II. Histories of Sound

1. Listening to History / Histories of Listening

2. Histories of Sound and Technology

3. Acoustic Archives

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

• Listening to History

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

• Listening to History • Aural history

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

• Listening to History• Aural history

And how are they listening?

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

• Listening to History• Aural history

And how are they listening?• Histories of Listening

Why are historians now beginning to listen to the past?

• Listening to History• Aural history

And how are they listening?• Histories of Listening• History of aurality

Listening to History / Histories of Listening:

1. Bells, identity, 19th Century French village (Corbin)

2. The soundscape of modernity (Thompson)

3. Feminist historiography of electronic music (Rodgers)

1. Identity, Bells, and the 19th Century French Village

The Village of Roussillon, Provence, France

“In the nineteenth century, at least in the countryside, bell ringing defined a space within which only fragmented discontinuous noises were heard, none of which could really vie with the bell tower.” (p. 185)

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity• “Sacral recharging of the surrounding

space” (p. 185)

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity• “Sacral recharging of the surrounding

space” (p. 185)• Orientation

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity• “Sacral recharging of the surrounding

space” (p. 185)• Orientation• Prophylactic virtue

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity• “Sacral recharging of the surrounding

space” (p. 185)• Orientation• Prophylactic virtue• To ‘rarefy’ the air (p. 189)

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

• Marking territorial identity• “Sacral recharging of the surrounding

space” (p. 185)• Orientation• Prophylactic virtue• To ‘rarefy’ the air (p. 189)• Temporal marker

The functions of bells in the 19th century French countryside:

What language and names are inscribed on these bronze bells?

What language and names are inscribed on these bronze bells?

Who has bells rung in their honor?

“Through bells an individual was better able to apprehend the identity of the group to which he belonged. They helped him locate himself in space and time. They audibly proclaimed to him the order of the society within which his life unfolded, and made manifest the power of the constituted authorities” (p. 200)

2. The Soundscape of Modernity

Thompson’s definition of soundscape:

“I define the soundscape as an auditory or aural landscape. Like a landscape, a soundscape is simultaneously a physical environment and a way of perceiving the environment; it is both a world and a culture constructed to make sense of the world. The physical aspect of a soundscape consists not only of the sounds themselves, the waves of acoustical energy permeating the atmosphere in which people live, but also the material objects that create, and sometimes destroy, those sounds."

(p. 116) 

Thompson’s definition of soundscape:

“I define the soundscape as an auditory or aural landscape. Like a landscape, a soundscape is simultaneously a physical environment and a way of perceiving the environment; it is both a world and a culture constructed to make sense of the world. The physical aspect of a soundscape consists not only of the sounds themselves, the waves of acoustical energy permeating the atmosphere in which people live, but also the material objects that create, and sometimes destroy, those sounds."

(p. 116) 

• The American soundscape underwent a particularly dramatic transformation in the years between 1900-1933

• Sounds became signals - a new criterion by which the evaluate them - located in the new electrical technologies

• The opening of Symphony Hall in Boston (1900)

and the opening of Radio City Music Hall in New York (1932) frames the period covered by the book

The Soundscape of Modernity:

The Symphony Hall in Boston,1904

The Symphony Hall today

The Radio City Music Hall in New York,1937

Radio City Music Hall today

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)• Non-reverberant

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)• Non-reverberant• Many different places begin to sound

alike

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)• Non-reverberant• Many different places begin to sound

alike• Easy to understand

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)• Non-reverberant• Many different places begin to sound

alike• Easy to understand• Efficient

Thompson describes the emergence of a new, modernist sound. Define it:

• An object of scientific scrutiny• Controlled (a "good sound”)• Non-reverberant• Many different places begin to sound

alike• Easy to understand• Efficient • Had little to say about the places in

which it was produced and consumed

"...if most of sounds of the past are gone for good, they have nonetheless left behind a rich record of their existence in the artifacts, the people, and the cultures that once brought them forth. By starting here, with the solidity of technological objects and material practices of those who designed, built, and used them, we can begin to recover the sounds that have long since melted into air. Along with those sounds, we can recover more fully our past." (p. 125-126)

3. Towards A Feminist Historiography of Electronic Music

Rodger’s historiography:

Rodger’s historiography:

• Origins stories (e.g. Russolo’s Art of Noises) tend to normalize hegemonic cultural practices

Rodger’s historiography:

• Origins stories (e.g. Russolo’s Art of Noises) tend to normalize hegemonic cultural practices

• The tools for making electronic music are not innocent

Rodger’s historiography:

• Origins stories (e.g. Russolo’s Art of Noises) tend to normalize hegemonic cultural practices

• The tools for making electronic music are not innocent

• Cagian silence

Rodger’s historiography:

• Origins stories (e.g. Russolo’s Art of Noises) tend to normalize hegemonic cultural practices

• The tools for making electronic music are not innocent

• Cagian silence• The logic of reproduction

Rodger’s historiography:

• Origins stories (e.g. Russolo’s Art of Noises) tend to normalize hegemonic cultural practices

• The tools for making electronic music are not innocent

• Cagian silence• The logic of reproduction• Works by women electronic musicians

suggest different, more imaginative ways to navigate this history

Let’s go listen and watch!

For Thursday: Link the listening practice, acoustic experience, or sound object you are writing about in your autobiographical essay to one of the historiographies we are studying this week:

• Bells, identity, and 19th Century French Village life (Corbin)

• The Soundscape of Modernity (Thompson)• Feminist Historiography of Electronic Music

(Rodgers)

Post on class blog as your discussion questions for this week.