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[microsound] Urban sounds in music



In two weeks I'll give a lecture illustrated with music examples about the
use of urban sounds in (experimental, maybe a little pop) music.
The basic idea is that in life, urban noise is a kind of sonic background
(with more or
less discernible components) from which distinct sounds as signs can
"emerge" -
e.g. the sound of a tram etc.
When moved to the musical context these sounds are changed and
according to the context they acquire a place
somewhere on a scale that ranges from signs (e.g. the sound of cars in
a pop songs) to pure sounds (where
the origin doesn't matter, only sonic qualities).
These are only two extremes, neither of
which exists: in music, no sound can be just a sign (sonic qualities
always matter), and even if there are pure sounds (I doubt that),
they can't have any "origin" thus can't be called urban sounds.
But nevertheless we can well place music using urban sounds on that scale.
For example, field recordings have an interesting stand somewhere in the
middle: they're "documents" which means they're signs, but removing these
sounds from the natural world (just be recording them) makes their sonic
qualities to stand out, to be perceivable for the listener for the first
time.

What I ask you is to recommend music to use as examples (downloadable
releases are mostly welcome) and recommend some essays (that can be read
online) about that topic. Of course any comments on the thoughts outlined
above are also welcome.

Thanks,
r.a