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==Etymology == ==Etymology ==
From Latin ''[[sonus]]''. From Latin ''[[sonus]]''.
 +
 +==Music==
 +:''[[music]]''
 +
 +'''Music''' is an [[art form]] whose [[media (arts)|medium]] is [[sound]] and [[silence]]. Its common elements are [[pitch (music)|pitch]] (which governs [[melody]] and [[harmony]]), [[rhythm]] (and its associated concepts [[tempo]], [[meter (music)|meter]], and [[articulation (music)|articulation]]), [[dynamics (music)|dynamics]], and the sonic qualities of [[timbre]] and [[texture (music)|texture]]. The word derives from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[μουσική]]'' (''mousike''; "art of the [[Muses]]").
 +
 +The creation, [[performance]], significance, and even the [[definition of music]] vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to [[aleatory|aleatoric]] forms. Music can be divided into [[genre]]s and [[subgenre]]s, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within [[the arts]], music may be classified as a [[performing arts|performing art]], a [[fine art]], and auditory art. It may also be divided among [[art music]] and [[folk music]]. There is also a strong connection between [[music and mathematics]]. Music may be played and heard live, may be part of a [[theatre music|dramatic work]] or [[film score|film]], or may be recorded.
 +
 +To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life. [[Greek philosophy|Ancient Greek]] and [[Ancient philosophy#Ancient Indian philosophers|Indian philosophers]] defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer [[John Cage]] thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "[[There is no noise, only sound]]."
 +==Psychoacoustics==
 +:''[[psychoacoustics]]''
 +
 +'''Psychoacoustics''' is the scientific study of [[sound]] perception. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the [[psychological]] and [[physiological]] responses associated with sound (including [[speech]] and [[music]]). It can be further categorized as a branch of [[psychophysics]].
==Sound poetry== ==Sound poetry==
Line 68: Line 81:
In common use the word '''noise''' means [[unwanted]] [[sound]]. In [[electronics]] noise can refer to the electronic signal corresponding to acoustic noise (in an audio system) or the electronic signal corresponding to the (visual) noise commonly seen as '[[snow]]' on a degraded [[television]] or [[video]] image. In signal processing or computing it can be considered [[data]] without [[meaning]]; that is, data that is not being used to transmit a [[Signal|signal]], but is simply produced as an unwanted by-product of other activities. In [[information theory]], however, noise is still considered to be [[information]]. In a broader sense, film grain or even advertisements in web pages can be considered noise. In common use the word '''noise''' means [[unwanted]] [[sound]]. In [[electronics]] noise can refer to the electronic signal corresponding to acoustic noise (in an audio system) or the electronic signal corresponding to the (visual) noise commonly seen as '[[snow]]' on a degraded [[television]] or [[video]] image. In signal processing or computing it can be considered [[data]] without [[meaning]]; that is, data that is not being used to transmit a [[Signal|signal]], but is simply produced as an unwanted by-product of other activities. In [[information theory]], however, noise is still considered to be [[information]]. In a broader sense, film grain or even advertisements in web pages can be considered noise.
-==Music== 
-:''[[music]]'' 
- 
-'''Music''' is an [[art form]] whose [[media (arts)|medium]] is [[sound]] and [[silence]]. Its common elements are [[pitch (music)|pitch]] (which governs [[melody]] and [[harmony]]), [[rhythm]] (and its associated concepts [[tempo]], [[meter (music)|meter]], and [[articulation (music)|articulation]]), [[dynamics (music)|dynamics]], and the sonic qualities of [[timbre]] and [[texture (music)|texture]]. The word derives from [[Greek language|Greek]] ''[[μουσική]]'' (''mousike''; "art of the [[Muses]]"). 
- 
-The creation, [[performance]], significance, and even the [[definition of music]] vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to [[aleatory|aleatoric]] forms. Music can be divided into [[genre]]s and [[subgenre]]s, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within [[the arts]], music may be classified as a [[performing arts|performing art]], a [[fine art]], and auditory art. It may also be divided among [[art music]] and [[folk music]]. There is also a strong connection between [[music and mathematics]]. Music may be played and heard live, may be part of a [[theatre music|dramatic work]] or [[film score|film]], or may be recorded. 
- 
-To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life. [[Greek philosophy|Ancient Greek]] and [[Ancient philosophy#Ancient Indian philosophers|Indian philosophers]] defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer [[John Cage]] thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "[[There is no noise, only sound]]." 
== Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds == == Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds ==

Revision as of 10:01, 12 April 2014

Extreme close-up from the movie "The Big Swallow" (1901), produced and directed by James Williamson (1855-1933)
Enlarge
Extreme close-up from the movie "The Big Swallow" (1901), produced and directed by James Williamson (1855-1933)
The Bouba/kiki effect (1929)
This page Sound is part of the music series.Illustration: Sheet music to "Buffalo Gals" (c. 1840), a traditional song.Maxim: "writing about music is like dancing about architecture".
Enlarge
This page Sound is part of the music series.
Illustration: Sheet music to "Buffalo Gals" (c. 1840), a traditional song.
Maxim: "writing about music is like dancing about architecture".
This page Sound is part of the medium specificity series.  Illustration: Laocoön and His Sons ("Clamores horrendos" detail), photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen.
Enlarge
This page Sound is part of the medium specificity series.
Illustration: Laocoön and His Sons ("Clamores horrendos" detail), photo by Marie-Lan Nguyen.
Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1884), a composition by Alphonse Allais. It consists of nine blank measures and predates comparable works by John Cage ("4′33″") by a considerable margin.
Enlarge
Funeral March for the Obsequies of a Deaf Man (1884), a composition by Alphonse Allais. It consists of nine blank measures and predates comparable works by John Cage ("4′33″") by a considerable margin.
Page from "Letter on the Deaf and Dumb" which illustrates Denis Diderot's take on medium specificity
Enlarge
Page from "Letter on the Deaf and Dumb" which illustrates Denis Diderot's take on medium specificity
Cover of the brochure of the "Entartete Musik" exhibition
Enlarge
Cover of the brochure of the "Entartete Musik" exhibition

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Sound is a sensation perceived by the ear caused by the vibration of air or some other medium.

It can also refer to a distinctive style and sonority of a particular musician and orchestra.

Sound is the opposite of silence.

Contents

Etymology

From Latin sonus.

Music

music

Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word derives from Greek μουσική (mousike; "art of the Muses").

The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music vary according to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to aleatoric forms. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within the arts, music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art. It may also be divided among art music and folk music. There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics. Music may be played and heard live, may be part of a dramatic work or film, or may be recorded.

To many people in many cultures, music is an important part of their way of life. Ancient Greek and Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "the harmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cage thought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound."

Psychoacoustics

psychoacoustics

Psychoacoustics is the scientific study of sound perception. More specifically, it is the branch of science studying the psychological and physiological responses associated with sound (including speech and music). It can be further categorized as a branch of psychophysics.

Sound poetry

sound poetry

Sound poetry is a form of literary or musical composition in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded at the expense of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poetry is intended primarily for performance.

Sound art

sound art

From the Western art historical tradition early examples include Luigi Russolo's Intonarumori or noise intoners, and subsequent experiments by Dadaists, Surrealists, the Situationist International, and in Fluxus happenings. Because of the diversity of sound art, there is often debate about whether sound art falls within the domain of either the visual art or experimental music categories, or both. Other artistic lineages from which sound art emerges are conceptual art, minimalism, site-specific art, sound poetry, spoken word, avant-garde poetry, and experimental theatre.

Sound culture

sound culture

The first seminal contributions in sound studies could be considered the books of R. Murray Schafer The Tuning of the World (1977) and of Jacques Attali Noise: The Political Economy of Music (1985).

Current important contributions also are Trevor Pinch and Frank Trocco's Analog Days (2002); Jonathan Sterne's Audible Past (2003), Emily Thompson's The Soundscape of Modernity (2002) and Temples of Sound (2003).

Sound film

sound film

A sound film is a motion picture with synchronized sound, or sound technologically coupled to image, as opposed to a silent film. The first known public exhibition of projected sound films took place in Paris in 1900, but it would be decades before reliable synchronization was made commercially practical. The first commercial screening of movies with fully synchronized sound took place in New York City in April 1923. In the early years after the introduction of sound, films incorporating synchronized dialogue were known as "talking pictures," or "talkies." The first feature-length movie originally presented as a talkie was The Jazz Singer, released in October 1927.

Sound recording

sound recording

Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical or mechanical inscription and playback of sound waves, usually used for the voice or for music. The first practical sound recording and reproduction device was the mechanical phonograph cylinder, invented by Thomas Edison in 1877 and patented in 1878. The invention soon spread across the globe and over the next two decades the commercial recording, distribution and sale of sound recordings became a growing new international industry, with the most popular titles selling millions of units by the early 1900s. The development of mass production techniques enabled cylinder recordings to become a major new consumer item in industrial countries and the cylinder was the main consumer format from the late 1880s until around 1910.

Sound sculpture

sound sculpture

Sound sculpture (related to sound art and sound installation) is an intermedia and time based art form in which sculpture or any kind of art object produces sound, or the reverse (in the sense that sound is manipulated in such a way as to create a sculptural as opposed to temporal form or mass). Most often sound sculpture artists were primarily either visual artists or composers, not having started out directly making sound sculpture. Cymatics and kinetic art has influenced sound sculpture. Sound sculpture is sometimes site-specific.

Sound symbolism

sound symbolism

In linguistics, sound symbolism or phonosemantics is the idea that vocal sounds or phonemes carry meaning in and of themselves.

In the 18th century, Mikhail Lomonosov propagated a theory that words containing the front vowel sounds E, I, YU should be used when depicting tender subjects and those with back vowel sounds O, U, Y when describing things that may cause fear ("like anger, envy, pain, and sorrow").

However, it is Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913) who is considered to be the founder of modern 'scientific' linguistics. Central to what de Saussure says about words are two related statements: First, he says that "the sign is arbitrary". He considers the words that we use to indicate things and concepts could be any words — they are essentially just a consensus agreed upon by the speakers of a language and have no discernible pattern or relationship to the thing. (This was not an entirely new concept. As early as 1595 Shakespeare included the line "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" in his play Romeo and Juliet.) Thus, the sounds themselves have no linguistic meaning. Second, he says that, because words are arbitrary, they have meaning only in relation to other words. A dog is a dog because it is not a cat or a mouse or a horse, etc. These ideas have permeated the study of words since the 19th century.

Saussure himself is said to have collected examples where sounds and referents were related. Ancient traditions link sounds and meaning, and some modern linguistic research does also.

Silence

silence

Silence is a relative or total lack of sound. An environment with sound below 20 decibels is considered quiet or silent. Languages such as German have the verb schweigen[1] for being silent, or shutting up.

Noise

noise

In common use the word noise means unwanted sound. In electronics noise can refer to the electronic signal corresponding to acoustic noise (in an audio system) or the electronic signal corresponding to the (visual) noise commonly seen as 'snow' on a degraded television or video image. In signal processing or computing it can be considered data without meaning; that is, data that is not being used to transmit a signal, but is simply produced as an unwanted by-product of other activities. In information theory, however, noise is still considered to be information. In a broader sense, film grain or even advertisements in web pages can be considered noise.


Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds

Ocean of Sound

Ocean of Sound: Aether Talk, Ambient Sound and Imaginary Worlds (1995) is a music theory book written by British author David Toop and published by Serpent's Tail.

It is Toop's second book and is centered on ambient music which he defines as music that "taps into the disturbing, chaotic undertow of the environment". As an aural companion to the book.

According to AllMusic's John Bush, all of the songs compiled for the album recapitulate the theme of the book—"that Les Baxter, Aphex Twin, The Beach Boys, Herbie Hancock, King Tubby and My Bloody Valentine are all related by their effect on sound pioneering."

A two-CD set was released with the book in early 1996.

See also




Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Sound" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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