ELECTRONIC AND CHANCE MUSIC (Q1) (m5)

• New inventions and discoveries of science and technology have led to continuing developments in the field of music.
• Electronic music 


  Music that is made with electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, computers, or music technology.
• Electronic Devices that were used to create and record music:

  • Cassette recorders
  • Synthesizers
  • Smartphones
• Modern Devices used in creating electronic music:

  • Music Synthesizer
  • Electronic Violin
  • MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)
  • Virtual Piano Keyboard
  • Musique concrete
• Music Synthesizer


  Can also be called electronic sound synthesizer. This a device that electronically generates and modifies sounds, frequently with the use of a digital computer.
• Electronic Violin


  Does not have a sound box. To hear the sound that has been played, electronic Violin relies on electronic amplification.
• MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface)

  • A communication standard that allows digital music gear to speak the same language.
  • It's a protocol that allows computers, musical instruments and other hardware to communicate
  • Never transmits an actual audio signal it is information only
  • That means that if a MIDI keyboard does not have an onboard sound source like a synth or sampler, it will not make a sound.
• Virtual Piano Keyboard


  An app that allows you to compose music and play your own music in a best way you can.
• Musique concrete 


  Uses tape recorders to manipulate environmental sounds.
• The capacity of these electronic machines to create different sounds was put to creative use by the composers like Edgard Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Mario Davidovsky.
• Edgard Varese (1883-1965)


  • He was considered an "innovative French-born composer."
  • He invented the term "organized sound"
  • He earned the title "Father of Electronic Music"
  • The "Stratospheric Colossus of Sound" as his musical composition were described with his advanced techniques in tape-based sound proving revolutionary.
• Organized Sound


  Which means that certain timbres and rhythms can be grouped together to capture a whole new definition of sound.
• Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-Present)


  • He is a central figure in the realm of music.
  • The climax of his composition came in 1977 when he announced the creation of LICHT (light).
• Three notable composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen:

  • Gruppen
  • Kontakte
  • Hymnen
• Gruppen (1957)


  A piece for 3 orchestras that moved music through time and space
• Kontakte (1960)


  A work that pushed the tape machine to its limits
• Hymnen (1957)


  An ambitious 2-hour work of 40 juxtaposed songs and anthems from around the world
• Mario Davidovsky (1934-2019)


  • He was a ground breaker in creating music that coupled acoustic instruments with electronic sounds
  • He was an American composer who was noted for compositions combining the live musical instruments with pre-taped electronic music.
  • He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1971
• Chance/Aleatoric Music


  Music in which some elements of the composition is left to chance, and/or some primary element of a composed work's realization is left to the determination of the performer(s)
• Chance music


  Refers to a style in which the piece sounds different at every performance. The combination of external sounds cannot be duplicated as each happens by chance.
• What does the Latin word "Alea" mean?

  Dice
• John Cage (1912-1992)


  • One of the famous composers of the 20th century who challenged the very idea of music by manipulating musical instruments to achieve new sounds
  • He experimented with what came to be known as Chance music
  • He was considered more of a musical philosopher than a composer.
• What is unique about John Cage's piece 4'33"?


  It features a pianist remaining silent
• Cage created "prepared" piano, where screws and pieces of wood or paper were inserted between the piano strings to produce different percussive possibilities.
• Key characteristics of electronic music in the 20th century:

  • Use of electronic devices for music creation and recording
  • Integration of acoustic instruments with electronic sounds
  • Exploration of chance music and unique sound manipulation
  • Innovations by composers like Edgard Varese, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and John Cage