Electroacoustic Music in Canada.docx

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Electroacoustic music

Electroacoustic music. Term which designates a musical orientation based on the use ofelectroacoustic devices for the conception, production, presentation, storage and/or cognition of

works. Electroacoustics uses sound sources as diverse as natural sounds (which can be picked upby microphone), analog electronics (produced by equipment such as synthesizers) and digital(generated or processed by digital means). These sources may subsequently be processed andorganized by electroacoustic techniques or by digital means before, in many cases, being storedon or presented by an electromagnetic medium. In actual fact, electroacoustics cover a complexof artistic production and research, ranging from a simple concert presentation or pedagogicalapplication to an elaborate combination of multi-media events covering all degrees ofcombinations of instruments and electroacoustic means and computer-based research, not tomention the types of music which accompany dance, theatre, the visual arts, installations, amongothers, as well as the sonorization of locations, ambient and environmental musics, advertising,cinema, special effects, etc. The frontiers of electroacoustics are flexible and adapt themselves as

much to the contours of technological evolution as to creative innovations. That is why thegeneric term is chosen to indicate that electroacoustics are no longer the prerogative of musiciansalone.

There are three principal aspects to consider, to understand the development of electroacousticsin Canada: the university institutions (groups) responsible for the major part of Canadianelectroacoustic activity; the composers' groups, which subdivide into ensembles, societies orassociations and whose role is gradually growing; and individuals, often recognized as pioneers,who greatly contributed to the field. Moreover, it is essential to lay stress on technologicalevolution and its impact on the general flowering of electroacoustics, especially from the early1970s on.

See also Electronic musical instruments, Mixed media, New-music societies and ensembles

University InstitutionsIt was mainly in university institutions that electroacoustics truly got underway in Canada. Thepractice of electroacoustics is still largely centered there and nearly all major universities haveone or more studios. They represent the preferred places for the apprenticeship of composers andfor those who wish to familiarize themselves with electroacoustics.

The first studio (the second in North America) opened its doors in 1959 at theUniversity ofToronto,under the prompting ofArnold Walter,with the collaboration of Hugh Le Caine whowas then director of the National Research Council's Electronic Music Laboratory (ELMUS) inOttawa. The first director of the University of Toronto Electronic Music Studio (UTEMS) wasMyron Schaeffer (1908-65), succeeded byHarvey Olnick,and in 1965 byGustav Ciamaga.Thelatter was one of the first Canadian pioneers of computer music applications. Since then, theUniversity of Toronto has remained known for computer music applications, involving suchindividuals asNorma Beecroft,William Buxton,Bruno Degazio,John Free, James Gabura, and
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David Jaeger.Notable among their major productions are the PIPER II, Outperform and theMidiforth and the SSSP (Structured Sound Synthesis Project).

McGill University followed in 1964 with the founding of the McGill Electronic Music Studio(EMS).Istvn Anhalt was also assisted there by Le Caine. Anhalt had already composed four

works entitled 'Electronic Composition' and organized at McGill University (1959) the firstconcert of tape music in Canada. After Anhalt, the studio director wasPaul Pedersen 1971-4 and,after 1974,Alcides Lanza,joined in 1988 byBruce Pennycook.After acquiring one of the firstMoog synthesizers (1969), then a complete Synclavier system, the EMS now also contains acomplete MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) studio.

Two years afterCortland Hultberg had opened a studio atUniversity of British Columbia in1965,R. Murray Schafer and Anthony Gnazzo founded the Sonic Research Studio atSimonFraser University.Schafer soon became internationally renowned, due not only to his music, butto theWorld Soundscape Project which gave birth to the concept of sonic landscape. With thecollaboration of several musicians and researchers such asBarry Truax,Bruce Davis,Peter

Huse, Howard Broomfield,Hildegard Westerkamp,andJean Pich,Schafer studied the acousticand socio-acoustic environment of our cities and of our cultures and proposed a new approach tothe problems of noise and sound quality in urban areas. At the same time he invited the composerto become actively involved in this process. Barry Truax, who succeeded Philip Werren asdirector of the studio in 1975, is also known for his computer program (POD), and for hisoriginal sound-synthesis program, 'granular synthesis'. Martin Gotfrit and Martin Bartlett alsocontributed to music computer applications in that same university.

Three other studios were established during the 1960s in educational institutions. In 1966, theRCMTbecame the first conservatory in Canada to set up a studio.Samuel Dolin was the firstdirector and Wes Wraggett succeeded him in 1978. After that, a studio was inaugurated at the

Ontario College of Education in 1968 by Richard Henninger. Finally,Nil Parent founded the firstfrancophone studio in the country, theLaval University Studio de musique lectronique(SMEUL) in Quebec City in 1969. Nil Parent is also the author of two lexicons of Frenchterminology on synthesis and he is also an inventor of digital instruments.

The development in university studios intensified in the next decade. It includedYork University(1970, set up byJames Tenney);University of Calgary (1970, Warren Rowley);Queen'sUniversity (1970,David Keane)where a music computer section was also set up with BrucePennycook;Dalhousie University (1971,Steve Tittle);University of Victoria (1971,RudolfKomorous)whereJohn Celona directed the Sonic Lab Ensemble 1982-9; theUniversity ofSaskatchewan (1972, Richard W. Wedgewood);University of Western Ontario (1972, PeterClements);Carleton University (1974,David Piper);University of Guelph (1978,CharlesWilson); andWilfrid Laurier University (1978,Owen Underhill).

Between 1971 and 1976,Kevin Austin set up theConcordia University studio in Montreal,directing it alone until 1991 when Mark Corwin became co-director, except for the years 1986 to1989 when the studio was entrusted toJean-Franois Denis.During this same period, the Groupeinformatique-musique of theUniversity of Montreal,which brought together, under ricRegener's leadership,Walter Boudreau,Jean-Marie Cloutier,Robert Dupuy, Alain Fortin, Daniel
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a series of annual concerts, the group has managed a tape library of more than 1100 works, listedbyJean-Franois Denis in the publications Q/Rsonanceand Q/Rsonance Addendum.

TheMusic Gallery of Toronto, devoted to all musical and artistic tendencies, began in 1976 withAllan Mattes and Peter Anson of theCCMC.A considerable number of events and composers

have been presented there. The director of the Music Gallery in 1991 was James Montgomery.In Montreal,ACREQ (Association pour la cration et la recherche lectroacoustiques duQubec) was launched in 1977 by Yves Daoust, Marcelle Deschnes, Michel Longtin,PhilippeMnard,Jean Sauvageau, and Pierre Trochu. ACREQ devotes itself exclusively toelectroacoustics and is responsible for presenting in Canada many influential composers andgroups such as the Groupe de musique exprimentale de Bourges, Charles Dodge, Pierre Henry,Lo Kpper, Luc Ferrari, Franois Bayle, Alain Savouret, and others. In 1983 the Printempslectroacoustique launched one of the first electroacoustic music festivals on a Canada-widebasis.

It was nevertheless the mandate of theCanadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC), however, toestablish a liaison among Canadian composers working in this field. The CEC, which wasformed in 1986, following the initiative of Kevin Austin, and of Jean-Franois Denis, was thefirst truly pan-Canadian organization for electroacoustics. A national information network wasset up as were the Electroacoustic Days which are held periodically in a different city of thecountry. These CEC Days, the most important electroacoustic event in Canada, have allowed thepresentation and the creation of a large number of works and provide members with theopportunity to take stock of common projects. TheCEC also has published six bilingualNewletters, as well as the periodical Contact(1988-), which regularly informs its members ofnational and international electroacoustic activities. An agreement was negotiated in 1988between the CEC and theCanadian Music Centre to establish a national electroacoustic archive.

Other groups also contributed to the growth of electroacoustics in Canada. These include theGroup of the Electronic Music Studio (GEMS) created in 1983 at McGill University by AlcidesLanza,John Oliver and Claude Schryer; the groupARRAYMUSIC of Toronto withHenryKucharzyk and Linda C. Smith; theVancouver New Music Society;theCOMUS Music Theatre;theNOVA MUSIC ensemble; the group Numus withPeter Hatch in Kitchener-Waterloo; theNew Directions Ensemble with Jeffrey Bush andThomas Schudel in Regina; and theMusic InterAlia withDiana McIntosh in Winnipeg. In Quebec, the following groups should also bementioned: thevnements du neuf (1978-90), the Assn de musique actuelle de Qubec, theSocit des concerts alternatifs du Qubec, and Musiques itinrantes founded by MichelleBoudreau.

IndividualsAs early as the 1950s, many composers outside universities and associations contributed to thepromotion of electroacoustics in Canada. The majority can be considered pioneers and theircontribution to the first manifestations of electroacoustics in Canada should not be forgotten.
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The outstanding personality of these early years was without question Hugh Le Caine. Afterstudies in music and physics, he became involved in the exploration of new sound sources forcomposers. He invented several instruments, ancestors of today's synthesizers, such as theSackbut, the Polyphonic (PAULY) synthesizer, the Serial Sound Structure Generator, as well asa touch-sensitive electronic keyboard, a multi-track tape-recorder, etc. Within the National

Research Council in Ottawa, Le Caine was the director of the Electronic Music Laboratory(ELMUS) and he laid the foundations for the first studios in Toronto, at McGill University, andat Queen's University. The National Research Council also engaged the research worker KenPulfer who developed, from 1968 to 1972, a computer music system.

One must not overlook the special contribution ofMaurice Blackburn.Special, because it is inthe cinema that Blackburn played his first 'collages,' 'etchings,' and other manipulations whichcan be associated with musique concrte. His collaboration with the filmakerNorman McLarenat theNFB remains famous and several of the animated films produced jointly (especiallyBlinkety Blank) have received international honours. The Toronto composerLouis Applebaumbenefited from this influence in a series of short studies created between 1950 and 1955.

On his return from France in 1952, Serge Garant undertook to promote new music. In addition tobeing the composer of the first mixed media music piece (combining tape and traditionalinstruments) in Canada,Nuclogame, Garant played a determining role in the presentation ofcontemporary music, including electroacoustics.

For their part, OttoJoachim andUdo Kasemets attracted attention as soon as they arrived inCanada. Joachim was one of the first to build his own studio and he promoted the use ofsynthesizers. He was entrusted with the sonic environment for Katimavik, the Canadian pavillionat Expo 67. As for Kasemets, he established contact with the US avant-garde. He is responsiblefor bringing to Canada several of its representatives, including Gordon Mumma, John Cage, and

Alvin Lucier, and the organization of the experimental arts festivals. Kasemets was one of thevery first to explore multi-media art, that is the combination of electroacoustics and other artisticmanifestations.

Gilles Tremblay returned from Paris in 1961 with twoExercisescomposed within the frameworkof the newly created Groupe de recherches musicales by Pierre Schaeffer. Although Tremblaydid not pursue this course, it nevertheless can be traced as an influence in the writing of severalof his works, including the sound effects for the Quebec Pavillion at Expo 67.

The contribution ofPierre Mercure,who died in 1966, was crucial during these early years.Involved in the major artistic trends of the period (including the Automatistes, an importantQuebec artistic group who signed the 1948Refus globalmanifesto), and a fierce champion ofnew music, Mercure was the first in Quebec to combine electroacoustics with film or dance. Hewas to have been the first artistic director of the SMCQ.

After Paris, where she had come into contact with electroacoustics, and founded the Groupeinternational de musique lectroacoustique de Paris in 1969, Micheline Coulombe Saint-Marcoux composed many works for mixed media and for tape alone. She was teachingelectroacoustic composition at the CMM before her death in 1985.
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There also are various festivals or events devoted to electroacoustics. In addition to those alreadycited, mention must be made of the festival Music Here & Now at Hamilton organized byElmaMiller,the Fifth Stream Festival at Wilfrid Laurier University in 1989 with the participation ofNumus, and the Annual Computer Music Weekend at Simon Fraser University (begun in 1969),under the direction of Barry Truax. In 1985 the latter organized the International Computer

Music Conference (ICMC) there, an event which is held annually in a different country andwhich brings together the principal researchers and practitioners of computer music. It was heldat McGill University in 1991. Finally, reference must be made to two international competitionsheld in Canada: one organized by Robert Pritchard atBrock University in 1985, and lectro-Clip, coordinated byMyke Roy,and sonpsored by ACREQ which was held in Montreal in 1990.

Not to be overlooked in this flowering, is the enormous impact of technological change. With theappearance of micro-processors in musical instruments, with the development of an informationexchange protocol between these instruments (MIDI), and with the rapid increase in the numberand power of computer programs - very long and very expensive by traditional means -numerous creators were provided access to means unattainable in 1980.

These means are no longer the exclusive domain of the musical world and that is a key aspect inthe originality of the electroacoustic genre. Artists of diverse orientations can benefit from thecommon tools which enable constructive interaction, and stimulate cross-cultural activity,particularly between European roots and the North-American reality.

Author Franois Gurin

Bibliography

LeCaine, Hugh. 'From the labs: a new music,' TorontoFinancial Post, 29 Sep 1956Walter, Arnold. 'Music and electronics,' CMJ, vol 3, Summer 1959

Schaeffer, Myron S. 'The electronic music studio of the University of Toronto,' J of MusicTheory, vol 8, Spring 1963

Cross, Lowell.A Bibliography of Electronic Music(Toronto 1967)

Truax, Barry.Handbook for Acoustic Ecology(Vancouver 1978)

Schafer, R. Murray. The Tuning of the World(Toronto 1977)/Le Paysage sonore(Paris 1979)Keane, David. Tape Music Composition(OUP 1979)

Freeman, Brian. 'Birth of a performance art: music by computer,' Maclean's, 5 Feb 1979

Lake, Larry. 'Electronic music, a Canadian art,'Mcan, 40, Sep 1979
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Parent, Nil. Synthtiseur : terminologie nologique, 2 vols (Quebec City 1980)

Gurin, Franois. ' 'Les musiques lectroacoustiques, ' l'coute de la musique d'ici, no. 2(CMCentre 1983)

- 'Musique contemporaine au Qubec,'Drives, 44-5, 1984

Keane, David. 'Electroacoustic music in Canada: 1950-1984,' Clbration(Toronto 1984)

Bourassa, Rene. 'La musique de l're lectronique,' Qubec science, Aug 1984

Denis, Jean-Franois. Q/Rsonanceand Q/Rsonance Addendum(Montreal 1988, 1989)

Young Gayle. The Sackbut Blues: Hugh Le Caine, Pioneer in Electronic Music (Ottawa 1989)

Denis, Jean-Francois. 'Situation actuelle de la musique lectroacoustique au Canada,'

Musicanada 2000: A Celebration of Canadian Composers, ed S. Timothy Maloney (Montreal2001)

Documents

Electroacoustic Music in Canada.docx