The Sound of Music

Sound, omnipresent, inescapable, and most importantly, everywhere. 

The core point of this week’s lectorial discussion was sound, and the different ways which media practitioners may manipulate and craft specific sounds in order to gain attention and reaction without visual.

We started by contemplating the difference between listening and hearing. What was concluded was that listening brings on a distinctive attitude or approach through experience; listening is what occurs when unwanted sounds are cancelled out, and a single outlet is tuned into. However, hearing simply just occurs, it is the act of perceiving by the ear. Listening is intentional, and requires concentration, however hearing is always happening.

The class was then confronted with the term “Deep Listening” paired with John Cage’s performance of 4’33” (1952), which I am going to discuss further in a later post as it was quite an intriguing and thought provoking exercise which allowed me to further question what listening actually involves, and how uncomfortable it actually may make us.

We think started contemplating what sound actually consisted of: where it was discovered that sound is created by wavelengths which move particles and creative vibrations, some of which are possible to feel or touch with our bodies. To hear is actually to perceive air pressure changing and manipulating itself in unique manner.

this led us onto discuss the components of sound and also the musical elements of sound, which included: pitch, timbre, loudness, harmonics, and rhythm. I’m not a music student so that really was not my forte, however it was quite interesting to now know what all of those musical terms actually meant so that I can maybe one day apply that knowledge to my media career. The types of sound which we learnt about included Foley, diegetic/non-diegetic, intentional ect.

After an activity which allowed us to dissect a piece of sound media, we were taught about the specific affordances which sounds offers, this included:

• ability to make you uncomfortable
• omnipresent
• can be heard by people who cannot read / see
• precise
• physical / embodied
• specific spatial information conveyed
• often is portable

It was very interesting learning about sound and its different mechanisms and elements, I’m looking forward to sharing more of my findings here soon! Listed below are some of my notes from the lectorial.

NOTES:

SOUND:

– the term was first used by psych JJ gibson in 1977 but has become v popular in design thinking

• when applied to media production context  is refers to the specific and unique attributes (or functions) that a medium may have
• The sense is difficult to turn off, we are always absorbing, takes consciousness to filter undesirable noise
• The eye points outwards the ear draws inwards

LISTENING VS HEARING:

• distinctive attitude or approach that can be brought to bear on a listening experience
• hearing just happens, is is the ability of perceiving sound by the ear
• listening is intentional – you consciously choose to do it & it requires concentration

DEEP LISTENING:

• attuning our ears
• practices of dialogue
• procedure for investigation
• interpretation
• rethink the meaning, nature and significance of our social experience
• rethink our relation to community
• rethink power
• rethink relational experience (self, place, others, ect.)

4’33” (1952) By John Cage (1912-1992) (blog post)

• performed by the very first time, grand piano, quite a lot of money, interested, in walks the performer, opens piano, and just sits there. A few movements, walks off stage.
• That is the performance, sitting on your seat, feeling uncomfortable, sitting quietly and listening
• start to hear your own blood, your own functions, quite a profound piece.

WHAT IS SOUND:

• sound is created by physical vibrations, that set molecules into motion, SOUND WAVES
• sound waves travel into your ear, electrical signals, nerves, brain
• what cam you hear, what cant you hear?
• experiencing sound – psychoacoustics:
• complex interaction with physics, physiology, sensation, perception and cognition
• To hear is to experience air pressure changing, waves changing. Waves of pressure propagate from the sound source, causing, overtime a fluctuation, of the air pressure in the surrounding space.

COMPONENTS OF SOUND:

• compressions in which particles are crowded together appear as upward curves in the line.
• the refractions in which particles are spread apart
• SOUND WAVE – wavelength, frequency, amplitude
• MUSICAL COMPONENTS:
• pitch: high or low sound, low frequency
• timbre: uniqueness, combination, character, can change with autotune or tech
• harmonic: range of vibrations, set coming together, c on piano, c on guitar is different, different set of frequency.
• loudness: intensity of the sound
• rhythm: recurring sound
• TEMPORAL ASPECTS: attack, sustain, decay

TYPES OF SOUND:

• The auditory experience can be classified into 3 classes
• we immediately hear only sounds & their attributes (loudness, location, duration)

• we hear sounds and their sources
• we hear beyond the sound, and their sources
• TYPES OF SOUND:
• intentional sound
• music
• sounds
• noise (unintended, a sound that disturbs or harms, unwanted)
• FOLEY

LISTENING EXERCISE: THIRD COAST  FESTIVAL

ARE THERE SOUNDS THAT REPULSE YOU???

SOUND PERSPECTIVE:

Aural semiotics:

• semiotic code of sound place the listener in a mediated/imaged relationship

SOUND MARK:

refers to a community sound which is unique, or possesses qualities which make is specifically regarded or noticed the people in that community. e.e ajaxmac

AFFORDANCES OF SOUND: communication medium

• precise
• felt, physical/embodied
• uncomfortable
• specific spatial and directional information
• it can be very intimate, because is can communicate very delicate information (e.g whisper)
• when listening you can be doing other things. It is often possible
• listening is portable, and you can do other things while you listen