paris, France
Gram - National center of musical creation to Lyon, France
CECH - Electroacoustic Community off Chile Communauté electroacoustic of Chile
Digital fingerprints Label montréalais of concrete music, acousmatic and electroacoustic
EMS - Electroacoustic Music in Sweden Musique electroacoustic of Sweden
Motus Structure French for the diffusion of the international repertory acousmatic and interpretation on acousmonium
Musiques & Belgian Association research dedicated to the development of the music electroacoustic
STEIM - Studio for Electro-Instrumental Music Music studio electro-instrumental in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
CCRMA - Center for Research Computer in Music and data-processing Acoustics Research center in music and acoustics with Stanford, California, the United States.
CIRM - National center of musical creation in Nice.
Ktra - Collective of creation of music electroacoustic & instrumental.

Type-setters

See too

Internal bonds

prepared Guitar
acousmatic Music
Modern music
Concrete music
numerical Electronic music
Organ
Mellotron
Project: Electronic music

External bonds

Resources

Incipit of the book '' Modulations, a history of the electronic music '' (audio Book, reading mp3)
Of the studio of test of the rtf with the GRM
the handbook of the acousmates Manual junior of the studio and his techniques, intended for the students in class of composition electroacoustic
EARS - the Electro Acoustic Resource Site Site of resources electroacoustic
resources.electro Site of resources on electroacoustic
eContact! - Web newspaper for electroacoustics Online news on electroacoustic
Electroacoustic Music - style refers At Synthtopia the definition of the kind by the gate specialized in electronic music Synthopia
NIME - conference one New Interfaces for Musical Expression International Conferences on the new interfaces for the musical expression
VIBRÖ - Chronicles off contemporary sound experiments contemporary Chroniques of experimentation sound
Art off the States: electroacoustic - electroacoustic works by American composers Presentation of the musical work of various American type-setters
SONUS - online listening library off 1800 and more electroacoustic works Discotheque on line of more than 1800 works to listen to

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