IRCAM (French: ''Ircam, '', English: Institute for Research and Coordination in Acoustics/Music) is a French institute dedicated to the research of

music Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...

and

sound In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by ...

, especially in the fields of

avant garde The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...

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

Centre Pompidou The Centre Pompidou (), more fully the Centre national d'art et de culture Georges-Pompidou ( en, National Georges Pompidou Centre of Art and Culture), also known as the Pompidou Centre in English, is a complex building in the Beaubourg area of ...

in Paris. The extension of the building was designed by

Renzo Piano Renzo Piano (; born 14 September 1937) is an Italian architect. His notable buildings include the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris (with Richard Rogers, 1977), The Shard in London (2012), the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City ...

and

Richard Rogers Richard George Rogers, Baron Rogers of Riverside (23 July 1933 – 18 December 2021) was a British architect noted for his modernist and Functionalism (architecture), functionalist designs in high-tech architecture. He was a senior partner a ...

. 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 frequency of an oscillator is altered "in accordance with the amplitud ...

at IRCAM, and

Miller Puckette Miller Smith Puckette (born 1959) is the associate director of the Center for Research in Computing and the Arts as well as a professor of music at the University of California, San Diego, where he has been since 1994. Puckette is known for aut ...

originally wrote

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of 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). Fourier analysis converts a signal from its original domain (often time or space) to a representation in t ...

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 Tristan Murail (born 11 March 1947) is a French composer associated with the " spectral" technique of composition. Among his compositions is the large orchestral work ''Gondwana''. Early life and studies Murail was born in Le Havre, France. His f ...

's '' Désintégrations'' 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

modernist musicians such as that of

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

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 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 Western classical music. Born in Mon ...

, as well as younger performers and composers. Musical spectralism such as that of

, 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 The Ensemble intercontemporain (EIC) is a French music ensemble, based in Paris, that is dedicated to contemporary music. Pierre Boulez founded the EIC in 1976 for this purpose, the first permanent organization of its type in the world. Organi ...

, 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 Ensemble Modern is an international ensemble dedicated to performing and promoting the music of modern composers. Formed in 1980, the group is based in Frankfurt, Germany, and made up variously of about twenty members from numerous countries. Hi ...

and Klangforum Wien. Many classical contemporary pieces have been written for the chamber orchestra section of Ensemble InterContemporain. There are regular concerts at IRCAM.

History

In 1970

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

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 was Prime Minister of France of President Charles de Gaulle from 1962 to 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 Vinko Globokar (born 7 July 1934) is a French-Slovenian avant-garde composer and trombonist. Globokar's music uses unconventional and extended techniques, places great emphasis on spontaneity and creativity, and often relies on improvisation. ...

, Jean-Claude Risset, and Max Mathews. 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 became the new head of the institute. On January 1, 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 is both a philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new forms of art, philosophy, ...

and postmodernism 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 books or pamphlets in English, A ...

and books on music and related domains. Several international conferences have been held at IRCAM: * ICMC, the yearly International Computer Music Conference, 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. MIR is a small but growing field of research with many real-world applications. Those involved in MIR may have a background in academic musico ...

, 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 confere ...

, 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 th ...

* Musical perception and

cognition Cognition refers to "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, thoug ...

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 (3 ...

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 or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, ...

and

software engineering Software engineering is a systematic engineering approach to software development. A software engineer is a person who applies the principles of software engineering to design, develop, maintain, test, and evaluate computer software. The term ' ...

* Sound design * 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. 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 (2000–12) * Georges Aperghis: ''Machinations'', musical spectacle for four women and computer (2000) *

Clarence Barlow Clarence Barlow (also Klarenz, born 27 December 1945) is a composer of classical and electroacoustic works. Career Barlow was one of the founders of Initiative Musik und Informatik Köln. In 1988 he was the director of music at the Internati ...

: ''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: ''Orpheo 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 ''Anthèmes'' are two related compositions for violin by French composer Pierre Boulez: ''Anthèmes I'' and ''Anthèmes II''. ''Anthèmes I'' is a short piece (c. 9 minutes) for solo violin, commissioned by the 1991 Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competit ...

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

-flute, electronics, and orchestra (1993) * Pierre Boulez: ''Répons'', for six soloists, chamber ensemble, electronic sounds, and live electronics (1981–84) * John Cage: ''Roaratorio'', an Irish Circus on ''

Finnegans Wake ''Finnegans Wake'' is a novel by Irish writer James Joyce. It is well known for its experimental style and reputation as one of the most difficult works of fiction in the Western canon. It has been called "a work of fiction which combines a bod ...

'' (1980) * Unsuk Chin: ''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: ''Tornasol'' (1980–81) *

Michel Decoust Michel Decoust (born Paris, 19 November 1936) is a French composer and conductor. Decoust studied from 1956 to 1965 with Jean Rivier and Darius Milhaud at the Paris Conservatoire, as well as at the Cologne Courses for New Music in 1964–65, w ...

: ''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 Lorenzo Ferrero (; born 1951) is an Italian composer, librettist, author, and book editor. He started composing at an early age and has written over a hundred compositions thus far, including twelve operas, three ballets, and numerous orchestra ...

: ''Ombres'' (1984) for ensemble and live electronics * Luca Francesconi: ''Etymo'' (1994) *

Rolf Gehlhaar Rolf Rainer Gehlhaar (30 December 1943 – 7 July 2019), was an American composer, Professor in Experimental Music at Coventry University and researcher in assistive technology for music. Life Born in Breslau, Gehlhaar was the son of a German roc ...

: ''Pas à pas'', for tape and spatialization equipment (1981) * Gérard Grisey: ''Les Chants de l'Amour'', for twelve mixed voices and magnétic tape (1982–84) *

Georg Friedrich Haas Georg Friedrich Haas (born 16 August 1953 in Graz, Austria) is an Austrian composer. In a 2017 ''Classic Voice'' poll of the greatest works of art music since 2000, pieces by Haas received the most votes (49), and his composition ''in vain'' (20 ...

: ''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'' (russian: Мастер и Маргарита) is a novel by Soviet writer Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 during Stalin's regime. A censored version, with several chapters cut by ...

'', opera in two acts after the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov (1989) * York Höller: ''Résonance'' (1982) * Jean-Michel Jarre: '' Oxygène'' (1976) *

Panayiotis Kokoras Panayiotis Kokoras ( el, Παναγιώτης Κόκορας; born 1974, Ptolemaida) is a Greek composer and computer music innovator. Kokoras's sound compositions use timbre as the main element of form. His concept of "holophony" describes hi ...

: ''Morphallaxis'' (2008) for ensemble and electronics * Barbara Kolb: ''Millefoglie'' (1985) * Philippe Leroux: ''M'' for ensemble and electronics *

Michaël Lévinas Michaël Lévinas (born 18 April 1949) is a French composer and pianist. Biography Born in Paris, Levinas was a student of Olivier Messiaen at the Conservatoire de Paris. As an interpreter he made several recordings, mostly for Adès. Amongst th ...

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

: ''L'Esprit des dunes'', for chamber ensemble (1993–1994) *

Emmanuel Nunes Emmanuel Nunes (31 August 1941 – 2 September 2012) was a Portuguese composer who lived and worked in Paris from 1964. Biography Nunes was born in Lisbon, where he studied composition, first from 1959 to 1963 at the Academia de Amadores de Mús ...

: ''Lichtung I'' (1988/1991) * Emmanuel Nunes: ''Lichtung II'', for chamber ensemble and electronics (1996) *

Michael Obst Michael Obst may refer to: * Michael Obst (rower) * Michael Obst (composer) Michael Obst (born 30 November 1955) is a German composer and pianist. Life Obst was born in Frankfurt am Main. He studied music education from 1973 to 1978 in Main ...

: ''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 1947 to ...

: ''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 "Terry" Riley (born June 24, 1935) is an American composer and performing musician best known as a pioneer of the minimalist school of composition. Influenced by jazz and Indian classical music, his music became notable for it ...

: ''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: ''Transiciones de Fase'', for brass quartet and electronics (1994) * Frederic Rzewski: ''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 groundb ...

: '' 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 Alejandro Viñao (born 4 September 1951) is an Argentinian composer currently living in the United Kingdom. Life and career Viñao studied musical composition in Buenos Aires with the composer Jacobo Ficher. In 1976 he was awarded a British Counc ...

: ''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", an ...

: ''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 Giannis Klearchou Xenakis (also spelled for professional purposes as Yannis or Iannis Xenakis; el, Γιάννης "Ιωάννης" Κλέαρχου Ξενάκης, ; 29 May 1922 – 4 February 2001) was a Romanian-born Greek-French avant-garde ...

: ''Psappha'', electronic version (1976/1996) *

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of A ...

: ''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 The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

(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 Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

References

Sources * * *

External links

*
(B.R.A.H.M.S.)
elational database of articles on music of the 20th century(in French) {{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