An Exploration of Musique Concrète

the art of incorporating mundane sounds into music

Chapter 1: An Introduction

Imagine listening to a song that doesn't just tell a story but paints an entire landscape with sound. A song that includes the sounds of Bengaluru's traffic, one that brings home the distant echo of the train whistle from your native, one that harmonises the laughter of children and rustling leaves from the orchard. This is the essence of musique concrete. This technique takes everyday sounds and weaves them into songs, a reminder of the inherent music that reverberates around us in its mundane glory.

Musique concrète is French for concrete music and is an experimental technique which uses recorded sounds as raw material. This technique is believed to have been first explored by a French composer, Pierre Schaeffer, in the 1940s. The core idea of musique concrete is to record mundane sounds, primarily human voices and sounds from the natural environment to incorporate them in songs. Altered versions of instruments and computer generated sounds are also used.

Photo by Mink Mingle on Unsplash

By including these sounds, musicians are able to string together a story with every note of the song. Most examples I could think of come from movies and as a result, the storytelling element is quite prominent. These mundane sounds not just tell a story, they give life to the settings, the characters, the emotions and make them more human.

These songs seem to take you by the hand and lead you into another location—a train station, a temple, a church, knees fallen on the floor at 3 AM listening to a past lover’s voice note. As an extension of the setting, characters are established by the singer’s voice while the lyrics set stage for a storyline. Together, we have a confluence of an enriched musical experience, one that feels more personal because of the familiarity of the sounds which we pass by every day.

Chapter 2: The Technicalities

Incorporating musique concrète into a song requires a careful balance of creativity and technical skill, transforming everyday sounds into a cohesive musical experience. The process begins with sound collection, where composers must gather field recordings using portable recording devices. These include sounds from the environment (birds, rivers, streams, rain, insects and so on) or even urban noises like traffic, chatter, industrial machines and other everyday objects. Composers will often use synthetic sounds generated using instruments, electronic devices or even by manipulating the field recordings.

Collected sounds are then edited, arranged and cut into smaller segments. These segments can now be arranged and rearranged to create rhythms that enhance the song. All of this is typically done using a digital audio workstation.

The sounds may also be subject to various sound processing effects to alter the timbre and quality where composers play with its textures. Sounds are manipulated in multiple ways—stretches in time, compressions, dynamic range control, pitch alterations, delays, distortions and so on to suit the song. 

Multiple sounds can be layered on top of each other with careful consideration of their rhythmic structure. The various sound elements then have to balanced ensuring clarity and integrity. All of this is done while staying true to the theme of the song and the primary intent of using these sounds in the song. A narrative is set and followed throughout with enough space for interpretations, inviting the listeners to connect with the song on an emotional level.

Chapter 3: Significance in Music

1. Kaathalae Kaathalae by Govind Vasantha, Karthik Netha

For a long time, when I thought of love, I thought of Kaathalae Kaathalae. This song was composed by Govind Vasantha, in the mellifluous voice of Chinmayi, for a movie called ‘96. If you’re unfamiliar with song, I’d highly encourage you to take a few moments and listen to it before you do anything else, such is its melody.

In an interview, the composer mentioned reading a poem about the love of a whale and a sparrow. Their love is shadowed by a poignant sense of longing and the inherent impossibility of their union. This served as an inspiration for Kaathalae Kaathalae in an intent to reflect the story of the characters in the movie. 

The song begins with a sound that immediately reminded me of sunlight falling on ocean waves. Its rhythm seems to mimic the undulating ocean beneath the heat of the afternoon sun. A distant flute is heard from afar.

Music builds and we hear Chinmayi begin to sing. The slight trilling of a sparrow is heard, one that almost disappears into the sound of the instrument that accompanies it, quite like a real sparrow that likes to disappear behind verdant leaves when it senses a gaze fall upon it.

Just then, we hear the sound of a whale. I could almost call it a lament. Its cries are accompanied by a soulful stringing of the violin that tugs at the heartstrings. The mellow sounds build to pave way for the main chorus, one that is beloved to a million people.

With the fading of Chinmayi’s voice, the whale’s final cries are heard along with the noise of something awful similar to a metal chain. Both these sounds are muffled beneath the warbling of water. The once undulating ocean now moves enough to swallow sounds, and perhaps, the whale in its entirety too. 

When one listens to this, an entire narrative is laid forth in the mind. Is this how whales always sound, or was it lamenting? Did the sparrow call to the whale with its trilling or was it just going on about its day before the whale fell in love with its voice? Are these sounds a conversation between them both? What are they telling each other? 

A declaration of love perhaps? A final conversation, a telling of goodbyes? And what was the metal, chain-like sound at the end? Who is being bound to what? The warbling of water is all we’re left with of the whale and the sparrow at the end. Did the sparrow drown in an attempt to reach the whale? Or did the whale bid its goodbye and return beyond the vision of the heartbroken sparrow?

I could swear I hear a shaky breath at the end. Whom does it belong to?

2. Oru Oorula Raja by Santhosh Narayanan, Mari Selvaraj

For context, Vaazhai is the story of a young boy from Karungulam, who has to work at a plantain farm along with his family to earn wages through a contractor. While he goes to school during the weekdays, a truck awaits him on the weekends to take him to the farm where he has to carry heavy raw banana clusters on his head. 

This song appears at a point in the movie when it is established that Sivanaindhan dreads weekends because of the heavy loads he has to carry. He fakes being hurt in attempts to escape the labour but it doesn’t last long. The truck, specifically its blaring horn, turns into an alarm, a reminder to return to the dreaded banana fields. 

Santhosh Narayanan artfully begins the song with the truck’s horn. Mari Selvaraj’s lyrics along with the music juxtapose Sivanaindhan’s harsh reality with a lingering of his innocent childhood.

3. Railin Oligal by Govind Vasantha

Railin Oligal begins with a train’s extended whistle. With no context of the film it was composed for, we’re already transported into a train that has just announced its departure. While the music builds in a slow crescend, the train's clattering against the tracks picks up pace too.  

During the main chorus, the train's sounds become a part of the beats in an almost unrecognisable manner. The sounds disappear for a while when Pradeep Kumar and Shakthishree Gopalan sing the next verse and reappears to accompany the chorus.

The song is thus able to juxtapose the feeling of falling in love—the anticipation, the gentle happiness that follows and a final moment of sheer ecstasy with the movement of a train. Picking up on this, I love how the same song can bring about multiple interpretations and narratives in everyone’s minds.

Can I also take a moment to mention that I absolutely love Pradeep Kumar's singing. Right, onto the next.

4. Temple + Church bells

Ilaiyaraja’s Kadhal Oviyam begins with the sound of a temple’s bells followed by Hindu priests chanting a mantra which segues into a choir with a church bell.

AR Rahman’s Anbil Avan on the other hand, arrives at a point in the movie where the lovers are finally together (or so you’d think). This song exists in a world, in film, where their religion, family differences and other hurdles don’t stand in between their future together. The church’s choir announces their wedding and the transition smoothens into a Hindu wedding Nadaswaram.

In both songs, the sound of temple and church bells serves as a powerful symbol of unity, representing the harmonious coming together of characters from different religious backgrounds in the face of societal challenges. In a country where religion still remains one of the main reasons for feuds and vitriol, these songs transcend religions and unites them with music, reminding us of what lasts despite.

5. Voice Notes

Voice notes have emerged as a compelling element of musique concrète, adding a layer of authenticity and intimacy to contemporary music. While often associated with diss tracks, which leverage spoken messages for confrontational purposes, I’d like to focus on one song that uses a voice note in the most beautiful yet tragic way possible.

Now I’m not the biggest Harry Styles fan and do not know much about his personal relationships because it’s not my place as a listener. I’d like to set that aside when considering his song Cherry from the Fine Line album.

The song begins with a voice calling out coucou! This moment is quickly taken away with the music beginning, followed by extremely vulnerable lyrics.

I, I confess

I can tell that you are at your best

I'm selfish so I'm hating it

Don't you call him what you used to call me.

Does he take you walking 'round his parents' gallery?

In the final chorus, the gentle calls of coucou return, almost becoming a part of the heightened music. Just then, for a moment, all is silent. The first time I heard this song, eyes closed, head in my hands, I thought it had ended. A slight stringing of the guitar picks up, almost as if the person singing stops and picks up the instrument in resignation, a final attempt to finish the song despite the ache.

With the gentle guitar thrumming in the background, a voice note is played. The speaker says something in French which I know now to be: 

Hello! Are you asleep? Oh, I’m sorry.

Well, no…*laughter* Nope, it’s not important

Yes, we went to the beach, and now we—

Perfect. Let’s go!

It’s evident that what once was has ended and one of the few things that remain of that love is this voice note. I wonder if we capture moments such as these through photographs, voice notes and  written notes with the subconscious knowledge that what is dear today, some day will slip away from reach. When I first heard this song, it was the voice recording, one that I didn’t even understand, that moved me to tears. Perhaps a realisation that sometimes, love ceases and all I can do is watch what’s left of it struggling to survive between the static of a muffled voice note.

7. Special Mentions

These are some of my favourite songs that use musique concrète that I didn’t have the heart to leave out.

Laughter - While not exactly under the previous categories of everyday sounds, musicians have often included the singer’s own laughter within the song. This adds depth to the emotion of the song and adds more character. The laughter might induce feelings of varied ranges from shyness to even arrogance. Songs that immediately come to my mind are Kangal Edho, Yaathe Yaathe, Marana Mass. A lot of Rajnikanth songs in the recent times also seem to use his dialogues as a part of the song, enhancing the vigour of the ‘mass’ songs.

Anklets - The imagery of anklets in these songs not only highlights the physical beauty of the beloved but also emphasises the sentimentality and intimacy shared between lovers. Songs that I could think of are Snehidhane and Innum Konjam Neram.

Rain/Water - To me, the sound of rain or water inspires some form of purity. Thozhi is one song that comes to mind immediately which happens to be an ardent exploration of friendship. Another song I could think of is Sol, a song sung by a woman’s friends, teasing her into telling them about her lover. Both, pure and un-tainted emotions.

I know I’m missing a lot of songs and that my consideration for this essay has been limited to mostly Tamizh songs.

Chapter 4: Conclusion

Musique concrète has evolved from being processed using shellac recorders, magnetic tape recorders and phonographs to Digital Audio Workstations, advanced software, portable field recorders and mobile apps. This technique serves as a profound method for artistic expression, allowing musicians to blend unconventional sounds and personal recordings into songs to evoke deep emotional responses.

It also paves way for the exploration of symbols, imagery and other elements of storytelling within the song itself. This allows musicians to transcend musical boundaries, enabling them to forge intimate connections with the listeners. Ultimately, musique concrète highlights the power of sound to convey human experiences, reminding us that even the most seemingly mundane elements can evoke profound feelings and create lasting connections.

Most importantly, this technique reminds us that music exists around us, waiting to be discovered. It challenges conventional boundaries of what music must be, inviting us to embrace the sounds of our everyday life. Musique concrète inspires me to meditate on daily sounds and be more mindful and thoughtful with how I perceive what I hear and to be thankful for it all. 

I’m thinking about the pigeons that often visit my balcony, how I used to hate their guttural cooing. And how when woven into Premalu’s Chalo Hyderabad soundtrack, all of a sudden, I felt a fondness and empathy for the birds I had shooed away. How beautiful these little moments I take for granted so easily. What a blessing it is to witness the bird in my mother’s garden and how cruel my heart that listens to its ancient voice and decides it ugly.