🎶Experimental Music Unit 5 – Musique Concrète: Found Sound Composition

What's Musique Concrète?

• Avant-garde music movement that emerged in the mid-20th century
• Pioneered by French composer Pierre Schaeffer in the 1940s
• Involves composing with recorded sounds as raw material rather than traditional musical notes
• Utilizes found sounds, environmental noises, and electronically generated or manipulated audio
• Challenges traditional notions of music by treating all sounds as potentially musical
• Focuses on the inherent qualities and textures of sounds themselves rather than their source or meaning
• Composers create abstract soundscapes and sonic collages through editing, looping, and layering recordings

Origins and Key Figures

• Developed in the late 1940s at the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française (RTF) studio in Paris
• Pierre Schaeffer, a radio engineer and composer, is credited as the founder of musique concrète
  • Began experimenting with recorded sounds on phonograph records in the 1940s
  • Composed early musique concrète works like "Cinq études de bruits" (1948) and "Symphonie pour un homme seul" (1950)
• Other notable early practitioners include Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, and François Bayle
• Influenced by Futurist noise music and Dada sound poetry of the early 20th century
• Paralleled the development of elektronische Musik in Germany, which focused on electronically generated sounds
• Key works include Schaeffer and Henry's "Orphée 53" (1953) and Ferrari's "Presque rien No. 1" (1970)

Tools and Techniques

• Early musique concrète relied on phonograph records and tape recorders for capturing and manipulating sounds
• Sounds were recorded using microphones and then edited, spliced, looped, and layered on magnetic tape
• Turntables allowed for real-time manipulation of recorded sounds, such as speed changes and reversing
• Later incorporated electronic sound generators, filters, and effects processors
• Techniques include:
  • Tape splicing: Physically cutting and reassembling tape to rearrange or create new sounds
  • Looping: Repeating a section of tape to create rhythmic or textural patterns
  • Speed manipulation: Altering the playback speed of recordings to change pitch and duration
  • Reversing: Playing tape backwards for unusual sonic effects
  • Filtering and equalization: Emphasizing or attenuating specific frequencies to shape timbre
• Digital audio workstations (DAWs) and software now facilitate similar techniques in the digital domain

Listening and Analysis

• Musique concrète demands a different listening approach compared to traditional music
• Focus on the intrinsic properties of sounds, such as timbre, texture, and morphology, rather than melody or harmony
• Analyze how sounds are transformed, combined, and structured over time
• Consider the spatial aspects of the composition, such as placement and movement of sounds in the stereo field
• Identify recurring motifs, patterns, or gestures that provide coherence and structure
• Interpret the emotional, psychological, or narrative implications of the soundscape
• Notable works for analysis:
  • Pierre Schaeffer's "Étude aux chemins de fer" (1948)
  • Pierre Henry's "Variations pour une porte et un soupir" (1963)
  • Luc Ferrari's "Presque rien No. 2" (1977)

Creating Your Own Piece

• Begin by collecting a diverse range of recorded sounds from various sources
  • Environmental sounds, urban noises, natural phenomena, everyday objects, musical instruments, voice, etc.
• Organize and catalog your sound library for easy access and retrieval
• Develop a conceptual framework or theme to guide your composition
• Experiment with different techniques for transforming and manipulating your sounds
  • Use software tools like DAWs, audio editors, and plugins for processing and arranging
• Create sketches and drafts, exploring various combinations and sequences of sounds
• Consider the pacing, structure, and narrative arc of your piece
  • Introduce, develop, and vary sonic elements over time
  • Use silence, contrast, and transitions effectively
• Refine and polish your composition through iterative editing and mixing
• Present your work in a suitable format, such as a stereo recording or multi-channel installation

Impact on Modern Music

• Musique concrète expanded the palette of sounds available to composers and challenged traditional notions of musicality
• Influenced the development of electronic music, tape music, and acousmatic music
• Techniques and aesthetics were adopted by avant-garde and experimental composers, such as John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen
• Sampling, remixing, and sound collage in popular music genres like hip-hop and electronic dance music (EDM) echo musique concrète practices
• Sound design in film, television, and video games often employs musique concrète techniques for creating immersive and evocative soundscapes
• Contemporary sound art and installation works continue to explore the spatial and experiential aspects of organized sound
• Digital technologies and software have made musique concrète techniques more accessible to a wider range of artists and musicians

Critiques and Controversies

• Some critics argue that musique concrète lacks the emotional expressivity and communication of traditional music
• Questions arise about the role of the composer's intention and the listener's interpretation in abstract soundscapes
• Debates about the distinction between music and noise, and the boundaries of what constitutes musical material
• Issues of authorship and originality when using recorded sounds as source material
• Concerns about the potential for musique concrète to be perceived as mere sound effects or gimmickry
• Challenges in live performance and reproduction of fixed media works
• Discussions about the relationship between musique concrète and other avant-garde movements, such as Fluxus and conceptual art

Further Exploration

• Listen to seminal works by Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, and other pioneers of musique concrète
• Explore contemporary artists and composers working with found sounds and electronic media, such as Francisco López, Hildegard Westerkamp, and Chris Watson
• Investigate related genres and movements, such as acousmatic music, soundscape composition, and field recording
• Experiment with creating your own musique concrète pieces using readily available software and recording devices
• Attend concerts, installations, and exhibitions featuring musique concrète and sound art
• Read theoretical and historical texts on musique concrète, such as Pierre Schaeffer's "In Search of a Concrete Music" and Michel Chion's "Guide to Sound Objects"
• Engage in discussions and forums with other enthusiasts and practitioners to share ideas, techniques, and resources
• Consider the broader implications of musique concrète on our understanding of sound, listening, and the environment