Pierre Schaeffer's "In Search of a Concrete Music" ("A la recherche d'une musique concrete") has long been considered a classic text in electroacoustic music and sound recording. Now Schaeffer's pioneering work - at once a journal of his experiments in sound composition and a treatise on the raison d'etre of "concrete music" - is available for the first time in English translation. Schaeffer's theories have had a profound influence on composers working with technology. However, they extend beyond the confines of the studio and are applicable to many areas of contemporary musical thought, such as defining an 'instrument' and classifying sounds. Schaeffer has also become increasingly relevant to DJs and hip-hop producers as well as sound-based media artists. This unique book is essential for anyone interested in contemporary musicology or media history.

The Treatise on Musical Objects is regarded as Pierre Schaeffer's most important work on music and its relationship with technology. Schaeffer expands his earlier research in musique concrete to suggest a methodology of working with sounds based on his experiences in radio broadcasting and the recording studio. Drawing on acoustics, physics, and physiology, but also on philosophy and the relationship between subject and object, Schaeffer's essay summarizes his theoretical and practical work in music composition. Translators Christine North and John Dack present an important book in the history of ideas in Europe that will resonate far beyond electroacoustic music.

Pierre Schaeffer's "In Search of a Concrete Music" ("A la recherche d'une musique concrete") has long been considered a classic text in electroacoustic music and sound recording. Now Schaeffer's pioneering work - at once a journal of his experiments in sound composition and a treatise on the raison d'etre of "concrete music" - is available for the first time in English translation. Schaeffer's theories have had a profound influence on composers working with technology. However, they extend beyond the confines of the studio and are applicable to many areas of contemporary musical thought, such as defining an 'instrument' and classifying sounds. Schaeffer has also become increasingly relevant to DJs and hip-hop producers as well as sound-based media artists. This unique book is essential for anyone interested in contemporary musicology or media history.

The Treatise on Musical Objects is regarded as Pierre Schaeffer's most important work on music and its relationship with technology. Schaeffer expands his earlier research in musique concrete to suggest a methodology of working with sounds based on his experiences in radio broadcasting and the recording studio. Drawing on acoustics, physics, and physiology, but also on philosophy and the relationship between subject and object, Schaeffer's essay summarizes his theoretical and practical work in music composition. Translators Christine North and John Dack present an important book in the history of ideas in Europe that will resonate far beyond electroacoustic music.

This volume brings together practitioners and theorists of music and sonic art. Contributions explore a wide range of historical, artistic, pedagogical and critical issues from multiple perspectives, emphasizing the continuities and links along a broad spectrum of hearing and listening practices and art-making that use sound.