The following is an incomplete list of experimental music festivals, which encapsulates

music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

focused on

experimental music Experimental music is a general label for any music or music genre that pushes existing boundaries and genre definitions. Experimental compositional practice is defined broadly by exploratory sensibilities radically opposed to, and questioning of, ...

. Experimental music is a compositional tradition that arose in the mid-20th century, particularly in North America, of music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. The Groupe de Recherches de Musique Concrète (GRMC), under the leadership of

Pierre Schaeffer Pierre Henri Marie Schaeffer (English pronunciation: , ; 14 August 1910 – 19 August 1995) was a French composer, writer, broadcaster, engineer, musicologist, acoustician and founder of Groupe de Recherche de Musique Concrète (GRMC). His inno ...

, organized the First International Decade of Experimental Music between 8 and 18 June 1953, and the phrase was used by musician John Cage as early as 1955. Afterwards saw the development of specific

experimental musical instrument An experimental musical instrument (or custom-made instrument) is a musical instrument that modifies or extends an existing instrument or class of instruments, or defines or creates a new class of instrument. Some are created through simple modif ...

s, which were featured at various music festivals.

Musique concrète Musique concrète (; ): " problem for any translator of an academic work in French is that the language is relatively abstract and theoretical compared to English; one might even say that the mode of thinking itself tends to be more schematic, wit ...

is an experimental form of

electroacoustic music Electroacoustic music is a genre of popular and Western art music in which composers use technology to manipulate the timbres of acoustic sounds, sometimes by using audio signal processing, such as reverb or harmonizing, on acoustical instr ...

, and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in it ...

or free music is

improvised music Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous ...

without any rules beyond the taste or inclination of the musician(s) involved.Smith Brindle, Reginald. 1987. ''The New Music: The Avant-Garde Since 1945'', second edition. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. (cloth) (pbk.)

Related lists and categories

The following lists have some or total overlap: * List of music festivals *

List of electronic music festivals The following is an incomplete list of music festivals that feature electronic music, which encapsulates music featuring electronic instruments such as electric guitar and keyboards, as well as recent genres such as electronic dance music (E ...

The following categories are related: * :Experimental music festivals *

Music festivals A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...

* Contemporary classical festivals * Electroacoustic festivals * Electronic music festivals

Festivals

* Bang on a Can Festival * Berlin Atonal * Big Ears Festival *

CTM Festival The annual CTM Festival is a music and visual arts event held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1999, the festival originally focused on electronic music, but has since evolved to cover a wide range of genres under the banner "Festival for Adventurou ...

Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville The Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville is an annual international music festival held in Victoriaville, Quebec that showcases contemporary music. The festival is known for its small scale (usually no more than 20 performa ...

GOGBOT The GOGBOT Festival is an annual four day festival in Enschede organized by ''Planetart'', a local group of artists. It was first organized in 2004. The festival revolves around multimedia, art, music and technology and includes a three month ex ...

* High Zero *

How to Destroy the Universe festival The How To Destroy the Universe festival is a California music event that presents experimental noise, industrial sounds, and avant-garde visual art.Asher, Tizzy. (February 3, 2006) Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Club Scene: Conventions fall by th ...

* Music Biennale Zagreb * MUTEK *

New Interfaces for Musical Expression New Interfaces for Musical Expression, also known as NIME, is an international conference dedicated to scientific research on the development of new technologies and their role in musical expression and artistic performance. History The confere ...

* New Music America * Noise Fest *

Noisefest Noise Festival (also known as 'Noisefest', 'Nojzfest', etc.), started in 2001, is an annual experimental music festival that takes place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The festival is organized by DRMK (Društvo za Razvoj Mladinske Kulture), a "Collect ...

* Norbergfestival * NWEAMO * Okuden Music * Olympia Experimental Music Festival *

OM Festival The OM Festival was a community-based summer solstice festival that ran annually in southern Ontario from 1998 to 2004. The festival, organized by Sumkidz (now Suma), primarily featured electronic music as well as dance, workshops, art, and other ...

* Other Minds *

Psych Tent Fluff Fest is an independent hardcore punk festival held each July at the Czech town of Rokycany. A significant event for the DIY music scene of the Czech Republic and the punk subculture of Europe, it is associated with movements such as vegan ...

* TodaysArt *

Unsound Festival Unsound Festival, also known as Unsound, is an annual music festival that takes place in Kraków, Poland, dealing with evolving and mutating forms of music, as well as related visual arts. Apart from the main festival, Unsound regularly takes plac ...

Warsaw Autumn Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

References

{{Experimental music Experimental music festivals

Experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

Exper

Related lists and categories

Festivals

See also

References