Noise & Silence
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On Music In Its Context: Noise Musicians Improvising In The Subway
The Union Square subway station in New York City is a pretty loud place. As the N, R, L, 4, 5, and 6 trains pull into the station there’s some serious, 90-plus decibel metallic screeching happening when the cars hit their breaks and come to a stop. Given this noisy soundscape, I was both surprised Continue reading
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On Our Din And Roar II: How Noise Is Not Always Bad And Quiet Not Always Good
On my last blog post, I may have inadvertently given readers the impression that I wear earplugs wherever I go, so intent I am in the pursuit of some kind of urban quiet. (One worried family member even weighed in: “When you wear the earplugs, do you miss any cautionary sounds–like the sound of an Continue reading
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The Sound of Vuvuzelas
“I hate it when I go to a vuvuzela concert and then people start playing football! It’s so annoying!” – YouTube viewer In last month’s Wire magazine, Marcus Boon wrote a thoughtful end piece on the phenomenon of vuvuzelas at last summer’s World Cup in South Africa. If you remember, vuvuzelas are those small plastic Continue reading
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Garret Keizer On Noise And The Logic Of The Loud
In his remarkable book, The Unwanted Sound Of Everything We Want (2010), Garret Keizer asks seeks meaningful answers to big questions about that most ubiquitous species of sound that surrounds almost all of us today: noise. He wants to understand what our world sounds like, as well as how we would like it to sound, so he talks Continue reading
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Reading About Silence
I’ve been enjoying George Prochnik’s recent book, “In Pursuit Of Silence.” He articulates sentiments of many who live in densely noisy urban places: What is the effect of noise on our body-minds? How does silence heal? And how can we pursue the idea of silence in the midst of noise? As a frequent headphone wearer Continue reading
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