Early experimental electronic music

Publicly funded institutions and broadcasters played a crucial role in developing musique concrète (Pierre Schaeffer) and elektronische Musik (Meyer-Eppler) in the 1950s:

• Studio für Elektronische Musik (WDR)
• Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM)
• Radiophonic Workshop (BBC)

Musique concrète

Composing with recorded sounds rather than traditional musical notes, pioneered by French composer Pierre Schaeffer.

• use of recorded natural sounds as raw material
• sounds are altered using tape music techniques like splicing, looping, pitch-shifting, reversing, and layering

→ Replaced traditional notation and instruments, and redefined the relationship between composer, sound, and performance.

Luc Ferrari (1929 – 2005)

French composer of Italian heritage and a pioneer in musique concrète and electroacoustic music.

• Amassing a large archive of recorded sound (interior and exterior)
• Creating environmental soundscapes, anecdotal sound

Presque rien No. 1
'Le Lever du jour au bord de la mer'

Condensation of a one-day recording on a Yugoslavian beach into a 21-minute composition.

• Montage after musical principles
• Expanding the timescale of musique concrète
• Shifting background and foreground relationships

Expanding musical materials

Together with technological developments, mid-century avant-garde composers turned toward environmental sounds, noise, and everyday acoustic phenomena as musical material.

• Luigi Russolo (1913): Orchestration of industrial and urban sounds
• Pierre Schaeffer (1948): Blurring the lines between "music" and "noise"
• John Cage (1952): 4′33″ - Ambient sound as compositional material
• Luc Ferrari (1960s-70s): Environmental sound as musical subject
• R. Murray Schafer (1977): Established soundscape as analytical framework

→ Schafer systematizes environmental listening into an analytical framework

Soundscape

R. Murray Schafer (1933–2021): Canadian composer who developed and popularized soundscape as a systematic framework, especially in The Tuning of the World (1977)

Etymology: Neologism modeled after landscape (sound + landscape)

Definitions:

• Oxford: A musical composition consisting of a texture of sounds; the sounds which form an auditory environment
• Merriam-Webster: A mélange of musical and sometimes nonmusical sounds

Earlier uses of "soundscape"

Before Schafer's theoretical framework:

• Richard Buckminster Fuller (1966) - Early documented use
• Michael Southworth (1969) - Urban planning context

Previously used poetically to describe surrounding sonic environments, but without systematic theoretical foundation.

→ Schafer developed it from a descriptive term into an analytical concept

Origins of acoustic ecology

Noise contamination due to the development of new technologies and processes in the age of post-industrial society.

• Increase in mobility (air and car traffic)
• Machines in the world of work

Soundscape studies

Related fields include acoustic ecology and soundscape ecology.

Interdisciplinary approach:

• Between science, society, and art
• Basis for acoustic design
• Examines interactions between humans, nature, and technology

Moves beyond noise control to treat sound as a resource

Intention

Shaping the social, psychological and aesthetic quality of an acoustic environment.

• Evaluation of new sounds
• Elimination or containment of certain sounds
• Preservation of certain sounds
• Current compositional approaches in music

World Soundscape Project (from 1969)

Schafer's research team at Simon Fraser University systematically recorded and analyzed acoustic environments in Canada and Europe, combining field recording with environmental research and composition.

• 1969-70: Foundation, early publications
• 1973: Vancouver study, cross-Canada tour
• 1975: European five-village research (300+ recordings)
• 1977: The Tuning of the World published
• 1978: Handbook for Acoustic Ecology (Barry Truax)
• 1993: World Forum for Acoustic Ecology founded

Schafer's soundscape concept

Paradigm shift: The world as a macrocosmic musical composition where we are simultaneously performers, audience, and composers.

Primary meaning: Acoustic characteristics of geographical, physical, ecological conditions

• Nature, culture, religion create specific ambient sounds
• Interaction between humans and acoustic environment
• Constitution of place's sonic identity

Listening as analytical practice

Soundscape analysis requires trained, conscious listening that moves from passive hearing to active attention.

Schafer's approach:

• Ear cleaning: Exercises that challenge perceptual habits and sharpen attention

• Clairaudience: Developing clear, discriminating hearing

• Goal: Transform everyday acoustic experience into analytical awareness

Listening modes in electroacoustic music

Acousmatic (Schaeffer):

• Sound heard without seeing its source
• Reduced listening focuses on internal sonic qualities

Soundscape (Schafer/Truax):

• Environmental sounds remain recognizable
• Contextual listening engages associations

— R. Murray Schafer, “Yes, but Is It Music?” in The New Soundscape: A Handbook for the Modern Music Teacher.

Soundscape elements

Natural sounds: Water, wind, animals, insects

Human activity:

• Rural: Agriculture, livestock, hunting
• Urban: Church bells, handicrafts, street vendors
• Industrial: Machines, factories, traffic
• Electronic: Telephone, radio, computer

Keynote, signal, soundmark

Analytical framework:

• Keynotes define place character
• Signals structure time and communication
• Soundmarks create cultural identity

Understanding these elements enables:

• Documenting soundscapes systematically
• Identifying sounds worth preserving
• Designing acoustic interventions

Keynote

Background sounds, often not consciously perceived:

• Highway noise, traffic hum
• Wind, rain, ocean waves
• Insect and animal sounds
• Electrical hum, ventilation systems

→ Forms the sonic foundation of a place

“Keynote” (external link)

Signal

Foreground sounds with specific information content:

• Warning devices: Bells, whistles, sirens
• Communication: Telephone, doorbells
• Temporal markers: Church bells, factory whistles

→ Demands conscious attention

“Signal” (external link)

Soundmark

Unique sounds with cultural/historical significance:

• Specific church bell patterns
• Traditional street vendor calls
• Characteristic industrial sounds (blacksmith, mill)

→ Sonic landmarks worth preserving

Hi-Fi and Lo-Fi

Analogous to the signal-to-noise ratio, the figure-ground relationship between signal and key note varies in strength, indicating the level of clarity or masking present.

Rhythm and tempo

Soundscapes are organized into temporal patterns ranging from micro-level vibrations to macro-level seasonal cycles:

• Rhythms of activity
• Circadian rhythm (day-night)
• Seasons
• Biological rhythms like heartbeat, breathing
• Mechanical tempo of machines (trains)

“Rhythm” (external link)

Schizophonia

The separation of a sound from its original source through electroacoustic transmission or reproduction.

• Synthetic soundscapes
• Unnatural distance
• Background music (Muzak) as example

Analyzing sound events

Schafer's analytical framework:

• Notation: Envelope, pitch, fluctuation, dynamics
• Classification: Physical, psychoacoustic, semantic characteristics
• Perception: Figure-ground relationships
• Morphology: Material transformations over time
• Symbolism: Cultural meanings and associations

Acoustic design

Schafer defines acoustic design as the positive quest to organize the soundscape to stimulate aesthetic satisfaction.

Approach:

• Preservation of soundmarks (culturally significant sounds)
• Avoidance of unwanted noise
• Critical examination of soundscape as a social task

Schafer's Approach - Summary

Methodology:

• Bridges scientific discipline and artistic imagination
• Combines physical measurements with perceptual analysis
• Uses historical accounts and social surveys

Classification system based on:

• Physical characteristics (frequency, amplitude, duration)
• Referential/aesthetic aspects (symbolic meanings, beauty, appropriateness)

→ Restore balance to the global soundscape

Criticism: The use of the term "soundscape"

Critical issues:

• Disconnected from Schafer's original framework
• Applied generically to "nearly any sonic phenomenon"
• Frequently misapplied and redefined

→ "Indispensable and elusive, provocative and limited" (Kelman 2010)

Criticism: Hi-Fi and Lo-Fi distinction

Schafer's distinction embeds value judgments (Kelman 2010; Helmreich 2010; Arkette 2004):

• Preference for rural sounds and natural environments
• Binary opposition between "desired" and "undesired" sounds
• Pastoral conception can idealize rural quietude
• Can reinforce prejudice against mechanical and electrical urban sounds

Further critiques

• Can separate sound from multisensory experience (Ingold 2007)
• Can treat the soundscape as a stable object rather than a lived relation (Ingold 2007; Helmreich 2010)
• The concept is historically shaped by technologies of recording, playback, and acoustics (Helmreich 2010)

Soundscape and spatial sound

Soundscape composition explores the spatial nature of environmental sound through different perspectives and reproduction formats.

Spatial approaches:

• Scenic: Foreground-midground-background organization
• Spherical: 360° surround, listener enveloped
• Immersive: "Wrapped" in sound (headphones, reverberant spaces)
• Binaural: Localization via interaural time/level differences

Documentation enables composition

World Soundscape Project's archiving work:

• Directed listener's attention to sonic environments
• Revealed aesthetic component of environmental sounds
• Fostered critical listening and breaking perceptual routines

→ This awareness led to compositional practices using environmental sound as artistic material.

Soundscape composition

The soundscape composition is a form of electroacoustic music, characterized by the presence of recognizable environmental sounds and contexts, the purpose being to invoke the listener's associations, memories, and imagination related to the soundscape.

— Barry Truax

Soundscape composition concepts

• Source material remains recognizable
• Invokes listener's and composer's knowledge of environmental/psychological context
• Heightens awareness rather than exploiting environment
• Reveals alternative roles of individual within surroundings
• Enhances understanding and influences everyday perceptual habits

→ Environmental, abstract, and artificial sonic environments are understood as artistic material.

Continuum of compositional intervention

Listener experience

Modes of spatial/temporal engagement:

• Fixed perspective: Listener positioned in place, experiencing time flow
• Moving perspective: Listener taken on a journey through connected spaces
• Variable perspective: Listener navigates discontinuous, imaginary spaces

→ Each perspective creates different relationships between listener and soundscape.

Hildegard Westerkamp

German-Canadian composer and sound ecologist (* 1946)

• Member of the World Soundscape Project
• Editor of Soundscape Newsletter (1991–1995)
• Composer, radio producer, and educator

Selected works: A Walk Through the City (1981), Harbour Symphony (1986), Kits Beach Soundwalk (1989), Beneath the Forest Floor (1992)

Combines field recordings with spoken commentary, creating "soundwalks" that guide listener attention.

Barry Truax

Canadian composer, theorist, and acoustic ecologist (* 1947)

• Member and director of the World Soundscape Project
• Author, Handbook for Acoustic Ecology (1978)
• Pioneer of real-time granular synthesis

Selected works: Riverrun (1986), Wings of Nike (1987), Pacific (1990), Soundscape Vancouver (1996)

Combines recognizable field recordings with granular transformation, balancing soundscape identity and timbral exploration.

Representative composers

Contemporary composers:

• Natasha Barrett (* 1972) - Ambisonic spatial composition
• Chris Watson (* 1953) - Wildlife and natural soundscapes
• Jana Winderen (* 1965) - Underwater and Arctic recordings
• Annea Lockwood (* 1939) - River and environmental sound maps
• Francisco López (* 1964) - Deep listening and field recording

Related figures:

• Brian Eno (* 1948) - Ambient music

Field recording techniques

Capturing environmental sound requires an understanding of the acoustic environment, including:

• Appropriate microphone selection
• Stereo and spatial recording methods
• Specialized equipment for specific contexts

Microphones for field recording

• Dynamic: Robust, no power needed
• Condenser: High sensitivity, phantom power required
• Electret: Affordable condenser variant

Specialized transducers:

• Hydrophones: Underwater, often piezoelectric - marine life, shipping
• Contact mics: Structure-borne vibration - wood, metal, stone
• Parabolic: Highly directional pickup of distant wildlife
• EMF: Electromagnetic fields - power lines, computers, transformers

Hydrophone recordings

Jana Winderen (* 1965) - Norwegian artist with background in marine biology

• Uses hydrophones to record underwater soundscapes (Arctic, oceans, glaciers)
• Reveals "invisible but audible" marine ecosystems
• Notable work: Energy Field (2010) - Barents Sea, Greenland, Norwegian fjords

▶ Listen online (external link)

Digital recorders

Portable recorder requirements:

• High-quality preamps, phantom power
• Long battery life, weather-resistant

Common models:

• Zoom H4n/H5/H6: Affordable, XLR inputs, interchangeable capsules
• Sound Devices MixPre: Professional preamps

Stereo recording techniques

• A-B (spaced pair): Time difference, omnidirectional, wide image
• X-Y (coincident pair): Intensity difference, cardioid, precise localization
• ORTF: Combined time + intensity, balanced
• M/S (Mid-Side): Adjustable stereo width, mono-compatible, versatile

Binaural recording

3D spatial recording for headphone listening:

• Dummy head with microphones in ear canals
• Captures interaural time difference (ITD) and level difference (ILD)
• Head-related transfer function (HRTF) preserved
• Natural spatial perception on headphones

Binaural rendering: Spatial audio, including ambisonics, can be rendered for headphone listening

Ambisonics

Ambisonic recording workflow

Common microphones:

• Zoom H3-VR: Consumer recorder with built-in decoding
• Sennheiser AMBEO VR Mic: First-order, tetrahedral array
• Eigenmike: 32-channel HOA (research/high-end)

Production workflow:

1. A-format (raw capsules) → B-format (W, X, Y, Z)
2. Spatialization in DAW (Spat/Max, Panoramix, IEM plugins)
3. Decode to speaker array or binaural for headphones

Ambisonic playback

Dome-shaped speaker arrays:

• Spatial reproduction across horizontal and elevated loudspeaker layers
• Multiple elevation layers
• Immersive audience positioning

Notable venues:

• ZKM Klangdom (Karlsruhe): 43 suspended loudspeakers plus four floor loudspeakers
• Room 311 (HfG Karlsruhe): Teaching/research dome

Works cited

• Arkette, Sophie. “Sounds Like City.” Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 21, no. 1, 2004, pp. 159–168, https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276404040486.
• Corbin, Alain. Village Bells: Sound and Meaning in the 19th Century French Countryside. Papermac, 1999.
• Fuller, R. Buckminster. “The Music of the New Life.” Music Educators Journal, vol. 52, no. 6, 1966, pp. 52–68, https://doi.org/10.2307/3390717.
• Helmreich, Stefan. “Listening against Soundscapes.” Anthropology News, vol. 51, no. 9, 2010, p. 10, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-3502.2010.51910.x.
• Ingold, Tim. “Against Soundscape.” Autumn Leaves: Sound and the Environment in Artistic Practice, edited by Angus Carlyle, Double Entendre, 2007, pp. 10–13.
• Kelman, Ari Y. “Rethinking the Soundscape.” The Senses and Society, vol. 5, no. 2, 2010, pp. 212–234, https://doi.org/10.2752/174589210x12668381452845.
• Schafer, R. Murray. The Tuning of the World. Knopf, 1977.

Works cited (continued)

• Schafer, Murray. The Book of Noise. Price Milburn, 1970.
• Schafer, R. Murray. The New Soundscape: A Handbook for the Modern Music Teacher. Berandol Music, 1969.
• Schafer, R. Murray. Ear Cleaning: Notes for an Experimental Music Course. Berandol Music Limited, 1969.
• Southworth, Michael. “The Sonic Environment of Cities.” Environment and Behavior, vol. 1, no. 1, 1969, pp. 49–70, https://doi.org/10.1177/001391656900100104.
• Truax, Barry. Acoustic Communication. Ablex, 2001.

Works cited (continued)

• Truax, Barry. “Soundscape Composition as Global Music: Electroacoustic Music as Soundscape.” Organised Sound, vol. 13, no. 2, 2008, pp. 103–109, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355771808000149.
• Westerkamp, Hildegard. “Linking Soundscape Composition and Acoustic Ecology.” Organised Sound, vol. 7, no. 1, 2002, pp. 51–56, https://doi.org/10.1017/s1355771802001085.

Web Resources

• Truax, Barry. "Soundscape Composition." Simon Fraser University.
  https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/scomp.html. Accessed 19 December 2024.
• Truax, Barry. "World Soundscape Project." Simon Fraser University.
  https://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html. Accessed 19 December 2024.
• World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. https://www.wfae.net. Accessed 19 December 2024.
• Westerkamp, Hildegard. Official Website. https://www.hildegardwesterkamp.ca. Accessed 19 December 2024.
• Winderen, Jana. Official Website. https://www.janawinderen.com/. Accessed 14 January 2026.
• Barrett, Natasha. Official Website. https://www.natashabarrett.org/. Accessed 14 January 2026.

Third-party materials

Complete source and rights information for locally reproduced third-party material. Unless a separate licence is stated, all rights remain with the respective rights holders and the material is excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence.

Material used by permission

• World Soundscape Project field recording team at Simon Fraser University, 1973 (l. to r. R. Murray Schafer, Bruce Davis, Peter Huse, Barry Truax, Howard Broomfield) — photograph from Barry Truax’s World Soundscape Project page; used by permission of the World Soundscape Project, Simon Fraser University, and excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence

Third-party materials (continued)

Quoted material

• R. Murray Schafer, “Cycles of the natural soundscape,” The Tuning of the World (1977), p. 229 — colours modified; quoted for scholarly analysis; excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence
• R. Murray Schafer, sound-event analysis framework, The Tuning of the World (1977), p. 138 — colours modified; quoted for scholarly analysis; excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence

Third-party materials (continued)

Separately licensed material

• Studio für Elektronische Musik, WDR Cologne, with Lawo PTR mixing console — photograph by McNitefly, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Material used by permission (continued)

• Field-recording session — photograph by Paula Klaiber Huaynalaya, 2026; used with permission and excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence
• Room 311 ambisonic dome, HfG Karlsruhe — 3D model by Dohi Kim; used with permission and excluded from the course CC BY 4.0 licence