the world’s din - otago · the world’s din is a beautifully written account that will delight...
TRANSCRIPT
N E W T I T L E I N F O R M AT I O N
OTAG O U N I V E R S I T Y
P R E S S
PUBLICATION DETAILSThe World’s Din
Listening to records, radio and films
in New Zealand 1880–1940
Peter Hoar
Otago University Press
www.otago.ac.nz/press
NZ history
230 x 150 mm, 288 pp,
pb, photos throughout
ISBN 978-1-98-853119-9, $45
IN-STORE: MAR 2018See below for ordering information
The World’s DinListening to records, radioand films in New Zealand1880–1940
Peter Hoar
SELLING POINTS
• Fascinating story of how recorded sound changed NZ society.
• Highly readable, entertaining account.
• Aimed at the general reader.
New Zealanders started hearing things in new ways when new audio technologies arrived from overseas in the late 19th century. From the first public demonstration of a phonograph in a Blenheim hall in 1879, people were exposed to a succession of machines that captured and transmitted sounds – through radio, cinema and recordings.
In The World’s Din, Peter Hoar documents the arrival of the first such ‘talking machines’, and their growing place in New Zealanders’ public and private lives, through the years of radio to the dawn of television.
In so doing, he chronicles a ‘sonic revolution’ in how New Zealanders heard the world. The change was radical, signifying a defining break from the past. Human experience of the world changed forever during the late 19th and early 20th centuries because we learned to store and replay sounds and moving images. ‘Audio’ since then has been a continued refinement of the original innovation, even in the contemporary era of digital sound, with iPods, streaming audio and Spotify.
The World’s Din is a beautifully written account that will delight music-lovers and technophiles everywhere.
Without further ado, it is time to crank the gramophone, or tune the wireless, or open the Jaffa box as the cinema lights dim, and hearken to the richness and variety of listening in New Zealand’s past soundscapes.
AUTHOR
Dr Peter Hoar has taught radio and media history at Auckland University of Technology for 20 years. Before joining AUT he worked in radio, television and journalism and is also a qualified librarian. His research interests are in the field of sound studies, particularly in history, listening practices and technology. He regularly contributes concert reviews to Radio New Zealand Concert’s arts programme Upbeat as well as documentaries on composers and music. Peter is a passionate believer in the need for well-funded public media.
Order all Otago books from Nationwide Book Distributors/ www.nationwidebooks.co.nz/ [email protected]/ Ph: 03 312 1603/ Fax: 03 312 1604