Acoustic awareness

Usually, it is considered that it is the job of the composer to win over an audience. But listening is also an active, rather than just a passive process. How do you see the role of the listener in the musical communication process? 

Well, your question nicely picks up where the previous one left us. Music or sound compositions, or any work of art for that matter, is a means of communication. Art differs from other forms of communication in that the messenger, the artist, is not necessarily out to get a specific message across to the receiver, the audience. Or at least that is my view. Rather it is a process that sends out the material to be left to interpretation, not to convey a specific meaning meant to be captured unaltered. In that sense, music, sound art etc. are evocative.

This is why I have always had a problem with music being ‘kidnapped’ to represent a specific set of ideas, such as those of political parties.

Yes, listening is an active process. To me it's not one of capturing messages but rather capturing the evocation and have it resonate the emotional chords of the listener. Being enchanted, moved, or walking away is the listener's prerogative.

But I realise my point of view is distinctly ‘contemporary western‘ in the anthropological sense. Music is a source of meaning to many populations. It plays a role in the establishment of cultures and identity and in some cultures, even today, it is the source of historical record keeping. It can pass on spirituality and religion. But here, certainly the composer is set out to win over an audience.The relationship between the two is however, much more straightforward and geared towards a specific objective.

Maybe in western, or should I say ‘industrialised’ cultures, we have lost some of that in our musics. It would be interesting to do an anthropological analysis of say Alban Berg’s opera Lulu, or MTV. Maybe we will find that music is still there to establish meaning and identity. Certainly the musical communication process, or at least the impact of music on the behavior of the listener is the subject of heated debate at times. 

What, from your point of view, can the sound – rather than, say, its visual appearance - of a particular location or of a particular recording object tell us about its nature? Or, to put it differently, in which way can listening to field recordings change our perception of the world?

Listening can be a much more intense experience. It's becoming more difficult however, to let sound stand out on its own. Even classical music performed by a symphonic orchestra has video in the background at times. These are visual times. But who was it again that said: a picture is worth a thousand words, perhaps a sound is worth a thousand pictures?

When you look at something your range is limited to the field of vision. When you listen, you capture a range that is many orders of magnitude larger than the field of vision. You may not see the rare species of deer in the forest but you will hear its alarm call loud and clear.

Listening makes you more aware of the space and spaciousness of a location. But to really listen you have be quiet. Difficult for us humans it appears.   

The idea of acoustic ecology has drawn a lot of attention to the question of how much we are affected by the sound surrounding us. What's your take on this and on acoustic ecology as a movement in general?

While acoustic ecology has been around for 40 or more years it's not surprising that it comes to the forefront at a time when awareness about climate, climate change, pollution and ever increasing threats to natural environments is increasing. Awareness about noise pollution increases interest in acoustic ecology. We all know about health problems arising from air pollution but research on the effect of noise overload on human and marine health for example, is not as developed.

If acoustic ecology can increase our awareness of problems and help solve sustainability issues we should be there in support of this. I say if, but there is no doubt in my mind that we need it. To be successful, more support is needed. I recommend everybody to go have a look at the web site of the Acoustic Ecology Institute.

In how much, do you feel, are sonic environments shaped by cultural differences – and in how much, vice versa, is the perception of sound influenced by cultural differences?

Sonic environments are entirely the result of cultural systems almost as by-product. You might argue that is not so for environments like the Amazon rain forest but these enclaves of the natural world that remain, are also a result of human activity. 

Industrial cultures are bass and sub bass heavy. When you are in a jungle there is no bass content in the environment and there is some kind of unconscious acceptance or passive adaptation to the environment. Psycho-acoustics specialists tell us that human hearing adapts to these environments by filtering sound out of conscious perception.

So the sonic environment, shaped by culture in the broad sense of the word, impacts humans to trigger a psycho-acoustic response. When I was in India I was struck by how loud the towns are. Trucks carry signs saying ‘please blow horn’. I can tell you that is exactly what they do, all of them all of the time. I have this recording from a Hindu temple; people peacefully walking by, bells ringing and such and then all of a sudden an amplified voice yells through a speaker system at deafening volume but nobody looked surprised or annoyed. It is just part of that world and culture? Interesting don’t you think?

The role of an artist is always subject to change. What's your view on the (e.g. political/social/creative) tasks of artists today and how do you try to meet these goals in your work?

I mostly concentrate in the ‘creative assignment’ I feel that I have. I mean, I do not purposely create a work with some political or social agenda. I think I just do my thing regardless. I do believe artist are in a better position to help improve communication and understanding among people. People go to a museum or to concerts to have a good time and enjoy something beautiful. So if I can contribute to that or when somebody tells me ‘hey, I liked that’, I am happy.

Part of my work sometimes does carry the message of awareness about noise pollution and protection of natural sonic environments. An invitation to listen if you will. 

Music-sharing sites and -blogs as well as a flood of releases in general are presenting both listeners and artists with challenging questions. What's your view on the value of music today?

It's safe to say the Big Label business model is on the way out. Perhaps less so in main stream popular music but still... Copyright collection organisations also seem to have lost touch with reality. I really think the value of music, or by extension, of copyright has not decreased, although Billboard reported a drop in global music revenues by 3 per cent last year. 

What is changing is the way this value is returned to artists. This has to do with the evolution of technology that has given us different ways of distributing and listening to music. The threshold of creating and managing your own revenue as an artist is low. A big name record label probably addresses a larger potential customer base but niche indie artists do not stand a chance with them. iTunes and Bandcamp or niche labels that do runs of 500 or less copies are a lot more interesting to them. 

These small labels are made possible because of today's network technologies. Overall there are a lot more opportunities than there were 10 or more years ago. 

Unfortunately technology also lowers the threshold for piracy and copyright infringement. Legislation needs to catch up. But fighting copyright infringement with legislation that threatens the openness of the networked world is not likely to help.

I am a strong believer in the Creative Commons model to licensing. I have made a lot of my sounds and recordings available under one or the other of the CC schemes. It does not bring any revenue, which was my choosing, but the copyright infringement is curbed. Court rulings are beginning show up based on CC schemes proving that this protection works.

Please recommend two artists to our readers which you feel deserve their attention.

Jana Winderen - Jana’s work is on the abstract side of the field recording area. She mostly concentrates on the under water sound world and makes the most beautiful sound pieces and installations based on these recordings

The Craving Deer - Delicate voice and guitar songs that stun through their honesty and acoustic purity.

Visit Peter Caeldries' website at www.900hz.net