Re: [microsound] unintentional sound

[Bill Jarboe <billjarboe@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

hi,

   the problem i'm having with your proposal is in the use of the word 
unintentional. intentional , premeditated , habitual are all terms 
which need not mean the same thing. more specifically: just because 
something happens , or happens differently from what a person might 
expect ; doesn't remove it from the sphere of intention.

  i think you are onto something though.

 my suggestion is that a more fertile area of endeavor might lie in the 
exploration of one's intentions or lack of intentions and the relation 
to other's intentions or lack thereof.

  i''ll try to give you a couple examples.

 recently i've made recordings , mostly of acoustic instruments , sound 
ideas , and so forth and then listened to them outside in order to get 
an idea how the music works in a social context. sometimes a series of 
noises which all seemed pretty much the same indoors will each have a 
distinct character and perhaps even distinct functions. sometimes 
someone will try to unnerve me by saying something harsh while  i'm 
listening to these carefully compiled sounds and at the same instant 
there will be (for example) an extremely loud and short guitar burst 
which compliments the voice and the result is a micro hard rock song 
which sounds nice.

 it's rather like studying a language trying to discover what it is i'm 
saying.


  another recording i listened to recently is a live c.d. by 
'rebreather' (christopher delaurenti and alex keller) a duo which deals 
with attention , intention and (at least it seems to my audio 
receptors) a commonality and separateness between individuals. i was 
listening along , not thinking of anything in particular , and then i'd 
have an unusual thought and at the same instant , for exactly the same 
duration as the thought , there would be a sound from the speakers that 
seemed to sort of compliment or back it up while at the same time being 
in a different realm , somehow. i found that anytime i thought of 
something or made a sound i didn't consider intentional , there would 
be a commentary at precisely the same instant.


  it seems to me most sounds people (or the higher organisms , for that 
matter) make are quite intentional , they might not be metronomic (in 
this case meaning having a clearly discernable pattern in a timeframe 
when taken out of context) or regimented. if a person puts a swiss army 
knife in the pocket with a hole , it's fairly certain it might fall out 
onto the floor at some point; it doesn't have to be at the top of the 
agenda. if a woman puts on a stiff silk dress and high heels she knows 
damn well she's going to be shish swishing and click  clicking.


  i hope this is help.


                                                                        
  Bill



On Sep 10, 2005, at 11:49 AM, Isjtar wrote:

> Hi list : ),
>
> I'm usually a digest reader, but for this topic, I'd like to have your 
> knowledge and opinions as this is easily the best place for it.
> I'm working a lot with unintentional sound, i.e. sound people make all 
> the time, unconsciously. Breathing, footsteps, moving clothing,...
> I like to base my installations on it and by interactivity search for 
> the tresholds to intentional sound, looking for patterns, making 
> people more aware of the sounds they make.
> In the future, I'd like to include pitch shifted ultra- and subsonic 
> sounds, cagean "small sounds" and the like.
>
> Anyway, before this turns into an essay, do you people have any info 
> on works that deal with this? have you dealt with it yourself? do you 
> find it an interesting concept? has it been done to death?
> It's for a research application, so don't be afreaid to get out the 
> academic stuff ; )
>
> well, that's that for now,


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