Jean-Michel Jarre traces electronic music history in new book

‘Machines’ will be published on November 24th.

Photo credit: Jean Michel Jarre – Official

Jean-Michel Jarre will release ‘Machines: A History of Electronic Music’ on November 24th, 2026.

The 368-page hardcover version explores the history of electronic and electro-acoustic music through Jarre’s archive, described as one of the world’s largest collections of electronic instruments. The book includes 130 specially photographed examples, ranging from modular synthesizers to rare prototypes and custom-built machines.

Beginning with Luigi Russolo’s 1913 manifesto ‘The Art of Noises’, the book moves through Surrealism, the Bauhaus, avant-garde radio laboratories, and studios including Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Radio France, and the BBC Radiophonic Workshop.

It also examines tape manipulation, analogue synthesis, digital technology, 3D recording, multimedia performance, and AI-assisted production.

Contributors include Armin van Buuren, Vince Clarke, Gillian Gilbert, Nicolas Godin, Richie Hawtin, Johnny Marr, Gary Numan, Benjamin John Power, and Nick Rhodes.

Jarre also reflects on his childhood experiments with reel-to-reel machines and his studies under Pierre Schaeffer at the Groupe de Recherches Musicales in Paris.

Pre-order ‘Machines: A History of Electronic Music’ here.