[microsound] Sound Ideas

[Aden Evens <aden@xxxxxxx>]

Dear microsounders,

Pardon the self-promotion. I've published a book that I believe many of  
you would be interested to hear about. Sound Ideas: Music, Machines,  
and Experience (University of Minnesota Press) is a book about the ways  
in which technologies, especially digital technologies, shape our  
experiences of sound. It considers the experiences of listener,  
performer, composer, acoustician, and more, asking how technology  
(including musical instruments, stereos, computers, etc.) intersects  
with aesthetics in these experiences.

This is an academic book, though it is readable by any thoughtful  
person. No particular background is necessary. However, the book  
crosses so many disciplines (philosophy, cultural theory, mathematics,  
computer science, musicology, psychoacoustics) that every reader will  
likely find some sections challenging. I suspect that the members of  
this list-serv are especially qualified to read it (and I hope that  
some of you will!). In any case, technical concepts are carefully but  
succinctly explained for the lay person. Musical examples are drawn  
primarily from twentieth-century musics, including minimalism, drone  
music, electronica, glitch, and others, with plenty of relevance for  
the microsound "genre." My main philosophical influence is Gilles  
Deleuze, but the emphasis in Sound Ideas  is on original thought, and  
there is very little rehearsal of the theories of others.

If you want more information or a sample of the writing, or if you have  
any questions, please get in touch. I'm here on the list.

If you want to read the book, check the usual places, like, uh,  
libraries and bookstores. Here's an Amazon link:  
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/081664537X/ 
qid=1121437682/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-7115032-2976126? 
v=glance&s=books&n=507846.

Cheers,

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             A d e n
        ****  ***  ****

Assistant Professor of Technical Communication
Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies
MIT
aden@xxxxxxx