The inscrutableenigma that Ellison identifies in relation to "the origins ofeven the most recent jazz styles, or of when and where theyactually started ... of the tensions, personal, sociological, ortechnical, out of which such an original artist achieves hisartistic identity" (S&A, 237) a
It goes along with the idea that art is only created through some type of pain
While the yokel exploits a radically reconfigured tempo.Invisible Man resets "society's clock," using "creative ageres-siveness" to defy a systematic teleology
the teleology that non-white people are inferior?
By relying on jazz as an explanatory metaphor ratherthan as a discontinuous evolving tradition. Porters accountconverts the music s hectic splendour into a monolithic sym-bol of the grave commitments required of the artist aimingfor a sovereign singularity in a conformist society.
trying to be an individual and let his voice be heard in a large society
The dance and the song are danced and sung together, "throbbed" together, heldtogether by a common rime signature that unites and reaffirms the community,shielding it from whatever forces would divide it.
Jazz/music brings strength. It goes with this common theme in the novel that who ever can produce sound has some type of power.
For EHison, the Saturday-night jazz dance and the Sunday-morning church ser-vice are useful only insofar as they involve, bring together, compel, and move bodies,ideaHy foregrounding the corporeaHty of the community and of its performers, bethey preachers or trumpet players.
creates community
At the core of this jazz-induced phantasmagoria is an extended passage repre-senting the caH-and-response of a black preacher and his congregation—a study inantiphonal sermonizing that ElHson wiH rehearse at great length, both thematicaHyand StructuraHy, in his second novel.
Jazz brings a voice/power to the people
Murray's concern with negodadng "the void" resonates with EUison's coundessreferences, scattered throughout the novels and the essays, to the ardst's task ofbdnging order to chaos.
soundlessness creates order
s the occasion demands, insist that weconsider the cultural semiodcs both of jazz and of reHgion; the nightclub and thechurch; the pubHc dance and the revival meeting; the jazz soloist and the preacher;and the profane and the sacred. T
music is to some people as to religion as to others. Its a way of life and to express emotion. Music is some type of higher being?
They don't have enoughaccess to theater, poetry or jazz. So you can see why some kids might confuse a jazzlegend named Duke with royalty named duke. But it's time to set the record straight."This lumping-together of jazz with poetry and theater under the rubric of High Artsuggests already the gains and losses sustained by classic jazz in the age of itsentrenched canonization, what we might caU its "Ken Burns era."
He is suggesting that Jazz is also of a higher class compared to other types of music.
e Negro is generated at the inter-secdon of a community and a self, a self that is both determined by its place in arigid social structure and potendaUy Uberated by "individual wiU"
the creation of the black identity through music... the music is not inherently black.
music as reality, and how one can feel the power of reality.
The ring of alarm-bells, the cry of fire
The mingling of manmade and natural sound
I hear bravuras of birds, bustle of growing wheat, gossip of flames,clack of sticks cooking my meals,I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice,I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following,Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night,Talkative young ones to those that like them, the loud laugh of work-people at their meals,The angry base of disjointed friendship, the faint tones of the sick,The judge with hands tight to the desk, his pallid lips pronoun-cing a death-sentence,The heave'e'yo of stevedores unlading ships by the wharves, the refrain of the anchor-lifters,The ring of alarm-bells, the cry of fire, the whirr of swift-streak-ing engines and hose-carts with premonitory tinkles and color'd lights,The steam-whistle, the solid roll of the train of approaching cars,The slow march play'd at the head of the association marching two and two,(They go to guard some corpse, the flag-tops are draped with black muslin.)
city sounds!
organ loft,The carpenter
In this poem he is mentioning the sounds of man. Not all in accordance to the city, but there are examples of noise being represented in this poem in the sense of actions.
My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach,
"Hearing is a way of touching at a distance" - Schafer
Now I will do nothing but listen,To accrue what I hear into this song, to let sounds contribute toward it.I hear bravuras of birds, bustle of growing wheat, gossip of flames,clack of sticks cooking my meals,I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice,I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following,Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night,Talkative young ones to those that like them, the loud laugh of work-people at their meals,The angry base of disjointed friendship, the faint tones of the sick,The judge with hands tight to the desk, his pallid lips pronoun-cing a death-sentence,The heave'e'yo of stevedores unlading ships by the wharves, the refrain of the anchor-lifters,The ring of alarm-bells, the cry of fire, the whirr of swift-streak-ing engines and hose-carts with premonitory tinkles and color'd lights,The steam-whistle, the solid roll of the train of approaching cars,The slow march play'd at the head of the association marching two and two,(They go to guard some corpse, the flag-tops are draped with black muslin.)I hear the violoncello, ('tis the young man's heart's complaint,)I hear the key'd cornet, it glides quickly in through my ears,It shakes mad-sweet pangs through my belly and breast.I hear the chorus, it is a grand opera,Ah this indeed is music—this suits me.
Whitman actively enjoys the sounds of the city; rather than find the sounds distracting, he loves the wild assortments of sounds
The wild gander leads his flock through the cool night,Ya-honk he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation,The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listening close,Find its purpose and place up there toward the wintry sky.
Sound is in the ear of the beholder
filling me full.
double use of "full" does this imply perhaps it is filling him up too much?
sounds start to transform into his other senses, smell & touch
superior to the stallion?
I talk wildly, I have lost my wits, I and nobody else am the greatest traitor,
"Talk wildly" - speech reflects mental state
I hear the sound I love, the sound of the human voice,I hear all sounds running together, combined, fused or following
All sounds are interconnected
My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach,With the twirl of my tongue I encompass worlds and volumes of worlds.
Sterne - sound goes deeper than sight
Through me many long dumb voices,Voices of the interminable generations of prisoners and slaves,Voices of the diseas'd and despairing and of thieves and dwarfs,Voices of cycles of preparation and accretion,And of the threads that connect the stars, and of wombs and of the father-stuff,And of the rights of them the others are down upon,Of the deform'd, trivial, flat, foolish, despised,Fog in the air, beetles rolling balls of dung.
Connecting the common, "negative" sounds to the ethereal and Godlike, and nature
With music strong I come, with my cornets and my drums,I play not marches for accepted victors only, I play marches for conquer'd and slain persons.
music is universal: it is not only for those alive and thriving, it is also for those defeated. Music here could be a metaphor for a different sentiment - perhaps acknowledgement/appreciation/support?
And such as it is to be of these more or less I am,And of these one and all I weave the song of myself.
Everyone in the city has their own song/sound that is created and shaped by what is around them
The city sleeps and the country sleeps,The living sleep for their time, the dead sleep for their time,
What does this suggest about sound?
And acknowledge red, yellow, white, playing within me,And consider green and violet and the tufted crown intentional,
Interesting use of color!
The blab of the pave, tires of carts, sluff of boot-soles, talk of the promenaders,The heavy omnibus, the driver with his interrogating thumb, the clank of the shod horses on the granite floor,The snow-sleighs, clinking, shouted jokes, pelts of snow-balls,The hurrahs for popular favorites, the fury of rous'd mobs,The flap of the curtain'd litter, a sick man inside borne to the hospital,The meeting of enemies, the sudden oath, the blows and fall,The excited crowd, the policeman with his star quickly working his passage to the centre of the crowd,The impassive stones that receive and return so many echoes,What groans of over-fed or half-starv'd who fall sunstruck or in fits,What exclamations of women taken suddenly who hurry home and give birth to babes,What living and buried speech is always vibrating here, what howls restrain'd by decorum,Arrests of criminals, slights, adulterous offers made, acceptances,rejections with convex lips,
These descriptions remind me of the everyday city sounds described in Picker's essay - unrefined, not a part of nature
I am not an earth nor an adjunct of an earth,I am the mate and companion of people, all just as immortal and fathomless as myself,
he sees himself as part of something - the Earth. Whitman does not have an egocentric view. A lot of his work is about emotions experienced by everyone
The smoke of my own breath,Echoes, ripples, buzz'd whispers, love-root, silk-thread, crotch and vine,My respiration and inspiration, the beating of my heart, the pass-ing of blood and air through my lungs,The sniff of green leaves and dry leaves, and of the shore and dark-color'd sea-rocks, and of hay in the barn,The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the eddies of the wind,
this is about nature and how, regarding sound, it interplays with the human body
My own voice, orotund sweeping and final
stanza above, the voice is extremely powerful- started universe here voice seems powerless in the city- just one of many citizens
And these tend inward to me, and I tend outward to them,
this stanza's sounds are all repeatable and orderly- comparing daily sounds to seasons, years, lifetimes, etc.
And am around, tenacious, acquisitive, tireless, and cannot be shaken away
Interesting how absent sound is in this chunk after the beginning focused almost solely on it.
The feeling of health, the full-noon trill, the song of me rising from bed and meeting the sun.
This stanza is almost all Whitman incorporating sound into the natural and human world -every aspect of his life (Natural World, human interaction, human environment, body)
jarring sounds. He concludes this stanza with only sound.
The cries, curses, roar, the plaudits for well-aim'd shots,
sound in this stanza is the more specific sensory mechanism.
voice
sound traveling further (OR DEEPER?-[J. Sterne]) than sight
,
permanence of sound? nifty. This suggests that memory of a sound is just as strong as the sound itself.
Not any interpretable sound/music, just noise.
The pure contralto sings in the organ loft,
akin to the lines in another Whitman poem, "I Hear America Singing." IHAS describes the sounds of America as a growing nation full of promise--including, of course, urban sounds
I witness and wait.
to witness is also to listen
Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my eyes,
A literal interpretation suggests that the speaker is having a visceral sonic response to his eyes, as they enable him to see things that would prompt such screams. This interpretation furthers the idea that sound often exists as a reaction to the visual--the antithesis to Stern's argument
see, dance, laugh, sing
These are four things, each one more related to sound: seeing is independent, but dancing is associated with music, while laughing and singing are both direct sound. It almost works as a progression of one's actions when encountering a situation like the one described.
I play marches for conquer'd and slain persons.
He makes music not for the enjoyment of the victors, but as remembrance for those who had died in battle. Later in the piece, he references that those who have died may be just as heroic as those who survived.
this suits me.
only good thing about the city?
while they discuss I am silent
again as negative
I permit to speak at every hazard,
sound as a bad thing?
I hear bravuras of birds, bustle of growing wheat, gossip of flames,clack of sticks cooking my meals,
would Whitman feel the same about these sounds after hearing them for years and years in a row constantly? is the love for these sounds temporary?
Ya-honk he says, and sounds it down to me like an invitation,The pert may suppose it meaningless, but I listening close,
Certainly a recognizable city sound.
Sounds of the city and sounds out of the city, sounds of the day and night,Talkative young ones to those that like them, the loud laugh of work-people at their meals,The angry base of disjointed friendship, the faint tones of the sick,The judge with hands tight to the desk, his pallid lips pronoun-cing a death-sentence,The heave'e'yo of stevedores unlading ships by the wharves, the refrain of the anchor-lifters,The ring of alarm-bells, the cry of fire, the whirr of swift-streak-ing engines and hose-carts with premonitory tinkles and color'd lights,The steam-whistle, the solid roll of the train of approaching cars,The slow march play'd at the head of the association marching two and two,
Various sounds of the city.
People I meet, the effect upon me of my early life or the ward and city I live in, or the nation,
First time he mentions city.
Worse, noise was a grave aesthetic affront, which defiled not only the ears but the whole human sensorium:
New york as a sonic grave. The people are digging their way deeper and deeper into it.
By visually representing sound in the form of noise maps, decibel readings, and police reports, noise is brought int
Ties back to a previous reading, which discussed how difficult it is to map/categorize sound, whereas we name colors very early in age
The dynamic was not one of courting listeners but of ensuring that as many people as possible were within earshot of the message.
This is perfect for relaying messages of propaganda. Once the message breaks into the subconscious level of hearing, it can have the ability to influence the conscious actions of people.
interrupting silence is a rebellious action
may even be much nearer to that bridge and to what it makes room for than someone. who uses it daily as an indifferent river crossing.
An important aspect of Heidegger's argument seems to be that men must be conscious of the unity of the fourfold to constitute, which is brought on through the conscious experience of place. So buildings change the way we perceive things, and therefore we can understand space the way we do now. The process of consciously thinking about it seems to hold a lot of significance, so much that he believes one is actually closer to the bridge when one thinks about it, rather than being there physically, but unaware.
in the course of West-ern thought
This also draws parallels with Tuan's argument that in modern society architecture seems to be less associated with one's perception of the world, perhaps precisely because Western thought has led us to disregard the influence that buildings can have.
In short, to think about building and dwelling appears to advance thought on the meaning of "Being."
This seems similar to what Tuan argues about architecture reflecting and instructing our world view. The space in a building can shape how we view our own position and our own existence.
thoughtless exploitation
What does this mean? Are we exploiting nature by excessively building things on it?
When we speak of man and space, it sounds as though man stood on one side, space on the other. Yet space is not something that faces man. It is neither an external object nor an inner experience.
I find this distinction really interesting because man is inevitably what creates the space, so I feel like in a way you can't look at them as separate. I think that space can be both an external object and an internal experience.
Man's Being rests in his capacity to cultivate and safeguard the earth, to protect it from thoughtless exploitation and to defend it against the calumnies of the metaphysical tradition.
I found this really interesting actually. I have never looked at man's place and purpose on earth like this and I think it is something that more people need to be aware of. I feel as though in our world today, so many people do in fact exploit their environment and forget to really take care of it. I really like this connection and I think making a conscious effort to "safeguard" your environment gives you a better relationship to it.
Space is in essence that for which room has been made, that which is let into its bounds. That ~or which room is made is always granted and hence is joined, that is,_ gathered, b! virtue of a locale,' that is, by such a thing as the bndge.
This reminds of a lot of the Yi-Fu Tuan reading. He talked a lot about the importance of space and creating boundaries. I think Heidegger mentions a really great point about something that links the two, like a bridge for example.
site for t_he fourfold, a site that i~ each case ,J?.rovides for a space. The relation between locale and space lies in llie essence of these things as locales, but so does the relation of the locale to the man who lives there. Therefore we shall now try to clarify the es-sence of these things that we call buildings by the foJJowing brief consideratio
I like how Heidegger is creating the link between how the locale and the space help to define each other. The two seem to work in tandem with one another.
^^j,eachcase,theorientationseemstooconcernedbytheequilibriumofrhythmicsystems,bytheirharmonizationinahierarchyofinstants.
rhythm isn't supposed to be too organized?
Anoverallmovementthattakeswithitalltheseelements...throughKthisdoubleaspect,.rhythmentersiptoageneralconstructionoftimt^,nfrnnvp-mentandbecoming.Andconsequentlyintoitsphilosophicalproblematic:rep-etitinn.aruLhficnmjpg
is rhythm - although it plays such a great role in the universe - only considered temporary?
hythmfterbansjresupposes“aunityoftimeandspace:analliance
rhythm transcends the physical
arguii^infactthatdurationis.merelyaneffectofintensity,in^positiontoBergsonsnotionofintprppn-^tratign.Theenduranceofasonicevent, th,elengthofanote,pertainsheretoasecondorderand“entailsakindofa
So: if a sound isn't "intense", it can't endure longer?
Hewarnedofthemisleadingapplicationofmelodyasametaphorforduration
melody/music =/= rhythm/sounds
wherevibrationatthemolecular,or evendeeperatthequanhrm,levelconstitutesthefundamentalyetabstractmovementofmatte
sound = vibrations = what all matter is made of
Ehythmanalysisofteninstallsitselfontologicallypriortothedivisionofspaceandtime,occupidngihedomainofintensivematter
Rhythmanalysis has an inherent scientific importance
theseemingsimplirihrofperceptionistherefore alwaysshadowedbyimperceptibleexcitationsothat“anysituationhas,asits counterpartinthatsituation,morecomplex, subtlerrhythmsthanthosewhoseaggregateisessentialforthephysicalobject.
A sum's parts are more complex than the sum itself
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? yes
matterisnotjustsensitivetorhythmsbutitexists,inthefullestsenseoftheterm,onthelevelofrhythm.Thetimeinwhichmatterdevelopssomeofitsfragilemanifestationsisatimethatundulateslikeawavethathasbutoneuniformwayofbeing:theregularityoffrequency.Assoon as thedifferentsubstantialpowersofmatterare studiedin detail,thesepowerspresentthemselvesasfrequencies.Inparticular,assoonaswegetdowntothedetailofexchangesofenergybetweendifferentkindsofchemicalmatter,theseexchangesareseentotakeplaceinarhythmicwaythroughtheindisposableintermediaryofradiationswithspecificfrequencies.^
Because everything that exist is made up of particles , and all particles vibrate, all things can be analyzed, to some degree, through vibrations
Suchareductionistmaterialismthatmerelyreducesthesonictoaquantifiableobjectivityisinadequatein that itneglectsincorporealaffects.Aconcernforelementaryvibrationsmustgobeyond theirquantificationinphysicsintoprimaryfrequencies.Ontheotherhand,thephenomenologicalanthropocentrismofalmostallmusical'andsonicanalysis,obsessedwithindividualized,subjectivefeeling,denigratesthevibrationalnexusatthealtarofhumanaudition,therebyneglectingtheagency'distribute'daround avibrationalencounterandignoringthenonhum,anparticipantsofthenexusofexperience
Do not look at sound as purely human-centric, but also do not look at it purely objectively and removed from humanity
Anontologyofvibrational forceobjectstoanumber oftheoreticalorientations.First,thelinguisticimperialism thatsubordinatesthesonictosemioticregistersisrejectedforforcingsonicmediatomerelycommunicatemeaning,losingsightofthemorefundamentalexpressions oftheirmaterialpotentialasvibrational surfaces, oroscillators.
Looking at sound in a purely linguistic sense is narrow minded and does not take into consideration other qualities and characteristics of sound
Allthatisrequiredisthatanentitybefeltasanobjectbyanotherentity.
Everything seems to be just about perception - nothing objective?
Whatisprioritized hereisthein-betweenofoscillation,thevibrationofvibration,thevirtuahtyofthetremble.
"the vibration of vibration" - seems like referring to a sound as merely a vibration is overly simplified/one-dimensional?
thenonhum,anparticipants
"Non-human participants" = the vibrations?
Soundcomestotherescueofthoughtratherthantheinverse,forcingittovibrate,looseningupitsorganizedorpetrifiedbody.
Sound works against thought in the way that it provides a relief
Itknowimpossibletoconceive theexistenceofanelementofmatterwithoutaddingtothatelementaspecificfrequency
Vibration or the frequency it creates is in and of everything.
Allentitiesarepotentialmediathatcanfeelorwhosevibrationscanbefeltbyotherentities.
Everything is made up of moving matter.... therefore vibration is present = sound. It can be felt by all objects, not just heard.
Thisdescendingtoneparallelstheheatdeath oftheuniverse,connectingallthediscreteatomsintoavibrationalwave.Thiscosmicbackgroundradiationistheechoofthebigbang.
The origin of what we know to be sound - the big bang...... still echoing but not heard by the human ear.
itwa.srhythmandnotjoelodythatformedtheimageofduration
in most cases, people would assume rhythm and melody are similar, however, for Bachelard, they are totally different.
Theconsequentmustagreewiththegroundingeneraltypesoastopreservedefiniteness,butitmustcontrastwithitinrespecttocontraryinstancessoastoobtainvividnessandquality.Inthephysicaljvorld,thisprincipleofcontrastunderanidentityexpressesitselfinthephysicallawthatvibrationentersintotheultimatenatureofatomicorganisms.(Vibrationis the recurrenceofcontrastwithinidentityoftype.Thewhole possibilityof'measurementinthephysicalworlddependsonthisprinciple!Tomeasureistocountvibrations-----Thusphysicalquantitiesareaggregatesofphysicalvibrations,andphysicalvibrationsaretheexpressionamongtheabstractionsofphysicalscienceofthefundamentalprincipleofaestheticexperience.
sound reliant on physical world.
YetBergsonisthinkingofvibrationinaverydifferentmanner.InMatterandMemory,hefactoredinmolecularvibrationasthatwhichprovidescontinuousmovementtothat whichappearsasstaticordiscreteobjects.AsBergsonnotes,matter“resolvesitselfintonimiberlessvibrations,aRlinkedtogetherinuninterruptedcontinuity,allboundupwitheachother,andtravelinginevery.directionlikeshiversthroughanimmenseb'ody”'^
vibrations
Lefebvre’ssenseofrhythmisfoundedonatem-P^alphilosophynf-Tmomeats,”“instants.”,or“rri.<;p.<;"r’riK-ialjytAfehyresuggested.thatrhythmfterbansjresupposes“aunityoftimeandspace:analliance.”’
philosophy
particle/wavecompositionofmatter/energy.
physics
Thisontologyisconcernedprimarilywiththetexturhythmsofmatter,thepatternedphysicalityofamusicalbeatorpulse,sometimesimperceptible,sometimes,ascymaticsshows,insomesensitivemedia,suchaswaterorsand,visible.Whileitcanbeapproachedfromanarrayofdirections,theontologyofvibrationalforcewillbeexploredherebythreedisciplinarydetours:philosophy,physics,andtheaestheticsofdigitalsound.
Outlining the major keys to the study of sound. Interesting that Philosophy is included as a means through which we can study sound.
Ifwesubtracthumanperception,everythingmoves.
the human brain cannot account for many movements, we do no constantly sense the earth is spinning, and cannot sense atoms moving either
Thathummingbackgroundsoundis ancient—the ringingofahugebell.Explodingintoamassofintenselyhotmatter,pulsingoutvastsoundwaves,
the big bang is a noise that constantly surrounded us, but one we cannot hear
Ontheotherhand,thephenomenologicalanthropocentrismofalmostallmusical'andsonicanalysis,obsessedwithindividualized,subjectivefeeling,denigratesthevibrationalnexusatthealtarofhumanaudition,therebyneglectingtheagency'distribute'daround avibrationalencounterandignoringthenonhum,anparticipantsofthenexusofexperience
How are we possibly supposed to account for this, though?
“mystiqueofrhythm,”
doesn't fall in line with the biological/physical aspects of rhythmanalysis
obsessedwithindividualized,subjectivefeeling,denigratesthevibrationalnexusatthealtarofhumanaudition,therebyneglectingtheagency'distribute'daround avibrationalencounterandignoringthenonhum,anparticipantsofthenexusofexperience
there is an untouchable aspect to the science of vibrations, one that can't be "denigrated" by human feeling
oundcomestotherescueofthoughtratherthantheinverse,forcingittovibrate,looseningupitsorganizedorpetrifiedbody.
"thought" here equates to definitions of sound as assigned by human listeners; this suggests that one does not pontificate on sound, but sound is inherently revealing and lends itself to philosophical insight rather than being theoretical fodder
insertingthematweakspotsinthehistoryofWesternphilosophy,
sound is tied to theory, physics, and even the Big Bang, but to characterize sound as a human-driven auditory experience reduces sound to something entirely human-centric
Weshall,corpe-tqconsiderlivingmatterasricheriatimbres,moresensitiveto echoes, andmoreextravagantwithresonancethaninertmatteris
Life separates itself from nonlife based on its ability to create and interpret more vibrations. It should be important to emphasize the word "more," as nonliving things like particles still vibrate.
Insteadofacauseproducinganeffect,effectsattainautonomyintheprocessofthebecomingofcontinuity.
effects always exist
hythmanahisisdescribesthosephilosophicalattemptstotakerhvthmasmorethananobjectofstudy,transforpiirigitintnanipjtinrlRhythmanalvsiii^wodpr-Stands both naturalandculturalprocessesintermsofrhythm.Itstandsasaninterestingexamplewherethehistoryofphilosophytakesonasonicinflection,becominginfectedbymusicalmetaphorsinanattempttoapproachsomethingthateludesit.Ehythmanalysisofteninstallsitselfontologicallypriortothedivisionofspaceandtime,occupidngihedomainofintensivematter
rhythm and patterns can be viewed in all aspects of life, not just sound
theirvibrationalontology(rhythmanalysis
well, this is how he characterizes rhythmanalyisis
Suchareductionistmaterialismthatmerelyreducesthesonictoaquantifiableobjectivityisinadequatein that itneglectsincorporealaffects.
vibrations mean different things to different people
Anontologyofvibrational forceobjectstoanumber oftheoreticalorientations.First,thelinguisticimperialism thatsubordinatesthesonictosemioticregistersisrejectedforforcingsonicmediatomerelycommunicatemeaning,losingsightofthemorefundamentalexpressions oftheirmaterialpotentialasvibrational surfaces, oroscillators
vibrations do not equate meaning, sounds wouldnt without semiotic markers
SoundismerelyathinsHce,thevibrationsaudibletohumansoranimals.Suchanorientationthereforeshouldbedifferentiatedfromaphehomenologyofsoniceffectscenteredontheperceptionsofahiunan subject,as aready-made,interiorizedhumancenterofbeingandfeeling
sound is at its core vibrations while we ascribe meaning to said vibrations based off of the personal and the social
hethrob offeelingisnotperceivedbvasubjectassuch butrather constitutestheactualnrrasinnnntnfwhichthedi.stinctinnbetweensubject and objectemergesinaprocessheterm.scnnr.resr.ence
could feelings create a vibration possibly?
Rhythmreallyistheonlywayofdiscipliningandpreservingthemostdiverseenergie
how about light?
Byemphasizingrhythmnvpr mplndyBachelard.isemphasizingintensityover di^ion,arguii^infactthatdurationis.merelyaneffectofintensity
I would argue that intensity would cause the hight of the wave (in physic's terms) (the loudness) to increase and simply the duration is just simply how long the song is created. A sound can be not very intense but still last a long time
faparticle ceasedtovibrate,itwouldceasetob
only death is silent
hythmanahisisdescribesthosephilosophicalattemptstotakerhvthmasmorethananobjectofstudy,transforpiirigitintnanipjtinrlRhythmanalvsiii^wodpr-Stands both naturalandculturalprocessesintermsofrhythm.
like the rhythm of history (history repeats itself)
Atthemolecularorquantumlevel,everythingisinmotion,isvibrating.Equally,objecthood,thatwhichgivesanentitydurationintime,makesitendure,isaneventirrelevantofhumanperception.Allthatisrequiredisthatanentitybefeltasanobjectbyanotherentity
so if everything is moving (in the sense that atoms are always moving) and movement can create sound the universe will never be quite because of this and thus there is always a small sound vibration.
InTheEthics,Spinozadescribesanecologyofmovementsandrest,speedsandslownessesj andthepotentialofentitiestoaffectandbeaffected.
the doppler effect?
Suchanorientationthereforeshouldbedifferentiatedfromaphehomenologyofsoniceffectscenteredontheperceptionsofahiunan subject,as aready-made,interiorizedhumancenterofbeingandfeeling.
small sound vibrations can cause people to change their emotions and mind sets. And even it can differ from person to person receiving said vibrations
whatistherelationshipbetweenmanandthesoundsofhisenvironmentandwhathappenswhenthosesoundschange?
Some of the major elements in analyzing soundscape are the questions posed by many different researches, these questions being some of them. In mentioning noise pollution, Schafer alludes to the idea that the soundscape is changing- for worse.
treattheworldasamacrocosmicmusicalcomposition
ItwasnotuntiltheRenaissancethatGodbecameportraiture.Previouslyhehadbeenconceivedassoundorvibration.
This is just really cool- its just accepted in present times that sight is and has always been the dominant form of info gathering- that society evolved away from this due to revoloutions like the printing press is telling that maybe society will evolve again
Whichsoundsdowewanttopreserve,encourage,multiply?
Kind of the main question- how can we define noise pollution where the definition separates noises we want to hear from the ones we dont want to hear
Hearingisawayoftouchingatadistanceand theintimacyofthefirstsenseisfused withsociabilitywheneverpeoplegathertogethertohearsomethingspecial
I just love this sentence
Noise pollutionisnowaworldproblem.
not only the noise itself is a problem, but also the way how people create it and ignore it
Wblewemay havenumerousphotographstakenatdifferenttimes,andbeforethemdrawmgsandmapstoshowushowascenechangedovertheages,we must makeinferencesastothechangesofthesoundscape.Wemayknowexactlyhowmanynew buildmgswentupmagivenareamadecadeorhowthepopulationhasrisen,butwedonotknowbyhowmanydecibels theambientnoiselevelmayhaverisenfor acomparableperiod oftime
Studying soundscapes is considerably harder due to the inability of people recording it at the time.
However,itislesseasytoformulate anexactimpression ofasoundscapethanofalandscape.Thereisnothmgm sonographycorrespondingtothemstantaneousimpressionwbchphotographycancreate.
Interesting comparison.
Morethanthis,soundsmayalterordisappearwithscarcelyacommentevenfromthemostsensitiveofbstorians
Potential problem with anthropological accounts of soundscapes; the lack of constancy/consistency.
manyofthemrelatedtoindustrialandelectrictechnologyinthe world atlarge.
brings up a current point of contention within the music world. Where is music going? Are we undoing our progression in the development of melodic ensembles with the incorporation of noise groups and industrial acts, or are we moving towards more complexity in refining our tastes?
heear’sonlyprotectionisanelaboratepsychologicalmechanismforfiltering-tundesirablesoundinordertoconcentrateonwhatisdesirable
Similarly to how we can squint to narrow our focus in our vision, we passively train our ears to pick up certain content, whilst tuning out background clutter.
isthesoundscapeoftheworldanmeter^atecompositionoverwhichwehavenocontrol,orareitscomposers
i would say it is both, we contribute noises to the world in a way that it is a composition, but in other ways it is entirely random and forever changing unpredictably
Noisesarethesounds wehavelearnedtoignore.
this helped clarify what these authors meant by noises
Modernmanisbeginningtoinhabitaworldwithanacousticenvironmentradicallydifferentfromanyhehashithertokn
is this because of technology?
thesenseofhearingwasmorevitalthanthesenseofsight.ThewordofGod,thehistoryofthetribeandallotherimportantinformationwasheard,notseen
Schafer gives an argument for the importance of the study of sound by contending that the sense of sound preceded sight in terms of importance, as ancient times could more easily convey sounds via speaking than teaching a community to read, write, and gather necessary materials to do both. Sound is therefore a more natural form of communication, prompting the necessity to study it.
hereforethemusicofawell-orderedageiscalmandcheerfulandIfm^^lel
Schafer takes an approach of sound as not just a byproduct of culture and the state, but as a reflection of how the state is doing. Similar to how an immune system will react with a response of swelling and itching to a mosquito bite, music is feedback for a society to know when, and sometimes how, the culture is decaying or stabilizing.
JohnCagehasdeclared:“Musicissounds,soimdsarounduswhetherwe’reinoroutofconcerthalls:
this calls into question what constitutes sound itself, as Cage composed a piece consisting of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of utter silence (as mentioned in the paragraph below.) might the absence of sound still qualify as sound?
^^le
Dated. How do we even attempt to apply this theory to our current world?
Touchisthemostpersonalofthesenses.Hearingandtouchmeetwherethelowerfrequenciesofaudiblesoundpassovertotactilevibrations(atabout20hertz).Hearingisawayoftouchingatadistanceand theintimacyofthefirstsenseisfused withsociabilitywheneverpeoplegathertogethertohearsomethingspecial.
How deaf still enjoy "hearing" at EDM shows
Thereforethemusicofawell-orderedageiscalm
music is a product of its environment
There aretwobasicideasofwhatmusicisoroughttobe.Theymaybe seenmostclearlyin twoGreekmythsdealingwiththeoriginofmusic.Pindar’stwelfthPythian OdetellshowtheartofaulosplayingwasinventedbyAthenawhen,afterthebeheadingofMedusa,shewastouchedbytheheart-rendingcriesofMedusa’ssistersandcreatedaspecialnomosintheirhonor.InaHomerichymntoHermesanalternativeoriginismentioned.ThelyreissaidtohavebeeninventedbyHermeswhenhesurmisedthattheshelloftheturtle,ifusedasabodyofresonance,couldproducesound
music being produced by emotion vs music being produced by noise/convenience
Itdevolvesonusnow to inventasubjectwhichwemightcallacousticdesign,anmterdisciplmeinwhichmusicians,acousticians,psychologists,sociologistsandotherswouldstudy^theworldsoundscapetogetherinordertomakeintelligentrecommendationsforitsimprovement.
is this particularly necessary? overkill?
Thisisanegativeapproach.Wemustseekawaytomakeenvironmentalacousticsapositivestudy program
alludes to the fact noise is considered bad in most areas of sound studies
nvariouspartsof theworldimportantresearchisbeingundertakeninmany independent areasofsonicstudies:acoustics,psychoacoustics,otology,internationalnoiseabatementpracticesandprocedures,communicationsandsoundrecordingengineering(electroacousticsandelectronicmusic),auralpatternperceptionandthestructuralanalysisoflanguageandmusic.
key methods of analysis
Allresearchintosoundmustconcludewithsilenceathoughtwhichmustawaititsdevelopmentinthefinal chapters
silence also hass to do with soundscape and is just as important
Togiveatotallyconvincingimageofasoundscapewouldmvolveextraordmaryskillandpatience:thousandsofrecordmgs would havetobemade;tensofthousandsofmeasurementswouldhavebetaken;andanewmeansofdescriptionwould havetobedevised
soundscape is more complex
nthefirstofthesemythsmusicarisesassubjectiveemotion;intheseconditariseswiththediscoveryofsonicpropertiesinthematerialsoftheuniverse
physical vs spiritual
Thisstudywouldconsistofdocumentingimportantfeatures,ofnotingdifferences,paraUelsandtrends,ofcollectingsounds threatenedwithextinction,ofstudyingtheeffectsof newsoundsbeforetheyarem'sOTi^atelyreleasedintotheenvironment,ofstudyingtherichsymbolismsounsaveformanandofstudyinghumanbehaviorpatternsindifferentsonic environmentsmordertousetheseinsightsinplanningfiitureenvironmentsforman
key features of studying sound
odernmanisbeginningtoinhabitaworldwithanacousticenvironmentradicallydifferentfromanyhehashithertokn
more buzzes to grab peoples attention (like phones)
hearingisasensethatimmersesusintheworld,whilevisionremovesusfi-omit
Hearing is inclusive while viewing is exclusive. Viewing has the power to admit judgement between individuals. Seeing changes the perception of the thing more easily than through hearing.
Soundstudiesworkisconsciousofitsown historicity.Soundstudentsareawarethattheyarepartofanongoingconversationaboutsoundthatspanseras,traditions,places,anddisciplines;theyarealsoawareofthespecifichistoriesofinquiringaboutand-writingaboutsoundintheirhomedisciplines
Seems a little optimistic.
seeingandhearingarestilloftenassociatedwithasetofpresumedandsomewhatcliched attributes,aconfigurationIcallthe audiovisuallitany
hearing and seeing interact with on another in order to provide better understandings
sotoohassoundstudiesarisenfromthesamefeltneed—thatnoonefield sapproachtoortakeonsoundisenough.
sound studies is much more than a traditionally academic field, it's a product of multicultural and studies
aringisasensethatimmersesusintheworld,whilevisionremovesusfi-omit
Hearing is what brings us in the world, sight is what removes us from it. Ex: there's that coca cola commercial where a bunch of people are put in a room without any light. They are all talking to each other, and become friends. The light turns on and a caucasian male is surprised he was talking to an african american male with a tattoo on his face the whole time. Sight has become a means of drawing distinction between people who are actually alike.
Mostsoundstudentsare alsosomethingelse:historians,philosophers,musicologists,anthropologists,literarycritics,arthistorians,geographers,orresidentsofoneofthemanyotherpostwar“studies”fields—^mediastudies,disabihtystudies,cinemastudies,culturalstudies,genderstudies,scienceand technologystudies,postcolonialstudies,communication studies,queerstudies,Americanstudiesandonandon.
Implies that sound studies are normally combined with another discipline. Further adding to the idea that the studies are not exactly standalone. As sound and interpretation is subjective, other disciplines combined with sound studies lend breadth to each other.
dtheirwork,howeveritiscategorized).Weshouldn’tbetooliteralisticinstakingoutboundaries—definingafieldistrickyandtoooftengetsovertakenbycontestsforacademicauthority
Suggests that categorizing that which isn't associated with sound studies is easier than identifying what is. Also notes that the boundaries delineating sound studies are quite porous; the distinction between sound studies and the other examples he cites are blurred.
tberhythmiccryoftheslave—standsto-daynotsimplyasthesoleAmericanmusic,butasthemostb
sound studies before sound studies as we know of it today
Itcanbeginfromobvliuslysonicphenomenalikdspeech, hearing,soundtechnologies,architecture,art,ormusic.
we underestimate the power of sound as it can assist us learning in all of these different parts of human life
naway,wehaveno choice: the academicstudyofsoundneedstobeginsomewhereanditbelongsinmanyhomesinmanydisciplines,solongasitalsoreachesacrossthem.
Sterne admits the academic study of sound is not an easy one, but it needs to start somewhere
youwilljoingenerationsofintellectuals,whohaveliftedtheir earstowardthesonicairspacearoundthem,takenstockofit,andreactedtothechangestheyheard
This sentence seems to imply that the study of sound rests solely on generations of intellectuals; they are the ones who study, define, and categorize sound. In a way, the text suggests that the common man is left out of this phenomenon of classifying novel sounds.
Wemustnotautomaticallytakeanydiscourseaboutsoundinitsownterms,butratherinterrogatethetermsuponwhichitisbuilt.
characterizes the relationship between sound and language--discussions of sound have given rise to a new vocabulary for sound students
arawayfamouslyusedvisionmetaphorstodescribeperspectiveasaconstitutivefeatureofepistemology,butonecoulduseauditionjustaseasily.
implies that audio and visual metaphors are equally effective
eopleinpositionsofpowerallover19th-centuryEuropeweresoworkedupaboutthedifferentstandardsfororchestraltuningthatmanycountriespassedlawstoresolvetheproblem.'
demonstrates the close relationship between sound/music and how each is often conflated with the other; additionally, the extent to which sound has infiltrated society, from the personal (entertainment) to the political (legislation)
fanotherfieldofknowledgereplacedpsychoacousticsincommimication engineering,everythingfromtelephonestotaperecordersto MP3swouldsoimd,workandmeandifferentlythantheydotoday.
see: recent work on 3D sound rather than L/R, due to advances in understanding how our brain processes the delay of sounds between each ear
vectorsofpoweranddiffere
Not to mention: if sound is purely subjective as argued on the previous page, can you ever really obtain a deeper knowledge of sound itself, or is it limited to a more academic knowledge of others' subjective experiences (+histories)?
Nowthinkofwhatthepreviousgenerationofsoundsmusthavereplaced,andwhatthosesoundsandtheirworldsreplacedinturn.
I'm reminded of a prediction of future city design which I read several years ago, written in the early 20th century when we were still deeply infatuated by the automobile. The author seemed to think that public areas could coexist with cars--an illustration of a several-lane roundabout with a park in the center particularly comes to mind. What the author didn't take into account: streets of the future ended up being unpleasantly loud.
thereareintimateconnectionsbetweenrehgiousthought anddevotionalsong andhstetiing;rhetoricand oratory; tropicsandhterature;lexiconsofconventionafizedsoundaestheticsandsounddesignforeverythingfrommoviestocarsandgames
inescapable
oimdstudentsrecognizesoundasaproblem
key assumption
ItIStemptingtocallsoundstudiesaresponsetoourchangingsonicworld__anditisthat.
it is both a response to and part of out changing sonic world, theoretically something that has always existed, not necessarily always literary
yanalyzingbothsonicpracticesandthediscoursesandinstitutionsthatdescribethem,itredescribeswhatsoimddoesinthehumanworld,andwhathumansdointhesonicworld
basic definition of sound studies
soniccultureischaracterizedbythetensionsheldwithinitsconfigurationofdifferenceandsameness
the difference between noticing vs. not noticing; what can be usual to someone is unusual to someone else
Despitethereahtiesbeingsomewhatdifferent,seeingandhearingarestilloftenassociatedwithasetofpresumedandsomewhatcliched attributes,aconfigurationIcallthe audiovisuallitany
alludes to the idea that hearing is more important than sight
Itisthecapacitytorangefromthemost impersonalandremotetransformationstothemostintimatefeaturesofthehumanself
sound can range from intimate and personal
Newthematicconferencesonsoundpopupeachyear.^
Indeed, I just went to the 1st annual Mixing Convention in Brooklyn a month or so ago!
Soundiscertainlymorethanahumanproblem—^wecantalkofanimals’hearing,ofunderwatersound,orsoundonotherplanets
ustasworkonvisualcultureandmaterialculture tookoffwhenwritersinfields likearthistory,literature,culturalstudies,history,anthropology,andmanyotherfieldsreahzed that they wereallworkingon related problemsandwouldbenefitfromtalkingwithanother,sotoohassoundstudiesarisenfromthesamefeltneed—thatnoonefield sapproachtoortakeonsoundisenough.
this history of sound relates to and is just as important to the history of literature because it to describes the culture around the time period
treachesacrossregisters,mon^ntsandspaces,anditthinksacrossdisciplinesandtraditions,somethathavelong'ionsideredsound,andsomej.Soimdstud^ isacademic,butitcanalsomovebeyondtheuniversity.Itcanbeginfromobvliuslysonicphenomenalikdspeech, hearing,soundtechnologies,architecture,art,ormusic.
the study of sound is multifaceted
Nowthinkofwhatthepreviousgenerationofsoundsmusthavereplaced,andwhatthosesoundsandtheirworldsreplacedinturn.
emphasizes the importance of time period and how sounds have changed even though their meaning may have been the same or similar
Tothinksonicallyistothink conjuncturallyaboutsoundandculture:eachofthewriters■!havequotedaboveusedsoundtoaskbigquestionsabouttheirculturalmomentsandthecrisesandproblemsoftheirtime.Soundstudies’challengeistothinkacrosssounds,toconsidersonicphenomenainrelationshiptooneanother—astjpesojsonicphenomenaratherthanasthings-in-themselves
sound studies is super interdependent with society and culture - society/culture create sound which changes society/culture so they create a new sound
Professionalassociationsinalmosteveryfieldofthehumanscienceshavedevotedpanelstosoundinoneformoranother
Because sounds are so essential to our daily life
hecontextsinwhichtheyhappen,thewaysofhearingornot-hearingattachedtothem,thepractices,peopleandinstitutionsassociated withthem?
Sounds have mostly been simple sensations. We are exposed to sounds so frequent that we often ignore the contexts and informations behind them that can be meaningful and valuable.
thepowertoreproducesoimdusedtobelongtothegods
just like everything else