Task 1: Composition
Task 2: Programme Notes
Introduction
My electroacoustic composition project is based upon the tradition of Musique Concrète, a practice developed and pioneered at Radiodiffusion Française in Pairs during the 1940’s by composer and theorist Pierre Schaeffer. In place of conventional composition and instrument-based approached to creating music, the composition process instead begins with the recording of physical sounds and manipulating the sounds into music through editing and transformation. This compositional idea was used to underpin both of my compositions.
List of Recordings and Samples
Track 01
- Chord and note samples of a grand piano
- Wildlife noise (birdsong captured near a park)
- Motor sounds from a power drill
Track 02
- Server fan noise
- Mechanical sounds from the removal of computer components
- Seeking motor sounds from a failing optical drive
Production Notes
Track 01
The conceptual framework of the first composition is built around contrast: the tension between the natural world and the industrial one. The juxtaposition of birdsong, which is an organic, unpredictable soundscape against the mechanical regularity of a power drill and the tonal quality of a grand piano creates a layered dialogue between these two sonic worlds. Rather than depicting a literal narrative, the piece invites the listener to consider how these sounds relate and collide when stripped of their original contexts and identities.
This approach draws directly from Pierre Schaeffer’s concept of acousmatic listening and his notion of the objet sonore (sound object), the idea that a recorded sound, divorced from its visual source, can be perceived purely on its own terms. (Schaeffer, 2012) In practice, this meant treating the birdsong not as “birdsong” but as a collection of timbres, rhythms, and pitches to be freely repositioned alongside other sound objects. The drill’s motor, similarly, ceases to be a tool and becomes a rhythmic and timbral event.
The piano samples were subjected to significant pitch shifting and time stretching, processes that fundamentally alter the perceived identity of the original recordings. Stretched piano tones blur into drones and textural beds, gradually losing their recognisable attack transients and merging into the surrounding sound world. Sequencing and splicing were the primary compositional tools, with samples arranged in non-linear patterns to disrupt any sense of conventional musical time. Reversed samples introduced further ambiguity around phrasing and directionality, while EQ filtering was used to sculpt individual samples and simulate the sense of sounds occupying different acoustic spaces simultaneously.
Track 02
The second composition is built entirely from sounds recorded within and around a computer system and is concerned with the raw mechanical and industrial character of that environment. The server fan’s continuous hum, the sharp clicks and scrapes of components being handled, and the irregular stutter of a failing optical drive’s seeking motor together create a sound world defined by density, repetition, and unpredictability.
Schaeffer’s argument that all sound contains latent musical potential is perhaps most directly tested in a piece such as this, where the source materials are entirely functional and non-musical in origin. (Schaeffer, 2012) His early experiments with recorded industrial and mechanical sounds (turntables, trains, spinning tops) established the precedent for treating mechanical noise as compositional raw material. This piece follows that lineage.
The optical drive’s seeking motor provided the rhythmic backbone of the composition. Its irregular, stuttering quality was exploited through careful sequencing to generate percussive patterns with an unpredictable but propulsive character. Time stretching was applied to the fan noise to produce long, evolving drone textures that underpin the more active elements. Splicing and reversal fragmented the mechanical sounds throughout, drawing attention away from their functional origins and towards their purely sonic qualities.
EQ filtering played a particularly significant role here, used to isolate specific frequency bands within the fan noise and bring forward harmonic content that is entirely inaudible in the original recording. This process of excavating hidden musical material from an apparently unpromising source sits at the heart of the Musique concrète practice Schaeffer developed and represents one of the most direct points of engagement between this piece and that tradition.
Both compositions were directly informed by the theoretical and practical content of the module. Seminar discussion around the history and philosophy of Musique concrète, particularly Schaeffer’s development of the sound object and his framework for acousmatic listening, provided the conceptual language applied throughout both pieces. Workshop tasks involving hands-on sample manipulation introduced pitch shifting, time stretching, filtering, and reversal as compositional tools rather than technical corrections, which shaped the approach taken in both tracks.
The decision to work exclusively with self-recorded material reflects a deliberate engagement with the core principles discussed in the module. The Zoom H5 was chosen for its condenser microphones, which capture a wide frequency spectrum and ensure the recorded sounds retain sufficient detail to withstand the processing applied in composition.
Appendices
Bibliography
EBSCO Information Services, Inc. | www.ebsco.com. (2022). Musique concrete | EBSCO. [online] Available at: https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/music/musique-concrete.
Schaeffer, P. (1952) À la recherche d’une musique concrète. Paris: Seuil. [Published in English as: Schaeffer, P. (2012) In Search of a Concrete Music. Translated by C. North and J. Dack. Berkeley: University of California Press.]
Red Means Recording (2025). Osmose Musique Concrète. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3dFdsOR8xg.
