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Soundstudies
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SoundStudiesisaninterdisciplinaryfield,whichlooksatthemanydifferentwayssoundhasdifferedthroughout
history,withanemphasisonkeepingthescopebroad.Itcanbebrokenupintosixmainparts,accordingtothe
workofJonathanSterne.Theseare:Hearing,Listening,DeafnessSpaces,Sites,ScapesTransduceandRecord
CollectivitiesandCouplingsAesthetics,Experiences,InterpretationandVoices.

Thebasicresearchmethodsandapproachesofsoundstudiesisstillbeingdeterminedbythosewithinit,generally
splitalongthelinesofaculturalanthropologicalapproach(VeitErlmannandHolgerSchulze)andonethatismore
inlinewithtraditionalscientifictechnologicalstudies(AdvocatedbythejournalSocialStudiesofScience).

Soundscholarslookatwaysinwhichsoundinteractswiththeworldaroundit,andthewaysinwhichhumans
interactwiththatsound.Someareinterestedinreactionandchangeandsomefocusmoreonenduring,true
sound.

Contents
1 HearingandListening
2 Spaces,SitesandScapes
3 TransduceandRecord
4 Seealso
5 References
6 Furtherreading
7 Externallinks

HearingandListening
Twosignificantcategoriestowhatwehearandpayattentiontoarenaturalandtechnologicalsounds.Accordingto
R.MurraySchaeffer(throughasurveyofquotesintheliterature),theproportionofnaturesoundsheardand
noticedamongEuropeanauthorshasdecreasedoverthepasttwocenturiesfrom43%to20%,butnotforNorth
America,whereithasstayedaround50%.Additionally,theproportionoftechnologicalsoundsmentionedin
literaturehasstayedaround35%forEurope,butdecreasedinNorthAmerica.Whiletechnologicalincreaseshave
notbeensonicallynoticed,thedecreaseinsilencehasbeennoticed,from19%to9%.[1]

Fortheideaoflistening,objectscanbeconsideredauditorilyascomparedtovisually.Theobjectsthatareableto
beexperiencedbysightandbysoundcanbethoughtofinavenndiagram,withmuteandvisibleobjectsinthe
visioncategory,withauralandinvisibleobjectsinthesoundcategory,andauralandvisibleobjectsinthe
overlappingcategory.Objectsthatdonotfallintoaspecificcategorycanbeconsideredbeyondthehorizonsof
soundandsight.Thecommondenominatorforauralobjectsismovement.[2]

Threemodesoflisteninghavebeenrecognizedcausallistening,semanticlistening,andreducedlistening.Causal
listening,themostcommon,consistsoflisteninginordertogatherideasaboutitssource.Soundinthiscaseis
informationalandcanbeusedtorecognizevoices,determinedistance,orunderstanddifferencesbetweenhumans
andmachines.Semanticlisteningiswhenasoundisnotonlyheardbutalsoprocessed.Whenasoundisgiven
meaningandcontext,asseeninspeechandfluentdialogue.Reducedlisteningfocusesonthetraitsofthesound
itselfregardlessofcauseandmeaning.[3]
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Spaces,SitesandScapes
Soundisheardthroughspace.Butthisdefiningofsoundandspaceisfurthernuancedbytheirinterdependent
existence,creation,anddissolution.Thisideaoftheacousticenvironmentanditssocialinextricabilityhasbecome
asourceofinterestwithinthefieldofsoundstudies.Criticaltothiscontemporarydiscussionofthesymbiotic
socialspaceandsonicspaceisR.MurraySchafersconceptofthesoundscape.Schaferusesthetermsoundscape
todescribe"atotalappreciationofthesonicenvironment,"and,throughsoundscapestudies,attemptstomore
holisticallyunderstand"therelationshipbetweenmanandthesoundsofhisenvironmentandwhathappenswhen
thosesoundschange,".[4]Inunderstandingtheenvironmentaseventsbeingheard,thesoundscapeisindicativeof
thesocialconditionsandcharacteristicsthatcreateit.Inindustrializedcities,thesoundscapeisindustrialnoises,in
arainforestthesoundscapeisthesoundofnature,andinanemptyspacethesoundscapeissilence.Moreover,the
soundscapeisarguedtoforetellfuturesocietaltrends.Thesoundscapeisnotjustrepresentativeoftheenvironment
whichsurroundsitbutitmakesupitsveryessence.Thesoundscapeistheenvironmentonawavelengththatis
auditoryratherthantactileorvisible,butverymuchasreal.

Schaffersconceptofthesoundscapehasbecomeahallmarkofsoundstudiesandisreferenced,builtupon,and
criticizedbywritersfromawidebreadthofdisciplinesandperspectives.Commonthemesexploredthroughthe
analysisofthesoundscapearetheconflictbetweennatureandindustry,theimpactoftechnologyonsound
productionandconsumption,theissueofculturalsoundvaluesandtheevolutionofacoustics,andthepower
dynamicsofsilenceandnoise.

TransduceandRecord
Ourperceptionofarecordedsoundsauthenticityhasbeengreatlyimpactedbythecommercialinfluenceof
capitalism.Eventhedeadnowprofitfromrecordingstheyvemade,makingmusicmoretimelessthanever
before.[5]Bringingthepastintothepresentgeneratesasenseoffamiliaritywhichcompelsthepublictoengagein
newformsoflistening.

InaMemorexcommercialinvolvingEllaFitzgeraldandChuckMangione,Fitzgeraldisunabletodiscernthe
differencebetweenaliveperformanceandarecordingofMangioneplayingthetrumpet.Thispresentsasceneto
viewerswhichsellscassettetapesasidealobjectsofhighfidelity,auditorypreservation.[6]Whatwasoncean
autonomicexperienceofmemorywhichintegratedvisualandauditorystimuli(livemusic)hasbecomea
consumableitemwhichpopularizesandcommodifiessonicmemoryexplicitly.

Partofthisshiftinthedynamicsofrecordedsoundhastodowithadesirefornoisereduction.Thisdesireis
representativeofamodeofrecordingreferredtobyscholarJamesLastraas"telephonic:"amodeinwhichsound
isregardedashavinghierarchicallyimportantqualities,withclarityandintelligibilitybeingthemostimportant
aspects.Thiscontrastswithphonographicrecording,whichgeneratesa"pointofaudition"fromwhichasenseof
spacecanbederived,sacrificingqualityforuniquenessandfidelity.[7]Thistechniqueisoftenusedinmoviesto
demonstratehowacharacterhearssomething(suchasmuffledvoicesthroughacloseddoor).Throughvarious
formsofmedia,recordedmusicaffectsourperceptionsandconsumptivepracticesmoreoftenthanwerealize.

Seealso
Audiophile

References

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1.Schafer,R.Murray(1994).TheSoundscape:OurSonicEnvironmentandtheTuningoftheWorld.Rochester,Vermont:
DestinyBooks.p.145.
2.Ihde,Don(1974).ListeningandVoice:APhenomenologyofSound.Athens:OhioUniversityPress.pp.4955.
3.Chion,Michel(1990).AudioVision:SoundonScreen.NewYork:ColombiaUniversityPress.pp.4853.
4.Schafer,R.Murray(1994).TheSoundscape:OurSonicEnvironmentandtheTuningoftheWorld.Rochester,Vermont:
DestinyBooks.pp.8,1.
5.Stanyek,JasonPiekut,Benjamin(2010).Deadness:TechnologiesoftheIntermundane.pp.1421&2738.
6.Mowitt,John(1987).TheSoundofMusicintheEraofitsElectronicReproducibility.NewYork:CambridgeUniversity
Press.pp.184197.
7.Lastra,James(2000).SoundTheory."FidelityVersusIntelligibility".NewYork:ColombiaUniversityPress.pp.138
143.

Furtherreading
R.MurraySchafer(1977),TheTuningoftheWorld,(consideredasthefirstcontributioninsoundstudies.)
R.MurraySchafer(1994),Thesoundscape.InTheSoundscape:OurSonicEnvironmentandtheTuningof
theWorld.Rochester,Vermont:DestinyBooks.pp.312
MichaelDoucet(1983),"Space,Sound,Culture,andPolitics:RadioBroadcastinginSouthernOntario".
CanadianGeographer/LeGographecanadienVolume27,Issue2,pages109127,June1983,[1](http://o
nlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.15410064.1983.tb01467.x/abstract)
JacquesAttali(1985),Noise:ThePoliticalEconomyofMusic
JohnPotts(1997),"IsThereaSoundCulture?",Convergence:TheInternationalJournalofResearchinto
NewMediaTechnologies,December1997,vol.3no.4,pp.1014
TrevorPinchandFrankTrocco(2002),AnalogDays
Thompson,Emily(2002),TheSoundscapeofModernity:ArchitecturalAcousticsandtheCultureof
ListeninginAmerica19001930.Cambridge:MITPress.pp.112
JonathanSterne(2003),TheAudiblePast
GeorginaBorn(1995),RationalizingCulture
GeorginaBorn(ed.)(2013),Music,SoundandSpace:TransformationsofPublicandPrivateExperience
PeterSzendy(2007),Listen,AHistoryofOurEars(theoriginalFrenchversion,Ecoute,unehistoiredenos
oreilles,waspublishedin2001)
MicheleHilmes(2005),"IsThereaFieldCalledSoundCultureStudies?AndDoesItMatter?",American
Quarterly,Volume57,Number1,March2005,pp.249259,[2](http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/am
erican_quarterly/v057/57.1hilmes.html)
HolgerSchulze&ChristophWulf(2007),Klanganthropologie
HolgerSchulze(2008),SoundStudies
specialissueon"ThePoliticsofRecordedSound"bySocialText102(http://www.socialtextjournal.org/jour
nal/issue102/)(2010),editedbyGustavusStadler.
VeitErlmann(2010),ReasonandResonance
TrevorPinch&KarinBijsterveld(2011),OxfordHandbookofSoundStudies
FlorenceFeiereisen&AlexandraMerleyHill(2011),GermanyintheLoudTwentiethCentury
KateCrawford(2009)"FollowingYou:DisciplinesofListeninginSocialMedia".Continuum:Journalof
MediaandCulturalStudiesVolume23,Issue4,pp.525535
ShuheiHosokawa(1984),"TheWalkmanEffect",PopularMusic4:16580
JamesLastra(2000),"FidelityVersusIntelligibility"pp.13843.NewYork:ColumbiaUniversityPress
KodwoEshun(1999).OperatingSystemfortheRedesignofSonicReality.London:QuartetBooks.
Goodman,Steve(2010)"TheOntologyofVibrationalForce"SonicWarfare:Sound,AffectandtheEcology
ofFearCambridge:MITPress.pp8184
DonIhde(1974).TheAuditoryDimension.InListeningandVoice:APhenomenologyofSound.Athens:
OhioUniversityPress.Pp.4955
JohnPicker(2003).VictorianSoundscapes.NewYork:OxfordUniversityPress.pp.4152.
MichaelBull(2008)SoundMoves:iPodCultureandUrbanExperience.London:Routledge.pp3949.

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Externallinks
EuropeanSoundStudiesAssociation(http://www.soundstudies.eu/)
AsyllabusfromagraduateseminaronSoundStudiestaughtbyJonathanSterneinthefallof2006.(http://st
erneworks.org/soundsyllabus06.pdf)
WeirdVibrations,asoundstudiesblog.(http://www.weirdvibrations.com)
SoundingOut!,asoundstudiesblog(http://soundstudiesblog.com)
AnthropologyofSound,asoundstudiesblog(http://anthropologyofsound.info)
MasterofArts:SoundStudies,studySoundStudiesattheUniversityofArtsBerlin(http://www.udkberlin.
de/sites/soundstudies/content/index_ger.html)
SoundStudiesLab,aresearchprojectonauditorycultureattheHumboldtUniversityofBerlin(http://www.
soundstudieslab.org)

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