Slovenská hudba, Vol. 39, No 2, p.154-179

Electroacoustic Music as a Historical Phenomenon
A Scrutiny of Terminological Basis

Electroacoustic music resulted logically from the romanticised endeavours of the West-European artificial music tradition to enlarge and enrich timbre spectrum of the sound. Although since the beginning of its existence it was applicable also in other arts, its tradition as well as its artistic and aesthetic concepts and know-how were being built in the sphere of autonomous artificial music. The development of technologies and sciences, seemingly only marginally related to music (physics, acoustics, electrotechnology, information-communication means) contributed to its origin. Mainly since the end of the 20th century this development joined with commercial computerization and global development of digital information technologies and media has been so revolutionary that the production of electroacoustic works in quantity exceeds its expert reflection. On the one hand the situation results from a progressive inhibition of a “collective” experimental creation and reflection in academic and media institutions (namely in public service media which witnessed the birth of electroacoustic music and supported, developed and controlled it for decades). On the other hand it results from the individualization and “dilettantism” of the authors and reflection influenced by global internet communication and generally accessible computer technology. The contribution deals with the scrutiny of historically determined terminological basis of electroacoustic music. It points to the broadening of the meaning of the terms joined with the phenomenon of electroacoustic music and opens the discussion for a new definition of the concept itself