Difference between revisions of "Electroacoustic music"

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The terms '''Electroacoustics''' and its sub-discipline '''Electroacoustic music''' have been used to describe several different sonic and musical genres or musical techniques.  
 
The terms '''Electroacoustics''' and its sub-discipline '''Electroacoustic music''' have been used to describe several different sonic and musical genres or musical techniques.  
  
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While generally seen as the superset of [[electronic music]], the definition and characteristics of electroacoustic music have been subject to much debate.
 
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Electroacoustic music is a diverse field.  Important centers of research and composition can be found around the world, and there are numerous conferences and festivals which present electroacoustic music, notably the [[International Computer Music Conference]], the International Conference on [[NIME|New interfaces for musical expression]], the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Festival (Bourges, France), and the [[Ars Electronica]] Festival (Linz, Austria).
 
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A number of national associations promote the art form, notably the [[Canadian Electroacoustic Community]] (CEC) in Canada, SEAMUS in the US, ACMA in Australasia and the [[Sonic Arts Network]] in the UK. [[The Computer Music Journal]] and [[Organised Sound]] are the two most important journals dedicated to electroacoustic studies, while several national associations produce print and electronic publications.
 
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==Questions of definition==
 
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There is no consensus for the definition of “electroacoustic music”. Some contend that any sound played over a loudspeaker is “electroacoustic”, while for others, the term also entails some aesthetic specifications.
 
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While all electroacoustic music is made with electronic technology, the most successful works in the field are usually concerned with those aspects of sonic design which remain inaccessible to traditional [[musical instrument]]s played live. In particular, most electroacoustic compositions make use of sounds not available to, say, the traditional orchestra; these sounds might include prerecorded sounds from nature or from the studio, synthesized sounds, processed sounds, and so forth.
 
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Electroacoustic compositions also often explore spatial characteristics of sound, as sounds can be given trajectories, and can be placed in distant or near fields of listening. Electroacoustic music is typically less preoccupied with the “traditional” concerns of score-based music — (metric) rhythm, harmony and melody — and more concerned with the interplay of gesture and texture, and what [[Denis Smalley]] has termed ''spectromorphology'' — the sculpting of the sound spectrum in time.
 
  
 
==History==
 
==History==
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Many date the formal birth of electroacoustic music to the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in particular to the work of two groups of composers whose aesthetic orientations were radically opposed. The [[Musique concrète]] group was centered in [[Paris]] and was pioneered by [[Pierre Schaeffer]]; their music was based on the juxtaposition and transformation of natural sounds (meaning real, recorded sounds, not necessarily those made by natural forces) recorded to tape or disc. In [[Cologne]], ''[[Electronic Music|elektronische Musik]]'', pioneered in 1949–51 by the composer [[Herbert Eimert]] and the physicist [[Werner Meyer-Eppler]], was based solely on electronically generated (synthetic) sounds, particularly sine waves. The precise control afforded by the studio allowed for what Eimert considered to be an electronic extension and perfection of [[serialism]]; in the studio, serial operations could be applied to elements such as timbre and dynamics. The common link between the two schools is that the music is recorded and performed through loudspeakers, without a human performer. While serialism has been largely abandoned in electroacoustic circles, the majority of electroacoustic pieces use a combination of recorded sound and synthesized or processed sounds, and the schism between Schaeffer's and Eimert's approaches has been overcome, the first major example being [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]'s ''[[Gesang der Jünglinge]]'' of 1955–56.
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Many date the formal birth of electroacoustic music to the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in particular to the work of two groups of composers whose aesthetic orientations were radically opposed. The [[Musique concrète]] group was centered in [[Paris]] and was pioneered by [[Pierre Schaeffer]]; their music was based on the juxtaposition and transformation of natural sounds (meaning real, recorded sounds, not necessarily those made by natural forces) recorded to tape or disc. In [[Cologne]], ''[[Electronic Music|elektronische Musik]]'', pioneered in 1949–51 by the composer [[Herbert Eimert]] and the physicist [[Werner Meyer-Eppler]], was based solely on electronically generated (synthetic) sounds, particularly sine waves. The precise control afforded by the studio allowed for what Eimert considered to be an electronic extension and perfection of [[serialism]]; in the studio, serial operations could be applied to elements such as timbre and dynamics. The common link between the two schools is that the music is recorded and performed through loudspeakers, without a human performer. While serialism has been largely abandoned in electroacoustic circles, the majority of electroacoustic pieces use a combination of recorded sound and synthesized or processed sounds, and the schism between Schaeffer's and Eimert's approaches has been overcome, the first major example being [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]]'s ''Gesang der Jünglinge'' of 1955–56.
  
 
Isolated examples of the use of electroacoustic and prerecorded music exist that predate Schaeffer’s first experiments in 1948. [[Ottorino Respighi]] used an (acoustical) phonograph recording of a nightingale’s song in his orchestral work ''The Pines of Rome'' in 1924, before the introduction of electrical record players; experimental filmmaker [[Walter Ruttmann]] created ''Weekend'', a sound collage on an optical soundtrack in 1930; and [[John Cage]] used phonograph recordings of test tones mixed with live instruments in ''Imaginary Landscape no. 1'' (1939), among other examples. In the first half of the Twentieth Century, a number of writers also advocated the use of electronic sound sources for composition, notably [[Ferruccio Busoni]], [[Luigi Russolo]], and [[Edgard Varèse]], and electronic performing instruments were invented, such as the [[Theremin]] in 1919, and the [[Ondes Martenot]] in 1928.
 
Isolated examples of the use of electroacoustic and prerecorded music exist that predate Schaeffer’s first experiments in 1948. [[Ottorino Respighi]] used an (acoustical) phonograph recording of a nightingale’s song in his orchestral work ''The Pines of Rome'' in 1924, before the introduction of electrical record players; experimental filmmaker [[Walter Ruttmann]] created ''Weekend'', a sound collage on an optical soundtrack in 1930; and [[John Cage]] used phonograph recordings of test tones mixed with live instruments in ''Imaginary Landscape no. 1'' (1939), among other examples. In the first half of the Twentieth Century, a number of writers also advocated the use of electronic sound sources for composition, notably [[Ferruccio Busoni]], [[Luigi Russolo]], and [[Edgard Varèse]], and electronic performing instruments were invented, such as the [[Theremin]] in 1919, and the [[Ondes Martenot]] in 1928.
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==Characteristics==
 
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Many self-described electroacoustic pieces include live performers (called “mixed”), either as a performer playing along with a tape/CD/computer, or, more recently, with live electronic processing of the performer’s sound. Saxophonist [[Evan Parker]] has won acclaim for his recordings using live electronic processing. The term ''acousmatic music'' is often used to refer to pieces which consist solely of prerecorded sound — a form of matured musique concréte. There are dozens of other terms which are either synonymous with “electroacoustic music,” or that describe super- or subsets, offshoots or parallel disciplines from the genre. These include: [[sonic art]]; computer music; electronic music; microsound; lowercase; soundscape; audio art; radiophonics; live electronics; musique concrète; field recording; experimental electronica; electroacoustic sound art (esa), eai or EAI, and others.
 
  
 
==Pages==
 
==Pages==
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* [[Hans Zender]]
 
* [[Hans Zender]]
 
</div>
 
</div>
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==See also==
 
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* Electroacoustic music in [[Media_art_in_Central_and_Eastern_Europe#Electroacoustic_music|CEE]], [[Germany#Electroacoustic_music|East Germany]], [[Poland#Electroacoustic music|Poland]], [[Slovakia#Electroacoustic music|Slovakia]], [[Czech Republic#Electroacoustic and experimental music, sound art|Czech Republic]], [[Hungary#Electroacoustic and experimental music, sound art|Hungary]], [[Serbia#Electroacoustic_music|Serbia]],  [[Croatia#Electroacoustic_music|Croatia]], [[Romania#Electroacoustic_music|Romania]], [[Bulgaria#Electroacoustic_and_electronic_music|Bulgaria]], [[Lithuania#Electroacoustic_and_experimental_music|Lithuania]], [[Latvia#Electroacoustic_music|Latvia]], [[Estonia#Electroacoustic_and_experimental_music|Estonia]].
 
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* [[Electronic art music]]
 
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* [[Computer music]]
 
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==References==
 
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* [[Media art in Central and Eastern Europe Bibliography#Electroacoustic_music|Electroacoustic music in Central and Eastern Europe: Bibliography]].
 
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* J. Chadabe. ''Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music''. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.
 
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* Michel Chion. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=536 ''Guide To Sound Objects. Pierre Schaeffer and Musical Research '']. Buchet Chastel, 1983.
 
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* Herbert Eimert. “What is Electronic Music?” ''Die Reihe'' 1 [English edition] (“Electronic Music”): 1–10, 1957.
 
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* Simon Emmerson (ed.) 1986. ''The Language of Electroacoustic Music'', London: Macmillan.
 
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* Simon Emmerson (ed.). [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=625 ''Music, Electronic Media and Culture'']. Aldershot (UK) and Burlington, Vermont (USA): Ashgate Publishing, 2000.
 
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* Paul Griffiths. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=3507 ''Modern Music and After: Directions Since 1945'']. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
 
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* R.J. Heifetz. ''On the Wires of Our Nerves:The Art of Electroacoustic Music''. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses Inc, 1989.
 
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* Douglas Kahn. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=63 ''Noise, Water, Meat: A History of Sound in the Arts'']. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1999.
 
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* Leigh Landy. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=610'' What’s the Matter with Today’s Experimental Music? Organized Sound Too Rarely Heard]. Routledge, 1991.
 
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* Leigh Landy. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=609 ''Understanding the Art of Sound Organization''], MIT Press, 2007.
 
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* T. Licata. (ed.). ''Electroacoustic Music: Analytical Perspectives''. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
 
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* Peter Manning. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=276 ''Electronic and Computer Music'']. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
 
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* M. Morawska-Büngeler. ''Schwingende Elektronen: Eine Dokumentation über das Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln 1951–1986''. Cologne-Rodenkirchen: P. J. Tonger Musikverlag, 1988.
 
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* Michal Rataj, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=511 ''Electroacoustic Music and Selected Concepts of Radio Art'']. 2006. (Czech/English)
 
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* Curtis Roads. ''The Computer Music Tutorial''. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1996.
 
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* Karlheinz Stockhausen. "Electroacoustic Performance Practice." ''Perspectives of New Music'' 34, no 1 (Fall): 74-105 (1996).
 
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* David Toop, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=599 ''Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds''], Serpent’s Tail, 1995.
 
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* E. Ungeheuer. ''Wie die elektronische Musik “erfunden” wurde…: Quellenstudie zu Werner Meyer-Epplers musikalische Entwurf zwischen 1949 und 1953''. Kölner Schriften zur Neuen Musik 2, edited by Johannes Fritsch and Dieter Kämper. Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1992.
 
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* Trevor Wishart. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=598 ''On Sonic Art'']. Amsterdam: Harwood Academic Publishers, 1996.
 
  
 
==Institutions==
 
==Institutions==
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* [http://ressources.electro.free.fr resources.electro] Electroacoustic resource site (French)
 
* [http://ressources.electro.free.fr resources.electro] Electroacoustic resource site (French)
 
* [http://acousmata.com Thomas Patteson's blog Acousmata]
 
* [http://acousmata.com Thomas Patteson's blog Acousmata]
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==Literature==
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* [[Media art in Central and Eastern Europe Bibliography#Electroacoustic_music|Electroacoustic music in Central and Eastern Europe: Bibliography]].
 +
* Herbert Eimert, "What is Electronic Music?", ''Die Reihe'' 1 (1957), pp 1-10.
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* Michel Chion, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=536 ''Guide To Sound Objects. Pierre Schaeffer and Musical Research''], Buchet Chastel, 1983.
 +
* Simon Emmerson (ed.), ''The Language of Electroacoustic Music'', London: Macmillan, 1986.
 +
* M. Morawska-Büngeler. ''Schwingende Elektronen: Eine Dokumentation über das Studio für Elektronische Musik des Westdeutschen Rundfunk in Köln 1951–1986'', Cologne-Rodenkirchen: P. J. Tonger Musikverlag, 1988. (in German)
 +
* R.J. Heifetz. ''On the Wires of Our Nerves: The Art of Electroacoustic Music''. Cranbury, NJ: Associated University Presses Inc, 1989.
 +
* Leigh Landy. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=610 ''What’s the Matter with Today’s Experimental Music? Organized Sound Too Rarely Heard''], Routledge, 1991.
 +
* E. Ungeheuer. "Wie die elektronische Musik “erfunden” wurde…: Quellenstudie zu Werner Meyer-Epplers musikalische Entwurf zwischen 1949 und 1953", ''Kölner Schriften zur Neuen Musik'' 2, eds. Johannes Fritsch and Dieter Kämper, Mainz: B. Schott’s Söhne, 1992. (in German)
 +
* Paul Griffiths, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=3507 ''Modern Music and After: Directions Since 1945'']. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
 +
* Curtis Roads, ''The Computer Music Tutorial'', MIT Press, 1996.
 +
* Karlheinz Stockhausen, "Electroacoustic Performance Practice", ''Perspectives of New Music'' 34:1 (Fall 1996), pp 74-105.
 +
* Simon Emmerson (ed.). [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=625 ''Music, Electronic Media and Culture''], Ashgate, 2000.
 +
* T. Licata. (ed.), ''Electroacoustic Music: Analytical Perspectives'', Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
 +
* Peter Manning, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=276 ''Electronic and Computer Music''], Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
 +
* Michal Rataj, [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=511 ''Electroacoustic Music and Selected Concepts of Radio Art''], 2006. (in Czech/English)
 +
* Leigh Landy. [http://monoskop.org/log/?p=609 ''Understanding the Art of Sound Organization''], MIT Press, 2007.
 +
 +
==See also==
 +
* Electroacoustic music in [[Media_art_in_Central_and_Eastern_Europe#Electroacoustic_music|CEE]], [[Germany#Electroacoustic_music|East Germany]], [[Poland#Electroacoustic music|Poland]], [[Slovakia#Electroacoustic music|Slovakia]], [[Czech Republic#Electroacoustic and experimental music, sound art|Czech Republic]], [[Hungary#Electroacoustic and experimental music, sound art|Hungary]], [[Serbia#Electroacoustic_music|Serbia]],  [[Croatia#Electroacoustic_music|Croatia]], [[Romania#Electroacoustic_music|Romania]], [[Bulgaria#Electroacoustic_and_electronic_music|Bulgaria]], [[Lithuania#Electroacoustic_and_experimental_music|Lithuania]], [[Latvia#Electroacoustic_music|Latvia]], [[Estonia#Electroacoustic_and_experimental_music|Estonia]].
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* [[Electronic art music]]
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* [[Computer music]]
  
  
 
{{Art and culture}}
 
{{Art and culture}}

Revision as of 12:30, 27 June 2014

The terms Electroacoustics and its sub-discipline Electroacoustic music have been used to describe several different sonic and musical genres or musical techniques.


History

Many date the formal birth of electroacoustic music to the late 1940s and early 1950s, and in particular to the work of two groups of composers whose aesthetic orientations were radically opposed. The Musique concrète group was centered in Paris and was pioneered by Pierre Schaeffer; their music was based on the juxtaposition and transformation of natural sounds (meaning real, recorded sounds, not necessarily those made by natural forces) recorded to tape or disc. In Cologne, elektronische Musik, pioneered in 1949–51 by the composer Herbert Eimert and the physicist Werner Meyer-Eppler, was based solely on electronically generated (synthetic) sounds, particularly sine waves. The precise control afforded by the studio allowed for what Eimert considered to be an electronic extension and perfection of serialism; in the studio, serial operations could be applied to elements such as timbre and dynamics. The common link between the two schools is that the music is recorded and performed through loudspeakers, without a human performer. While serialism has been largely abandoned in electroacoustic circles, the majority of electroacoustic pieces use a combination of recorded sound and synthesized or processed sounds, and the schism between Schaeffer's and Eimert's approaches has been overcome, the first major example being Karlheinz Stockhausen's Gesang der Jünglinge of 1955–56.

Isolated examples of the use of electroacoustic and prerecorded music exist that predate Schaeffer’s first experiments in 1948. Ottorino Respighi used an (acoustical) phonograph recording of a nightingale’s song in his orchestral work The Pines of Rome in 1924, before the introduction of electrical record players; experimental filmmaker Walter Ruttmann created Weekend, a sound collage on an optical soundtrack in 1930; and John Cage used phonograph recordings of test tones mixed with live instruments in Imaginary Landscape no. 1 (1939), among other examples. In the first half of the Twentieth Century, a number of writers also advocated the use of electronic sound sources for composition, notably Ferruccio Busoni, Luigi Russolo, and Edgard Varèse, and electronic performing instruments were invented, such as the Theremin in 1919, and the Ondes Martenot in 1928.

Pages

Notable electroacoustic-music composers

Institutions

National associations

  • GRM — Groupe de recherches musicales / Musical Research Group, based in the National Audiovisual Institute (INA) (Paris)
  • CEC — Canadian Electroacoustic Community / Communauté électroacoustique canadienne
  • SAN — Sonic Arts Network is a UK-based organisation that promotes and explores the art of sound
  • SEAMA — The Society for Electroacoustic Music in Australasia
  • HELMCA – Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association
  • SEAMS — Society for Electro Acoustic Music in Sweden
  • SEAMUS — Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States

Other institutions

  • IRCAM — Institut de recherche et coordination acoustique/musique / Acoustic/Music Research and Coordination Institute (Paris)
  • CECH — Electroacoustic Community of Chile
  • empreintes DIGITALes — Montréal-based label for recordings of musique concrète, acousmatic music, electroacoustic music
  • EMS — Electroacoustic Music in Sweden
  • Musiques & Recherches — Belgian association dedicated to the development of electroacoustic music
  • CCRMA — Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (Stanford CA USA)

Resources

Literature

See also


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