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,...

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,...