Trevor Wishart: On Sonic Art, 2nd ed (1985/1996)

“In this newly revised book On Sonic Art, Trevor Wishart takes a wide-ranging look at the new developments in music-making and musical aesthetics made possible by the advent of the computer and digital information processing. His emphasis is on musical rather than technical matters. Beginning with a critical analysis of the assumptions underlying the Western musical tradition and the traditional acoustic theories of Pythagoras and Helmholtz, he goes on to look in detail at such topics as the musical organization of complex sound-objects, using and manipulating representational sounds and the various dimensions of human and non-human utterance. In so doing, he seeks to learn lessons from areas (poetry and sound-poetry, film, sound effects and animal communication) not traditionally associated with the field of music.”

A new and revised edition edited by Simon Emmerson
Publisher Routledge, 1996
ISBN 371865847X, 9783718658473
357 pages

Publisher

PDF (7 MB, updated on 2015-12-3)

Michel Chion: Guide To Sound Objects: Pierre Schaeffer and Musical Research (1983–) [FR, EN]

This work is an introductory guide to the monumental Traité des objets musicaux. An index lists each Schaeferian term. Discussions of each of the terms include a combination of Pierre Schaeffer’s key ideas, includinga short definition, and the inclusion of reference pages within the Traité des objets musicaux.

Publisher Buchet/Chastel, Paris, and Institut National de l’Audiovisuel, Bry-sur-Marne, 1983/1995
ISBN 2702014399
187 pages

English edition
Translated by John Dack and Christine North
London, 2009
212 pages

More information

Guide des objets sonores: Pierre Schaeffer et la recherche musicale (French, 1983/1995, added on 2014-3-8)
Guide To Sound Objects: Pierre Schaeffer and Musical Research (English, trans. John Dack and Christine North, updated on 2012-8-3), Chapters (on EARS, added on 2014-11-16), Scribd (updated on 2012-8-3)