Ballif studied with Messiaen at the Paris Conservatoire. His theoretical work Introduction à la métatonalité contains his development of a system that enlarged tonality rather than evade it, as in atonality. Metatonality is based upon a scale of 11 tones and implies chromaticism and a tonal base at the same time. For Ballif, the object was to avoid the disorientation of atonality, replacing it instead with a free tonality. Ballif also incorporated sounds from the environment in his compositions, as in the work of John Cage. These include orchestral mimicking of natural sounds.