The Art of Noise (futurist manifesto, 1913)

by Luigi Russolo translated by Robert Filliou

1967 A Great Bear Pamphlet

ubuclassics 2004 THE ART OF NOISE

LUIGI RUSSOLO

ubuclassics 2004 ubuclassics ubu.com classics Series Editor:Series Tencer Michael The Art of Noise Luigi Russolo Press. Else Something by Pamphlet Bear Great a as 1967 in published Originally ubu www.ubu.com

The Art of Noise (translated from L’arte dei Rumori)

My dear Balilla Pratella great futurist musician, On March 9, 1913, during our bloody victory over four thousand passé-ists in the Costanzi Theater of Rome, we were fist-and-cane-fighting in defense of your Futurist Music, performed by a powerful orchestra, when suddenly my intuitive mind conceived a new art that only your genius can create: the Art of Noises, logical con- sequence of your marvelous innovations. In antiquity, life was nothing but silence. Noise was really not born before the 19th century, with the advent of machinery. Today noise reigns supreme over human sensibility. For several centuries, life went on silently, or mutedly. The loudest noises were neither intense, nor prolonged nor var- ied. In fact, nature is normally silent, except for storms, hurricanes, avalanches, cas- cades and some exceptional telluric movements. This is why man was thoroughly amazed by the first sounds he obtained out of a hole in reeds or a stretched string.

4 ubuclassics ubu.com usic. y m sharing in human contemporar 5 ted dissonances of noise-sound. This revolution of music is ferent sounds, intent upon caressing the ear with suave harmonies. intent upon the caressing sounds, ear ferent with suave sistent and complica ted dif st of all, musical art looked for the soft and limpid purity of sound. Then To excite our sensibility, music excite has our To developed sensibility, into a search for a more com- Fir Primitive Primitive people attributed to sound a divine origin. It became surrounded ama the art the ofart noise luigi russolo sound. Thus we are approaching paralleled by the increasing proliferation of machinery Nowadays musical art aims at the shrilliest, strangest and most dissonant amalgams of amalgams dissonant most and strangest shrilliest, the at aims art musical Nowadays to obtain the most complex succession of succession complex most the obtain to ground the preparing thus chords, dissonant with its littleness and its monotony, with now fails its to littleness arouse any and emotion. its monotony, plex polyphony and a greater variety of instrumental tones and It coloring. has tried labor. In the pounding atmosphere of coun- atmosphere silent pounding formerly the the In in as well as labor. cities great tryside, machines create today such a large number of varied noises that pure sound, up with the per it amalg these parts could produce together; the conception ofconception the together; produce could parts these but vertical, not was parts these merely horizontal. The need for and the search for the simultaneous union of differ- of say com- to assonant is the (that gradually: sounds came ent chord), the complex, its mon chord was followed by chords enriched with some random dissonances, to end and modifications of the Greek tetracord system. But people kept considering sound only in a conceptionits narrow time, unfolding through so persistent that we still find it in the very complex polyphonies of the Flemish composers. The chord did not yet exist; the development of the different parts was not subordinated to the chord that was bound to slow down the progress of music, so the other arts forged ahead and bypassed it. The Greeks, with their musical theory mathematically determined by Pythagoras, according to which only some consonant intervals were admitted, have of domain the limited they harmony the impossible almost made and now until music were unaware of. In the Middle Ages music did progress through the development with religious respect, and reserved for the priests, who thereby enriched their rites ofconception the developed was Thus mystery. new a with apart, something as sound and different independentfrom of The ofresult life. this was a music, fantastic world an superimposed inviolable and upon sacred reality, world. This hieratic atmosphere

ubuclassics ubu.com gy that a or anemic ener . om familiarity, om and familiarity, tion of usic maniacs jump in these hospitals f tmosphere tmosphere of concert halls. Shall mous mobiliza edom stemming fr 6 orld orld than twenty men to slaving increase the s go inside one of his plain talk will make all m ee sorts ofsorts ee extraor- the for waiting keep and boredom le to consider the enor o or thr or o the boredom that will drip from the In next bar. this fashion violins? T esents without concluding that the acoustic results are pitiful. Is pitiful. are results acoustic the that concluding without esents e ridiculous in the w pr . st bar is dripping with bor e them together? Let’ dly possib h will stir up a bit the somnolent a wing of etaste of . We must We break at all cost from this restrictive circle of pure hic or , the fir hestra r hestra c , w , thing mor It is har Each Each sound carries with it a nucleus of foreknown and foregone sensations ts y om bar to bar tw bar to bar om e meeo This This is why we get infinitely more pleasure imagining combina- . See ou a f n or n e an Musical Musical Noise es y e visit one of e sip fr sip e their sea giv plaintiv tions of the sounds of than crowds, listening once for more, instance, to the heroic or pastoral trolleys, autos and other symphonies vehicles, and loud predisposing predisposing the auditor to boredom, in spite of all the efforts ofAll of posers. harmoniesthe of enjoyed and liked have us years, For innovating masters. great the com- Beethoven and have Wagner deliciously shaken our hearts. Now we are fed up with them. instruments. Music marks time in this small circle and vainly tries to create a new vari- new a create to tries vainly and circle small this in time marks Music instruments. ety of tones. sounds and conquer the infinite variety of noise-sounds sensations. However, musical sound sensations. However, is too restricted in the variety and the quality of its The tones. can most be complicated orchestra reduced to four or categories of five instruments with different sound tones: rubbed string instruments, pinched instruments, string metallic wind instruments, wooden wind instruments, and percussion century man never could have withstood the discordant intensity of chords produced by our orchestras (whose performers some are three times ofas numerous); the on to in the modernattuned all other rich hand are our ears in they rejoice it, life, for sorts of noises. But our ears far from being satisfied, keep asking for bigger acoustic for for This evolution toward noise-sound is only possible The today. ear of an eighteenth the art the ofart noise luigi russolo w sounds moder ther w

ubuclassics ubu.com pis- POUAH! trolleys on the their rails, trolleys , the rising and falling of -width 50 square kilo- 7 , the loud jumping of ws vious animal spirits TAMTOUMBS hanical sa es’ sliding doors, the hubbub of hubbub the doors, sliding es’ roars different the crowds, the Immediately echoes, echoes, echoes, Immediately all echoes, echoes, echoes, echoes-quick! thing with ob mec ea whips, whips, the whipping of will flags. fun have We imagining our orchestra- partment stor partment engines br Tamtoumb! take-it-crumble it-spread it-infinite distance to hell. In the center, center of these flattened meters-leap 2 3 6 8 splinters-fisticuffs-headrammings-rapid fire Let’s walk a together great through Let’s modern capital, with the ear atten- more Some will object that noise is necessarily unpleasant to the ear. The objection The ear. the to unpleasant necessarily is noise that object will Some 1 2 3 4 5 seconds the siege canons gut the silence a by chord- de y sensation that will never materialize. Meanwhile we witness the brewing of a , the stridency of the art the ofart noise luigi russolo tlings of tons tive tive than the and eye, we will vary the pleasures of our sensibilities by distinguishing of gurglings the among rat- and rumblings the pipes, metallic inside gas and air water, thunder, wind, thunder, cascades, rivers, streams, leaves, a horse the trotting away, starts and jumps of a carriage on the pavement, the white solemn breathing of a city at night, all the noises made by feline and domestic animals and all those man’s mouth can make without talking or singing. ing over ing violins over and pianos, bassoons and moaning organs! go Let’s out! is futile, and I don’t intend to refute it, to enumerate all the delicate noises that give of you convince To sensations. pleasant of surprisingvariety the mention will I noises, and religious swooning of the audience, drunk on experiencing for the thousandth time, with almost Bhuddist patience, with elegant and fashionable ecstasy. a true to create longer the intense desire much repress I can’t for get out quickly, Let’s musical reality finally by distributing big loud slaps right and left, stepping and push- dinar heartrending mixture composed of the monotony of the sensations and the stupid subways. subways. And we must not forget the very new noises of The Modern poet Warfare. Marinetti, in a letter from the Bulgarian trenches of Ariadnople described to me as in follows, his new futurist the style, oforchestra a great battle: snapping of of tion of railroad stations, iron foundries, textile mills, printing houses, power plants and

ubuclassics ubu.com hestra very- c hos in this ec juggling -pam-pam-pam reenness reenness cip- flames flames flames flames crawl from s they bent beaten odopes 1st and 2d BOUM lutes clarinets pipes e ofessor titude shade g 8 ungia R POUMTOUMB t fracas far from erasing drink ecise them out of their echoing ea hestra pr c es dong-dong-dong-ding-bééé Or otting gongs f s sitting villages standing mounts recog- er , ferocity, regularity, pendulum game, fatality- regularity, , ferocity, ds twitter bea ying Gr ds pastur omit them pr roundfloor boxes roundfloor 2,000 boxes shrapnels gesticulation p hitting or v wn bir ying riv e ying pla la Violence wing-echoes odor-hay-mud-manure I feel can’t wing-echoes my odor-hay-mud-manure gias g lo rave bass rave apparent slowness-scan the strange madmen e up do ter of en feet stale odor r ying pla ed in the audience Maritza T z y noises r ws log her o oles b o forts over there forts Choukri over telephone Pacha orders to 27 forts in turkish German hello Ibrahim! Rudolf hello! hello! actors r fr Madmen kee w cip ip-zzip her ing Downwards guffaws of swamps laughter buffalos chariots stings prancing of horses ammunition-wagons flue flac zang chaak chaak rearings pirouettes patatraak bespatterings manes- neighings i i i i i i i medley tinklings three bulgarian batallions on the crook- craak move (double bar slowly) Choumi Maritza o officers’ Karvavena shouts copper plates knocking against each other pam ici (vite) pac there over here there there farther all around very high look-out god- damnit on the head chaak marvelous! flames flames flames batteries batteries this g very mad young-very mad mad-very agitated altos of the battle Fury anguish breathless ears My ears open nasals! beware! such joy is yours o my people to sense see ear scent drink everything the everything everything taratatatatata machine- guns shouting twisting under a thousand bites slaps traaktraak cudgellings whippings pic pac clowns’ jump in full sky height 200 meters the it’s gunshoot- pla tin mouth wide open diameter 1 kilometer Debris of thea niz r the art the ofart noise luigi russolo

ubuclassics ubu.com the The wn of wing do ZANG- The existence of this predomi- ough the speeding up or slo 9 hite handkerchiefs hite full handkerchiefs of gold toumb- w y manifestation of our life. Noise is familiar to us. er Not that we want to the and destroy movements irreg- v war noises blown orchestra beneath a note zang-toumb xplosion Each noise possesses a pitch, at times even a chord dominating e toumb clouds-gallery 2,000 grenades thundering applause Quick quick such enthusiasm pulling hair very black hairs TOUMB-TOUMB of silence hanging in full sky captive golden balloon controlling the fire. We want to score and regulate harmonically and rhythmically Noise accompanies e Although the characteristic of noise is to brutally bring us back to life, ement. v the art the ofart noise luigi russolo art art of noises must not be limited to a mere imitative reproduction. complete ascending or descending scale thr the mo over over the whole of these irregular vibrations. nant pitch offers us the technical means of scoring these noises, that is to say to give ofto a noise a certain variety and characterizes that without losing the timbre pitches distinguishes it. Certain noises obtained through a rotating movement can give us a degree or pitch of the predominant vibration, as noise differs from other sound in its irregular and confuse vibrations (in terms of tempo and intensity). these most varied noises. ular vibrations (of tempo and intensity) of these noises! We wish simply to fix the will enrich men with a voluptuousness they did not suspect. always a musical, outside thing, an occasional element, has come to strike our outside earsthing, a musical, no always more than an familiar overly face does our Noise, gushing eye. confusely and irregu- larly out of life, is never totally revealed to us and it keeps in store innumerable sur- prises for our feel benefit. certain We that in selecting and coordinating all noises we Noise has the power to bring us back to life. On the other hand, sound, foreign to life, to foreign sound, hand, other the On life. to back us bring to power the has Noise art of noises will extract its main emotive power from the special acoustic pleasure that pleasure acoustic special ofthe art from power emotive main its extract will noises

ubuclassics ubu.com - edom pr , haracteristic fundamental noises: the noises: fundamental haracteristic y rhythms y are rhythms equally perceptible. oices: eams , sobs , scr 10 tions of them. The rhythmic movements of a ttlings e secondar , ra , moans tegories the most c most the tegories h mor hic xists not only a predominant pitch, but as well a e e e than combina her ound w . T ar dly mor e har e noises using animal and human v ood, skin, shouts e infinite e included in these 6 ca 6 these in included e v s ar , baked earth, etc. laughter or the futurist that orchestra we intend soon to realize mechanically: cussiv e ha e 5 6 3 4 1 2 other noise ar inant rhythm metal, w stone W gurgles per whispers shrill sounds mutterings cracks rustlings buzzings grumbles jingles grunts shuffles driving noises bellows roars roars whistles claps snores noises of falling water snorts the inspired artist will obtain in combining noises. Here are the of six are categories artist the Here will inspired obtain in combining noises. nois- es f the art the ofart noise luigi russolo

ubuclassics ubu.com e but, rather, increase its range. e but, rather, 11 haracteristic timbr ficulties presented by the construction of these instruments , half-pitches and quarter-pitches. This variety of Thisvariety quarter-pitches. and half-pitches , will pitches its c hes pitc hnical dif h noise of he tec ariety of ariety e eac 6 - This new orchestra will produce the most complex and newest sonic emotions, sonic newest and complex most the produce will orchestra new This - 6 5 - T 4 - Each noise possesses among its irregular vibrations a predominant basic pitch. a predominant irregular noise possesses among its vibrations 4 - Each 2 - We must replace the limited variety of variety limited the replace must We - of2 timbres the by instruments orchestral ofrid is he once sensibility, Themusician’s - 3 find will rhythms, traditional facile, 1 - must We enlarge and enrich more and more the domain of musical sounds. priv y wide v wide y er the art the ofart noise luigi russolo ble ble the changing of pitches through a built-in, larger or smaller resonator or other exten- not through a succession of imitative noises reproducing life, but rather through a fantas- tic association of these this varied sounds. reason, For every instrument must make possi- certain noise, we will be able to graduate its pitch according to the laws of acoustics. For instance, if the instrument employs a rotating movement, we will speed it up or slow down. When it not dealing with a rotating instrument we will increase or decrease the size or the tension of the sound-making parts. are are not grave. As soon as we will have found the mechanical principle which produces a not de a v a noise offers us the union of the most diverse as rhythms well as its dominant one. This will make it easy to obtain, while building instruments meant to produce this sound, infinite variety of timbres of noises obtained through special mechanisms. in the domain of noises the means of development and renewal, an easy task, since each genius tend to stress the most complex dissonances. Moving away from pure sound, they through only realized totally be can tendency this and need This noise-sound. reach nearly the joining and substituting of noises to and for musical sounds. Our sensibility requires it. In fact it can be noticed that all contemporary composers of Conclusions:

ubuclassics ubu.com ofoundly loved ofoundly e no acoustic prefer- v t I ha ojects on a pr a on ojects one day we will be able to ho pr ho usician, so tha ent incompetence, knowing that audacity y appar . I am not a m eoccupied with m enew everything. This is why, bolder than the bolder professional musi- bolder than the bolder professional This why, is enew everything. ks to defend. I am a futurist painter w painter futurist a am I defend. to ks or Luigi Russolo Painter My dear Pratella, I submit to your futurist genius these new ideas, and I invite I and ideas, new these genius futurist your to submit I Pratella, dear My 8 - We invite all the truly gifted and bold young musicians to analyze all nois- all analyze to musicians young bold and gifted truly the all invite We - 8 7 - The variety of noises is infinite. We certainly possess nowadays over a , nor w nor , ou to discuss them with me the art the ofart noise luigi russolo Milano, March Milano, 11, March 1913. Direction of 61, Milano. the futurist Corso movement: Venezia, through through the Art of Noise. gives gives all prerogatives and all possibilities, I have conceived the renovation of music will not to have imitate these noises but rather to combine them accord- ing to our artistic fantasy. distinguish among ten, twenty or thirty thousand different noises. We y ences art his will to r cian, totally unpr will be skillfully tuned so that every factory is turned into an of orchestra intoxicating noises. ondary pitches. Comparing these noise sounds to other sounds they will realize how the latter are more varied than the former. Thus the comprehension, the taste, and the passion for noises will be developed. Our expanded sensibility will gain futurist ears as it already has futurist In eyes. a few years, the engines of our industrial cities es so as to understand their different composing rhythms, their main and their sec- thousand different machines, among whose thousand different noises we can distin- guish. With the endless multiplication of machinery, sion.

ubuclassics ubu.com Luigi Russolo in Luigi 1913 Russolo with his mechanical orchestra. the art the ofart noise luigi russolo

ubuclassics ubu.com - 15 noise instru hestra, composed of c Dining Time at the Casino Terrasse Skirmish at the Oasis Awakening ofAwakening a Capital Meeting of Automobiles and Airplanes was conducting the or s 1 shatterer ster uzzers ur 2 gurglers ussolo himself In spite of some lack of on experience the part of the performers, due to the The four noise networks are not mere impressionistic reproductions of life 3 b 2 b 1 thunderer 3 whistlers 1 shriller 2 rustlers 1 snorter R On the 2nd of 1913, June, in Modena, the futurist painter creator Russolo, The futurist composer Pratella and the poet Marinetti then undertook the to back went Russolo painter futurist the evening, memorable this after Right st Concert of Futurist Noise Instruments the art the ofart noise luigi russolo the noises lose their imitative and accidental episodic quality, and become abstract ele- abstract become and quality, episodic accidental and imitative their lose noises the truly startling performance a revealed new obtained Russolo sonic by voluptuousness to all the auditors. around us, but rather moving noise syntheses. Through a clever variation of pitches, small number of hasty rehearsals, the orchestra was almost always perfect, and the ments: evening ofevening August 11. Inside the large hall, the leaders of the futurist group and sev- eral important Italian journalists were massed around this strange orchestra: they greeted with enthusiastic applause and hurrays the four whose titles follow: different noise networks defense of these amazing inventions in a violent contradictory debate, in the face of uncouth abuse and insults on the part of the “passé-ists.” work, perfecting his noise instruments and creating his first four Noise Networks that were finally performed during a first noise concert at Milano’s Red House, on the of the Art of Noise, explained and demonstrated for the first time the different noise instruments that he had and just built in invented collaboration with the painter Ugo 2000 Piatti before over persons filling up the Theatre. Storchi Fir

ubuclassics ubu.com Listening Listening to the harmonized combined pitches of the bursters, the whistlers, the art the ofart noise luigi russolo and the gurglers, no one remembered autos, locomotives or running rather experienced an waters; intense emotion of one futurist art, absolutely unforeseen and like nothing but itself. ments of art.

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