Jean-Claude Raoul Olivier Risset (; 13 March 1938 – 21 November 2016) was a French
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and def ...
, best known for his pioneering contributions to
computer music. He was a former student of
André Jolivet and former co-worker of
Max Mathews
Max Vernon Mathews (November 13, 1926 – April 21, 2011) was an American pioneer of computer music.
Biography
Max Vernon Mathews was born in Columbus, Nebraska, to two science schoolteachers. His father in particular taught physics, chemistry ...
at Bell Labs.
Biography
Risset was born in
Le Puy-en-Velay
Le Puy-en-Velay (, ; , before 1988: ''Le Puy'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Loire Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region of south-central France.
Located near the rive ...
, France. Arriving at
Bell Labs
Nokia Bell Labs, commonly referred to as ''Bell Labs'', is an American industrial research and development company owned by Finnish technology company Nokia. With headquarters located in Murray Hill, New Jersey, Murray Hill, New Jersey, the compa ...
, New Jersey in 1964, he used Max Mathews'
MUSIC IV software to digitally recreate the sounds of brass instruments. He made digital recordings of trumpets and studied their timbral composition using "pitch-synchronous" spectrum analysis tools, revealing that the amplitude and frequency of the
harmonic
In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...
s (more correctly, partials) of these instruments would differ depending on frequency, duration and amplitude. He is also credited with performing the first experiments on a range of
synthesis
Synthesis or synthesize may refer to:
Science Chemistry and biochemistry
*Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors
**Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organi ...
techniques including
FM synthesis
Frequency modulation synthesis (or FM synthesis) is a form of sound synthesis whereby the frequency of a waveform is changed by modulating its frequency with a modulator. The (instantaneous) frequency of an oscillator is altered in accordance wi ...
and
waveshaping.
After the
discrete Shepard scale Risset created a version of the scale where the steps between each tone are continuous, and it is appropriately called the continuous Risset scale or
Shepard-Risset glissando.
Risset also created a similar effect with
rhythm
Rhythm (from Greek , ''rhythmos'', "any regular recurring motion, symmetry") generally means a " movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions". This general meaning of regular r ...
in which
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo (Italian for 'time'; plural 'tempos', or from the Italian plural), measured in beats per minute, is the speed or pace of a given musical composition, composition, and is often also an indication of the composition ...
seems to increase or decrease endlessly.
Risset was the head of the Computer Department at
IRCAM
IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of music and sound, especially in the fields of Avant-garde music, avant garde and Electroacoustic ...
(1975–1979). At
MIT Media Lab
The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the MIT School of Architecture and Planning, School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fi ...
s, he composed the first Duet for one pianist (1989). For his work in computer music and his 70 compositions, he received the first
Golden Nica (
Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica Linz GmbH is an Austrian cultural, educational and scientific institute active in the field of new media art, founded in Linz in 1979. It is based at the Ars Electronica Center (AEC), which houses the Museum of the Future, in t ...
Prize, 1987), the Giga-Hertz Grand Prize 2009, and the highest French awards in both music (Grand Prix National de la Musique, 1990) and science (Gold Medal, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 1999). and in art (René Dumesnil Prize from the French Academy of Fine Arts, 2011).
Risset died in
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
on 21 November 2016.
Selected works
Vocal music
*Dérives, for choir and magnetic tape (1985) 15'
*Inharmonique, for soprano and tape (1977) 15'
Orchestral music
*Escalas, for large orchestra (2001) 17'
*Mirages, for 16 musicians and tape (1978) 24'
Chamber music
*Profils, for 7 instruments and tape (1983) 18'
*Mutations II for ensemble and electronics (1973) 17'
Solo music
*Trois études en duo, for pianist (bidirectional MIDI piano with computer interaction) (1991) 10'
*Huit esquisses en duo, for pianist (bidirectional MIDI piano with computer interaction) (1989) 17'
*Voilements, for saxophone and tape (1987) 14'
*Passages for flute and tape (1982) 14'
*Variants for violin and digital processing (1995) 8'
Music for solo tape
*Invisible Irène (1995) 12'
*Sud (1985) 24'
*Songes (1979) 10'
*Trois mouvements newtoniens, for tape (1978) 13'
*Mutations (1969) 10'
*Computer Suite from Little Boy (1968) 13'
References
Further reading
* Baudouin, Olivier, ''Pionniers de la musique numérique'', Sampzon, Delatour, 2012.
* Portrait polychrome n°2 : Jean-Claude Risset, INA/CDMC Publisher, 2001 ()
External links
Jean Claude Risset, Ressources.IRCAM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Risset, Jean-Claude
1938 births
2016 deaths
École Normale Supérieure alumni
20th-century French classical composers
French male classical composers
21st-century French classical composers
French electronic musicians
Electroacoustic music composers
People from Le Puy-en-Velay
20th-century French male musicians
21st-century French male musicians