Editing Musique concrète (section)

==Technology==
The development of musique concrète was facilitated by the emergence of new [[music technology]] in post-war Europe. Access to microphones, phonographs, and later [[tape recorder|magnetic tape recorders]] (created in 1939 and acquired by the Schaeffer's Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (Research Group on Concrete Music) in 1952), facilitated by an association with the French national broadcasting organization, at that time the Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française, gave Schaeffer and his colleagues an opportunity to experiment with recording technology and tape manipulation.

===Initial tools of musique concrète===
In 1948, a typical [[radio studio]] consisted of a series of shellac [[phonograph|record players]], a [[shellac]] record recorder, a [[mixing desk]] with rotating [[potentiometer]]s, mechanical [[reverberation]] units, [[audio filter|filters]], and [[microphone]]s. This technology made a number of limited operations available to a composer:<ref name="Teruggi-2007-pneeded">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007}}{{Page needed|date=September 2014}}</ref>
*'''Shellac record players''': could play sound forwards or in reverse; could change speed at fixed ratios, permitting limited [[Transposition (music)|transposition]].
*'''Shellac recorder''': would record any result coming out of the mixing desk.
*'''Mixing desk''': would permit several sources to be mixed together with an independent control of the gain or volume of the sound. The result of the mixing was sent to the recorder and to the monitoring loudspeakers. Signals could be sent to the filters or the reverberation unit.
*'''Mechanical reverberation''': made of a metal plate or a series of springs that created an artificial reverb effect.
*'''Filters''': two kinds of filters, third-octave octave filter banks and [[high-pass filter|high-]] and [[low-pass filter]]s. They allowed the elimination or enhancement of selected [[audio frequency|frequencies]].
*'''Microphones''': essential tool for capturing sound.

The application of the above technologies in the creation of musique concrète led to the development of a number of sound manipulation techniques including:<ref name="Teruggi-2007-pneeded"/>

*'''Sound transposition''': reading a sound at a different speed than the one at which it was recorded.
*'''Sound looping''': composers developed a skilled technique in order to create loops at specific locations within a recording.
*'''Sound-sample extraction''': a hand-controlled method that required delicate manipulation to get a clean [[Sampling (music)|sample]] of sound. It entailed letting the [[Magnetic cartridge|stylus]] read only a small segment of a [[phonograph|record]]. Used in the ''Symphonie pour un homme seul''.
*'''Filtering''': by eliminating certain frequencies from a signal, the remains would keep some trace of the original sound but alter it often beyond recognition.

===Magnetic tape===
The first tape recorders started arriving at ORTF in 1949; however, they were much less reliable than the shellac players, to the point that the ''Symphonie pour un homme seul'' (1950–1951) was mainly composed with records even if the tape recorder was available.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p216">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|p=216}}</ref> In 1950, when the machines finally functioned correctly, the techniques of the studio were expanded. A range of new sound manipulation practices were explored using improved media manipulation methods and operations such as continuous speed variation. A completely new possibility of organising sounds appeared with tape editing, which permitted tape to be spliced and arranged with much more precision. The "axe-cut junctions" were replaced with micrometric junctions and a whole new technique of production, less dependent on performance skills, could be developed. Tape editing brought a new technique called "[[micromontage]]", in which very small fragments of sound were edited together, thus creating completely new sounds or structures on a larger scale.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p217">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|p=217}}</ref>

===Development of novel devices===
During the GRMC period from 1951 to 1958, Schaeffer and Poullin developed a number of novel sound creation tools. These included a three-track [[multitrack recording|tape recorder]]; a machine with ten playback heads to replay tape loops in echo (the morphophone); a [[music keyboard|keyboard]]-controlled machine to play tape loops at preset speeds (the keyboard, [[chromatic]], or ''Tolana phonogène''); a slide-controlled machine to replay tape loops at a continuously variable range of speeds (the handle, continuous, or ''Sareg phonogène''); and a device to distribute an encoded track across four [[loudspeaker]]s, including one hanging from the centre of the ceiling (the ''potentiomètre d'espace'').<ref name="Palombini-1999"/>

====''Phonogène''====
[[File:Phonogene.jpg|upright|thumb|right|The chromatic phonogène]]
Speed variation was a powerful tool for sound design applications. It had been identified that transformations brought about by varying playback speed lead to modification in the character of the sound material:
* Variation in the sounds' length, in a manner directly proportional to the ratio of speed variation.
* Variation in length is coupled with a variation in [[Pitch (music)|pitch]], and is also proportional to the ratio of speed variation.
* A sound's attack characteristic is altered, whereby it is either dislocated from succeeding events, or the energy of the attack is more sharply focused.
* The distribution of spectral energy is altered, thereby influencing how the resulting timbre might be perceived, relative to its original unaltered state.
The phonogène was a machine capable of modifying sound structure significantly and it provided composers with a means to adapt sound to meet specific compositional contexts. The initial phonogènes were manufactured in 1953 by two subcontractors: the chromatic phonogène by a company called Tolana, and the sliding version by the SAREG Company.<ref name="Poullin-1999">{{harvp|Poullin|1999}}</ref> A third version was developed later at ORTF. An outline of the unique capabilities of the various phonogènes can be seen here:

*'''Chromatic''': The chromatic phonogène was controlled through a one-octave keyboard. Multiple capstans of differing diameters vary the tape speed over a single stationary magnetic tape head. A tape loop was put into the machine, and when a key was played, it would act on an individual [[pinch roller]] / [[Capstan (tape recorder)|capstan]] arrangement and cause the tape to be played at a specific speed. The machine worked with short sounds only.<ref name="Poullin-1999"/>
*'''Sliding''': The sliding phonogène (also called continuous-variation phonogène) provided continuous variation of tape speed using a control rod.<ref name="Poullin-1999"/> The range allowed the motor to arrive at almost a stop position, always through a continuous variation. It was basically a normal tape recorder but with the ability to control its speed, so it could modify any length of tape. One of the earliest examples of its use can by heard in ''Voile d'Orphée'' by Pierre Henry (1953), where a lengthy [[glissando]] is used to symbolise the removal of [[Orpheus]]'s veil as he enters hell.
*'''Universal''': A final version called the universal phonogène was completed in 1963. The device's main ability was that it enabled the dissociation of pitch variation from time variation. This was the starting point for methods that would later become widely available using digital technology, for instance [[Audio timescale-pitch modification|harmonising]] (transposing sound without modifying duration) and [[Audio timescale-pitch modification|time stretching]] (modifying duration without pitch modification). This was obtained through a rotating magnetic head called the Springer temporal regulator, an ancestor of the rotating heads used in video machines.

====Three-head tape recorder====
This original tape recorder was one of the first machines permitting the simultaneous listening of several synchronised sources. Until 1958 musique concrète, radio and the studio machines were [[monaural|monophonic]]. The three-head tape recorder superposed three magnetic tapes that were dragged by a common motor, each tape having an independent [[Bobbin|spool]]. The objective was to keep the three tapes synchronised from a common starting point. Works could then be conceived [[polyphonic]]ally, and thus each head conveyed a part of the information and was listened to through a dedicated loudspeaker. It was an ancestor of the multi-track player (four then eight tracks) that appeared in the 1960s. ''Timbres Durées'' by Olivier Messiaen with the technical assistance of Pierre Henry was the first work composed for this tape recorder in 1952. A rapid rhythmic polyphony was distributed over the three channels.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p218">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|p=218}}</ref>

====Morphophone====
[[File:Morphophone.JPG|upright|thumb|left|The Morphophone]]
This machine was conceived to build complex forms through repetition, and accumulation of events through [[Delay (audio effect)|delays]], filtering and [[feedback]]. It consisted of a large rotating disk, 50&nbsp;cm in diameter, on which was stuck a tape with its magnetic side facing outward. A series of twelve movable [[tape head|magnetic heads]] (one each [[recording head]] and erasing head, and ten playback heads) were positioned around the disk, in contact with the tape. A sound up to four seconds long could be recorded on the looped tape and the ten playback heads would then read the information with different delays, according to their (adjustable) positions around the disk. A separate [[amplifier]] and [[band-pass filter]] for each head could modify the [[sound spectrum|spectrum]] of the sound, and additional feedback loops could transmit the information to the recording head. The resulting repetitions of a sound occurred at different time intervals, and could be filtered or modified through feedback. This system was also easily capable of producing artificial reverberation or continuous sounds.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p218"/>

====Early sound spatialisation system====
[[File:Pierre Henry in concert, 1952.jpg|thumb|right|[[Pierre Henry]] using induction coils to control sound spatially]]
At the premiere of Pierre Schaeffer's ''Symphonie pour un homme seul'' in 1951, a system that was designed for the spatial control of sound was tested. It was called a ''relief desk'' (''pupitre de relief'', but also referred to as ''pupitre d'espace'' or ''potentiomètre d'espace'') and was intended to control the dynamic level of music played from several shellac players. This created a [[stereophonic]] effect by controlling the positioning of a [[monaural|monophonic]] sound source.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p218"/> One of five tracks, provided by a purpose-built tape machine, was controlled by the performer and the other four tracks each supplied a single loudspeaker. This provided a mixture of live and preset sound positions.<ref>{{harvp|Poullin|1957}}</ref> The placement of loudspeakers in the performance space included two loudspeakers at the front right and left of the audience, one placed at the rear, and in the centre of the space a loudspeaker was placed in a high position above the audience. The sounds could therefore be moved around the audience, rather than just across the front stage. On stage, the control system allowed a performer to position a sound either to the left or right, above or behind the audience, simply by moving a small, hand held transmitter coil towards or away from four somewhat larger receiver coils arranged around the performer in a manner reflecting the loudspeaker positions.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p218"/> A contemporary eyewitness described the ''potentiomètre d'espace'' in normal use:

<blockquote>One found one's self sitting in a small studio which was equipped with four loudspeakers—two in front of one—right and left; one behind one and a fourth suspended above. In the front center were four large loops and an ''executant'' moving a small magnetic unit through the air. The four loops controlled the four speakers, and while all four were giving off sounds all the time, the distance of the unit from the loops determined the volume of sound sent out from each.<br>The music thus came to one at varying intensity from various parts of the room, and this ''spatial projection'' gave new sense to the rather abstract sequence of sound originally recorded.<ref>{{harvp|Gradenwitz|1953}}</ref></blockquote> The central concept underlying this method was the notion that music should be controlled during public presentation in order to create a performance situation; an attitude that has stayed with acousmatic music to the present day.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p218"/>

===Coupigny synthesiser and Studio 54 mixing desk===
[[File:SchaefferStudio54.JPG|thumb|left|Pierre Schaeffer at the Studio 54 desk adjusting a Moog. The Coupigny is in the row below.]]

After the longstanding rivalry with the [[electronic music]] of the Cologne studio had subsided, in 1970 the GRM finally created an electronic studio using tools developed by the physicist Enrico Chiarucci, called the Studio 54, which featured the "Coupigny modular synthesiser" and a Moog synthesiser.<ref>{{harvp|Gayou|2007a|p=208}}</ref> The Coupigny [[synthesizer|synthesiser]], named for its designer François Coupigny, director of the Group for Technical Research,<ref name="Battier-2007-p200">{{harvp|Battier|2007|p=200}}</ref> and the Studio 54 mixing desk had a major influence on the evolution of GRM and from the point of their introduction on they brought a new quality to the music.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p220">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|p=220}}</ref> The mixing desk and synthesiser were combined in one unit and were created specifically for the creation of musique concrète.

The design of the desk was influenced by [[trade union]] rules at French National Radio that required technicians and production staff to have clearly defined duties. The solitary practice of musique concrète composition did not suit a system that involved three operators: one in charge of the machines, a second controlling the mixing desk, and third to provide guidance to the others. Because of this the synthesiser and desk were combined and organised in a manner that allowed it to be used easily by a composer. Independently of the mixing tracks (24 in total), it had a coupled connection patch that permitted the organisation of the machines within the studio. It also had a number of remote controls for operating tape recorders. The system was easily adaptable to any context, particularly that of interfacing with external equipment.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p219">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|p=219}}</ref>

Before the late 1960s the musique concrète produced at GRM had largely been based on the recording and manipulation of sounds, but synthesised sounds had featured in a number of works prior to the introduction of the Coupigny. Pierre Henry had used oscillators to produce sounds as early as 1955. But a synthesiser with [[Envelope (music)|envelope control]] was something Pierre Schaeffer was against, since it favoured the preconception of music and therefore deviated from Schaeffer's principle of "making through listening".<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p219"/> Because of Schaeffer's concerns the Coupigny synthesiser was conceived as a sound-event generator with parameters controlled globally, without a means to define values as precisely as some other synthesisers of the day.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p219-220">{{harvp|Teruggi|2007|pp=219–220}}</ref>

The development of the machine was constrained by several factors. It needed to be modular and the modules had to be easily interconnected (so that the synthesiser would have more modules than slots and it would have an easy-to-use patch). It also needed to include all the major functions of a [[modular synthesiser]] including [[Electronic oscillator|oscillators]], noise-generators, [[Voltage-controlled filter|filters]], [[ring modulation|ring-modulators]], but an [[intermodulation]] facility was viewed as the primary requirement; to enable complex synthesis processes such as [[frequency modulation]], [[amplitude modulation]], and modulation via an external source. No keyboard was attached to the synthesiser and instead a specific and somewhat complex [[envelope generator]] was used to shape sound. This synthesiser was well-adapted to the production of continuous and complex sounds using intermodulation techniques such as cross-synthesis and frequency modulation but was less effective in generating precisely defined frequencies and triggering specific sounds.<ref name="Teruggi-2007-p220"/>

The Coupigny synthesiser also served as the model for a smaller, portable unit, which has been used down to the present day.<ref name="Battier-2007-p200"/>

===Acousmonium===
[[File:Psconcer.jpg|thumb|right|Schaeffer presenting the Acousmonium]]
In 1966 composer and technician [[François Bayle]] was placed in charge of the Groupe de Recherches Musicales and in 1975, GRM was integrated with the new [[Institut national de l'audiovisuel]] (INA – Audiovisual National Institute) with Bayle as its head. In taking the lead on work that began in the early 1950s, with Jacques Poullin's potentiomètre d'espace, a system designed to move [[monaural|monophonic]] sound sources across four speakers, Bayle and the engineer Jean-Claude Lallemand created an orchestra of loudspeakers (''un orchestre de haut-parleurs'') known as the [[Acousmonium]] in 1974.<ref name="Anon-2010">{{harvp|Anon.|2010}}</ref> An inaugural concert took place on 14 February 1974 at the Espace Pierre Cardin in Paris with a presentation of Bayle's ''Expérience acoustique''.<ref name="Gayou-2007a-p209">{{harvp|Gayou|2007a|p=209}}</ref>

The Acousmonium is a specialised [[sound reinforcement system]] consisting of between 50 and 100 [[loudspeakers]], depending on the character of the concert, of varying shape and size. The system was designed specifically for the concert presentation of [[acousmatic music|musique-concrète-based]] works but with the added enhancement of sound spatialisation. Loudspeakers are placed both on stage and at positions throughout the performance space<ref name="Gayou-2007a-p209"/> and a mixing console is used to manipulate the placement of acousmatic material across the speaker array, using a [[performance|performative]] technique known as ''[[sound diffusion]]''.<ref>{{harvp|Austin|Smalley|2000|pp=10–21}}</ref> Bayle has commented that the purpose of the Acousmonium is to "substitute a momentary classical disposition of sound making, which diffuses the sound from the circumference towards the centre of the hall, by a group of sound projectors which form an 'orchestration' of the acoustic image".<ref>{{harvp|Bayle|1993|p=44}}</ref>

As of 2010, the Acousmonium was still performing, with 64 speakers, 35 amplifiers, and 2 consoles.<ref name="Anon-2010"/>