Sound Research

"If you're like me, you've managed to kill even the hardiest of indoor plants (yes, despite a doctorate in plant biology). But imagine a world where your plants actually told you exactly when they needed watering. This thought, as it turns out, may not be so silly after all."

"Film critic Richard Crouse visits a farm in Uxbridge, Ont., where world-renowned Foley artist Andy Malcolm and his team at Footsteps Studios have created sound effects for hundreds of movies and TV series."

"In theoretical physics, 'Bosonic' refers to the original version of 'string theory', developed in the 1960s. Although the initial hypotheses behind Bosonic String Theory have since been expanded and modified, the underlying principle remains intact; that the various properties of matter and force can be a reflection of the ways in which a string vibrates. The oscillating properties of these hypothetical strings determine the properties of particles and all forms of energy. As such, the theory proposes that the entire world may be composed of these infinitely small vibrating 'strings'. Bosonica is a sonic exploration of the concepts behind this theory. The sound material which underpins the work is predominantly sourced from stringed instruments, in particular piano, guitar (acoustic and electric) and cello. At times the original properties of these vibrating strings are very present and recognisable, however the work explores increasing blurring and abstraction, creating new constructions from the original material and presenting to the listener dense and abstract dimensions. Despite this, the untreated instrumental material consistently returns as a reminder that it serves as the building block from which all other material is derived. The use of 5.1 spatialisation magnifies the perceived kinetic energy of material. Small gestural fragments are scattered over the 5.1 array to form accumulative trajectories of sound, and the listener becomes immersed in the dark abstract landscapes generated by the sounds of strings. The work was composed in 2009 in the Electroacoustic Music Studios of the University of Manchester, UK. With thanks to Emilie Girard-Charest (cello) and Camilo Salazar (guitar)."

"Becky Buckle explores the history of artists concealing visuals within the waveforms of their music"

"An exploration of diagetic and asynchronous sound in Arrival (2016, Dir. Dennis Villeneuve), and it's use in conveying structural and stylistic elements of film narrative. Created for a FILM 101 project at Victoria University of Wellington."

"A fossilized ankylosaur voice box reveals that these beasts may have sported a far more sophisticated vocal range than scientists originally thought."

60 Seconds Radio is 1,400 radio clips produced by artists from fifty countries, working in thirty languages. It is a competition and a dissemination platform.

"Scientists and musicians are recording the sounds of unfreezing water to document and predict the effects of climate change. Can their work help slow it, too?"

"Capturing professional audio outdoors can be very tricky and requires not only the right knowledge, but the right tools to help you get the job done."

"Jack Dutton meets those with the condition and the researchers who study them. Might it have benefits, and could it even be taught?"

"An electric humming vibrator designed to upset neighbours operated for about a month inside New Zealand's tallest apartment tower, sending 25 neighbours "just about insane" before it was discovered and disabled, a resident says."

"In this project I continue to use creative methods for understanding and interpreting how listening to everyday sounds and soundscapes function as sources or triggers for the imagination*. This involves investigating the roles sound and listening play in visualisation through associative, emotional and memory responses as cognitive functions. In particular, my interest is in understanding how the qualities of these functions change as we age and what can be done to exercise our imagination. In the context of Sounds of our Cities we could sum this up in a few basic questions… one, what happens to our active childhood imaginations as we get older? Two, how do the sounds of Krottegem in Roeselare contribute to how people imagine their neighbourhood? And three, can this method be used for citizens and planners in imagining new ways to understand their city space?"

""Sound maps contain sound records associated with specific geographical points. They are indicated on the map by visible markers through which you have access to playback controls for sound recordings, often they are accompanied by content in the form of texts and images. They tend to be collective and collaborative projects, possibly because they represent territories and regions that are home to communities that are frequently constituted in terms of observation. These often become fundamental factors regarding conceptualizations and content that the maps incorporate, which is why their participation becomes important, as well as for the production of audible and informative content that the map includes.""

"This essay was written for the catalog of the exhibition "John Cage and Experimental Art: The Anarchy of Silence" at the Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona."

"It's 200 years since Thomas De Quincey wrote On the Knocking On the Gate in Macbeth, the first serious consideration of the strange and powerful psychological impact of sound effects - sounds which aren't language or music but still carry a level of meaning which seem to elevate them above our everyday sound world. To mark the occasion, composer Sarah Angliss meets some of the world's foremost sound designers to consider the enduring power and ubiquity of the sound effect."

In this podcast, we talk to Antye Greie about language, sound, and the body. At their intersection, the voice emerges, with its multiple resonances and different ways of introducing the voice of others through her own practice and space of visibility. Along the way, we look at her work and methodology, from the deconstruction of texts to the implementation of what she calls "feminist sonic technologies". Permeating everything, we encounter the memory and the experience of having been raised in the values and the political experiment of the former Eastern Bloc and feeling part of a silenced diaspora. Recorded: February 2022.

"In this paper, I interpret the musical performativity of Jamie Stewart, frontman for experimental pop/rock band Xiu Xiu, in terms of abjection. In contradistinction to analyses that represent abjection primarily as a psychic property or pathology, I read abjection as a state of social exclusion or rejection perpetuated by socialized individuals. Stewart's provocative vocal performances in Xiu Xiu dramatize the conditions upon which these exclusions are formed and enforced, illustrating the connection between abjection and the normative aesthetic expectations by which we assess the moral status of others."

"John Cage was involved with academic courses at the New School for Social Research for ten years between 1950 and 1960.  From 1950 until 1956, he was invited to take part in academic discussions and to undertake performances of his works by fellow composer, critic, and faculty member, Henry Cowell."

"'The Underground Sound Project' is a public art installation in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. It can be experienced remotely online at theundergroundsoundproject.com The work explores and reveals the world of underground sound that can be heard under our feet. Did you know deep, resonant sound can be heard inside trees? Among the roots of plants, in shifting soils, in streambeds, rivers, oceans, and even in mud?"