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French to English translations [PRO] Art/Literary - Music / musique concrète
French term or phrase:corps sonore
Referring to the ideas of Pierre Schaeffer. In this passage corps sonore is perhaps contrasted with musical instrument, but I believe the idea is any thing (or even person) that can produce sound, icluding musical instruments.
"Tout instrument de musique (et tout corps sonore utilisé musicalement) opère une sorte de retournement dans l’écoute, et nous ne savons jamais au juste ni « qui », ni « quoi » chante."
Explanation: Sounding body is an option, and it is used in academic articles about Schaeffer in the U.S.
an Indiana University article:
"Before this situation arose, the presence of the human
body, whether as sounding body in itself or mediating agency, was
mandatory in the realization of all instrumental and vocal music."
Though the sound object may be referential (e.g. a bell, a drum, etc.) it is to be considered primarily as a phenomenological sound formation, independent of its referential qualities as a SOUND EVENT. Schaeffer: "The sound object must not be confused with the sounding body by which it is produced," for one sounding body "may supply a great variety of objects whose disparity cannot be reconciled by their common origin." Similarly, the sound object may be considered independently of the social or musical contexts in the soundscape from which it is isolated. Sound objects may be classified according to their MORPHOLOGY and TYPOLOGY.
"if we divide 1,090 by the number of vibrations the sounding body makes in one second"
THE AMERICAN CYCLOPEDIA
1883 (from Google books)
On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music By Hermann Von Helmholtz
For the stone substitute a sounding body, which shakes the air ; for the chip ... The waves of air proceeding from a sounding body, transport the tremor to ...
books.google.com/books?isbn=1419178938...
Thanks to everyone. I've incorprated elements of several answers. However becoming aware of the historical validity of this EN term was very useful. 4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer
Explanation: on a hunch I check this out and I honestly think it could fit your context:
Help creating a looping sound entity [Archive] - AlliedModders - [ Traduire cette page ]6 messages - 4 auteurs - Dernier message : 21 janv. 2009
[Archive] Help creating a looping sound entity Scripting. ... I am trying to play a looping sound from an entity (sound that plays while the ...
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ormiston Local time: 08:01 Works in field Native speaker of: English
Explanation: French term with the English in brackets. It's used in the writings of PS.
[15] Boulez uses the phrase 'corps sonore' in two different senses. Sometimes it refers to the 'corps sonore' as defined by Schaeffer, that is, the source of the sonic object, or the sound-producing body.
The translation workplace 
