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Music

Electronic Music Pioneer Jean-Claude Risset Dies at 78

The French composer was a pioneering figure in the genesis of computer music.
Screenshot courtesy of Youtube

French electronic music pioneer, Jean-Claude Risset, died Monday at the age of 78 in Marseille. Throughout his life he produced work at influential computer music studios including Bell Laboratories, IRCAM, and GRM, and conducted academic research that combined his knowledge of science with sound studies.

Of his many accomplishments, one of the contributions the composer is most known for is the Shepard–Risset glissando, a sound construction which creates the auditory allusion of a continuously rising or descending pitch. He employed the technique on compositions including 1968's "Computer Suite from Little Bo" and 1969's "Mutations."

Recordings of both of these pieces as well as 1985's "Sud" featured on a 2013 retrospective compilation of his Risset's work entitled Music from Computer, released by Editions Mego sublabel Recollection GRM.

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