THE CONCORDIA COLLECTION WITHIN ELECTROACOUSTIC HISTORY

1993
The characteristics of the various æsthetic tendencies progressively infiltrate each other to such an extent that decisive and strict categorization becomes impossible. For example, “live electronics” may today imply the use of tape machines accompanied by musicians playing live, the use of synthesizers of any type, or the use of portable computers with sophisticated software programmes that can perform real-time sound transformations. Further, each new subcategory engenders in a sense its own community which then develops its own practices… which themselves may be reinterpretations of existing genres. “Noise music”, for example, can be seen as one of the most extreme forms of live electronics. Similarly, out of the community of “laptop performers” has emerged the “lowercase” movement, which, thanks to the almost infinite sound processing potential offered by digital technologies, explores the “defects” in digital technologies: notably “glitch”, noises generated by different software programmes.

We must also recognize the great impact and influence that multidisciplinary artists have had: the work of these artists — for whom sound is but one element among many others (dance, theatre, etc.) — has encouraged many a composer to question their own practices, the æsthetic they champion, etc. And of course we cannot ignore the contributions of visual artists, who gave us “sound art”, which treats sound as an object independent of any pre-fabricated musical vision or æsthetic.

1984

François Guérin - Nuits (00:09:39)

Normand Gendron - Neila (00:10:49)

Pierre Bouchard - Movements in Trans-Art (00:08:36)

Kathleen Yearwood - [ ] (00:12:10)

Philippe Ménard - Conte-a-nino (00:11:25)

1985
Digital sound recording and reproduction technologies begin to change.

John Rimmer - Fleeting Images (00:12:29)

Jill Bedoukian - Living Water (00:08:35)

Pierre Gauvin - Réunions (00:13:44)

Jean-François Denis - An Iceman with a Horse with Blinders (00:13:33)

Claude Frenette - ...et lisser son visage comme au fil du temps... (00:48:22)

Jean R. Séguin - Pluie acide (00:15:28)

1986
France
Studio Grame presents music composed for computer-assisted spatial distribution.

Japan
Yamaha and Atari attempt to create computers specifically designed for musical creation. The CX5M, with its 32kB of memory (10kB of which were needed for the programme to function!), would be a failure. The Atari, however, had its “15 minutes of fame” before being eclipsed by software programmes such as Pro Tools, Qbase, etc.

Robert MacNevin - Glass Chant (00:18:32)

Guy Michel -Vive les bonnes laveuses à tordeur (00:03:55)

Gilles Gobeil - Rivage (00:08:47)

CECG/GEC (Pierre Bouchard, Eric Brown) - Panoramique lent (00:16:20)

Ricardo Dal Farra - Karma (00:05:40)

Adolfo Núñez - Press (00:09:09)

1987

Charles Bestor - Suite from “Pathways from the Dream Spell Series” (00:16:35)

Robert Normandeau - Rumeurs (Place de Ransbeck) (00:12:07)

Éric Mulard - Métamorphose d’un départ (00:09:33)

Philippe Moënne-Loccoz - Stokhastês (00:15:41)

1988
The Videodisc is a commercial flop.

John Estacio - The Point of No Return (00:10:57)

Elliot E. Freedman - The Griffith Observer (00:08:09)

Cindy John - Death of an Insect (00:04:39)

Chris Wind - Rocks (3) (00:01:48)

James Meneses - A Man Who Saw Very Quickly (00:04:14)

John Wiggins - Whirl Without End (00:10:41)

Denis Saindon - Entropie, agglutination, genèse (00:12:10)

1989

Elsa Justel - Ichihualasto (The Valley of the Moon) (00:09:29)

1990
CD-ROMs. External hard drives allow the user to store digital data and files... Virtual reality. Generalized Internet access to the general public.

Personal micro-computers for work become commonplace.

The gradual disappearance of analogue equipment and instruments is balanced by their rapid reappropriation by musicians working in other scenes, such as pop and experimental genres, etc.

Michel Tétreault - Compost Sonore (00:09:28)

1991

Frank Koustrup - Heather Laughs (00:01:50)

Emmanuel Madan - Caniapiscau (00:07:43)

1992

Claude Schryer - Voix de l’écologie (00:13:26)

1993
The birth (sometimes followed by an early death) of a plethora of new physical or virtual support formats such as the minidisk, MP3 and Internet.

The appearance of a great variety of hybridizations and multi- and cross-disciplinary projects increasingly dilutes the meaning of the word “electroacoustic”.