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Música y Sonido. Parte 2

¿Los profesionales de audio también deben ser músicos?

Mi respuesta directa sería que no, algunos de los mejores ingenieros de audio de la industria no son músicos. Pero si quieres mi consejo como música y como ingeniera de sonido, aprender algunos conceptos básicos sobre música no te hará daño.

Ser ingeniera de sonido trabajando en proyectos que involucren tratamiento musical como grabación, edición, mezcla, etc., requerirá que tengas y desarrolles unas aptitudes y conocimientos básicos sobre música que te permitirán tener un mejor desempeño en tu trabajo. Esto significa que, incluso si no eres músico, deberás tener buen oído para la música: reconocer el notas, reconocer qué instrumentos musicales están tocando, reconocer si los instrumentos musicales están desafinados, reconocer los patrones armónicos y la forma de una pieza musical, reconocer y seguir ritmos y patrones rítmicos, ser sensible a las dinámicas.

Profundicemos en cada tema:

Reconocer y seguir ritmos y patrones rítmicos.

El clic:

Cada pieza musical tiene un pulso llamado tempo, que sigue una marca de metrónomo medida en pulsaciones por minuto (bpm). Si hay una partitura disponible, esta marca de metrónomo se indicará en la parte superior izquierda de la partitura. Puede indicarse con números o con términos musicales en italiano que darán una pista sobre el tempo. La mayoría de las veces, será necesario para las grabaciones y/o presentaciones en vivo configurar el clic en tu DAW o software de música. Dependiendo de la solicitud del músico, el clic puede configurarse para seguir el tempo o subdividirse, asegúrate de estar familiarizado con la configuración del clic en el software antes de realizar tu sesión.

Compases y compases:

Los pulsos o tiempos se agrupan en compases, y pueden variar dependiendo de la música, los compases también pueden cambiar dentro de la misma pieza musical. El número de tiempos en un compás puede ser 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Los compases también se pueden configurar en tu software, aparecerán como un número con dos dígitos: un número en la parte superior que indica cuántos tiempos que hay dentro del compás y el número de abajo que indicará el tipo de notas utilizadas dentro del compás (blanca, negra, corchea, etc.). Conocer el compás te ayudará a contar compases y a seguir patrones rítmicos, también te ayudará a ubicar partes específicas en una pieza musical. Pero también permitirá al músico identificar conteos de barras y pulsos.

Compases y tiempos fuertes:

Cada compás tiene tiempos fuertes y débiles que le dan a la música patrones rítmicos memorables. Por lo general, el primer tiempo es el tiempo fuerte del compás, esta característica se puede configurar en el software para que los compases puedan tener diferentes acentos, niveles y sonidos para cada tiempo, ayudando a los músicos durante su interpretación. Conocer todos estos ajustes a la hora de configurar el clic, los compases y la línea de tiempo de tu sesión es fundamental.

Anacrusa:

Comprender el término anacrusa es útil cuando necesitas anticipar grabaciones o ejecuciones musicales en vivo. Si escuchas este término, significará que la música comenzará con una nota o un grupo de notas que preceden al primer tiempo fuerte. Su principal característica es que la anacrusa es un compás parcial antes de que comience el primer compás de la música.

Reconocer patrones y forma de una pieza musical:

Forma:

La estructura de una pieza musical se conoce como forma musical. Familiarizarse con los diferentes tipos de formas pueden ayudarte a organizar tu sesión de manera eficiente. Encontrarás frases musicales, estructuras armónicas, progresiones de acordes, modulaciones, patrones rítmicos dentro de la música que te ayudarán a la hora de reconocer diferentes formas. Una buena manera de familiarizarse con ella es escuchar y leer sobre diversos estilos de música para que pueda identificar qué forma está presente en la pieza musical. Para la música popular, los elementos de forma como el coro, el puente, etc., pueden ser más familiares para identificar, sin embargo, para otros tipos de música, entrenar tu oído es la mejor manera de hacerlo.

Un excelente ejemplo de un tipo de forma muy distinguido es el blues básico: la forma de blues es de 12 compases y su progresión de acordes es muy distintiva porque el acorde I es un acorde dominante, así como el acorde IV, y los músicos han tomado el patrón básico I7-IV7-V como para ser utilizado en el mismo. Se pueden estudiar otras formas como Binaria (AB), Ternaria (ABA), Rondo (ABACA) o (ABACABA), Arco (ABCBA), Sonata (Exposición, Desarrollo, Recapitulación), Tema y Variaciones para que pueda identificarlas mejor para su sesiones

Progresión de acordes:

La mayor parte de la música escrita se basa en escalas y tonalidades. Cada nota de una escala se identifica como un grado. La secuencia y el orden de los acordes basados ​​en estos grados de la escala se denomina progresión de acordes. Los acordes principales son I, IV, V y algunos géneros musicales populares tienen progresiones de acordes distintivas que se pueden identificar fácilmente, como la progresión I-IV-V-I utilizada en la mayoría de las canciones pop. Debido a la variedad de tonalidades y escalas que pueden estar presentes en una canción, las progresiones de acordes pueden ayudarte a identificar la forma de una canción y el género, reconocer frases y temas fácilmente, y ubicar partes musicales para ayudarte a obtener una mejor comprensión del tema musical.

Cadencia:

Como parte de las progresiones de acordes, la forma en que finaliza un tema, frase o idea musical estará acompañada armónicamente por al menos dos acordes que se reconocen como una cadencia. Esta cadencia da una sensación de resolución y se puede clasificar en muchos tipos. Una de las más fáciles de reconocer será la cadencia perfecta que va del acorde V al acorde I donde la nota de bajo es la nota principal (tónica) de cada acorde. Ser capaz de reconocer cadencias durante grandes piezas musicales puede ayudarte con tu proceso creativo mientras mezclas, etc.

Se utilizan algunos otros elementos musicales que te ayudarán a comprender lo que sucede en una canción

Un riff es un patrón de notas que se repiten a lo largo de una pieza musical. Los riffs no se repiten inmediatamente y generalmente se encuentran al final del verso en una canción o en el coro.

Groove, un término tomado de los músicos de jazz, a menudo se refiere a un sentido rítmico de cohesión empleado en una rutina o estilo de práctica musical.

Solo es una sección de improvisación donde actúa cada instrumentista, el orden puede ser predeterminado o no. Los solos se interpretan en forma de tema y el número de vueltas se denominan estribillos.

Los fills son frases melódicas o rítmicas improvisadas, tocadas entre frases del tema.

Un vamp es una figura, sección o acompañamiento musical que se repite hasta que se da la señal para la siguiente sección.

El interludio es un arreglo pre-escrito que sirve como transición entre secciones o solos.

Los breaks son interrupciones momentáneas del discurso musical mientras se mantiene el tiempo. A veces, un solista podría tocar durante el break.

Entrenando tu oído para identificar instrumentos y notas:

Si nunca has escuchado un instrumento que está a punto de grabar, solo pídele al músico que te explique cómo se toca y cualquier otro detalle que te interese saber, pídele al músico que toque el instrumento frente a ti para que puedas escuchar, camina a su alrededor y encuentre el mejor lugar para colocar un micrófono para grabaciones o amplificación.

Afinación:

Identificar instrumentos desafinados puede ser complicado y requiere mucho entrenamiento, por lo que la mejor manera de proceder es recordarle al músico antes de las grabaciones y de vez en cuando durante largas sesiones, que verifique su afinación siempre que sea posible.

El tono o las notas son la forma en que el oído humano entiende la frecuencia en la que cualquier fuente produce una onda de sonido. Cuanto mayor sea la frecuencia, mayor será el tono y viceversa. Los instrumentos musicales pueden producir diferentes rangos de tonos dependiendo de su construcción. Cada nota musical producida por cualquier instrumento tiene una frecuencia relacionada medida en (Hz) que luego se interpretará como un tono o nota específica (do, re, mi, fa, sol, etc.)

Se pueden encontrar muchos recursos en línea para ayudarlte a entrenar tu oído y aprender sobre instrumentos musicales y teoría musical. Si te interesa profundizar en estos conceptos consulta:

Aprende sobre orquestación, escucha cada instrumento musical en una orquesta, su construcción, rango de tonos, consejos, trucos y más:

https://andrewhugill.com/OrchestraManual/

Aprende teoría musical:

https://www.teoriamusical.net/lecciones

Mejore las habilidades básicas de escucha, como la detección de frecuencias (Soundgym ofrece suscripciones a miembros de SoundGirls):

https://www.soundgym.co/

 

Music and Sound. Part 2

Find Part One Here

Do professionals in audio need to be musicians too?

My straight answer will be no, some of the best sound engineers in the industry are not musicians. But if you want my advice as a musician and as a sound engineer, learning some basics about music won’t hurt you.

Being a sound engineer working on projects that involve music treatment such as, recording, editing, mixing, etc., will require you to have and develop some aptitudes and basic knowledge about music that will allow you to have a better performance at your job. This means, even if you are not a musician you will need to have a good ear for music: recognize pitch and tone, recognize which musical instruments are playing, recognize if musical instruments are out of tune, recognize harmonic patterns and form of a piece of music, recognize and follow beats and rhythmic patterns, be sensible to dynamics.

Let’s go deeper into each topic

Recognize and follow beats and rhythmic patterns

The Click:

Every piece of music has a heartbeat called tempo that follows a metronome marking measured in beats per minute (bpm). If a music sheet is available, this metronome marking will be indicated at the top left of the music sheet. It could be indicated by numbers or by musical terms in Italian that give you a hint about the tempo. Most of the time, It will be necessary for recordings and/or live performances to set up the click on your DAW or music software. Depending on the musician’s request, the click can be set to follow the tempo or subdivided, make sure you are familiar with setting up a click on your software before you run your session.

Bars and time signatures:

Beats are grouped into bars, and they can vary depending on the music, bars can also change within the same piece of music. The number of beats on a bar can be 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc. Bars can also be set up in your software, it will appear as a number with two digits: one number at the top that indicates how many beats there are inside the bar, and the bottom number that will indicate the type of notes used inside the bar ( half, quarter, eight, etc.). Knowing the time signature will help you with bar counting and following rhythm patterns, it will also help you to locate specific parts in a piece of music. But it will also allow the musician to identify bar counts and pulses.

Strong beat:

Each bar has strong and weak beats that give music memorable rhythmic patterns. Usually, the first beat is the strong beat of the bar (known as downbeat), this feature can be set up on the software so bars can have different accents, levels, and sounds for each beat, helping musicians during their performance. Knowing all these settings when configuring the click and timeline of your session are essential.

Pickup:

Understanding the pickup term or anacrusis is handy when you need to anticipate music recordings or performances. If you hear this term, it will mean that the music will start with a note or a group of notes preceding the first downbeat. Its main characteristic is that the pickup is a partial bar before the first bar of the music starts.

Recognize patterns and forms of a piece of music

Form:

The structure of a piece of music is known as musical form. Familiarizing yourself with the different types of forms can help you organize your session in an efficient way. You will find musical phrases, harmonic structures, chord progressions, modulations, and rhythmic patterns within the music that will help you when it comes to recognizing different forms. A good way to familiarize yourself with it is to hear and read about diverse styles of music so you can identify which form is present in the piece of music. For popular music, forms elements like chorus, and bridge can be more familiar to identify, however, for other types of music training your ear is the best way to go.

One terrific example of a very distinguished type of form is basic blues: Blues form is 12 bars and its chord progression are very distinctive because the I chord is a dominant chord as well as the IV chord and the musicians have taken the Basic I7-IV7-V chord to be used in it. Other forms like Binary (AB), Ternary (ABA) , Rondo (ABACA) or (ABACABA), Arch (ABCBA), Sonata (Exposition, Development, Recapitulation), Theme, And Variations can be studied so you can identify them better for your sessions.

Chord progression:

Most music written is based on scales and keys. Each note of a scale is identified as a grade. The sequence and order of the chords based on these grades of the scale is called a chord progression. The primary chords are I, IV, V, and some popular music genres have distinctive chord progressions that can be identified easily, like the progression I-IV-V-I used in most pop songs. Because of the variety of grades and scales that can be present in a song, chord progressions can help you identify the form of a song and the genre, recognize phrases and themes easily, and locate musical parts to help you get very creative.

Cadence:

As part of the chord progressions, the way a musical theme, phrase, or idea ends will be harmonically accompanied by at least two chords that are recognized as a cadence. This cadence gives a sense of resolution and can be classified into many types. One of the easiest to recognize will be the perfect cadence that goes from V chord to I chord where the bass note is the main note (tonic) of each chord. Being able to recognize cadences during large pieces of music can help you. With your creative process while mixing, etc.

There are some other musical elements used that will help you understand what’s happening in a song

A riff is a pattern of notes that are repeated throughout a piece of music. Riffs do not repeat immediately and are usually found at the end of the verse in a song or in the chorus.

Groove, a term borrowed from jazz musicians, often refers to a rhythmic sense of cohesion employed in a routine or musical practice style.

Solo is an improvisation section where each instrumentalist performs, the order can be predetermined, or not. Solos are performed in the form of the theme and the number of turns are called choruses.

Fill are improvised melodic or rhythmic phrases, played between phrases of the theme.

A vamp is a repeating musical figure, section, or accompaniment until the cue for the next section is given.

An interlude is a pre-written arrangement that serves as a transition between sections or solos.

Breaks are momentary interruption of musical discourse while time is maintained. Sometimes, a soloist could play during the break (solo break).

Training your ear to identify instruments and pitch

If you have never heard an instrument you are about to record, just ask the musician to explain to you how is it played and any other details you might be interested in knowing, ask the musician to play the instrument in front of you so you can hear it, walk around it and find the best place to place a microphone for recordings or amplifications.

Tunning:

Identifying instruments out of tune can be tricky and it takes a lot of training so the best way to proceed is to remind the musician before recordings and every once in a while during long sessions, to check their tuning every time possible.

Pitch is how the human ear understands the frequency at which a sound wave is being produced by any source. The higher the frequency the higher the pitch and vice versa. Musical instruments can produce different pitch ranges depending on its construction. Each musical note produced by any instrument has a related frequency measured in (Hz) that will then be interpreted as a specific pitch or note (c, d, e, f, g, etc.)

Many resources can be found online to help you train your ear and learn about musical instruments and music theory. If you are interested in going deeper into these concepts check out:

Learn about orchestration, listen to every musical instrument in an orchestra, their construction, pitch range, tips, tricks, and more :

https://andrewhugill.com/OrchestraManual/

Learn music theory:

https://www.musictheory.net/lessons

Improve core listening skills like frequency detection (Soundgym offers SoundGirls Members Subscriptions to the service):

https://www.soundgym.co/

 

What’s the Best Music City?

Hi SoundGirls! I hope everyone has been staying safe and healthy. With all the change that has happened over the past year, and how it has directly affected our industry- I’m wondering what’s the best music city to live in?

I’m currently living in Austin, TX. I’ve lived in Texas my entire life, and I grew up outside of Austin. As some of you may know, I moved to Austin right out of high school and began my audio engineering journey. That was 5 YEARS ago! It really is crazy how time flies. With that being said, the atmosphere of our industry in Austin has drastically changed since COVID-19. With closures of local venues and the scarcity of payable internships at recording studios- it has dawned on me that maybe it is time to live somewhere new that can offer me a different learning experience. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love Austin with all of my heart. I will most likely settle down here once I’ve achieved the level of experience I would like, but I can’t help but wonder if my time in this city has come to a close for now. I feel like I’ve experienced all I can experience here.

Now, the obvious choices on the list for possible cities to move to are Nashville, LA, and New York. As I am typing this out, I am sitting in my hotel room in downtown Nashville. I’ll be here for an entire week! I’ll be doing some touristy things, checking out local spots, and visiting studios. I feel like after being here a week I will know whether or not I could picture myself living here. I’ve always said I would move to Nashville eventually, so maybe this time I really will. I’m certainly enjoying my time here so far (the food in this city is INSANE). The reason Nashville has always been on the top of my list is because of audio engineering, and the fact that country music does have a huge influence on my songwriting and music. While I’m here I’d love to learn more about the alternative scene that is in East Nashville and what it has to offer.

Next on the list is LA. To be honest, I’ve never pictured myself living in LA, but I do love the west coast. First, I fell in love with San Francisco. I visited LA next, and I thought all the landscape and energy both cities had to offer was so beautiful. However, I know the cost of living in LA is very expensive, and quality of life is really important to me. Not to say that you don’t have that if you are there, but being able to write more and feel creatively inspired is what would make me most happy. I do love the rock scene and all of its sub-genres that live in LA though, and I would say that is mostly what pulls me to possibly live there. That, and the internships at fantastic studios. The learning experience would be incredible, even if just for a couple of years.

Last but not least is New York City. Before Covid, I think NYC would’ve been before LA. However, I’ve heard that the atmosphere of NYC has also changed drastically. I feel like when you move to New York, you move there for the nightlife and the amazing job opportunities that are there. The social life might be harder to grasp now due to Covid, but the job opportunities are still there.

Now, I don’t want this article to be me doubting what any of these cities have to offer. Nashville had its downsides too. I was at an outdoor coffee shop today. A girl was playing guitar and singing. She mentioned that artists don’t get paid to play in Nashville. The only money they receive are tips. This is wild to me. The city of Austin spoiled me in that sense. Playing shows with my last band, I would walk out with enough money to put towards our band fund, and to pay the other bands. I didn’t get into music to make money though, so I’m willing to eat some ramen while getting settled.

I haven’t visited LA, and NYC yet with the intent to move. I’m planning to do that this summer. However, my reason for writing this article is to get your opinions. If you live in these cities and have any advice, or want to say “YES! Move here. It’ll be life-changing, and amazing”, or if you live in a city that I didn’t mention (one that is on the cusp of becoming a great music city, or already is), but I don’t know it yet- then please email me at virginiahaladyna@gmail.com. With all of this being said, I’m going to go eat some hot chicken and see what more Nashville has to offer. Stay healthy and safe!

Lending Library

 

Strictly Educational | The Business | Women’s Issues and Women in Music |
Other Music-Related Books

SoundGirls Lending Library

SoundGirls members are able to check out a book from our library for 30 days. It is free for members.

How it works

Request one book at a time, SoundGirls will mail it to you in the domestic United States for free. In return you will ship book back to SoundGirls or mail it to the next member who has requested it.

For members outside the United States, you may borrow a book up to 45 days and will be asked to cover to the international shipping. Shipping will range from $12 to $24 depending on weight and region.

If you have books on audio that you would like to donate – please send them to

See Books Currently Available and Request Books Here.

Recommended Reading

7 Things Every Live Sound Engineer Should Know.

SoundGirls Co-Founder Michelle Sabolchick Pettinato has created a Free eBook called It covers some of the principles and ideas she has found to be most important when working in Live Sound, especially in mixing.

Top 30 Audio Engineering Blogs, News Websites & Newsletters To Follow in 2019

Strictly Educational

The Sound Reinforcement Handbook
The Book features information on both the audio theory involved and the practical applications of that theory, explaining everything from microphones to loudspeakers.

Live Sound Reinforcement
Excellent book to introduce beginners and HOW volunteers to live sound reinforcement. Readers will learn about sound as experts share their experiences, along with tips and tricks.

Sound Systems: Design and Optimization
Bob is thorough, complete, methodical, and passionate about the laws and facts of physics. He includes rules-of-thumb and cheat-sheets that will give you instant insight into the invisible.

Sound for the Stage
Patrick Finelli’s thorough manual covering all aspects of live and recorded sound for performance is a complete training course for anyone interested in working in the field of stage sound.

Mastering Audio: The Art and Science
Written by award-winning Bob Katz, Mastering Audio gives you a thorough introduction to the unique procedures and technical issues involved in mastering.

Acoustics and Psychoacoustics
Acoustics and Psychoacoustics gives you an essential grounding and understanding to how real music sounds behave in different spaces whether during a performance or a recording.

Field Recording Book Round Up
A selection of books and information on field recording by Creative Field Recording.

Professional Audio Reference
Pro audio reference book list

The Business

Tour:Smart: And Break the Band
From packing the right equipment to keeping enough gas in the tank to get home, every aspect of making a successful tour with a band is addressed in this comprehensive guide.

Welcome to the Music Business – You’re Fucked!
Get a free copy!

The Worst Gig
Everybody from Rush and The Sex Pistols to Owl City and Fitz & the Tantrums can be found in helpfully titled sections like Wrong Venue, Insane Fans, Dangerous Malfunctions, Nature’s Wrath, Violence and the self-explanatory Oops.

Sound Design Live: Build Your Career as a Sound Engineer

Women’s Issues / Women in Music

Kim Gordon: Girl in a Band
Kim Gordon, founding member of Sonic Youth, fashion icon, and role model for a generation of women, now tells her story—a memoir of life as an artist, of music, marriage, motherhood, independence, and as one of the first women of rock and roll, written with the lyricism and haunting beauty of Patti Smith’s Just Kids.

Alice Bag: Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, a Chicana Punk Story
The proximity of the East L.A. barrio to Hollywood is as close as a short drive on the 101 freeway, but the cultural divide is enormous. Born to Mexican-born and American-naturalized parents, Alicia Armendariz migrated a few miles west to participate in the free-range birth of the 1970s punk movement. Alicia adopted the punk name Alice Bag, and became lead singer for The Bags, early punk visionaries who starred in Penelope Spheeris’ documentary The Decline of Western Civilization.

Viv Albertine: Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys.
The guitarist for seminal female punk group The Slits recounts playing with Sid Vicious, touring with the Clash, dating Mick Jones, inspiring “Train in Vain,” and releasing her solo debut in 2012.

Patti Smith: Just Kids
InJust Kids, Patti Smith’s first book of prose, the legendary American artist offers a never-before-seen glimpse of her remarkable relationship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe in the epochal days of New York City and the Chelsea Hotel in the late sixties and seventies. An honest and moving story of youth and friendship.

Girls to the Front: The True Story of the Riot Grrrl Revolution
Girls to the Front is the epic, definitive history of Riot Grrrl—the radical feminist uprising that exploded into the public eye in the 1990s and included incendiary punk bands Bikini Kill, Bratmobile, Heavens to Betsy, and Huggy Bear. A dynamic chronicle not just a movement but an era, this is the story of a group of pissed-off girls with no patience for sexism and no intention of keeping quiet.

Cinderella’s Big Score
Cinderella’s Big Score celebrates the contributions of punk’s oft-overlooked female artists, explores the latent—and not so latent—sexism of indie rock (so often thought of as the hallowed ground of progressive movements), and tells the story of how these women created spaces for themselves in a sometimes limited or exclusionary environment. The indie music world is littered with females who have not only withstood the racket of punk’s intolerance, but have twisted our societal notions of femininity in knots. Raha focuses on the United States and England in the 70s and 80s, and illuminates how the seminal women of this time shaped the female rockers of the 90s and today. Groups profiled range from The Runaways, The Slits, and The Plasmatics to L7, Sleater-Kinney, and Le Tigre. The book includes women not often featured in “women in rock” titles, such as Exene Cervenka of X, Eve Libertine and Joy de Vivre of Crass, and Poison Ivy Rorschach of the Cramps. Includes rare interviews and more than forty B&W photos.

The Lost Women of Rock Music: Female Musicians of the Punk Era (Studies in Popular Music)
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, a new phenomenon emerged in UK popular music – female guitarists, bass-players, keyboard-players and drummers began playing in bands. Before this time, women’s presence in rock bands, with a few notable exceptions, had always been as vocalists. This sudden influx of female musicians into the male domain of rock music was brought about by the enabling ethic of punk rock (“anybody can do it!”) and by the impact of the Sex Discrimination Act. With the demise of the punk scene, interest in these musicians evaporated and other priorities became important to music audiences. This book investigates the social and commercial reasons why these women became lost from the rock music record, and rewrites this period of popular music history.

Other Music-Related Books

Musicophilia
Oliver Sacks explores the place music occupies in the brain and it affects the human condition.

This Is Your Brain On Music: The Science of a Human Obsession.

The Rest is Noise, Listening to the 20th Century
A voyage into the labyrinth of modern music, which for many people remains an obscure and forbidding world.

Lexicon of the Mouth – Poetics and Politics of Voice and the Oral Imaginary
The oral cavity is posed as an impressionable arena, susceptible to all types of material input, contamination and intervention, while also enabling powerful forms of resistance, attachment and conversation, as well as radical imagination.

Sonic Possible Worlds – Hearing the Continuum of Sound
In Sonic Possible Worlds, Voegelin proposes a new analytical framework that can access and investigate works across genres and times, enabling a comparative engagement where composers such as Henry Purcell and Nadia Boulanger encounter sound art works by Shilpa Gupta and Christina Kubisch and where the soundscape compositions of Chris Watson and Francisco López resound in the visual worlds of Louise Bourgeois.

Sound Unseen – Acousmatic Sound in Theory and Practice
The first major study in English of Pierre Schaeffer’s theory of “acousmatics,” Sound Unseen is an essential text for scholars of philosophy of music, electronic music, sound studies, and the history of the senses.

The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World
Trevor Cox is on a hunt for the sonic wonders of the world. A renowned expert who engineers classrooms and concert halls. Cox now revels in exotic noises—creaking glaciers, whispering galleries, stalactite organs, musical roads, humming dunes, seals that sound like alien angels, and a Mayan pyramid that chirps like a bird. With forays into archaeology, neuroscience, biology, and design, Cox explains how sound is made and altered by the environment, how our body reacts to peculiar noises, and how these mysterious wonders illuminate sound’s surprising dynamics in everyday settings—from your bedroom to the opera house. The Sound Book encourages us to become better listeners in a world dominated by the visual and to open our ears to the glorious cacophony all around us.

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