Électroacoustique
Roots · 1948 · also known as Electroacoustic, Musique Electroacoustique
The academic formalization of sound experimentation: institutional studios from Cologne to Brussels, tape and synthesis, spatialization, scores made of sound itself. Stockhausen invents whole worlds there, Xenakis applies mathematics. It is the theoretical laboratory from which popular electronic music inherited its tools, often without knowing their names, and its methods still underlie granular synthesis, spectral processing and studio composition today.
9 reference tracks
- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Gesang der Junglinge
- Edgard Varese: Poeme Electronique (1958)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen: Kontakte (1960)
- Iannis Xenakis: Bohor (1962)
- Iannis Xenakis: Concret PH
- Pierre Schaeffer: Etude Aux Chemins De Fer (1948)
- Pierre Schaeffer & Pierre Henry: Symphonie Pour Un Homme Seul (1950)
- Luciano Berio: Thema (Omaggio A Joyce) (1958)
- Bernard Parmegiani: De Natura Sonorum (1975)
At a glance
- First appeared: 1948
- Machines: Ordinateur, Magnétophone à bande, Oscillateur de laboratoire, Console de mixage
- The sound: Synthèse sur bande, Oscillateurs de laboratoire, Spatialisation multicanal, Ordinateurs de première génération
- Labels: Deutsche Grammophon, Recollection GRM, Erato, Sub Rosa, INA-GRM, empreintes DIGITALes
- Key artists: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Pierre Boulez (frange), Else Marie Pade, Delia Derbyshire
Producing Électroacoustique
This music thinks in duration and form rather than pulse: a piece can run without tempo for minutes, then let a steady pulse surface as an event, the balance between smooth textures and impulses replacing the beat. Work at 60 bpm so the grid maps to seconds. Build rhythm from a very short click repeated at varying speeds, since under 20 repetitions per second you hear a rhythm, above it a pitch, a threshold crossed by automating repeat rate. For bass, build a held mass rather than a line: a low sine beating against a second oscillator detuned by a few Hz, plus ring modulation for metallic tones, pitch drawn as continuous automation. Layer pure oscillators, filtered noise, transformed voice, and spectral tools with granular delay and degraded tape echoes for texture.
The full production course, in French: tempo, drums, bass, sounds, arrangement, mix, plugins and machines, and a step by step start.
Frequently asked
What is Électroacoustique?
The academic formalization of sound experimentation: institutional studios from Cologne to Brussels, tape and synthesis, spatialization, scores made of sound itself. Stockhausen invents whole worlds there, Xenakis applies mathematics. It is the theoretical laboratory from which popular electronic…
Who are the key Électroacoustique artists?
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Pierre Boulez (frange), Else Marie Pade, Delia Derbyshire.
In the same family
- Musique concrète
- Krautrock
- Kosmische Musik
- Space Music
- Proto-Techno
- Synth-pop
- Early Industrial
- Funk
- Philly Soul
- Dub
- Hip-Hop
- Reggae
Listen to Électroacoustique in the atlas · Cette page en français
