When Pierre Schaeffer began to lug his turntable engraver around Paris to record the sounds of trains, he permanently…
When Pierre Schaeffer began to lug his turntable engraver around Paris to record the sounds of trains, he permanently transformed musical aesthetics, introducing the possibility that the sounds of the outside world could be considered as aesthetic objects. But here lies the dilemma. Once electronic musicians took apart the musical frame, what did they do with the Pandora’s box of sounds unleashed into the concert hall? How does one listen to unmusical, everyday sounds? Joanna Demers, 2010. Listening Through the Noise: The Aesthetics of Experimental Electronic Music. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.