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 and electro-acoustical art music. It is situated next to, and is organisationally linked with, the

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the (), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English and colloquially as Beaubourg, is a building complex in Paris, France. It was designed in the style of high-tech architecture by the architectural team of ...

in Paris. The extension of the building was designed by Renzo Piano and

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British-Italian architect noted for his modernist and constructivist designs in high-tech architecture. He was the founder at Rogers Stirk Harbour + ...

. Much of the institute is located underground, beneath the fountain to the east of the buildings.

A centre for musical research

Several concepts for electronic music and audio processing have emerged at IRCAM. John Chowning pioneered work on

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 ...

at IRCAM, and Miller Puckette originally wrote

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

at IRCAM in the mid-1980s, which would become the real-time audio processing graphical programming environment Max/MSP. Max/MSP has subsequently become a widely used tool in electroacoustic music. Many of the techniques associated with spectralism, such as analyses based on

fast Fourier transform A fast Fourier transform (FFT) is an algorithm that computes the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) of a sequence, or its inverse (IDFT). A Fourier transform converts a signal from its original domain (often time or space) to a representation in ...

s, were made practical by technological contributions at IRCAM. For instance, researchers at IRCAM have developed a special microphone capable of isolating each of the cello's four strings for separate amplification or electronic treatment. Along with tools for sound synthesis and analysis, IRCAM has played an instrumental role in developing programs for visualization of musical form with the creation of OpenMusic, a Lisp-based visual programming language. IRCAM provides classes to train composers in music technology. Composers who do not have programming experience to create the technology end of a piece for ensemble and electronics are provided with an assistant who helps them to realise technically intensive parts of the piece. The assistant will follow the conceptual advice of a composer with no technology experience to realize a computer part, or will help a composer who can program in Max/MSP to make their "patch" more efficient and elegant. Tristan Murail's ''

Désintégrations ''Désintégrations'', for 17 musical instruments and computer music, computer generated magnetic tape, tape (1982–83) is a musical composition of spectral music by Tristan Murail, commissioned for IRCAM, Paris. The piece is more discontinuous th ...

'' is an example of a piece realized in this program by a composer with significant technological skill, whereas

Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his many compositions, his better known works include '' T ...

's '' The Mask of Orpheus'' required an active and creative role for the technology assistants, such as Barry Anderson and Ian Dearden.

A cultural centre for musical modernism

Apart from electroacoustic programmes, IRCAM has programmes in contemporary classical music. It has disseminated music of post

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

modernist musicians such as that of

Luciano Berio Luciano Berio (24 October 1925 – 27 May 2003) was an Italian composer noted for his experimental music, experimental work (in particular his 1968 composition ''Sinfonia (Berio), Sinfonia'' and his series of virtuosic solo pieces titled ''Seque ...

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

, as well as younger performers and composers. Musical spectralism such as that of Tristan Murail, has also received support from IRCAM. Murail taught at IRCAM for a time. Kaija Saariaho, whose work has been influenced by spectralism, has also been supported by IRCAM. IRCAM has also helped to develop various performance models. A resident ensemble of IRCAM, Ensemble InterContemporain, specialised in contemporary classical music, where each performer could be called upon to perform solo literature or ensemble literature. The Ensemble InterContemporain has been a model for many large ensembles in Europe, for example the Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien. Many classical contemporary pieces have been written for the

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

section of Ensemble InterContemporain. There are regular concerts at IRCAM.

History

In 1970 President

Georges Pompidou Georges Jean Raymond Pompidou ( ; ; 5 July 19112 April 1974) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1969 until his death in 1974. He previously served as Prime Minister of France under President Charles de Gaulle from 19 ...

asked Pierre Boulez to found an institution for research in music. In 1973 the section of the building underneath was finished, and IRCAM opened in 1977. From the outset, Boulez was in charge of the institute. The initial administrators included

, Vinko Globokar, Jean-Claude Risset, and

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 ...

. 1990 Ircam established the Cursus Program for young Composers, a training in Computer Music and Composition. In 1992 Boulez, who then became honorary director, was succeeded by . In 2002 the philosopher

Bernard Stiegler Bernard Stiegler (; 1 April 1952 – 5 August 2020) was a French philosopher. He was head of the Institut de recherche et d'innovation (IRI), which he founded in 2006 at the Centre Georges-Pompidou. He was also founder of the political and c ...

became the new head of the institute. On 1 January 2006, Stiegler became Director of Cultural Development at the Centre Pompidou and was replaced by . The creation of IRCAM coincided with the rise of the debates about

modernism Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

and

postmodernism Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, Culture, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting ...

in culture and the arts. Its multimedia library was established in 1996. It is one of the first music hybrid libraries to have been created with close to 1000 hours of recorded music and over 2,000 scientific articles available online, in addition to its physical collections of

sheet music Sheet music is a handwritten or printed form of musical notation that uses musical symbols to indicate the pitches, rhythms, or chords of a song or instrumental musical piece. Like its analogs – printed Book, books or Pamphlet, pamphlets ...

and books on music and related domains. Several international conferences have been held at IRCAM: * ICMC, the yearly

International Computer Music Conference The International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) is a yearly international conference for computer music researchers and composers. It is the annual conference of the International Computer Music Association (ICMA). History In 1986, the Ins ...

, in 1984 * ISMIR 2002, the 3rd international conference on

music information retrieval Music information retrieval (MIR) is the interdisciplinary science of retrieving information from music. Those involved in MIR may have a background in academic musicology, psychoacoustics, psychology, signal processing, informatics, machine lear ...

, in October 2002 * NIME-06, the 6th International Conference on

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 confer ...

, in June 2006 * Acanthes, a yearly summer festival and series of composition workshops started in 2012

Research and development teams

* Instrumental acoustics *

Room acoustics Room acoustics is a subfield of acoustics dealing with the behaviour of sound in enclosed or partially-enclosed spaces. The architectural details of a room influences the behaviour of sound waves within it, with the effects varying by frequency ...

Music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music t ...

* Musical perception and

cognition Cognition is the "mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses". It encompasses all aspects of intellectual functions and processes such as: perception, attention, thought, ...

Analysis Analysis (: analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (38 ...

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 ...

* Music representations *

Free software Free software, libre software, libreware sometimes known as freedom-respecting software is computer software distributed open-source license, under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, distribut ...

and software engineering *

Sound design Sound design is the art and practice of creating auditory elements of media. It involves specifying, acquiring and creating audio using production techniques and equipment or software. It is employed in a variety of disciplines including filmmaking ...

* Online services

Software developed at IRCAM

Some software is being developed at IRCAM, such as OpenMusic, AudioSculpt, OMax, Spat, Modalys, Antescofo and Orchidée. Orchidée is developed as a tool to aid in orchestral composition in which musical scores using traditional instruments are generated by imitating a target input sound. It is used in Jonathan Harvey's 2008 piece, "Speakings", a composition based on emulating speech patterns and inflections. Orchidée is capable of computing the complex combinatorial possibilities of an orchestra based on ''musical attributes'' such as dynamics and instruments, ''perceptual attributes'' such as brightness, and ''timbre models''. IRCAM software is distributed via a subscription-based Forum. As of 2011, IRCAM Forum has 534 members including individual artists and art institutions around the world. IRCAM Forum members gather yearly at IRCAM for workshops regarding new technologies developed at IRCAM and elsewhere. IRCAM has also created a music file format, .sf. In the domain of music and generative artificial intelligence IRCAM has developed a learning framework for generating a neural network model from audio data named RAVE (Realtime Audio Variational autoEncoder) and that allows both fast and high-quality audio waveform synthesis (20x real-time at 48 kHz sampling rate on standard CPU). Models can be used in real time for various applications, audio generativity/timbre transformation/transfer either as a VST plugin or using Max/MSP. There are also partnerships with companies such as Cycling 74 ( Max/MSP) and Flux:: (IRCAM Tools) for the development of proprietary software.

Notable works composed at IRCAM

* Hanspeter Kyburz: ''ΟΥΤΙΣ'', music theatre for ensemble and electronics (2000–2012) * Georges Aperghis: ''Machinations'', musical spectacle for four women and computer (2000) * Clarence Barlow: ''Çogluotobüsisletmesi'', versions for piano (1978), magnetic tape (1980), and piano with tape (1980) * George Benjamin: ''Antara'' for ensemble and electronics (1986–87) *

: ''Chemins ex V'', for clarinet and 4C computer (1980) * Luciano Berio: ''Orfeo II'', opera for voice, orchestras, and tapes (1984) * Luciano Berio: ''La Voix des voies'', spectacle-exposition for tape and diaporama (1977) *

: '' The Mask of Orpheus'' (1986) *

: '' Anthèmes II'', for violin and electronics (1997) * Pierre Boulez: '' Dialogue de l'ombre double'', for clarinet and tape (1985); version for bassoon and electronics (1995) * Pierre Boulez: '' ...explosante-fixe...'', version for two flutes,

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

-flute, electronics, and orchestra (1993) * Pierre Boulez: ''Répons'', for six soloists, chamber ensemble, electronic sounds, and live electronics (1981–1984) *

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

: ''Roaratorio'', an Irish Circus on ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish literature, Irish writer James Joyce. It was published in instalments starting in 1924, under the title "fragments from ''Work in Progress''". The final title was only revealed when the book was publishe ...

'' (1980) *

Unsuk Chin Unsuk Chin ( ; born July 14, 1961) is a South Korean composer of contemporary classical music, who is based in Berlin, Germany. Chin was a self-taught pianist from a young age and studied composition at Seoul National University as well as with ...

: ''Double Bind?'' for violin and electronics (2006) * John Chowning: ''Stria'', for magnetic tape (1977) * Chaya Czernowin: "Hidden", for string quartet and electronics (2014) * Edison Denisov: ''Sur la Nappe d'un étang glacé'', for nine instruments and tape (1991) *

Luis de Pablo Luis de Pablo Costales (28 January 1930 – 10 October 2021) was a Spanish composer belonging to the generation that Cristóbal Halffter named ''the Generación del 51''. Mostly self-taught as a composer and influenced by Maurice Ohana and Max ...

: ''Tornasol'' (1980–81) * Michel Decoust: ''Interphone'', for soprano and tape (1977) * Jacob Druckman: ''Animus IV'' (1977) * Pascal Dusapin: ''To Be Sung'', chamber opera in 43 numbers (1992–93) * Karlheinz Essl: ''Entsagung'' (1993) for ensemble and electronics * Lorenzo Ferrero: ''Ombres'' (1984) for ensemble and live electronics * Luca Francesconi: ''Etymo'' (1994) * Rolf Gehlhaar: ''Pas à pas'', for tape and spatialization equipment (1981) * Gérard Grisey: ''Les Chants de l'Amour'', for twelve mixed voices and magnétic tape (1982–1984) * Georg Friedrich Haas: ''Les temps tiraillés'', for 2 violins, bassoon, and electronics (2008) * Jonathan Harvey: ''Advaya'', for cello and electronics (1994) * Jonathan Harvey: ''Bhakti'' (1982) * Jonathan Harvey: '' Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco'', for concrete sounds treated by computer (1980) * Jonathan Harvey: ''Ritual Melodies'', for magnetic tape (1990) * Jonathan Harvey: String Quartet No. 4 with live electronics (2003) * Jonathan Harvey: ''Speakings'', for orchestra and live electronics (2008) * York Höller: ''Antiphon'', for string quartet and tape (1977) * York Höller: ''Arcus'' (1978) * York Höller: ''

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

'', opera in two acts after the novel by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

(1989) * York Höller: ''Résonance'' (1982) * Panayiotis Kokoras: ''Morphallaxis'' (2008) for ensemble and electronics * Barbara Kolb: ''Millefoglie'' (1985) * Philippe Leroux: ''M'' for ensemble and electronics * Michaël Lévinas: ''Rebonds'' (1993) * Magnus Lindberg: ''Joy'' for orchestra and electronics * Magnus Lindberg: ''Related Rocks'' for two pianos, two percussionists, and electronics (1997) * Magnus Lindberg: ''Ur'' (1986) * Luca Lombardi: ''Hasta que caigan las puertas del odio'', for choir (1977) *

Tod Machover Tod Machover (born November 24, 1953, in Mount Vernon, New York), is a composer and an innovator in the application of technology in music. He is the son of Wilma Machover, a piano, pianist and Carl Machover, a computer scientist. He was named ...

: ''Soft Morning, City!'', for soprano, contrabass and tape (1980) * Tod Machover: ''

VALIS ''Valis'' (stylized as ''VALIS'') is a 1981 science fiction novel by American writer Philip K. Dick, intended to be the first book of a three-part series. The title is an acronym for ''Vast Active Living Intelligence System'', Dick's gnostic vi ...

'', opera for six voices, 4X computer, and images (1986–87/1988) * Mesías Maiguashca: ''Fmélodies'', for ensemble and tape (1982) * Philippe Manoury: ''Jupiter'' for flute and live electronics * Philippe Manoury: ''Pluton'' for piano and live electronics * Philippe Manoury: ''En Echo'' for soprano voice and live electronics * : ''Sul Segno'', for harp, guitar, cymbalon, contrabass and electronic equipment (2004) * Tristan Murail: ''L'Esprit des dunes'', for chamber ensemble (1993–1994) * Emmanuel Nunes: ''Lichtung I'' (1988/1991) * Emmanuel Nunes: ''Lichtung II'', for chamber ensemble and electronics (1996) * Michael Obst: ''Kristallwelt'', for Ensemble and Electronics (1983) * Robert H.P. Platz: ''Pièce noire'', for thirteen musicians and tape (1990) *

Henri Pousseur Henri Léon Marie-Thérèse Pousseur (; 23 June 1929 – 6 March 2009) was a Belgian classical composer, teacher, and music theorist. Biography Pousseur was born in Malmedy and studied at the Academies of Music in Liège and in Brussels from 19 ...

: ''Liège à Paris'' (1977) * Horațiu Rădulescu: ''Incandescent Serene'', for contrabass and tape (1982) * Roger Reynolds: ''The Angel of Death'', for solo piano, chamber orchestra, and six-channel computer-processed sound (2001) * Roger Reynolds: ''Archipelago'', for orchestra and magnetic tape (1983) *

Terry Riley Terrence Mitchell Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist music, minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his work became notab ...

: ''Salome Dances for Peace'', for string quartet (1986) * Jean-Claude Risset: ''Inharmonique'', for soprano and tape (1977) * Jean-Claude Risset: ''Mirages'', for six musicians and tape (1978) * Jean-Claude Risset: ''Songes'' (1979) *

Manuel Rocha Iturbide Manuel Rocha Iturbide (born 1963 in Mexico City) is a Mexican composer and sound artist. Biography Manuel Rocha Iturbide was born in 1963 in Mexico City. He started his musical studies when he was 13 years old. In 1983, after studying musical p ...

: ''Transiciones de Fase'', for brass quartet and electronics (1994) *

Frederic Rzewski Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. From 1977 up to his eventual death, he lived mainly in Be ...

: ''Instrumental Studies'' (1977) * Kaija Saariaho: ''Lonh'', for soprano and electronics (1995–96) * Kaija Saariaho: ''NoaNoa'', for flute and electronics (1992) *

Karlheinz Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

: '' Kathinkas Gesang als Luzifers Requiem'', version for flute and 6-channel tape (1985) * Marco Stroppa: ''In cielo, in terra, in mare'', radiophonic opera on texts by Adolfo Moriconi (1992) * Jukka Tiensuu: ''Nemo'' for ensemble (1992) * Alejandro Viñao: ''Epitafios'', for mixed choir and electronics (1999) * David Wessel: ''Antony'' (1977) * David Wessel: ''Contacts Turbulents'', for saxophone and electronics (1986) *

Trevor Wishart Trevor Wishart (born 11 October 1946) is an English composer, based in York. Wishart has contributed to composing with digital audio media, both fixed and interactive. He has also written extensively on the topic of what he terms " sonic art", a ...

: ''VOX-5'', an electroacoustic piece based around extended vocal techniques (1986) * James Wood: ''Mountain Language'', for alphorn, cow bells, MIDI keyboard and electronics (1998) * Iannis Xenakis: ''Psappha'', electronic version (1976/1996) *

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

: ''Perfect Stranger'' (1984) * Hans Zender: ''Lo Shu III'', for flute and twenty-four instrumentalists (1979)

Affiliations

IRCAM is part of a consortium with Stanford's Center for Computer Research and Acoustics (CCRMA) and the Center for New Music and Audio Technologies (CNMAT) in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

References

Sources * * *

External links

* – official site
(BRAHMS)
elational database of articles on music of the 20th century {{Authority control Research institutes in France Experimental music Electronic music organizations Contemporary music organizations Organizations established in 1970 Renzo Piano buildings Pierre Boulez Music organizations based in France Centre Pompidou