Noise as Timbre of Materiality
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33871/vortex.2025.13.10840Keywords:
Technology, Perception, Tuning, Sound Art, SoundscapeAbstract
This paper explores the inseparability between noise and its material conditions. First, I argue that the perception of noise develops alongside the acquisition of language and music capacities. Next, I examine the impact of modern industrial effects on the soundscape and their influence on the perception of noises. Afterwards, I propose that issues of temperament and musical tuning are inherently tied to acoustic materiality. In this context, noise is primarily regarded as unwanted sound. From the moment material and perceptual conditions allow the integration of noise into music or its incorporation in sound arts, one realizes that noise may reveal a distinct meaning, apart from its traditional subordination to language and music. Considering the plurality of perspectives on noise, I conclude by suggesting that its analysis must necessarily account for both its material and perceptual conditions.
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