Re: [microsound] unintentional sound

[Aaron Ximm <ghede@xxxxxxxx>]

I wrote:
> > A logical conclusion from the premise of phonography ("unintentional
> > sound is worth listening to")

Kim asked:
> could you define 'unintentional sound'?

I meant only: sound that is of [aesthetic] interest by fact of our
attention to it -- as opposed to by the intent we could reasonably ascribe
to its creator. (Our attention may be tickled by properties within the
unintentional shared with familiar intentional sound, of course...!)

Phonographically, this means, on either end of the spectrum: most
musicians play instruments to be heard; the sounds made by most machines
are "waste," undesired or arbitrary byproducts.

More interesting (from this attempt to classify) are sounds away from the
extremes: ritual sound (eg prayer); functional speech; natural soundscape
eg flowing water and weather; animal communications -- there's a continuum
of intent I believe we might ascribe to each.

I'm interested in because I embrace the notion that we have much to learn
from the serendipitous (read: accidental, unintended...).

Again ~ this does seem to be a point where phonography and microsound
intersect in an interesting way.

Fwiw I find myself projecting ideas from "glitch" and "accident"
aesthetics I read about on this group, towards a notion of "detritus"
soundscape.

I might say: "the rhythms of a manual printing press are arguably the
result of a 'glitch' or oversight in its design and construction, or
perhaps a necessary but unexamined consequence of those things..."

The analogy might continue in more subtle ways; for example, I feel
acoustic ecological concerns about "the noise problem" often seem to
oversimplify the question of what noise is -- e.g. one person's noise is
another person's "soundmark," even within the frame of reference of a lot
of acoustic ecological discourse itself.

Which is another way of saying, yesterday's noise is tommorow's
masterpiece -- and perhaps today's cutting edge.

 best,
  aaron

  ghede@xxxxxxxx
  http://www.quietamerican.org

  |  quod omne animal post   |
  |  cogitum est triste...   |


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