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How to “furnish” the space with music

Is it possible to manage the listener’s auditory attention so that music becomes “acoustic wallpaper”? Explore a selection of background music concepts, both artistic and functional ones. Let’s begin with furniture music by Erik Satie.

Music as part of the environment

One day in the early 1920s, Erik Satie met with his friends in one of the Parisian restaurants. The lunch, however, was not a successful one, as the conversation was effectively interrupted by the orchestra playing in the restaurant. The music was too loud, so composer and his friends left the restaurant. Satie is said to have commented the whole situation with the following words:

Furniture music is something that should be created – that is, music which would be part of the ambience, which would take account of it. I imagine it being melodic in nature: it would soften the noise of knives and forks without dominating them, without imposing itself. It would furnish those silences which sometimes hang heavy between diners. It would save them from everyday banalities. At the same time, it would neutralise those street sounds which impinge on us indiscreetly (Legér 1952: 137).

Erik Satie and furniture music in practice

He put his idea into practice in a series of works that he described as musique d’ameublement. Satie treated music as an everyday object – a piece of furniture to which no attention should be paid. In order to achieve the perceptual effect of “acoustic wallpaper”, he relied on repetition taken to the point of absurdity. He rightly assumed that after a while, the listener, being tired of the uniformity of the melody, should stop paying attention to the music and direct it toward completely different stimuli.

A musical analysis of the works that the composer himself categorised as musique d’ameublement: Tapisserie en fer forgé and Carrelage phonique (1917), the cycle Sons industriels (1920) and Tenture de Cabinet préfectoral (1923) shows that furniture music is a kind of experiment. Satie tried to manage his listeners’ attention in an unusual way. He required them to perceive passively, but at the same time made minor changes to the ostinato structures, which could confuse the listener.

It was a failure…

And what was the response of an audience accustomed to listening to music in ‘devout concentration’? Satie was perversely instructing his listeners on the proper way to perceive music. The idea intrigued and shocked. However, the audience was not quite able to fulfil the unusual task. 

As Darius Milhaud, who attended the performance of Sons industriels, described:

Contrary to our instructions, as soon as the music started, the listeners hurried back to their seats. Satie shouted in vain “Talk! Walk around! Don’t listen!” They listened, they were quiet. It was a failure (Milhaud 1949: 138).

Furniture music is a manifestation of a new understanding of art, and a source of inspiration for minimalism, ambient music and other genres of experimental music. It is a prophetic vision, as evidenced, among other things, by the ubiquity of background music in the contemporary world. The composer himself is often regarded as a precursor to Muzak. But is it rightly so?

Author: Sylwia Makomaska

 

#psychologiamuzyki #musicpsychology #strefapsychologiimuzyki #musicpsychologyzone #muzykatła #musiqued’ameublement #furnituremusic #ErikSatie #sylwiamakomaska

 

In the Music Psychology Zone, you will find out how (background) music affects customers at points of sale. In subsequent publications, we will explain what strategies are used in audiomarketing and why (background) music can also evoke negative emotions.

See also: The effect of “acoustic wallpaper” in audiomarketing
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erik satie