- Acousmatic music
Acousmatic music is a form of
electroacoustic music that deals specifically withacousmatic sound as a compositional resource. The practice has a historical basis inmusique concrete . It can be created using non-acoustic technology, exists only in a recorded format (as a fixed medium), and is composed for reception vialoudspeakers . The compositional material is not restricted to the inclusion of sonorities derived frommusical instruments or voices, nor to elements traditionally thought of as 'musical' (melody ,harmony ,rhythm , metre and so on), but rather admits anysound , acoustic or synthetic. With the aid of various technologies, such asdigital signal processing tools and digital audio workstations, this material can then be combined, juxtaposed, and transformed, in any conceivable manner. In this context the compositional method can be seen as a process of "sound organisation": a term first used by the French composerEdgard Varese [Ouellette, F.(1973),"Edgard Varèse",Calder and Boyars, London. ISBN 074502081. ]Origins
The term "acousmatic" dates back to
Pythagoras ; the philosopher is believed to have tutored hisstudents from behind a screen so as not to let his presence distract them from the content of his lectures. The term "acousmatique" was first used by the French composerPierre Schaeffer . It is said to be derived from "akousmatikoi", the outer circle of Pythagoras' disciples who only heard their teacher speaking from behind a veil. In a similar way, one hears acousmatic music from behind the 'veil' of loudspeakers, without seeing the source of the sound. [Schaeffer, P. (1966) "Traité des objets musicaux", Le Seuil, Paris.]Developments
Within
academia the term acousmatic music, or acousmatic art, [Dufour, D. (1989), "Peu importe le son", "Le Son des musiques", Symposium Ina-GRM and France Culture, publishing Ina-GRM/Buchet-Chastel, Paris] [Dhomont, F. (1996),"Is there a Quebec sound", Organised Sound, 1(1), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.] has gained common usage, particularly when referring to contemporary musique concrete; however, there is some dispute as to whether acousmatic practice relates to a style of composition or a way of listening to sound. [Mc Farlane, M.W. (2001)."The Development of Acousmatics in Montréal","eContact!", 6.2,Journal of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, Montreal. ] Scruton defines the experience of sound as inherently acousmatic, as Lydia Goehr (1999) paraphrases, "the sound world is not a space into which we can enter; it is a world we treat at a distance". [Bauer, A (2004). "'Tone-Color, Movement, Changing Harmonic Planes': Cognition, Constraints, and Conceptual Blends in Modernist Music", The Pleasure of Modernist Music. ISBN 1580461433]tyle
Acousmatic music may contain sounds that have recognizably musical sources, but may equally present recognizable sources that are beyond the bounds of traditional vocal and instrumental
technology . We are as likely to hear the sounds of abird , or of afactory as we are the sounds of aviolin . The technology involved transcends the mere reproduction of sounds. Techniques ofsynthesis and sound processing are employed which may present us with sounds that are unfamiliar and that may defy clear source attribution. Acousmatic compositions may present us with familiar musical events: chords, melodies and rhythms which are easily reconcilable with other forms of music, but may equally present us with events which cannot be classified within such a traditionaltaxonomy . [Windsor, W.L. (1995). "A Perceptual Approach to the Description and Analysis of Acousmatic Music", Ph. D Thesis, City University Department of Music, September 1995, Sheffield.]Performance practice
Acousmatic compositions are sometimes presented to audiences in concert settings that are often indistinguishable from acoustic recitals, albeit without performers. In an acousmatic concert the sound component is produced using pre-recorded media, or generated in
real-time using acomputer . The sound material will then be distributed spatially, via multipleloudspeakers , using a practice know as "diffusion". The work is often "diffused" by the composer (if present) but the role of interpreter can also be assumed by another practitioner of the art. To provide a guideline for "spatialisation" of the work by an interpreter, many composers provide a "diffusion score"; in its simplest form this might be a graphic representation of the acousmatic work with indications for spatial manipulations, relative to a time-line. [Emmerson S. (2007) "Living Electronic Music", Ashgate Publishing Limited,Aldershot. ]References
Further reading
*Austin L. & Smalley D. (2000), "Sound Diffusion in Composition and Performance:An Interview with Denis Smalley", "Computer Music Journal", 24:2, pp. 10–21, Summer 2000, MIT.
*Chion, M. (1983),"Guide des objets sonores, Pierre Schaeffer et la recherche musicale", Ina-GRM/Buchet-Chastel, Paris.
*Destantos, S. (1997), "Acousmatic Morphology: An Interview with Francois Bayle", "Computer Music Journal": Vol. 21, no.3. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press: 11-19.
*Smalley, D. (2007), "Space-form and the acousmatic image", "Organised Sound": Vol. 12, No. 1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 35-58.
*Smalley, D. (1997), "Spectromorphology: Explaining Sound-Shapes". "Organised Sound" 2(2): 107–26,Cambridge University Press.
*Truax, B. (1999),"Composition and diffusion: space in sound in space", "Organised Sound" 3(2): 141–6, Cambridge University Press.External links
* [http://www.sonicartsnetwork.org/ARTICLES/ARTICLE1996DHOMONT.html Acousmatic Update] by Francis Dhomont, reprinted from CONTACT!. the journal of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community
* [http://www.personal.leeds.ac.uk/~muswlw/pubs/lwthesis.html A Perceptual Approach to the Description and Analysis of Acousmatic Music]
* [http://cec.concordia.ca/econtact/Quebec/McFarlane.html The Development of Acousmatics in Montréal]
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