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Senses & Society VOLUME 5, ISSUE 2

PP 212234

Senses&

Soc

iety

DOI:10.2

752/174589210

X12668381452845

Rethinking theSoundscape

A Critical Genealogy of a Key

Term in Sound Studies

Ari Y. Kelman

AbstrAct thi aile ake iial

iue wih he well-iulaed u oen

miapplied em oundape. coined

y canadian ompoe Muay shae

in hi ook the soundape, he emha eome one o he keywod o ound

udie, u in i wide iulaion i ha

eome dionneed om i oiginal

holaly onep and ued oadly o

apply o nealy any oni phenomenon.

shola eihe miapply i o edefne i o

ui hei need. thi aile i an aemp

o ae an inelleual hioy o genealogy

o he em, and o open a onveaion

aou he em ue, appliaion, and uiliy

o hola o ound. thi aile daw

on shae wok in an aemp o gound

he em in i own inelleual hioy,

and hen ae he ue o he em in a

vaiey o ound udie wok. the em

Ari Y. Kelman is an

assistant professor

of American Studies

at the University of

California, Davis.

He is the author of

Station Identifcation:A Cultural History

o Yiddish Radio in

America (UC Press).


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Rthinking th Soundscap: A Critical Gnalog o a K Trm in Sound Studis

+

oundape emege a a one indipenale

and eluive, povoaive and limied. by alling

aenion o akgound ound, shae haped he

feld in way ha exeeded hi own oniuion.

KeywORDS: sound studis, soundscap, R. Murra Schar, aural

cultur

Th opning paragraph o Nathanil Macks Bedouin

Hornbook is on o th bst accounts o a soundscap

Iv vr ncountrd. writtn in pistolar stl to th

Angl o Dust, th chaptr opns ith Macks narrator, N,

rcounting a dram. you shouldv hard m in th dram lastnight, h rits. I ound msl alking don a sidalk and cam

upon an opn manhol o to th right o hich cam (or strn

around la) th disassmbld parts o a bass clarint (Mack1986:

1). Th dscription continus as N xplains that h intndd to

pla on solo (borrod rom John Coltrans Naima) but that h

actuall plad a dirnt on (Archi Shpps solo rom Cousin

Mar) bor coming to th ralization that hat h as plaing

alrad xistd on a rcord. But th pisod concluds ith an

account o a dirnt sound ntirl. I could har scratchs comingrom somhr in back and to th lt o m. This ralization turnd

out, o cours, to b hat ok m up. N did not dram his solo

at all; h hard it as iit r a dram onl to b aaknd b th

sound o th phonograph ndl scraping rpatdl on th intrior

groov o th rcord.

Ns subtl, sonorous shit rom draming his on solo to haring

th background nois o th rcord ors a mtaphor or th stud

o th social li o sound. whr dos th xtrior soundscap nd

and th intrior narrativ bgin? what did h har, hat did h ant

to har, and hat did h dram? Did h har, in that smi-somnolnt

ncountr, n music or mrl background nois? Macks

dscription o th dlicat balanc btn hat har and

hat man succds bcaus it capturs th complicatd and

porul rlationships that bind th practic o listning to sound,

nois, tchnolog, contxt, and maning. And hil N poss a

potic account o thos shiting rlationships, scholars and studnts

o sound tak a mor challnging (and prhaps lss lrical) approach

to xploring that sam constllation o rlationships.

Sound studis is an mrgnt ild o scholarl rsarch

that has coalscd around to critical qustions. Th rst asks,

hat dos sound man? This qustion can b approachd in an

numbr o as and can vok an numbr o conclusions about

ho, hr, and h sound is producd, rproducd, circulatd,

imagind, transmittd, and undrstood. Th scond qustion is

mthodological: Ho do , as scholars and studnts o sound,


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Ari y. Klman

attnd to its manings? Ho do gathr data and collct in-

ormation? what ramorks or thoris guid us? what modls

xist or studing sound?1

Th oundational txt in this convrsation is R. Murra Schars

The Tuning o the World(1977), hich as rprintd in 1993 undr an titl, dran rom th books cntral concpt: The Soundscape.

Schars contribution has inormd th ork o almost vron

ho has rittn on th phnomna o sound sinc, and it has

gaind idsprad popularit bond th scholarl orld, as ll.

It rgularl appars in th titls o books, chaptrs, and articls,

in th nams o CDs, in th monikrs o prormanc nsmbls,

in pics b sound artists, dpictions o ld rcordings and ld

rcording tchniqus, in th vocabular o sound dsign or thatrs,

musums or amusmnt parks, and vn in dscriptions o th orko companis that spcializ in hom thatr installation.2 Popl

hav com to us th trm casuall to rr both to th pipd-in

soundtracks that on can har in most an public buildings and

to th practic o using portabl mp3 plars to crat ons on

prsonal, mobil soundtrack. Th url .soundscap.com is (at

prsnt) ond b a Florida compan that slls outdoor spakrs

ith th promis that our products ill hlp ou build a nic sound

nvironmnt, hrvr ou ar.3 During th lat 1970s, a lot/

prormanc spac in N york Cit opratd undr th namsoundscap, and avant-gard jazz musician Sun Ra rcordd a liv

album thr in 1979, abstractl ntitld, Live rom Soundscape. In its

nar-ubiquit, th trm has com to rr to almost an xprinc o

sound in almost an contxt.

Dspit th trms gnral popularit, Schars original dnition

capturs somthing ar mor spcic. His notion o th soundscap

is ar rom th broad, dscriptiv trm that it has sinc bcom.

Instad, his soundscap is lind ith idological and cological

mssags about hich sounds mattr and hich do not; it is

suusd ith instructions about ho popl ought to listn; and,

it tracs a long dstopian histor that dscnds rom harmonious

sounds o natur to th cacophonis o modrn li. Schars

soundscap is not a nutral ld o aural invstigation at all; rathr, it

is dpl inormd b Schars on prrncs or crtain sounds

ovr othrs. The Sounsdscape is a prscriptiv txt that is otn

rrrd to as a dscriptiv on.4 with ths biass xposd, this

articl tracs th lgacis o th soundscap in ordr to undrstand

its ongoing rsonanc in light o its original contxt. It asks: is

soundscap still a usul and rsonant trm or scholars o sound?

I so, ho ar scholars ngaging ith its provocativ promis and

problmatic ormulation? Groundd in a clos rading o Schar

and othr orks that ngag ith him, this articl ill conclud b

indicating n dirctions or rams or sound studis that honor th

spcic lgac o Schars soundscap hil rsisting th impuls

to appl it ubiquitousl to all studis o th social li o sound.
http://www.soundscape.com/http://www.soundscape.com/


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The Use and Abuse of the Soundscape

Insoar as sound is a social phnomnon (pace thos alling trs

in th orsts o Zn koans), scholars o sound ar intrstd in

undrstanding ho sound circulats and ho it contributs to th

as in hich undrstand th orld around us. In othr ords, (and I count msl among thos scholars) ar intrstd in th

rlationship btn sound and th social production o maning.

Studing sound ors a a into undrstanding social procsss

and rlationships dirntl than, sa, vision or txtualit alon (s

Ong 2002; Ja 1993). yt, idntiing a particular sound or st o

maningul sounds on hich to ocus ons scholarl attntions

continus to troubl scholars in sarch o a a to ram or ground

thir xplorations. Dos on bgin ith a particular sound, lik birds,

ind, or trac? Or, should on bgin ith a particular stting ithinhich crtain sounds shap th social construction o th plac?

what happns hn sounds migrat rom on plac to anothr?

what about orld music? what is th rlationship btn

sound and maning, givn that sound travls t maning is alas

contingnt, local, connctd to particular placs and popl?

On o th most usul and vxing trms ord to dat has

bn Schars soundscap. Lik landscap, to hich it alluds,

a soundscap sms to or a a o dscribing th rlationship

btn sound and plac. It voks th sonic countrpart o alandscap in hich on ss trs or buildings, but hars ind,

birds, or trac. But hat is a soundscap? whr is it? Ho is it

bound or dnd? Schar ord th rst dnition in a pamphlt

calld Th N Soundscap: A Handbook or th Modrn Music

Tachr (1969). Th pamphlt as somthing o a bnchmark and,

in th ars that ollod, Schar and a small group o collagus

and studnts at Simon Frasr Univrsit stablishd th world

Soundscap Projct (wSP), hich committd itsl to documnting

and studing sound in situ, a projct hich vntuall producd a

numbr o rcordings and publications, including Th Vancouvr

Soundscap (world Soundscap Projct 1974a), a CBC radio

sris calld Soundscaps o Canada (world Soundscap Projct

1974b), and a sound analsis o v europan tons calld Fiv

Villag Soundscaps (world Soundscap Projct 1977). This phas

o th wSPs ork concludd in th lat 1970s ith th publication

o to books: Barr Truaxs glossar-lik Handbook or Acoustic

Ecology(1978) and Murra Schars The Tuning o the World(1977).

Schars book is th rst to giv a ull tratmnt to th ida o

th soundscap and is citd most otn as th k rrnc or

othr orks that mplo th trm. Most scholars ho mplo th

trm us Schars broad dnition o soundscap as an aural

ara o stud (1993: 7), but do not ngag ith Schar mor

dpl. Thos ho do ngag ith his idas otn nd up totall

rorking Schars trm rom th insid out to suit thir on nds.

Th discrpanc btn its popularit and its rigorous application


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Ari y. Klman

invits to invstigations: on into Schars original raming o th

notion, and anothr into th books that hav ollod him. Ironicall,

and dspit th popularit o th trm, most o hat has com to

occup th attntion o scholars o sound hav bn prcisl thos

lmnts o Schars soundscap that h prrrd not to har.Th dirnc btn hat Schar actuall hard in Vancouvr

in th lat 1960s and arl1970s and hat h antd to har pro-

vids th pivot point oThe Soundscape. Schar hard incrasing

urban trac and antd to har a massiv nvironmntal smph-

on. H hard nois and antd to har silnc. Th distinction

btn th cits xtrnal sounds and his intrior narrativ both

orclosd dirctions or scholarl analsis and opnd up a rich vin

o qustions about th rlationships btn listnrs, sound, plac,

and maning. To dispns ith Schars notion o th soundscapould b to nglct both its popularit and its dpl rsonant

potntial. yt, to mplo it ill-nill bcaus o hat it voks ould

b to disrgard Schars on intntions. Somhr btn its

broad circulation and Schars narro dnition lis a rich vin o

scholarship on sound. But to xplor this vin, hat nd rst is

to attnd to th invntion o Schars ida in ordr to rstl ith

its rdnition.

Listening to the Soundscape

For Schar, most o human histor has bn a sonic dscnt rom

th natural and harmonious into th mchanical and dissonant. Th

spd o th dscnt has acclratd dramaticall ovr th past

100 ars, and hat bgins ith th harmon o th sphrs nds

in conusion, anxit, and cacophon. Borroing havil rom th

languag o th nvironmntal movmnt, Schar targts nois

pollution, sound srs, ovrpopulation, and th ncroach-

mnt o modrn, mchanizd li on th mor pastoral sounds

o countrsid, sa, and orst. As a rspons to this situation,

Schars book advocats or a n a o organizing, containing,

mapping, and prsrving sounds that ill pull thm back into propr,

ll-tmprd balanc.

Schar dscribs th movmnt rom quit to cacophon as

th shit rom hi- to lo-, distinguishing btn th to in

trms o thir rspctiv signal-to-nois ratios. H xplains that

th highr th dirntiation btn signal and nois, th asir

it is to distinguish btn hat is inormation and hat is not.

Th hi- soundscap is on in hich discrt sounds can b hard

clarl bcaus o th lo ambint nois lvl (1993: 43). Thus, h

concluds that urban soundscaps ar lo-, oing to th gratr

dnsit o sound-producing activitis and, b contrast, h claims,

th original soundscap as quit. Dspit th act that h dosnt

xplain hat, hr, or hn this original soundscap xistd, h

rvals his prrnc or it ovr th nois circumstancs in hich h

rot th book ovr and ovr again. Toda, th orld surs rom


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an ovrpopulation o sounds In th ultimat lo- soundscap th

signal-to-nois ratio is on-to-on and it is no longr possibl to

kno hat, i anthing, is to b listnd to (1993: 52, 72).

On o th problms ith such a narrativ is that it ors vr littl

room or agnc or thos popl ho populat th lo- sound-scap. Th dvolution o Schars soundscap is so totalizing,

so dtrministic, that it provids littl hop or th ars o humanit

against th din o his historiograph. In Schars dscription o

modrn li, opportunitis xist to produc n manings

out o old sounds, or to hon ons haring amidst all o th nois

(Is that a bus I har passing b, or is it a garbag truck? Is that a

Tlcastr or a Ls Paul?). It is all just nois. Sound artist Sophi

Arktt critiqus Schar or his urban prjudic. Sh xplains,

to sa that th urban suprvns upon th natural soundscap,and that urban sounds can b cland up to rsmbl natural

sounds is to misrad th dnamics o cit spacs. A cit ouldnt

xist i it mirrord agrarian sonic spac (Arktt 2004: 1612;

s also Toop 1995: 253). For Arktt, Schar ails to rcogniz

that sound is on o th charactristics that maks a cit a cit;

it cannot sound an othr a. Arktt is no simpl an o urban

nois, hovr; sh ants to account or th as in hich urban

rsidnts dvlop tchniqus or listning to th sounds o citis

and dirntiating crtain sounds rom othrs (thatis a bus I har,and Id bttr run i Im going to catch it). Schars analsis cannot

allo or th dvlopmnt o such skills amidst th din o modrn

urban li bcaus in his ormulation, all signals hav bn rducd

to nois.

For Schar, th ncroachmnt o nois is so svr that th

onl a to ght it is, ironicall, to stop listning to it. Th path

toard rstoring balanc mphasizs listning and larning to

distinguish btn sound and nois. H xplains, Ultimatl,

this book is about sounds that mattr. In ordr to rval thm it

ma b ncssar to rag against thos hich dont (1993: 12).

Raging against th lattr tp o sound mans larning to listn quit

slctivl, b approaching th soundscap o th orld as a hug

musical composition, unolding around us caslssl Onl a total

apprciation o th acoustic nvironmnt can giv us th rsourcs

or improving th orchstration o th soundscap (1993: 2056).

Hr, although Schar sms to b riting about sound, h is

actuall talking about listning.

Paradoxicall, th onl hop Schar ors thos o us living

amidst th nois is th possibilit o bcoming bttr listnrs. For

Schar, urban listnrs ar trappd b th sound o th cit until,

that is, th ollo his prscriptions or ar claning and acoustic

dsign, so that th can har thir citis lik smphonis instad

o lik th citis th ar. with propr disciplin, Schar argus,

popl can larn to tun out crtain sounds, and, as a rsult, sav

thmslvs and thir communitis rom th ncroachmnt o nois.


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Ari y. Klman

without his aural tonics, th sonic orld ill continu to ampli and

ndangr, conus, rustrat, and alinat.

B ocusing on listning, Schars notion o th soundscap

rcds into th background, hil his acoustic dsignrs mrg

mor prominntl. Although thr cant b listnrs ithout sound,Schar advocats a kind o audition th organizing principl o

hich is not total sonorous ngagmnt, but orchstration. In this

a, Shars listnrs listn but th do not har, bcaus th listn

ith th intntion o orchstration and not, or xampl, ngag-

mnt, intrrogation or curiosit. In this ormulation, th soundscap

bcoms mr background nois or a cadr o ll-disciplind

listnrs to practic acoustic dsign and orchstrat th orld

rathr than ncountr it as it is. Th soundscap bcoms somthing

to b ovrcom, not vn somthing to b hard. Givn Scharsprrnc or training listnrs ovr providing an analsis o sound,

scholars o sound must qustion hthr th soundscap is too

idologicall rightd to b usul.

This qustioning is particularl urgnt in th cas o rcordd or

broadcast sound or thos ho ollo Schar, bcaus instad o

ngaging th as in hich tchnolog complicats th rlationship

btn social and sonic li, Schar dismisss it. It is basicall

unnatural to b intimat at a distanc (1993: 89). H continus,

hav split th sound rom th mattr o th sound. Sounds havbn torn rom thir natural sockts and givn an amplid and

indpndnt xistnc (1993: 91). Th distancs that broadcasting

and rcording mdia hav opnd up btn th sourc o a

sound and its rcption rprsnt, or Schar, a undamntal rit in

th sonic dimnsion o cultur. Again, conusing sound and listning,

Schar calld this splittingschizophonia, a trm h coind to rr

to th split btn an original sound and its lctroacoustical

transmission or rproduction. This, or Schar, is a nrvous ord,

hich h invntd to conv [a] sns o abrration and drama.

For Schar, schizophonia lads inxorabl toard maninglssnss

and dislocation, crating a snthtic soundscap in hich natural

sounds ar bcoming incrasingl unnatural hil machin-mad

substituts ar providing th oprativ signals dircting modrn li

(1993: 91).

Th schizophonic splitting o sounds rom thir sourcs raiss

a problm or Schar bcaus it crats unnatural distancs

btn th makrs o sounds and thir listnrs.5 Th most obvious

critiqu o Schars ormulation bgins b asking hr on dras

th lin btn natural and unnatural sound, or btn on

contxt and anothr. Is rcordd music plad in a club or a co

shop natural? what about th nar-ubiquit o pipd-in music

or Muzak in shopping cntrs and dpartmnt stors? Schar

ould argu that haring ons avorit smphon in th lobb o

a movi thatr is, itsl, jarring and is, thror, a glaring xampl

o schizophonia: what is that mlod doing thr, so ar rom its


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natural sockt? For Schar, thos ar sounds schizophonicall

out-o-plac, hich thror ought to b ithr dgd back into

thir natural sockts or tund out b disciplind listnrs.

Th anxit that Schar intnds to provok, hovr, onc

mor conuss sound and listnrs. Sounds cannot b anxious,as such, although th can provok anxit in thir listnrs.

Though nologizd to dscrib sounds, schizophonia actuall

rrs to Schars sns o hat happns to listnrs hn th

ncountr sounds ar rom thir natural sockts. Schars notion

o schizophonia circularl suggsts that all sounds ncountrd out

o plac bcom troubling, anxious, and nois b virtu o thir

bing hard out o plac. eclctic audition, h arns, ill lad to

social conusion.

In this a, Schar rinorcs his mphasis on listning andvaluation in ordr to projct anxit about th mobilit o sound

onto th act o listning. This aknss in Schars argumnt

ncouragd thnomusicologist Stvn Fld to or a corrctiv to

Schars original ida, suggsting a movmnt rom schizophonia

to schismognsis. Flds corrctiv stms rom his obsrvation

that schizophonia nds to b imagind procssuall, not as a

monolithic mov in th histor o tchnolog, but as varid practics

locatd in particular contxts (Fld 1994: 260). Schismognsis,

a trm Fld borros rom Grgor Batson, suggsts that thsplitting dos not rprsnt an historical ruptur as much as on

lmnt o an ongoing procss. In this light, Fld shits th discussion

o th splitting o sound rom somthing to rpair to somthing to

invstigat.

whras Schar conuss th rlationship btn sound and

listning, Flds corrctiv ocuss spcicall on th production and

circulation o sound, spciall that o th musical gnr knon as

world Music. B turning his attntion to a particular st o sounds,

Fld rcuprats Schars ida in ordr to rplac it b rassrting

schismognsis as a qualit o sound, not a charactristic o th

xprinc o listning. Rocusing his attntion to sound rathr

than listning, Fld ultimatl rplacs Schars ida ith Batsons,

opning up an avnu o inquir that Schar could not quit manag.

To sum up, in his dsir to populat his soundscap ith acoustic

dsignrs and ar cland listnrs, Schar conuss th r-

lationship btn sound and listning throughout his discussion.

Dirntiating sounds that mattr rom sounds that dont mans

that th soundscap onl mattrs as a kind o background or a

listnrs adjudication o sonic xprincs. In som instancs,

his soundscap is a problm to b ovrcom, hil in othrs h

rlgats it to th sonic background to social li. H objcts to

crtain qualitis o modrn sounds and privilgs sounds in thir

natural sockts ovr anthing rcordd, broadcast or amplid.

Ths prrncs all cho th cntral conusion btn sound

and listning, and th murkinss o this rlationship raiss urthr


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qustions about th us and application o th trm soundscap

or scholars o sound.

Soundscape Scholarship I: Sounds Like Schafer

Dspit ths critiqus, Schars trm rsonats porull ithscholars o sound. Attractd b its vocation o a rlationship b-

tn sound and plac, a numbr o rcnt books mplo sound-

scap in thir titl, ithout, hovr, ngaging dpl ith Schar.

Ths includ Fiona Richards ditd volum The Soundscapes

o Australia (2007), Charls Hirschkinds The Ethical Soundscape

(2006), and John Pickrs Victorian Soundscapes (2003). each o

ths thr books uss Schars trm in its titl, but non o thm

critiqu or complicat our undrstanding o soundscap. Instad,

th simpl ritrat on or anothr aspct o Schars argumnt.This kind o uncritical ngagmnt ith th trm is prcisl hat

maks it so intrsting and so vxing: its rsonanc is undniabl,

but hat, spcicall, th trm mans is nvr xplord, dnd, or

adquatl ramd in an o th thr orks. In othr ords, sound-

scap sounds good but mans littl.

Richards book is a collction o articls that, sh argus, provids

a look at som o th as in hich composrs and prormrs

hav attmptd to conv a sns o th plac that is Australia

through musical mans (Richards 2007: 2). Richards asks hocomposrs and sound artists hav rndrd th ida o Australia

sonicall. Hovr, b ocusing on composrs articulations o thir

on idas o ho Australia sounds, sh movs th soundscap

out o th nvironmntal ralm and into th purl artistic. Focusing

on composition and art amplis th as in hich particular artists

conciv o th sound o Australia, but tlls us littl about th sonic

li o th countr, broadl considrd.

In this a, Richards adhrs to Schars original usag a

usag hich onl vnturs into th artistic in its authors dramir

visions o composing ho th orld ought to sound. Although a

composr himsl, Schar is not intrstd in th soundscap

as a strictl artistic vntur, as Richards is. Instad, his ida o th

soundscap is tid xplicitl to nvironmntal dangrs on th

on hand and, on th othr, th social ordr hich, i acousticall

dsignd, can bcom a smphon o sorts. Richards uss his trm

in hr titl in ordr to vok a corrspondnc btn spac and

sound, but b turning purl to th arts, sh prorms Schars

notion o ar training in extremis, ampliing th as in hich

artists imagin or dsir Australia to sound, rathr than attnding to

th complxitis mbddd in th sonic dimnsions o th countr.

Thrs no sound hr outsid that hich th artists imagin, and (to

rvrt to th parabl ith hich this articl opnd) Macks dram

solo is th onl on that xists.

To b sur, composrs and sound artists ngag ith sound

in as that do rval aspcts o particular placs or particular


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momnts. On can listn to Mozart or Ja-Z and gathr insights

about th largr culturs in hich th livd and orkd, but, ab-

stractd rom largr sonic circumstancs, musics abilit to shar

thos insights rmains rathr limitd. Music is alas but on sonic

phnomnon among man, and, no mattr ho much music onhars, it cannot approach th complx manings attachd to sound

as it is mad b non-artists, and as it is hard bond th gallr, th

hadphons, or th concrt hall. Richards us o th trm xtracts it

rom ths broadr convrsations hich r prcisl th ons that

so occupid Schar in th rst plac.

Charls Hirschkinds The Ethical Soundscape attmpts to n-

gag ith sound in a mor holistic mannr, oring an thnographic

stud o th circulation o srmon casstts in Cairo. Hirschkind

argus that th srmon casstts ostr th sns o an Islamiccountr-public. Hovr, th author ails to intrrogat Cairos sonic

dimnsions in an grat dpth. H spnds th most o th book

xamining th contnt o th srmons rathr than tracing th varit

o as in hich popl attnd to th srmons or analzing ho

listning impacts ons idntication ith this Islamic countr-public.

In on o th mor illuminating passags in this rgard, Hirschkind

ors th olloing xplanation o th rlationship btn casstts,

sound, listning, and thics:

Plad in public transport, in shops, garags, and cas,

srmon taps rcongur th urban soundscap, imbuing it

ith an aural unconscious rom hich thical rasoning and

action dra sustnanc. In othr ords, bond thir utilit

as a distraction rom toil, such mdia crat th intnsiing

snsor background or th orms o social and political li that

th Islamic Rvival has sought to xtnd. Srmon taps nabl

thir listnrs to orint thmslvs ithin th modrn cit as

a space o moral action, ith its charactristic challngs,

thrats and dail problms. (Hirschkind 2006: 22; italics in

original)

Dspit his attmpt to locat srmon taps ithin Cairos sonic

nvironmnt, Hirschkind poss thmagainst th din o urban li. In his

analsis, srmon casstts or an opportunit or thical listning

that promiss to rais a listnr out o his (and it gnrall ishis) toil.

Arguing that th taps or mor than a distraction though th

or that, too Hirschkind intrprts thm as an altrnativ vnu

or moral and political action. Although th casstts circulat ithin

Cairos sonic nvironmnt, ultimatl, thir valu and maning rst

on thir abilit to or a a out o it, not on thir amplication o li

ithin that sonic trrain.

Hirschkinds us o th trm soundscap aligns closl ith

Schars but dos littl to critiqu or dvlop th ida. Both mn

xprss thir prrnc or a kind o disciplind listning that can


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lit a listnr out o th nois o modrn li, and both posit rcordd

sound as bing at odds ith th soundscap mor gnrall:

Schar holds that rcordd sound disrupts th organic ordr o

th soundscap, hil Hirschkind ors casstts as a kind o

thical antidot to nois urban li. In this a, both mn positionrcordd sound against broadr sonic nvironmnts, instad o

xamining thm as constitutiv o thm. In ordr to mak this

argumnt, Hirschkind has to tun out much o th sound o Cairo

in avor o listning primaril to th spcic contnt o th taps

thmslvs. Hirschkinds thical soundscap nds up sounding

congrunt to th casstts, as h ocuss on thir thical contnt

rathr than th sonic contxts in hich th ar rcordd, tradd,

sold, and hard. B ocusing on contnt instad o contxt what

is hard rathr thanhow or where it is hard Hirschkind rinorcssom o th limitations o Schars ida and conuss his on

dscriptiv projct ith Schars prscriptiv on. B turning to

th ida o th soundscap to ram his on ork, Hirschkind

actuall turns a da ar to Cairos broadr sonic nvironmnt and

uncriticall ritrats Schars narrol prscriptiv sns that th

soundscap is rall just a stting or disciplind listning, and not

somthing on is supposd to har.

whil Hirschkind prhaps inadvrtntl illustrats som o

Schars shortcomings, John Pickrs Victorian Soundscapes invrtsthm, ocusing on Victorians as opposd to thir soundscaps. In

his book, Pickr ors a rich account o th maning o sound in

Victorian litrar cultur. Ultimatl, though, h ocuss mor on

Victorian subjcts than Victorian sounds. H rits, th dvlopmnt

o Victorian sl-aarnss as contingnt on aarnss o sonic

nvironmnts, and gos on to claim that in turn, to undrstand ho

Victorians sa thmslvs, ought to undrstand ho th hard

thmslvs as ll (Pickr 2003: 11). Although Pickr addrsss

th ork o Hrmann von Hlmholtz and th invntion o tlphon

and rcording tchnologis, h ocuss primaril on thir dplomnt

as litrar trops in Victorian ction. Th ar important mtaphors

or undrstanding changs in sl-prcption and rlationships. But

th rarl mov bond mtaphor.

Pickrs analsis o rprsntations o sound in litratur vid-

ncs a kn ar and a sns o subtlt, and h introducs a

novl approach to sonic phnomna. Hovr, b rducing sound

to a rhtorical construction as opposd to a largr, social on

Pickr ails to criticall ngag ith th notion o th soundscap.

Rathr than alling pr to Schars notion o soundscap as

prtns, Pickr pushs it urthr into th background, ocusing on

concptions o sound rathr than sound itsl. To b sur, Pickr is

a scholar o litratur, so his ocus on txts maks sns. Hovr,

his rcognition o Schar (ibid.: 13) and his titular us o Schars

trm indicat an unullld promis about th ocus o th book. It is

not rall about Victorian soundscaps at all though it dos provid


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thoughtul radings o th mtaphor o sound in British ction o th

priod.

Pickr both dparts rom and adhrs to Schars notion o

th soundscap. whil orgrounding th soundscap as a k

trm in his analsis, Pickr ultimatl mplos it in onl th mostgnral trms: to vok a connction btn sound and plac.

B using soundscap as a kind o backdrop or a largr stud o

litratur, Pickr ollos Schar and nds up nglcting hat th

Victorian ra soundd lik in avor o ho authors thought or ishd

it soundd. Favoring th idal ovr th actual, and th intrior ovr

th xtrior, Pickr chos Schar, Richards, and Hirschkind in his

privilging o sound as somthing to b orchstratd, arrangd,

and chorographd ithin an artistic or thical ramork. Lik

Schar, ach o th abov authors nglct sound in ordr to ocusthir attntion on listnrs, and ho thos listnrs bcom artistic,

litrar or thical subjcts.

I am not crtain i Richards, Hirschkind or Pickr ould locat

thmslvs ithin th ld o sound studis, nor am I convincd

that an o th thr intndd to mak an intrvntion into th

convrsation that Schar initiatd. Hovr, dspit th promiss o

thir titular uss o soundscap, th books ail to ngag criticall

ith Schar, and thus might hav bn bttr suitd b dirnt

titls that capturd or vokd th as in hich th undrstoodsound in thir particular contxts. whil th titls capitaliz on th

rsonanc o Schars ida, th books ail to ngag th ida o th

soundscap bond its most suprcial rading. Pickr, Richards,

and Hirschkind promis ngagmnts ith Schar, but ultimatl

njo th trm or its rsonanc ho it ought to sound rathr than

attnding to its intrnal contradictions and complxitis.

Soundscape Scholarship II: Reshaping the Soundscape

Convrsl, thr orks that us soundscap criticall and

that ngag Schar hil also struggling ith his lgac ar Ka

Kauman Shlmas Soundscapes (2006), Barr Truaxs Acoustic

Communication, (1984) and emil Thompsons The Soundscape

o Modernity (2002). Though ach book uss th trm, ach also

ups th ant on Schars original dnition and orcs its radrs

to rconsidr th trm and its gnral usag. each book capitalizs

on th rsonanc o th trm, but ultimatl has to rdin or

rram it or its on purposs. In this a, th ach bnt rom

th vocativ trm, but th also rval th distanc btn its

rsonanc and its application

In ordr or Ka Kauman Shlma to borro th trm as th

titl or hr 2001 thnomusicolog txtbook, sh has to compltl

rdn it:

whil Schar compard his soundscaps to spcic land-

scaps, likning thm to th gographic trrains that tpi


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a plac or rgion, hr ill mor otn compar a sound-

scap to a sascap, hich provids a mor fxibl analog

to musics abilit to both sta in plac and to mov in th orld

toda, to absorb changs in its contnt and prormanc

stls, and to continu to accru n lars o manings.(Shlma 2006: xxxiv)

Sapping Schars rigid analogu o th landscap or th

mor fuid sascap, sh opts or a mor fxibl dnition o th

rlationship btn sound and contxt that can account or sound

hrvr it is ncountrd hil also accounting or th routs b

hich it got thr.

yt, or hr, th ida o th soundscap unctions as a mtaphor

or undrstanding th rlationship an rlationship btn sound,its maning, and its contxt. To bttr undrstand a soundscap,

sh rits, nd to attnd rpatd [sonic] vnts and to

gathr a rang o additional inormation about thir sound, setting

andsignifcance (2006: xxxv; italics in original). As a mtaphor or

raming th taching o thnomusicolog, th ida o th soundscap

is hlpul, but th book ocuss primaril on music as it travls and

ho studnts ought to approach listning to and undrstanding that

music in contxt. B ocusing on music, Shlma ctivl avoids

th vr aspct o Schars soundscap that scholars hav oundso provocativ and nticing: th possibilit that might tak a

broadr approach in our stud o sound to incorporat non-musical

lmnts in it. Unlik Schar, ho aspirs to har all o sound as

music, Shlma dplos th ida o th soundscap in such a a

as to limit th stud o sound to music.

Similarl, Barr Truax, Schars collagu and partnr in th world

Soundscap Projct and his co-author on a handul o publications,

has to rdn th trm in ordr to us it and, in doing so, limits

th bradth o th trm. For Truax, th ida o th soundscap is

not primaril musical but communicational. In a dpartur rom

black box thoris that imagin an inputoutput modl o com-

munication, Truax outlins an ida o communication that balancs

sound, listnr, and nvironmnt in qual masur. yt, in tring to

account or contxt, Truax limits sound to communication, and his

most laboratl dtaild xampl is that o an acoustic communit

hich h dscribs as an soundscap in hich acoustic inormation

plas a prvasiv rol in th livs o th inhabitants (no mattr ho

th commonalit o such popl is undrstood) (Truax 1984: 58).

B making th soundscap into a contxt o communication, Truax

has to shrink th trm to suit his dsir to undrstand ho sound

unctions (ibid.: xiv, xv).

As a ram or communication, th soundscap bcoms a kind

o imaginar public commons in hich popl can convrs, listn,

dvlop a sns o thir communitis, and rach som kind o

civic agrmnt. It is a sonic contxt or social intraction. echoing


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Jurgn Habrmass notion o th bourgois public sphr, Truaxs

communicational soundscap imagins an idal sphr o human

intraction, in hich nois, incohrnc, chattr, and dback

can thratn th balanc that comptnc promiss. Dspit his

scrupulous avoidanc o th prscriptions o his mntor, Truaxsvrsion o th soundscap is still bholdn to a notion o a listnr

ho can attnd to sound in ordr to discrn signal rom nois. In so

doing, Truax shrinks th broad possibilitis o sound to t a smallr

ram in hich th most valuabl sounds ar thos that acilitat th

transmission o inormation intlligibl rom prson to prson instad

o alloing sound to spak or itsl.

emphasizing th rlationship btn social rlations and sonic

ons, Truax and Shlma provid to altrnativ dnitions o

soundscap that dpart signicantl rom Schars original, butboth limit th potntial bradth o th trm and its applicabilit. B

approaching its application mor narrol, Shlma and Truax

crat opportunitis or undrstanding social rlationships that ar

as complicatd as th sonic nvironmnts ithin hich th ar

hard. yt th do so at th xpns o th xpans o Schars

sns o th soundscap, and in thir orts to ngag Schar, th

nd up silncing him. B tring to hightn attntion to sound, both

authors ngag Schar in ordr to dpart rom and dra attntion

to th rlationship btn sound and contxt, btn music andmaning, btn aural cultur and communication. Truax and

Shlma turn aa rom Schar in ordr to borro his languag

and th both attmpt to rcongur his soundscap or us ithin

contxts hr sound mattrs ar mor than silnc.

Th rlationship btn sound and silnc has ound t anothr

rconcptualization in emil Thompsons book, The Soundscape o

Modernity, in hich sh uss th trm to ram th as in hich

asthtic and scintic concrns inormd ho buildrs and scin-

tists approachd sound and silnc as both problms to ovrcom

and idals to pursu. Thompsons book is a dns and rigorous

analsis o th asthtic and scintic dvlopmnts that shapd

ho popl approachd, undrstood, and trid to control sound

during th rst third o th tntith cntur. Drivn b th sonic

challngs o modrn li nois strts, choic lctur halls, radio

broadcast booths a hol cast o charactrs dvotd thmslvs

to cultivating spacs in hich th natural acoustic proprtis o th

spac could b diminishd or, bttr t, controlld ntirl. Bnath

ths attmpts to control sound, Thompson ound an undrling

commitmnt to an ida o sound that had littl to sa about th

placs in hich it as producd or consumd (Thompson 2002:

3). Th protagonists o hr stor sought to crat sound that could

b isolatd or abstractd rom its contxt. Th trid to manuactur

pur sound.

Th concption o sound as somthing uttrl disconnctd rom

th spcic placs o its production or consumption, sh argus,


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bcam th dominant undrstanding o sound during this priod.

During th 1920s and 1930s, dsign bcam slkr and mor

stramlind, music, art and litratur gr mor abstract, so th

vr notion o sound ollod suit. Ironicall, Thompson argus, th

abstraction o sound rom contxt, combind ith tchnologicaladvancs in acoustics, inormd th construction o n urban

landscaps. Th paradox at th cntr o hr argumnt rvolvs

around th notion that th dsir or pur sound that could

b tratd abstractl dmandd th dvlopmnt o particular

tchnologis and th construction o n buildings. B highlighting

th tnsion btn th ida o prct, abstract sound and th

tchnological apparatuss (buildings, acoustic tils, microphons,

and so on) ncssar to crat that phnomnon, Thompson ors

a n intrprtation o th rlationship btn sound and itscontxt during th rst part o th tntith cntur. For Thompson,

th sound o modrnit shaps th landscap o mod rnit, hich

altrs th books ocus slightl; ultimatl, th book is mor about

th impact o sound on spac than th impact o spac on sound.

In this a, Thompson ocuss mor on thsoundo modrnit

than on its soundscape. B so doing, hr us o Schars trm

outdos Schar himsl, hos on us o th trm is caught in a

similar tnsion but cannot sm to ris to hr lvl o analsis. For

both authors, modrn li is charactrizd b sound run rampant,t ach xamins a dramaticall dirnt stratg or acing that

circumstanc. In both cass, too much nois prsnts a problm,

and in both cass, th solution lis in th mitigation or diminution

o background nois. For th subjcts o Thompsons book, th

solution la in abstracting sound compltl rom its contxt and

dvloping tchnologis to control it. For Schar, th solution is onl

accssibl not b attnding to sounds as th dn or charactriz

a particular plac, but b larning to listn slctivl, tuning out th

nois and laving onl music.6

evn or th ritrs ho criticall ngag ith Schars trm, th

trm itsl provs lusiv. Shlma limits hr rdnition to music,

Truax ocuss on communication, and Thompson mphasizs

sound ovr soundscaps. In ach cas, Schars notion o th

soundscap rcds in avor o ach authors rassssmnt o its

us, maning, and contxt. each on o ths authors taks Schar

sriousl, but in ordr to mak his trm ork analticall, th hav to

rormulat it almost ntirl.

Ironicall, on o th most succssul studis o sound avoids th

trm ntirl. Alain Corbins Village Bells (1998) tracs th ris and

all o church blls in th cultural and political li o Frnch countr

villags. It is an xcptional pic o scholarship in hich Corbin

uncovrs a hol smiotic sstm in rgard to th siz, maning,

stl, and lngth o a bll-pal during th nintnth cntur. Th

book tracs th ris and all o blls and thir manings and provids

a snsitiv cas stud o th social li o sound. To dscrib th


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rlationship btn th sound o th blls and thir contxt, Corbin

uss th trm auditor landscap rathr than soundscap (Corbin

1998: 307). Morovr, th book dos not rrnc Schar and,

dspit both authors apprciation o blls, Corbin, ho rits in th

tradition o th Annals School o historiograph, dos not appar tohav bn infuncd b Schar or his trminolog in an a. Th

lack o a connction to Schar is prcisl hat maks Corbins

ork so intrsting and important in this contxt: it thros Schars

assumptions into stark rli.

Corbins clos rading o Frnch villag blls both situats thir

sounds rml in thir social and cultural nvironmnt, and tracs

an historical narrativ that, signicantl, runs prcisl countr to

Schars. For Schar, th ris in industrial nois ld to th dclin

o th signicanc o th blls. Hovr, Corbin ound somthing armor intrsting, as h russ to la rsponsibilit or th dclin o

th blls at th doorstp o industrial nois. Instad, h concluds

that man dirnt actors [that] account or this dclin, including

a dcras in th rlativ por o th church, and an incras in

th prominnc o printd matrial. H rits, In th nintnth

cntur, postrs, printd summonss, th dials o privat clocks,

and calndars graduall nsurd th prdominanc o th visual

(Corbin 1998: 307). For Corbin, th ris o modrn machins did not

mut th smbolic and sonic por o th blls. Instad, h crditsth ris o compting sstms o communication including th

rlativl quit act o rading.

whn Corbin dos turn his attntion to th popularization and

sprad o th stam ngin and th sirn, a urthr signicant cor-

rctiv to Schars argumnt mrgs. Ths invntions graduall

dprivd th bll o th sal o modrnit that had initiall bn its

on. In th tntith cntur, amplirs hav rstd rom th pal

o blls its monopol o solmnit (Corbin 1998: 307). Again, th

rason or th diminution o th blls statur as not ncssaril

th incras in nois, but th act that th incras in nois-making

tchnologis lvld th sonic plaing ld. For Corbin, modrnit

did not intrud on th pastoral countrsid; th tchnologis o th

countrsid nall caught up to th bll. Corbins clos analsis o

Frnch villag blls dismisss Schars dstopian historiograph

and instad amplis th complicatd rvrbrations btn sonic

phnomna and social anxitis.

Corbins ork provids a modl o scholarship on sound b-

caus it grounds its account o villag blls in th social and cultural

rlationships o th Frnch countrsid. what h dscribs, thn, is

not a soundscap at all, in Schars trms, but is somthing mor

complx, mor rigorous, mor sophisticatd and dtaild. Corbin

dos not dscrib a soundscap at all, but rathr h documnts

and amplis th social and cultural rlationships that accru around

a particular sound and th matrial o its mdia. Corbin attnds to

th sounds o his stting and avoids soundscaps ntirl but in so


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doing, h poignantl capturs hat man authors man hn th

us th trm in th rst plac. So h, thn, dos th trm continu

to rsonat and circulat, and hat dos its popularit hav to tll us

about th utur o sound studis?

Background Noise

Soundscap sms, at rst listn, to provid prcisl that thor-

tical richnss and rhtorical brvit that ar sking. Thr

is, mbddd in it, an cho o th rlationships btn spac,

sound, and social li that occupis th cntr o much o sound

studis. Hovr, upon closr inspction (sic!), th trm is raught

and inconsistnt, and vn th most cautious and carul uss o

it sm to mplo it obliqul, at bst. yt, that ought not diminish

ithr th por o th trms appal nor th strngth o th orksin qustion. Thompson, Shlma, Hirschkind, Truax, Pickr, and

Richards all us th trm to dscrib a particular st o rlationships

that involv sound and social phnomna. yt, non o thir usags

rsonats ith Schars original dnition o th trm.

Is this a problm ith th ord or ith th ld that th trm

hlpd cultivat? what is it about sound studis that this trm is

so idl citd but so inaccuratl usd? Th issu hr, I am

arguing, is that this mrging ld o scholarl and artistic intrst is

slling itsl short b continuing to mplo th trm ill-nill, ithoutaccounting or its original dnition. And b so doing, ar mufing

th intrnal nuancs and contradictions that prov so ngaging

and ncouraging, in th ork that do. I am not t prpard to

dispns ith th trm altogthr bcaus, dspit this critiqu,

I bliv th trm maks a important contribution to th ork o

scholars o sound.

Schars vast and slippr xplanation o th soundscap ors

littl or no orkabl modl or studing th social li o sound.

Th ponmous book is at tims polmical, at tims broadl hist-

oriographic, and at tims dramil thortical. It conuss sound and

listning, it is ri ith odd contradictions, and it bars a strong bias

against rcordd music o all kinds, vn though Schar himsl as

involvd in and urgd othrs to pursu th rcording and cataloguing

o sound. yt, th trm still rsonats, and it dos so ll bond th

bounds o th book.

Th trms popularit rsts prcisl in its abilit to vok a hol

complx st o idas, prrncs, practics, scintic proprtis,

lgal ramorks, social ordrs, and sounds that th mrging

ld o sound studis is in truth having a dicult tim gtting

its collctiv minds around (ancdotall, hav ou vr trid tlling

somon at a part that ou stud sound?). with th ld vr

much in its arl stags, th trms o this convrsation ar still up

or grabs, such that Michll Hilms could subtitl an articl about

th ld dos it mattr? (it dos, sh concluds) (Hilms 2005). Ar

studing sound art? Ar advocating or mor thoughtul fight


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paths or airlins? Tightr nois rgulations? Mor sophisticatd lgal

ramorks or undrstanding th rproduction o digital sound?

Th vicissituds o liv musical prormanc? Acoustics? Ar

studing ho popl spak to on anothr? Accnts? Th sound o

saxophon solos in drams? All o th abov? Ths qustions donot ncssaril pos problms or th ld. In act, th vibranc o

ths maniold qustions and th varit o as in hich scholars

o sound approach ths qustions ar som o th rasons th

ld is so activ and rich. But th indtrminac o th ld rmains

unsttling in som as. In a strang but appropriat mtaphor or

th ld in gnral, Nat Macks narrator capturd th slippag

btn draming and aking in th groovs o a rcord, in hich

background nois bcam th mdium or dscribing th rlationship

btn sound and social li.Schars notion o th soundscap rrs to background nois,

but background nois no longr xists soll in th background.

It has bcom th ocus o so much scholarship on sound. whn

Schar rlgats his on ida to background nois or acoustic

dsignrs, h prdicts th dirction that much scholarship on

sound has ollod. Although Schar ultimatl ants to silnc

background nois, much o contmporar scholarship on sound

has ndavord to turn th volum up, in ordr to har it bttr.

Th soundscap ma onl b background nois, but backgroundnois both attracts our attntion and hlps us mak maning out o

particular sounds and as o listning.

emploing th soundscap as a maningul trm in itsl is lss

productiv than Schar intndd. Scholars o sound hav adoptd

th trm as shorthand, otn or th mor complx st o rlationships

that constitut th social li o sound. without attnding to Schars

idiosncratic xplication o th trm, it sms both rlvant and

productiv or its vocation o a sonic landscap, but, in truth, it

rmains too vagu to b particularl usul. Hovr, approaching

it again through th orks that it has inspird (and on that it has

not), rvals both ho prscint and problmatic both th book

and th trm rmain. B calling our attntion to th soundscap as

background nois, Schar amplis its importanc vn though h

ails to acknoldg it.

New Directions in Sound Studies

As studis o sound continu to prolirat, Schars notion o th

soundscap gros both mor and lss signicant. Its sustaind

popularit indicats that it still rsonats or scholars o sound, t

its problmatic and unvn us suggsts that its rsonanc alon

cannot sustain its usag among scholars o sound. Sking a a

out o his on dstopian narrativ, Schar turnd to acoustic

dsignrs hom h imagind could dsign th utur b listning

mor attntivl, and turning cacophon into choirs. For Schar,

th soundscap bcoms mr background nois or th acoustic


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dsign o th social orld and or th ultimat orchstration o

modrn li.

yt, or most rcnt scholars o sound, background nois has

bcom th hadlining act. For Alain Corbin, background nois

includd all o th as in hich Frnch villag blls signiidlmnts o th social ordr, not just th sound o th bll, no mattr

ho pur. Brandon LaBll took background nois as th titl o his

histor o sound art (2006), and emil Thompson nvr ould hav

rittn hr book r it not or background nois in th rst plac.

Background nois is not background at all.

what maks nois and sound maningul in th rst plac is

prcisl th sonic and cultural contxt against or alongsid o hich

it mrgs. In trms o sound, this includs th dlicat balanc o

signal-to-nois, or th scraping sound o th ndl in th groov.whn listning to music, on hars mor than just th timbrs o

instrumnts, th pitchs o nots, th rsonanc o harmonis,

th puls o th bat, or th grain o th voic. whn on listns

to music rcordd in on plac and takn somhr ls (hich

is, incidntall ho most rsidnts o North Amrica xprinc

most o thir music), popl har mor than just th music th

har th jarring intrpla o contxts. Th har cultural confict.

Mtaphoricall, can spak o ths in trms o th background

nois in th tracs o cultural contxt that ar transmittd in/on/alongsid/through sound. Similarl, sounds that pntrat indos

and cross transoms, cho or othris russ to sta in thir

natural sockts crat productiv tnsions btn th sound,

th contxt and th listnr that ar inhrnt to th ngotiation o

maning. In othr ords, vn hn popl tr to listn to sound,

th har th background nois.

To stud sound mans to attnd to background nois not as

somthing to b tund out or silncd, but as a critical componnt

o acoustic phnomna, and making inormd distinctions about

sound is a social procss in hich contxt plas a crucial rol.

Schars trm, thn, continus to rsonat bcaus it suggsts

that th rlationship btn sound and contxt trul does mattr

to scholars o sound. His notion o th soundscap calls attntion

to th background o sound and suggsts that attnding to sound

can ampli critical aspcts o social and cultural li that othris

all on da ars.

yt, or all its promis, Schars discussion slls his on thor

short. Limitd b his on prjudics and prrncs, Schars

notion o th soundscap nds up sounding hrmnuticall hollo

much mor hollo than man o th studis that hav ollod

him. Indd, Schars original intntion to silnc background

nois sms at odds ith his on lgac in hich background

nois dos not prvnt th production o maning, but bcoms

intrinsic to it.


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Prhaps, thn, Schar apprciatd sound too much, and

antd, lik Thompsons protagonists, an opportunit to har sound

ithout nois. In his urgnc to silnc th nois o contmporar li

and train his ars and thos o his studnts to tun out sounds that

dont mattr, Schar orgot that mattring happns in con vrsationith th soundscap. B orking so hard to silnc it so as not to

intrud on his idalistic sonirous gardn, Schar nglctd th

sounds that rst gav him paus, and spurrd him into riting in th

rst plac.

In othr ords, Schar, lik Macks protagonist, ok thinking

h as plaing music, but as in act, haring background nois.

Nat Macks rst-prson protagonist onl aks rom his dram

solo onc th background nois bcoms mor important than

th nots. Th incidntal scrap o th ndl on th groov turnsth stor rom a dram rcollction into an ngagmnt in th

complx rlationship o sound and maning. This rlationship

btn th sound N thought h hard and th sounds h actuall

did har, btn Schars nois soundscap and his acousticall

dsignd listning xprinc lis at th hart o sound studis.

Schars notion o th soundscap promiss to ram that dbat,

but ultimatl raiss mor qustions than it ansrs. And isnt that

hat ant to har rom on o th lds oundational txts?

Acknowledgement

Th author ould lik to thank his collagus Doug Kahn, Jonathan

Strn, Marc Gidal and Anthon Grajda or thir commnts,

suggstions and support. H ould also lik to thank th to anon-

mous radrs o this journal, and th ddication o th ditor, hos

critical and commitmnt to th articl strngthnd it bond

hat I could hav sn on m on. Finall, h also ants to thank

his studnts in Amrican Studis and Cultural Studis at UC Davis

or patintl hlping him think through ths issus in class.

Notes

1. Th past dcad has sn an xplosion in books on sound

rom a varit o disciplins. For xampls rom Art Histor, s

Kahn (1999); Licht (2007); LaBll (2006); Drobnick (2004). For

xampls that ocus on tchnolog and commrc, s Suisman

(2009); Milnr (2009); For an intrvntion rom Architctur, s

Blssr and Saltr (2004). From Anthropolog, s Ingold (2008).

For xampls rom histor s Rath (2003) and Smith (2001).

From lm studis, s Altman (2004).

2. An intrnt sarch o th trm soundscap pulls up thousands

o uss, rom arts organizations to audio tchnicians, to rcord

labls to music promotion companis. A sarch ill also gnrat

hundrds o xampls o soundscap documntar-tp

projcts.


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Ari y. Klman

3. .soundscap.com (accssd Novmbr 13, 2009).

4. I am not th rst to critiqu Schar, but this is th rst articl-

lngth addrss o his oundational txts shortcomings. For othr

critiqus, plas s Toop (1995); s also Arktt (2004); Gasior

(2005); LaBll (2006)5. O cours, this aspct o acoustic phnomna has attractd

th most scholarl attntion. For just a rcnt xampls,

s Glatt (1977); Strn (2003); Katz (2004); Andrson (2006);

erlmann (2004).

6. H xplains that i popl larnd to listn ith gratr prcision,

th problm o nois pollution ould disappar ithr through

ths intrvntions or through a orldid nrg crisis

(Schar 1993: 181).

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