Discourse the impact of Pierre Schaeffer and Luigi Russolo on modern-day electronic musical idea and practise.
Luigi Russolo was a innovator in the manner we think about music today. In 1913 he published a pronunciamento on ‘The Art of Noise ‘ , in which there were constructs and theoretical thoughts that were highly radical for the clip. Rejecting the classical instruments and orchestral composers, he suggested that traditional musical values be given up in favor of a wholly new music experience utilizing ‘noise-sounds ‘ , doing indignation and arousing angry responses at the clip. He composed for his new instruments – the Intonarumori, which went on to act upon a new manner of sound coevals.
Pierre Schaeffer ‘ part to today ‘s music is considerable. From 1948 he worked pull stringsing sound and experimenting with the engineering available at the clip. He came up with a host of techniques, thoughts and airy constructs used to a great extent today, in electronic composings, modern recording, and in modern musical thought.
Luigi Russolo and Pierre Schaeffer shared an compulsion of seting non-musical sounds in a musical context. This stemmed from their ain philosophical idea. There were a figure of extremist constructs and theoretical thoughts that they believed to be cardinal to their work, necessarily taking to open uping research and find, along with strong societal disapproval.
Russolo states that conventional ‘Musical sound is excessively limited in its assortment of timbers ‘ , 1 and that people should ‘break out of this limited circle of sounds and suppress the infinite assortment of noise-sounds ‘ . 2 He goes on to state that the development of music is be givening towards the ‘more dissonant, alien, and harsher ‘ sounds, where it ‘comes of all time closer to the noise-sound ‘ . 3 In 1913, non instrumental sounds were non thought of every bit musical in any manner. Russolo explored these sounds, listening to them in a manner that he finds to ‘produce delighting esthesiss ‘ . 4 He invites future composers to listen to everything in a different manner, no affair what they are listening to, 5 acquiring them to believe about non-musical sounds in footings of pitch, timber, beat, and any other analytical facets. In his analysis of sounds, Russolo devised a manner of categorizing noises, in footings of their features. He called his system the ‘6 households of noises ‘ . 6 These classs would assist future composers to be able to stipulate timber in their plants, as Russolo says, leting them to ‘foster new thoughts of music creativeness ‘ . 7
1 Russolo, L. , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 24.
2 ibid 1, 25.
3 ibid 1, 24.
4 ibid 1, 25.
5 ibid 1, 29.
6 ibid 1, 28.
7 Brown, B. , ‘Introduction ‘ , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 17.
Pierre Schaeffer besides analysed sounds and classified them in two ways, ‘a set of 25 definitionsaˆ¦ which might be applied ( length, complexness, infusions, etc. ) ‘7 He supported the thought of looking at sounds non merely ‘for its features outside its normal clip continuum ‘ , but besides ‘separated from its context ‘ . 8 When ‘sounds are severed from their causes ‘ , they ‘become ‘sound objects ‘ , which we listen to for their ain sound qualities, merely as we view abstract pictures without inquiring what they represent ‘ . 9 He believed that ‘sounds can get evocative, about charming qualities if they are decontextualised by being removed from their insouciant origins’.10 Taking found sounds out of context follows Russolo ‘s futurist thoughts. His research into pitch in non-musical sounds, where he states that ‘every noise has a pitch ‘ , that dominates ‘its irregular vibrations’11, has become indispensable in the realization of permuting these non-musical sounds in sampling stations. In presenting Russolo ‘s first concert with his Intonarumori, his friend Marinetti describes the sounds to be heard to ‘lose their episodic, inadvertent, and imitative character to accomplish the abstract elements of art’.12 This reinforces Schaeffer ‘s point about listening non to the single noises within the music, pinpoint specific beginnings, but to it ‘s overall abstract effect- the ear should endeavor for a kind of ‘reduced listening ‘ , a hunt for a ‘universal symphonic music ‘ . 13
8 Snyder, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, Inventor of Musique Concrete ‘ , 10 January 2007 hypertext transfer protocol: //csunix1.lvc.edu/
9 ibid 8
10 Dack, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer and the significance of radiotelephonic art ‘ , 1994 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.zainea.com/
11 Russolo, L. , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 27.
12 Brown, B. , ‘Introduction ‘ , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 18.
13 Fielden, J. , ‘Schaeffer/Henry, Ussachevsky/Luening and Le Caine ‘ , Pioneers of Electronic Music – Early Works, 2000 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jerryfielden.com/
14 ibid 12, 19.
15 Anon, ‘Microtonal Music ‘ hypertext transfer protocol: //dic.academic.ru/
16 Yelton, G. , ‘What ‘s New ‘ , Electronic Musician, 1 September 2005 hypertext transfer protocol: //emusician.com/
Schaeffer ‘s usage of microtones14 has been shadowed by a immense figure of electronic creative persons today, with ‘bands from Sonic Youth to Art Rock Circus holding written music with non-standard and microtonal tunings’.15 Even package synthesists of today, like the LinPlug CronoX3 support microtonal tunings.16
The 1980s set ‘The Art of Noise ‘ , led by manufacturer Trevor Horn, was straight influenced by Russolo ‘s futurist pronunciamento, 17 along with many of today ‘s creative persons that are on a regular basis quoted to Russolo ‘s futurist thoughts. This diverse group of creative persons includes DJ Spooky, Nurse With Wound and Mike Patton.18 This shows the diverse influence of Russolo on today ‘s modern-day musical idea, warranting him as ‘the foremost adult male to recognize how a universe filled with noise was traveling to forever alter the manner you hear and, finally, the manner you make music’.19
The extent of Luigi Russolo and Pierre Schaeffer ‘s influence has been significant in bing genres, but besides their thoughts and rules have gone on to organize wholly new genres. From Machine music and Musique Concrete through to Glitch and Hip-Hop, facets and basicss of these genres can be traced back to the work of Russolo and Schaeffer.
Russolo had a dream of conveying ‘the winning land of electricity’20 into music. This prognostication has been wholly fulfilled, with many whole genres wholly electronic based.
17 Rotondi, J. , ‘Luigi Russolo ‘ Magazine Articles, 1 November 2002 hypertext transfer protocol: //remixmag.com/
18 ibid 17
19 ibid 17
20 ibid 17
Schaeffer ‘s exclusive usage of sampled stuff in his Musique Concrete pieces has enabled instrumentalists and bookmans to see the potency in found sounds in a musical context. He took ordinary noises from mundane life and used his devices for treating them, ‘slowing down, rushing up, retrogradation, reenforcing, fading, atomization, and the shifting of registry ‘ . 21 Schaeffer could acquire a battalion of diverse sounds from a simple sound consequence with these treating techniques, along with change by reversaling 22 the sounds. He could besides pull strings these processed sounds, pull offing to travel about, stick terminal to stop – basically utilizing looping 23, intermingle – or juxtapose 24, and blend them up. 25 This gave rise to Schaeffer ‘s inspiration, Musique Concrete, as Schaeffer provinces, these procedures are ‘the fabrication processs of concrete music ‘ . 26 Musique Concrete has been so influential on musical practise from its creative activity, that today there are a battalion of genres and sub-genres, all said to hold stemmed from Musique Concrete. These include Sound Collage, Glitch and Industrial.27 Industrial music can be traced back to the ‘Machine Music ‘ of the 1920s, which in itself is influenced by Luigi Russolo, said to hold had a ‘vital function ‘ in this ‘trend’.28 Sound Art, is said to be ‘a genre in its ain right, and the influence of Schaeffer can be heard in movie tonss and dad genres such as electronica’.29 This statement entirely shows the wide range of Schaeffer ‘s influence into a whole assortment of newer genres. Glitch music is based on the sounds of misfunctioning or misused equipment. In doing these sounds, bug 21 Palombini, C. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, 1953: Towards an Experimental Music ‘ , Electronic Musicological Review, 3 October 1998 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.rem.ufpr.br/
22 Hannam, J. , ‘Pioneers of electronic music # 4: PierreA Schaeffer ‘ , Beatportal, 5 November 2008 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.beatportal.com/
23 ibid 22
24 Dack, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer and the significance of radiotelephonic art ‘ , 1994 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.zainea.com/
25 ibid 21
26 ibid 21
27 Taylor, K. J. , ‘Ishkur ‘s Guide to Electronic Music ‘ , techno.org, October 2000 hypertext transfer protocol: //techno.org/
28 Brown, B. , ‘Introduction ‘ , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 18.
29 Hewett, I. , ‘The dark France tuned in to clank and clack – and a new music was born ‘ , Telegraph, 20 November 2008 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.telegraph.co.uk/
instrumentalists have to hold a wholly different attack to the equipment they are working with, than what the engineering has been designed for. In working with machines in wireless production, Schaeffer found that the electronic equipment, ‘as if of their ain agreement, make something. ‘ ‘Let ‘s say that accidents are creative’.30 Schaeffer finds the hearable mistakes in his electronic equipment to be of musical usage, which is the foundation for the bug genre. His proficient attack is now emulated in creative persons such as John Richards, and his construct of circuit bending, an utmost practise he calls ‘Dirty Electronics ‘ of taking a wholly new technological attack of audio equipment and turning into music.31
30 Dack, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer and the significance of radiotelephonic art ‘ , 1994 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.zainea.com/
31 Richards, J. , ‘Dirty Electronics Manifesto ‘ , 2006 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.mti.dmu.ac.uk/
32 Deglise, F. , ‘Jean-Michel Jarre revisite Oxygene ‘ , Le Devoir, 11 January 2008 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.ledevoir.com/
33 Snyder, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, Inventor of Musique Concrete ‘ , 10 January 2007 hypertext transfer protocol: //csunix1.lvc.edu/
34 ibid 33
Jean Michel Jarre says ‘He invented the sound design, sampling, reverberometre. All current procedures were invented by Schaeffer in 40 years’32. The recording procedures and techniques Pierre Schaeffer pioneered have become indispensable in today ‘s recording industry. In his early experiments, he ‘intermingled ‘ sounds, layering them up and he ‘juxtaposed ‘ sounds, seting them back to endorse. The geographic expedition of many of Schaeffer ‘s new techniques on the turntable has led to cardinal rules of yet more genres. Schaeffer played bing records at different velocities, detecting non merely the difference in ‘pitch and continuance, but besides the amplitude envelopes of the sounds ‘ . 33 He besides pioneered groove locking – a manner of looping a sound, or portion of a sound. 34 Trip Hop and Downbeat are based on looping a portion of a sampled path at a much lower pacing. Schaeffer ‘s experimenting in the locked channel and the alteration of envelopes and pitch upon altering the pacing of turntables are indispensable facets of this genre ‘s sound. This can be heard in paths by Moby, Portishead and Royksopp35. These technological facets can besides be heard in the wider genre – Hip-hop. Here, Schaeffer ‘s revealing ‘cut N ‘ paste legacy’36 is prevailing. DJ Faust is described as being ‘a turntablist with an unbelievable dense manner of cut-and-paste commixture that leaves small room for intermission and entertains sunglassess of original musique concrete manufacturers like Pierre Schaeffer’37. This cut and paste methodological analysis of Schaeffer ‘s has said to hold had ‘a touchable influence in releases by The KLF, Can and even The Beatles ‘ ‘Sgt. Pepper ‘ . ’38 Equally good as the turntable, Schaeffer ‘s method of taking the onslaught of bell-like sounds has gone on to act upon Jonty Harrison. His Klang is a sonic geographic expedition wholly dependent on taking the onslaughts off the sounds of a casserole dish being hit. The piece has been described as being ‘shades of Schaeffer’.39
Not merely did Luigi Russolo and Pierre Schaeffer construct radical new instruments and equipment that could physically reenforce their bing theories and constructs, but they besides used bing musical resources with a wholly different technological attack.
35 Taylor, K. J. , ‘Ishkur ‘s Guide to Electronic Music ‘ , techno.org, October 2000 hypertext transfer protocol: //techno.org/
36 Hannam, J. , ‘Pioneers of electronic music # 4: PierreA Schaeffer ‘ , Beatportal, 5 November 2008 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.beatportal.com/
37 Bogdanov, V. , Woodstra, C. , Erlewine, S. T. , Bush, J. , ‘All Music Guide to Hip-hop: The Definitive Guide to Rap & A ; Hip-hop ‘ , 2003 hypertext transfer protocol: //book.google.co.uk/
38 ibid 36
39 Djll, T. , ‘Transparent Tape Music Festival 2 ‘ Review, 18 August 2002 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sfsound.org/
After printing his pronunciamento, Russolo went on to use his thoughts in his ain plants, hence physically warranting his extremist theories and demoing bing composers what they could research. He set about composing for his radical new instruments, the Intonarumori, or ‘Noise-instruments ‘ . These were basically the first musical synthesists. They were big wooden boxes, with intricate mechanisms indoors, to make a broad assortment of sounds non instantly delighting to the musical ear. There were 12 noise instruments, each with a specific timber ; ululation, boom, whistling, crepitating, rubbery, gurgling, rustling, sissing, diing – like the noise of toads, and 2 ‘bursters ‘ , one of which sounds like ‘an early car engine ‘ . 40 Due to the entering engineering of the age being crude, and small available, Russolo ‘s instruments were the lone means to implement his thoughts of noise sounds in composings. One of Russolo ‘s major parts to today ‘s electronic practise is the construct of noise coevals in his Intonarumori. Synthesis is such a major portion of today ‘s music that its beginnings are frequently overlooked, but it was Russolo ‘s synthesizing instruments that were radical in being the first existent instruments to emulate an bing sound.41
40 Brown, B. , ‘Introduction ‘ , The Art Of Noises, ( New York, 1986 ) , 12.
41 Rotondi, J. , ‘Luigi Russolo ‘ Magazine Articles, 1 November 2002 hypertext transfer protocol: //remixmag.com/
42 ibid 40, 18.
43 ibid 40, 20.
Russolo ‘s instruments were so new and interesting, that composers of the twenty-four hours started utilizing them in their plants. Francesco Balilla Pratella ‘s 1915 opera, L’Aviatore Dro ‘used Russolo ‘s charge to picture the noise of an airplane engine’42, and Joseph-Maurice Ravel composed a ‘chorus of toads ‘ subdivision in his opera, L’Enfant et lupus erythematosuss sortileges, as a ‘direct consequence of hearing Russolo ‘s croaker. ’43
Schaeffer ‘s work following on from Russolo ‘s Intonarumori synthesis instruments has seen the creative activity of his ain instruments, leting for the continuance of instrument devising, taking to today ‘s electronic synthesists and sampling stations. His ‘Phonogene ‘ could play a pre-recorded cringle on tape at a pitch defined by the user on a one octave keyboard. This design was so adapted in the ‘Slide Phonogene ‘ , which used a smooth non-chromatic passage between pitches. 44 His Phonogene is said to hold been ‘less than successful ‘ , because it ‘imposed constructions on the sounds before their built-in features had been examined’.45 This led on to the innovation of the Mellotron, an instrument following the same rules, but able to alter single facets of the sound. The Mellotron besides ‘fulfilled his prognostication ‘ that ‘an instrument could be created that would supply the sounds of an orchestral instrument by agencies of a bank of prerecorded events. ’46 This anticipation can be applied to any sampling station of today.
44 Palombini, C. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, 1953: Towards an Experimental Music ‘ , Electronic Musicological Review, 3 October 1998 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.rem.ufpr.br/
45 Dack, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer and the significance of radiotelephonic art ‘ , 1994 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.zainea.com/
46 Snyder, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, Inventor of Musique Concrete ‘ , 10 January 2007 hypertext transfer protocol: //csunix1.lvc.edu/
47 Manning, P. , Electronic and Computer Music, 2nd edn. ( Oxford, 1993 ) , 27.
48 Fielden, J. , ‘Schaeffer/Henry, Ussachevsky/Luening and Le Caine ‘ , Pioneers of Electronic Music – Early Works, 2000 hypertext transfer protocol: //www.jerryfielden.com/
In 1951, the debut of a tape recording equipment in Schaeffer ‘s studio enabled him to invent a tape-head reverberation system, with 12 tape caputs, called a Morphophone. 47 Besides in 1951, he collaborated with Jacques Poullin to make a new instrument, much like Russolo did, that could emulate some of his finds. Schaeffer and Poullin ‘s other innovations include the 3 path tape recording equipment, that could be used on their new spatialisation desk. 48 Schaeffer besides created a radical governable environment sound system, utilizing 5 separate paths. There are 2 talkers left and right severally, one talker straight behind the hearer, and one talker suspended from the ceiling, leting for perpendicular sound arrangement. The fifth path allows the performing artist to put the sound between any of the speakers.49
The impact of Russolo and Shaeffer on musical practise today is shown in the immense assortment of found sounds used within modern-day composings. Their radical Hagiographas reenforcing their compulsion in non-musical sounds being used outside a traditional musical context have greatly influenced modern twenty-four hours believing. Their philosophical thoughts have become about common practise in the practical plant of modern-day instrumentalists. Their creative activity of genres has led to the development of many more since, with their rules being cardinal to a assortment of these recent genres. Their technological attack on new equipment, both in instrument creative activity and in bing engineering has made Russolo and Schaeffer extremely influential on today ‘s music industry, in the manner creative persons make their sounds, record their sound, and think about their sound. In short, Russolo and Schaeffer have both made a considerable impact upon modern-day musical idea and practise, and have been indispensable in doing electronic music what it is today.
49 Snyder, J. , ‘Pierre Schaeffer, Inventor of Musique Concrete ‘ , 10 January 2007 hypertext transfer protocol: //csunix1.lvc.edu/