CS640K-Sound, Aurality, and Power: An Introduction to Sound Studies

       Radio for centuries has been a form of communication. However, prior to the evolution of the world wide web, radio as per Sabine Breitsameter was viewed as a one way communicated practice. As “one sends and many receive” this was also known as broadcasting and if individuals didn’t have access to a radio station depending on a variety of factors, they could miss out on important news items, world updates and political views.       The internet has now revolutionized that creating a realm which radio can be viewed as a multi-user space. Where “many communicate with many” as a form of a two-way median according to Breitsameter. Streaming radio online has opened the door to anyone, anywhere with simply the proper headwear and software to create a podcast of their own. Essentially anyone with a creative mind and the proper tools can have a radio station which publishes audio content online.       What I found most interestin...

  Hey everyone! A big theme that we've discussed throughout the course of this class is the comparison between modern technology in the digital era to the original forms of that technology and the impacts this has on society.  Several weeks ago, I presented on the Ling reading titled "It's not your desire that decides": The Reciprocal Expectations of Mobile Telephone  which centred around the experiences and views of individuals who grew up with a landline telephone compared to individuals who only grew up in the mobile phone era. What I found interesting about this reading was how great the cultural differences were between people who grew up with landlines compared to those that did not and how only experiencing life with a cell phone created various expectations and cultural norms.  Ling specifically emphasized how people growing up with only mobile phones have a greater dependency on their phone and desire to stay connected within the digital world claiming that ...

           The way individuals listen, understand, and interact with music has seen a massive shift in landscape over the years. That shift has evolved as technology has developed. Earlier in the course we looked at scholars such as Hosokawa and Bull which both emphasized devices which kicked started a digital music revolution in the iPod and the Walkman. Both forms of technology have the power to play music through headphones.  As a class we also have had discussions in lecture, through presentations and over the blog about potential benefits of these devices, such as the ability to listen to music anywhere at any time allowing your body to feel an inner body sensation from the music itself. As well as the concern that they create the ability for individuals to self-isolated from the world, formulating a world which doesn’t encourage interaction. Furthermore, Damon Krukowski goes into more detail about the Digital Music Revolution in his book “The N...

Since we've been studying Julian Henriques and Reggae music for the past two weeks, I've been wondering what Reggae music is like in China. Therefore,  I searched and collected some materials; I think this may offer you a cross-cultural communication angle. Reggae music is definitely niche music in China, but in a country with such a vast population, even a niche implies that you will meet many people who share your interests.  Three fundamental points define Chinese viewers' comprehension of reggae: relaxed; Jamaican; off-beat. For the Chinese audience,  Reggae music moves at a snail's pace. The BPM (Beats Per Minute) ranges from 80 and 100, making it appropriate for relaxing music. And  Reggae music is commonly regarded as one of Jamaica's emblems. Furthermore, off-beat is believed as the most distinctive feature of reggae music for Chinese listeners. Reggae is off-beat with a shuffle rhythm.  In Reggae, Eighth notes are frequently employed, and bass is used a...

Paul Jasen’s work on bass, frequency, and the ‘sonic body’ has personally been one of the most fascinating readings in our CS640 course for me this term. Most notably, this is because he introduces the bodily sensational aspect of the sonic experience rather than how many authors focus solely on the textual or cultural significance of sound. Jasen’s fascination with the existence of the bodily vibrational force that bass and frequency emit ties perfectly with our earlier readings, like Stephen Goodman’s work on ‘sonic warfare’ and Bull and Hosokawa’s work on the transcendent experience and cerebral escape that music can create.  Specifically, I’d love to discuss a personal interest of mine: sound/singing bowl music, because it perfectly embodies the power of frequency as a bodily healing, vibrational force. For context, singing bowls, also known as Tibetan singing bowls, are used to promote healing including deep relaxation and bodily regeneration like relieving pain in joints, our...

The embedding of Mobile communication into society Rich Ling's article talks at length about the infusion of the mobile phone into the fabric of society.  Ling spoke of the psychological dimension of the mobile phone, as well as the rapidity by which they became mainstream.  One key argument that is perhaps beyond the scope of Ling's paper but still very central to the reason for the infusion of the mobile phone in the very fabric of society is the present Neo-Liberal economic employment mode. The present economic model which is based upon contractual, temporary employment and gig work are all hallmarks of the neo-liberal framework. Platforms such as TaskRabbit, and UBER, to name a few owe their success to the availability and ubiquitous of mobile devices in general and to the mobile phone in particular. It can be argued that the cell phone not only has a social dimension as in the case of Fisher's landline, a psychological dimension as in the case of Ling but also an econo...

     The last concert I went to before the pandemic hit was Neon Indian back in November of 2019. It was a great night, the show was great, Neon Indian preformed an extended version of Slumlord and played some music that was to be on his new album (which is still not out yet...). I had multiple other shows lined up (Roger Waters, Sloan, D.O.A., and a local experimental music festival back home) and then of course the pandemic hit. It was experiencing this loss for the first time that I realized the importance of the physicality of sound. This was not just in terms of the concerts, but in terms of the experiencing the world. The first bit of COVID-19 was extremely secluded, the rare time I remember going out for groceries there was no one around, less new sounds were being created. Sterne argues in Sonic Imaginations that more new sounds are being created then ever before, but at the beginning of the pandemic it slowed down to an incredible degree, or at least the publicit...