A Comparative Study of the Research Proceedings at GRM and EMS based on Pierre Schaeffer’s and Knut Wiggen’s Musical Concepts

This paper looks at the research proceedings at EMS (Electronmusikstudion) in Stockholm during the end of the 1960s, under the leadership of Knut Wiggen, and studies his interactions with Pierre Schaeffer in order to establish a new compositional technique for electroacoustic music. The first part deals with the examination of their research method of proposing a sort of compositional and technical program that led the main scientific and creative directions of GRM (Groupe de Recherches Musicales) and EMS. The second part attempts to demonstrate how Wiggen intended to make operational Schaeffer’s sound description system by means of his hybrid studio apparatus. Lastly, the study focuses on how Wiggen’s project differed from the Schaefferian model as well as from GRM after the installation of a computer-controlled studio in 1970 with the development of Musicbox and EMS-1 programs. Hence, this investigation allows us to observe the evolution of technology at EMS in relation to GRM as well as to contrast those developments with Schaeffer’s and Wiggen’s purposes.The historical background of the technical equipment is aimed mainly at musicians and musicologists. It points out the operational features of the apparatus that are useful for an in-depth understanding of composition technique based on Schaeffer’s and Wiggen’s approaches.