Electronic Music Technology
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Music & Technology I: Electronic Music Technology Terminology ! Electronic/Electroacoustic Music ! Tape music (fixed media): musique concrète, elektronische Musik ! Computer Music ! Algorithmic composition ! Stochastic music ! Synthesizers ! Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) ! Interactive composition ! Acousmatic composition ! Radiophonic Art ! New media: webcasts, podcasts Technology Some Historical Precedents: ! Crook system on brass instruments (mid-18th century) ! Introduction of valve system on brass instruments (early-19th century) ! Double-action harp (early-19th century) ! Böhm key system on woodwind instruments (mid-19th century) ! Invention of tuba and saxophone (mid-19th century) ! Pedal mechanism on timpani (early-20th century) ! Player piano (early-20th century) Conceptual Precedents: The definition of “music” was questioned in unprecedented ways: ! Ferruccio Bussoni: “Outline for a New Aesthetic of Music” (1907) ! Luigi Russolo: “The Art of Noises” (1913) ! John Cage: “Credo: The Future of Music” (1937) ! Edgard Varése: “The Liberation of Sound” (1936-62) Futurism Umberto Boccioni: !The City Rises (1910-11); "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1915) Futurism Sound Poem by Filippo Marinetti. Futurism Luigi Russolo (with fellow futurists Filippo Marinetti and Ugo Piatti) and intonarumori instruments. Futurism Luigi Russolo: The Art of Noise (1913) Russolo outlined the following categories of sounds: ! Rumbles, roars, explosions, crashes, splashes, booms. ! Whistles, hisses, snorts. ! Whispers, murmurs, mumbles, grumbles, gurgles. ! Screeches, creaks, rustles, buzzes, crackles, scrapes. ! Noises obtained by percussion on metal, wood, skin, stone, terracotta, etc. ! Voices of animals and men: shouts, screams, groans, shrieks, howls, laughs, Luigi Russolo (with fellow futurists wheezes, sobs. Filippo Marinetti and Ugo Piatti) and intonarumori instruments. Luigi Russolo: Score to Awakening of a City (1914) Early Electronic Instruments ! Tellharmonium: invented by Thaddeus Cahill in 1902. ! Theremin: invented by Leon Theremin in 1920. ! Ondes-Martenot: invented by Maurice Martenot in 1928. "Theremin #Ondes-martenot !Tellharmonium Early Electronic Instruments Leon Theremin with his eponymous instrument. "Theremin ensemble, illustrating the popularity of this instrument. $Thereminist Clara Rockmore VIDEO Camille Saint-Säens: The Swan performed by Clara Rockmore on theremin Maurice Martenot and his instrument the ondes-martenot ondes-martenot Electronic Music: Post-WWII Developments ! Following World War II, studios associated with radio stations began to flourish throughout Europe: • Radiodiffusion-Télévision Françaises (RTF), Paris: founded by Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry • Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk (NWDR), Cologne: founded by Karlheinz Stockhausen and Herbert Eimert • Studio di fonologia, Milan: founded by Luciano Berio and Bruno Maderna ! In the United States, electronic music studios were affiliated with universities : • Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center, New York City: founded by Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening (Columbia); and Milton Babbitt and Roger Sessions (Princeton). • University of Illinois Experimental Music Studio, Urbana-Champaign: founded by Lejaren Hiller. • Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University: founded by John Chowning. • Other major centers include those at UC San Diego (CRCA), UC Berkeley (CNMAT), MIT, and University of North Texas (CEMI). Musique concrète ! Associated with RTF studio and composers Pierre Schaeffer and Pierre Henry. ! Microphone and tape recorder are the primary tools: pre-recorded sounds are manipulated (via loops, speed change, tape direction) and recombined in various ways. ! Sound originally drawn from “non-musical” sources; later broadened to include manipulated recordings of musical instruments/voice. # Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) # Pierre Henry (b. 1927) Pierre Schaeffer: Étude aux chemins de fer (1948) Musique concrète $Pierre Schaeffer at the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Françaises (RTF), later known as the Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM). "François Bayle at GRM. Elektronische Musik ! Associated with NWDR Studio and composers Karlheinz Stockhausen and Herbert Eimert. ! Oscillators and sine-tone generators are the primary tools: sounds are created “from scratch” then recorded and combined on tape. ! Consistent with the aesthetics of integral serialism, because the composer had total control of the sound at the timbral level. ! Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007) and the NWDR Studio Karlheinz Stockhausen: Studie II (1954) Edgard Varèse with assistant in the Philips Studio (Eindhoven, Netherlands). Edgard Varése and Le Corbusier at the Brussels World Fair (!) and in front of the Philips Pavilion ("), c.1958. Edgard Varése and Le Corbusier Le Corbusier: Philips Pavilion; Brussels, Belgium (1958) Sketch for Le Corbusier!s Philips Pavilion Sound pathways for the 425-speaker configuration used for Varèse!s Poéme électronique in the Philips Pavilion. Edgard Varèse: Poéme électronique sketch Edgard Varèse: Poéme électronique score (detail) Advertisement for first performance of Varèse!s Poéme électronique. Henri Pousseur Bruno Henk Maderna Pierre Badings Schaeffer Mauricio Luciano Kagel Berio Earle Brown Karlheinz Stockhausen John Cage Composers at Brussels World Fair (1958) Vladimir Ussachevsky and Otto Luening, Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center Milton Babbitt (b. 1916) with the RCA Mark II Computer, Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center. The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center and composers Milton Babbitt, Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening (front row); unidentified person, Pril Smiley, Mario Davidovsky, and Alice Shields (1970) " Mario Davidovsky (b. 1934) Synchronisms No. 5 (1969) Merrill Ellis (1916-1981) Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI), formerly the Electronic Music Center (EMC), at the University of North Texas (founded 1963). Robert Moog (") and Donald Buchla (#) with their eponymous synthesizers. Buchla synthesizers Carlos! “Switched-On Bach” album (1969), realizations of Bach keyboard works on the Moog synthesizer. Wendy (Walter) Carlos (b.1939) Synclavier (1975-91) Yamaha DX-7 (1983-86) Yamaha Disklavier (1987- ) Notation of Electronic Music a. Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte (1958-60) Notation of Electronic Music b. Mario Davidovsky: Synchronisms No. 1 (1963) Notation of Electronic Music c. Milton Babbitt: Philomel (1964) Avant-Garde Mobile From David Cope, New Directions in Music $Thomas Edison and his phonograph (1878). "An early recording session Futurism Luigi Russolo (left) with Ugo Piatti and intonarumori Russolo!s intonarumori used in an ensemble of traditional instruments. Futurism Umberto Boccioni: Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1915) Early Electronic Instruments Thaddeus Cahill!s Telharmonium (c. 1904).