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On The Affective Power Of Quiet
“Not muteness: absence of linguistic noise.” — Alexandra Horowitz, Inside Of A Dog We have a very, very quiet two-year old dog named Sadie. Sadie hardly ever makes a sound, except when she sees a life-size furry animal on the TV, whereupon she lets out a combined growl-bark. But otherwise, Sadie is a study in quietude. I spend a… Continue reading
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From Geoff Dyer’s Criticism To Keith Jarrett’s Pianism
In his recent collection of essays, Otherwise Known As The Human Condition, novelist and critic Geoff Dyer writes beautifully and incisively about photography in a way that I wish more writers would (or could) write about music. Here is Dyer writing on Idris Khan’s work (pictured below) that digitally blends hundreds of photographs into a single composite image: “Each art… Continue reading
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On Max Neuhaus: The Sound Installation In Times Square
If you walk over the metal grating smack in the middle of the pedestrian island between 45th and 46th street where Broadway and 7th Avenue meet, slow down a little and listen closely to the space beneath your feet: you’ll notice a subtle shift in the soundscape around you. There is a mysterious low-pitched humming… Continue reading
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On David Eagleman’s Incognito: How We Know What We Know
The field of neuroscience is hot these days, and I suspect that it will continue to get hotter still as it explains away more and more of the mysteries of how our minds work. Case in point: David Eagleman’s recent book Incognito: The Secret Lives Of The Brain is a whirlwind, high-definition look at the neural underpinnings of our… Continue reading
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On Tim Hecker’s Ravedeath, 1972: How Do You Know When A Music Is Really Good?
There’s an often unremarked upon aspect of music listening/music appreciation that has to do with how we know when a piece of music is really good. I’m not talking about the European classical or pop music “classics”–from Mozart concertos to Beatles’ songs (choose your poison!)–that have come our way practically with stickers attached to them announcing their proven historical importance. … Continue reading
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On Soundscape Listening And Moshing
Last weekend I was in Montreal for the IASPM Canada (International Association For The Study Of Popular Music, Canada) meeting at McGill University where I gave a paper on an iPhone soundscape app called Ambiance. My research explores how Ambiance users listen to ambient nature sounds for therapeutic purposes–to relax, to relieve stress, to sleep, etc. Over forty years after R. Murray… Continue reading
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On The Allure Of The Worn
If you’re a smartphone user, you may have noticed the plethora of apps for your phone that allow you to process the photos you take on it. Among the most popular apps are FX PhotoStudio and Hipstamatic. For the average user (that would be most of us), the appeal of these apps is their ability to… Continue reading
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On Techlust: Native Instruments’ Maschine
I’m at Tekserve, in the audio department, and I spot a beauty: Native Instruments’ Maschine, a hardware-software rhythm machine. I move in for a closer inspection. Its top is made of metal and I run my fingers across the smooth, cool brushed surface. I pick up the musical object off the display table and assess… Continue reading
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Sports On TV As Ambient Sound
In our apartment we “watch” a fair amount of European soccer (that’s real football for you fans of American football). I put the word “watch” in quotation marks because for me, the games are on as much for their sound as for their visual action. Don’t get me wrong: watching the games unfold and seeing the physical ballet of the… Continue reading
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