---
id: russolo
title: "Art of Noises"
year: 1913
category: "Ideas"
lang: en
canonical: https://nodemusic.cc/node/russolo
source: node.music
---

# Art of Noises (1913)

Ideas · https://nodemusic.cc/node/russolo

## Summary

"Long live noise!" screamed Luigi Russolo's manifesto. The Futurists declared war on boring violins and proposed listening to the roar of factories and engine growls. They built Intonarumori — noise machines that forever changed the concept of "musicality".

## Full text

Russolo's machines were fully acoustic mechanical synthesizers. Inside wooden boxes, tensioned strings and drum membranes rubbed against rotating discs (similar to a hurdy-gurdy), amplified by cardboard horns. Russolo developed the first classification of noises, identifying 6 families from roars to whispers.

Unfortunately, the original instruments were destroyed during the war, but blueprints allowed enthusiasts to recreate their harsh sound. The 1914 premiere at the Dal Verme theater turned into a legendary brawl: the audience threw vegetables at the orchestra, and the Futurists, including Russolo and Marinetti, engaged in a physical fight with critics right in the hall — a punk rock riot sixty years before the genre existed.

## People

- Luigi Russolo (1885–1947) — Italian Futurist painter and composer.

## Connections

### Influenced

- [Musique Concrète](https://nodemusic.cc/node/schaeffer.md) - INSPIRED
- [Ecuatorial](https://nodemusic.cc/node/varese_ecuatorial.md) - INSPIRED
- [Symphony of Sirens](https://nodemusic.cc/node/avraamov_sirens.md) - INSPIRED
- [Imaginary Landscape No.1](https://nodemusic.cc/node/cage_img.md) - INSPIRED

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Noises