tags: mus-407 musique-concrete electroacoustic music

Musique Concrète

• #musique-concr%C3%A8te
  • #history
  • #areas-of-interest
  • #early-compositions-and-innovations
    • #cinq-etudes-des-bruits-1948-five-noise-studies
    • #symphonie-pour-un-homme-seul-1949-50-schaeffer--henry
  • #equipment-and-techniques
  • #sources

Musique Concrète refers to a creative practice of working directly with [recorded] [sound], first introduced in 1948.

• in contrast to the subjective practice of notating musical symbols for performer interpretation
• first "genre" of [electroacoustic music], coined by [Pierre Schaeffer] (1910-1995)

History

Western art music in the late 19th century/early 20th century began to fade in popularity

• most people were seeking new expressive musical languages
• movement toward greater tonal instability

Precursors to Musique Concrète include [futurism] and the music of [John Cage].

The music of the late 1940s was driven by availability of new recording technology.

• opportunities for close, methodical observation of [sound]

[Composers] as researchers, sound as laboratory subject

• ease of sound recording/manipulation → expansion of musical possibilities
• [wax disc recorders] ill-suited but initially used

Post WWII:

• [tape] developments in Germany spread to other countries
• refinement of recording material
• renewed interest in technology
• technological advancements, expansionist economy

Areas of interest

Musique concrète aimed to

• be a scientific, rigorous examination of objective sound characteristics
• establish a relationship between methodical studio research & conventional practice of [music composition]

This determination to compose with materials taken from an existing collection of experimental sounds, I name musique concrete to mark well the place in which we find ourselves, no longer dependent upon preconceived sound abstractions, but now using fragments of sound existing concretely and considered as sound objects defined and whole ... (Pierre Schaeffer)

Schaeffer worked as radio announcer/apprentice at Radiodiffusion Television Francaise (RTF) ca. 1930s

Established Studio d'Essai ('test studio') research facility in 1942, serving as director

Explorations into how recorded material could be used for music composition

• initially disc cutters/players (tape decks ca. 1951)
• methodical study of instruments stimulated in different ways (e.g. bells, piano)
• sounds characterizable by [timbre], also attack/decay [transients]
• experiments with transient removal and sound reconstruction
• locked-groove disc cuts to create sound [loops]
• at first, no [electrical signal] generation/process equipment (philosophical choice, not determined by equipment availability)

Early compositions and innovations

Cinq etudes des bruits, 1948 (five noise studies)

• concrete compositions using recordings of trains, toy tops, piano, spinning plates, voice, etc.
• problems of association; sounds largely retained their original characteristics (which Schaeffer considered undesirable)
  • wanted to synthesize, blend, abstract the material into something new and "art"-like
  • brought upon the development of the ["objet sonore"]

Symphonie pour un homme seul (1949-50), Schaeffer & Henry

• first large-scale work of musique concrete
• technical problems in performance, under-rehearsed, multichannel diffusion, unwieldy disc players

Some innovations:

• the [object sonore]
• development of primitive notation system, music concrete solfege
• heavily based on Western notation, largely inadequate

Equipment and techniques

Around 1951, Studio d'Essai acquired new funds, prompting the acquisition of new equipment and adoption of new techniques:

• [Phonogène]
• [Tape delay]
• [Tape loops]
• [Additive synthesis]
• [Subtractive synthesis]
• [[modulation-synthesis|Modulation synthesis]]
  • [[amplitude-modulation|Amplitude modulation]]
  • [[frequency-modulation|Frequency modulation]]
  • [[ring-modulation|Ring modulation]]

Sources

• MUS 407 The Studio Age: Musique Concrète