Soundscapes: Toward a Sounded Anthropology - Amherst College

21 Pages·2012·0.29 MB·English

AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
Soundscapes: Toward a
Sounded Anthropology
David W. Samuels,1 Louise Meintjes,2
org Ana Maria Ochoa,3 and Thomas Porcello4
s.
w
vienly. 1DepartmentofMusic,NewYorkUniversity,NewYork,NY10003;
w.annualreonal use o eN2Dmoearpitlha:[email protected];Ceumltauirl:amlAeninthtjreos@podluokgey.,eDduukeUniversity,Durham,
m wwor pers e3Dmeapila:ratom2e1n1t0@ofcMoluumsicb,iCa.eodluumbiaUniversity,NewYork,NY10027;
oF 4DepartmentofAnthropology,VassarCollege,Poughkeepsie,NewYork12604;
d fr12. email:[email protected]
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2010.39:ge - Seri AFinrnstup.uRbelvis.hAendthornolipnoel.a2s0a1R0e.3vi9e:w32i9n–A45dvanceon KauerayliWty,ofirlmdssound,listening,music,recordingtechnology,soundart
hropol. st Colle JTuhneeA21n,n2u0al1R0eviewofAnthropologyisonlineat Abstract
Rev. Anty Amher aTnhthisraor.atincnleu’saldreovi:iews.org Awagyesntehraattiaorneopfroscdhuocltaivrseifnomraunltthiprloepdoilsocgipislitns.eWsheasinintrvoedstuigceattehdescoounncdepint
u. b 10.1146/annurev-anthro-022510-132230 ofsoundscapeasamodalityforintegratingthisworkintoananthropo-
n
An Copyright!c 2010byAnnualReviews. logicalapproach.Wetraceitshistoryasaresponsetothetechnological
Allrightsreserved mediationsandlisteningpracticesemergentinmodernityandnoteits
0084-6570/10/1021-0329$20.00 absenceintheanthropologicalliterature.Wethentracethehistoryof
technologythatgaverisetoanthropologicalrecordingpractices,film
soundtechniques,andexperimentalsoundart,notingproductiveinter-
weavingsofthesethreads.Afterconsideringethnographiesthatexplore
relationshipsbetweensound,personhood,aesthetics,history,andide-
ology,wequestionsound’ssupposedephemeralityasareasonforthe
discipline’s inattention. We conclude with a call for an anthropology
that more seriously engages with its own history as a sounded disci-
plineandmovesforwardinwaysthatincorporatethesocialandcultural
soundedworldmorefully.
329
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
INTRODUCTION apubliclycirculatingentitythatisaproduced
effect of social practices, politics, and ideolo-
In 2004 Feld commented in American Ethnol-
gies while also being implicated in the shap-
ogist, “Until the sound recorder is presented
ingofthosepractices,politics,andideologies.
andtaughtasatechnologyofcreativeandan-
Soundscape opens possibilities for anthropol-
alyticmediation,whichrequirescraftandedit-
ogists to think about the enculturated nature
ingandarticulationjustlikewriting,littlewill
of sound, the techniques available for collect-
happenofaninterestingsortintheanthropol-
ingandthinkingaboutsound,andthematerial
ogyofsound”(Feld&Brenneis2004,p.471).
spaces of performance and ceremony that are
Whatwouldasoundedanthropologybe?How
usedorconstructedforthepurposeofpropa-
might the discipline of anthropology develop
gatingsound.
ifitspractitionersstoppedthinkingofthefield
recordingonlyasasourceofdataforthewrit-
FROMSOUNDTOSOUNDSCAPE
ten work that then ensues and rather thought
g
s.or of the recording itself as a meaningful form? The history of the soundscape concept is in-
w
ey. Whatifdiscussionsofrecordingmovedbeyond timately linked to histories of mediation and
vinl
ualreuse o itnecqhuniroielosgaybtoouhtothwebsetsattetoopfrtehseenarttanindrreecporredseinngt tlaorckhinandgsinogf ltiestcehnnionlgogpioesssitbhlaet. Imtaikseinpsaerptaicrua--
w.annonal thesonorousenculturatedworldsinhabitedby blefromthecriticalencounterwithsoundthat
wwpers people? thesechangesthemselvesenable.Indeed,after
m or A generation of scholars in various disci- WorldWarIIanumberofconceptsforthink-
oF
d fr12. plineshasbeenaskingquestionsaboutsound, ingaboutsoundemergedsimultaneously.Each
de7/ listening,thevoice,andtheear(Erlmann2004, respondedtorecordingtechnologybyaddress-
a1
nlo01/ Feld et al. 2004, Finnegan 2002, Kruth & ingsound’sintimateconnectionstocontextsof
owon Stobart2000,Nancy2007)inwaysthatmake time and place. Following Latour (1993), we
Dn
45. ctio such reflection in anthropology both possi- inferfromtheseoverlappingconcernsthatthe
329-3als Se bthleesaendqupeosstsiiobnlyspisroCdluifcftoivrde.’sPproromvionceanttivaemjoibneg, ilnecvteinotnioonfeopfissoteumndolmogaicchailnpersacwtaicsepsaorftpoufraificcoal--
010.39:e - Seri eecthhnooegdrabpyhEicrlemara?n”n(C(2li0ff0o4r)d, “1b9u8t6,wph.a1t2o).fWthee tfrioonmoiftssoimunmde,dwiahtiechsusroruoguhntditnogasbwsthrialcetnsootuinndg
2g
hropol. st Colle psoruonpodserecthoartdianng aalnedrtnpersosdutocwtioarndissouusnedfulantdo itscWonentercatciveittyhteotpelramce.soundscape to Schafer
nter anthropologyatlarge.Firstweoutlineandcon- (1994[1977]),whobroughtitintowidecircu-
Ah
v. Am textualizegenealogiesofthetheoreticallygen- lationwhenhecalledfor“atotalappreciation
u. Reby erative concept of soundscape. Then we re- oftheacousticenvironment”(p.4).Soundscape
n view emerging ethnographic work on sound wassomewhatanalogoustolandscapeinsofaras
n
A
and sound recording through which the rel- itattemptedtocontaineverythingtowhichthe
evance of the soundscape concept to anthro- ear was exposed in a given sonic setting. Like
pologyismadeexplicit.Atthesametime,this “landscape,”aswell,thetermcontainsthecon-
ethnographyrefinestheoryaboutsoundscape, tradictoryforcesofthenaturalandthecultural,
even if it does not all make use of the term. the fortuitous and the composed, the impro-
Incombination,soundscapetheoryandethno- visedandthedeliberatelyproduced.Similarly,
graphiesofsoundpromptustocallforanaural aslandscapeisconstitutedbyculturalhistories,
reflexive turn in the discipline and offer tools ideologies,andpracticesofseeing,soundscape
withwhichtodoit.Webuildonthemodelof implicateslisteningasaculturalpractice.
Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer (1994 Schafer’s concern with the noise pollution
[1977]), which we contend has advantages for of modern technology dictated the form
anthropologists. He frames the soundscape as of his presentation: The soundscape moves
330 Samuelsetal.
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
historically from natural to rural to town to of science, technology, and communication
city and thence through the industrial and (Bijsterveld 2008, Sterne 2003, Thompson
electricrevolutions,becomingeverlouderand 2002).
lesstunedtoahuman(ist)scale.Initshistorical Soundscapestudieshashadparticulartrac-
movementfrom“hi-fi”to“lo-fi”soundscapes, tioninScandinavia,whereradiodocumentary,
thispresentationmasksthewaysinwhichthe sound art, and interdisciplinary scholarship
concept of soundscape is itself anchored in a haveintersectedinformativeways(Ja¨rviluoma
form of listening that became possible only 2004). With some exceptions, however (Feld
through the development of technological 1990 [1982], Helmreich 2007, Rice 2008,
formsofmediationandrecording. Ridington 1988), the soundscape concept has
Schafer’s initial engagement with the circulated more widely outside of anthropol-
concept thus emerged out of a somewhat ro- ogythanwithinitandmorewidelyoutsideof
mantic materialist environmentalism, and his North America than within it. This failure to
g
or presentationperformsarecurrentworryabout take root could be in part because Schafer’s
ws. technology’sdismantlingofthenaturalsound- neologism was broadly contemporaneous
ey.
vinl scape. This concern manifested in two ways: with the publication of Spivak’s translation of
eo
ualruse First,Schaferoftenreturnedtoadiscussionof Derrida’sOfGrammatology(1976),whichher-
m www.annor personal tsrececaphlreensooelnfotgetyhd’esaasnbtaihtliuetryeanltoesmoduyronowdfsnc“asoopuuet—ndth“”ne;osheisuceom”nadins, asaolndudenddinaascsdrpiisprcetiipsoelninn.caeArytnootwuthranredraawrefaaoyscoufrnsoommnavtyoexibctueeaaltnihtdye
oF his desire for the holism of the soundscape loose way in which the term has sometimes
d fr12. led him to critique the ways in which sound circulated.Somemusicscholarshaveemployed
de7/
nloa01/1 recordings could time- and place-shift the “soundscape,”eitherexplicitly(Shelemay2006)
wn sources of a sound’s natural context—from a orimplicitly(Dudley2002,Jones2003,Manuel
oo
Dn specific“here”and“now”ofnaturaloccurrence 1994),asanewcovertermfor“thecontextin
45. ctio toamultiplicityof“heres”and“nows”through whichmusicoccurs”butwithoutexploringthe
3e
329-als S the aegis of mediation. For this sundering of sonic aspects of that context that the sound-
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hropol. 2st Colleg wtthhieethecmnonoeicrsegepintpgohlcaliusttyifoosnouunandnddsactahfpeeert,cilooenmehpopomlsaietcieoinsthoiantf 2tpo0ert0hf3oe,riKmnrtaeonrncneeanlogsrooenlndisc2eo0mr0bt5ol)en,,aualstueesxtahtgueertetehoramftaomtvoeurrseliacfpearsl
nter
Rev. Ay Amh uGribdalnof-sGtuudniensar(sAsorkne&tteO¨2h0r0s4tr,o¨Amtk2i0n0s7o)n. 2007, wusiethdtthheetewramy(eTleructarxo2a0co0u8,stWicecsotemrkpaomseprs20h0a2v)e.
u. b Theconceptoverlapsandlayerswithamore Theseusesinviteanunfortunatereductiveap-
n
An widely circulating academic discourse about proachtobothethnographyandthetheoryof
sound, under such rubrics as “sound studies” thesoundscapeandlimitthepossibilitiesfora
and“anthropologyofsound”andinscholarly cross-fertilizationofmusicstudiesandanthro-
attention to listening. Some of this work uses pologyofsound.Yetthenotionofsoundscape
the term soundscape and other attendant mayfindmoretractionintheanthropological
conceptsdevelopedbySchaferindetailedform mainstream now than in past decades. The
ordedicatesonechaptertotheconcept(Picker returntothebody,thesenses,andembodiment
2003, Smith 1999). Other work appropriates asareasofanthropologicalresearchandsources
the term but not the wide-ranging approach of local knowledge, along with Appadurai’s
to the public sphere and to cultural histories (1990) framing of modernity and the global
that characterize Schafer’s understanding of cultural economy as an intertwined collection
soundandculture.Stillotherimportantwork of “-scapes,” raises the profile of sound and
approaches the sonic from within studies soundscape as productive arenas for research.
www.annualreviews.org Soundscapes 331
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AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
In language and music studies, work that and space (Bauman 2010, Bauman & Feaster
picks up on Bakhtinian notions of dialogism, 2004). At once futurist and nostalgic, sound
polyphony, and the chronotope presents the recordingalsoshiftedthefeltnatureofmem-
voice as an utterance shaped and sounded in ory,time,andplace,disruptingthenaturalized
relationtoothervoices andtosituatedevents chronotopeofliveperformanceandproducing
(Inoue 2006, Silverstein 2005). Recent work anepistemologicaldividebetweenface-to-face
on the acoustic dimensions of voice and the and mediated communication in a way that
politics of time (Cavarero 2005, Grosz 2004), theinventionofthetelephonehadnot.Sound
as well as studies on orality and remediation, recordingaswellpromisedtobringthefullness
furthermobilizesquestionsaboutcontextand of performed vocal and sonic presence of the
vocalsound.Together,theseapproachesbring pasttofuturegenerations,andasatechnology
attention to the linguistic transformation of of memory, sound recording was quickly
speech acts when recontextualized to new incorporated into the idea of the archive.
g
or media (Bauman 2010). This, along with work Thearchivalimpetusstillstronglyundergirds
ws. that decenters a Eurocentric approach to the anthropologicalfieldmethodologywithsound,
ey.
vinl relationbetweenmediaandmediation(Garc´ıa configured anew by issues around new forms
eo
ualruse Canclini 2005, Mart´ın-Barbero 2001, Shohat of electronic access, the emerging dominance
m www.annor personal &itnoStthhtaeemoert2yh0na0on3gd)r,apidpoehlniitctiicefisneadsnetdhav,eotarhu.erraelbays,imasbcrircitaitceadl oitnoffocdorigmnitteradollcteaorcnchshneinovtlao,lgacnyo,dllaecncudtlitouqnruasels(pCtirohonrpisestroetfnyer2tih0gi0hc6tss,,
oF Fabian2008,Keltyetal.2008).Butrecording
d fr12. asarchivaldocumentationisnottheonlyeffect
nloade01/17/ TINESCCHRNIPOTLIOOGNIAENSDOFESXOPENRICIENCE ofthedevelopmentofinscriptivetechnologies
wn forsound.Considerationsoftheadjacentand
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Dn New forms of technological mediation in overlappinghistoriesofmotionpicturesound,
45. ctio the late nineteenth century helped constitute studio recording, and experimental sound
3e
329-als S a particular modern(ist) engagement with art also contribute to the emergence of the
010.39:e - Seri s(Couonndn,oirnte2n0s0i4fi,edKcauhltnur1al9p9r2a)c,tiacnedsopflriostmenpitnedg cporondceupcttivoefesnoguangdesmcaepnetawnidthtiot.anthropology’s
hropol. 2st Colleg serhyatriefltilselisnitnga,puardanicodtiroceetchsoeorrdfivsneiggrnsbiaifinlccaalruttidsoentdh.aoStroaumtnoetriylo,ftshttehone- dliestteeSnrtmeinringn,eisa(m2rg0uo0if3n)mgcahtnhaylaltehnsigsutecoshrtiehinsevoteefnctshioonunonsldowgaiecnradel
nter
v. AAmh hadbeenperformedfacetoface.Theintroduc- themselves made possible because of an an-
Rey tionofthenewmedium,inpart,changedthe tecedent early-nineteenth-century interest in
u. b modesofperformingthesegenres.Ontheone the ear, listening, deafness, and acoustics in
n
An hand, recording demanded that performance fields such as medicine, psychoacoustics, and
practices adapt to the art and technologies of physiology.Gitelman(1999)demonstratesfur-
recording, which led to distinctions between ther that the idea of “new technologies” of
studio and live performances. On the other sound reproduction is far from new. Before
hand, live performance was itself transformed the invention of sound machines, the inscrip-
by the new access to playback (Katz 2004). tionofsoundresultingfromlisteningpractices
These shifts can be seen linguistically and tookplacethrough“legiblerepresentationsof
sociallyinanewlyemergentfocusonprosody, aural experience” (p. 15): inscriptive practices
new practices of indexicality, new modes of thatinvolvedmusicalnotationandwordsabout
eliciting audience response, and new contex- sound and aural perception. Gitelman chal-
tualization cues for hypothetical audiences. lengesreaderstorecognizethewaysinwhich
This remediation of oral genres reconstituted technologiesofthelegiblemadeandcontinue
those genres and their relationships to time to make sound circulation possible. Thus the
332 Samuelsetal.
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
problem that Schafer frames as schizophonia that precede sound recording” (Thomas 2007,
is not in fact determined by the emergence p. 107; emphasis in original), have made us
ofsoundrecordingtechnology.Onecouldar- awarethatanocularcentrichistoryisbasedon
gue that the gramophone changed the stakes, anerasureoftheplaceoftheearinconstituting
butstilltheexistenceofrecordingsforcedre- knowledges and different practices crucial
searchers in the areas of music, language, and to modernity. Anthropologists working with
othersoundedculturalpracticestorethinkal- sound, however (Feld 1996a,b; Hirschkind
ready existing scriptural procedures of nota- 2006; Meintjes 2004), question the epistemic
tion and transcription (Rehding 2005). Like- foundation of histories that claim an ocular-
wise,thethinlinebetweentheEdisoncylinders centricity of modernity through fieldwork
andthepianoarrangementsofnonwesternmu- that explores the acoustic construction of
sicalformscreatedbyearlyethnomusicologists knowledge.
(Troutman2009)attestedtothedialogicrela-
g
or tionshipbetweensoundandsight.
ws. Recentscholarlytrendsdemonstraterecog- SOUNDINFILM
ey.
vinl nitionofthesehistoricalpracticesoflegibleau- Soundscape and its companion concepts ap-
eo
ualruse ral inscription. These include the search for peared in conjunction with a number of al-
m www.annor personal ti(nCragoceninsnoloirtfe2rt0aht0ue4r,eaPsuiorcafklderiaffn2ed0re0n3pt)r,ahcfiotsirtcoetrshiceaoslfopuleinrstdioendo-sf ttseiporanncsaet,oivfaensodauptnpedcr,ohcanucohlltoeusgryet,.opOtlhanciene,koihfnigstthoaerbyko,euaytcotqeuursemtsic-s
oF the voice in its written modes (Smith 1999), fromthesealternativetraditionsistheideaof
d fr12. andforthetraceleftbydifferentgenresofin- “acousmatic”soundassociatedwithexperimen-
de7/
nloa01/1 scriptiononthecriticalworkofmusicmaking talcomposerPierreSchaefferandthemusique
wn (Szendy2008).Togetherwithcriticalworkon concre`temovementinFrance(Schaeffer1966).
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Dn thephilosophicalgrammarofvocalityandwrit- Thinkingofsoundontapeasitselfa“soundob-
45. ctio ing (Cavarero 2005, Derrida 1976), the study ject” (l’objet sonore), that is, an entity indepen-
3e
329-als S ofdiscoursesandpracticessurroundingthein- dentofitsacousticorigin,Schaefferframedthis
010.39:e - Seri v2e0n0t3i)o,nanodfstohuensdeamrcahchfoinrehso(wBrsapdeyci1fi9c9h9i,sStoterircnael rmeilsastiinognsshoiuprbceetawseaecnotuhsemsaotiucn,dboorbrjoewctedanfdroimts
hropol. 2st Colleg psRoeaurtinhodd2s0rpe0pr3er,doSadtmuincittghiothn2e0s0eom4uben)rd,getehdnisc(eJwooohfrnmkseoocnnha1an9ui9dc5ai-l, Pecarynutshceaoigsioninraegvaiesnirbpelhfeei”lro(rCseodhpitohonys1bo9uu8tn3wd,hpsi.“c1oh8f)i.nwThithiscemhteotrhdme-
nter
v. AAmh tory history enables scholars to confront the sharesgroundwithschizophonia,butwithout
Rey presumption of western ocularcentrism. The the sense of anxiety about the separation of
u. b dilemma that emerges is whether alternative soundsfromtheirnaturallyoccurringcontexts
n
An sensorial histories have always been there as thatmarksMurraySchafer’swork.
“subterranean histories” (Hirschkind 2006) at Discussionsoffilmsoundthatfocusonthe
themarginsofamainstreamhistorydominated acousmaticenterthepurviewofanthropology
byvisualityoriftheresoundingofsuchhistories because they strongly implicate relationships
givesriseineffecttoaradicallydifferenttem- of sound, place, and space. Even prior to the
poralcartography:that“anauditoryratherthan commercial success of the Vitaphone process
a predominantly visual approach to the past (Lastra 2000, pp. 92–122), musical accom-
producesadifferentculturalhistory”(Johnson paniment was usually heard in the theaters
2005,p.259). thatexhibitedso-called“silent”films,andthe
Historians working in the realm of sound tracesofthepresenceofmusiciansonthefilm
(Connor2000,Corbin1998,B.Johnson2005, set can be seen in the rhythmic coordination
J. Johnson 1995, Schmidt 2000, Smith 1999), of movements of the actors on the screen in
often “strongly drawn to epochs and subjects the finished film (C. Abbate, manuscript in
www.annualreviews.org Soundscapes 333
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AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
preparation).Filmeditingwasoftenanalogized Sider 2003). A number of film scholars have
as musical, however problematic the analogy therefore avoided using “soundtrack” in favor
maybe.Conversely,A.Monchick(manuscript of “soundscape,” a term in film studies traced
in preparation) argues that musical compo- moreoftentoStilwell(2001)thantoSchafer.
sition in Germany between the World Wars Stilwell’s framing of soundscape is intended
was broadly influenced by montage and other to prod scholars to think holistically about
tropesofcinematictechnique. film soundtracks, not only as the music that
Giventhewaysinwhichfilmmakinginflu- accompanies the sequence of scenes in a film,
enced ideologies of sound and hearing, sound but as a complex layering of dialogue, music,
filmstudiespromisearichareaofengagement andsoundeffectsthattogetherhelpstoanchor
for anthropologists considering sound, space, theviewer’sexperienceofthefilm.
context, listening, technology, and aesthetic
production.Thehistoricaldevelopmentofsyn-
g SOUNDARTS,SOUND
or chronized sound in motion pictures (Crafton
ws. 1997)waspartiallyconstitutedbythetechno- RECORDING,SOUNDSCAPE
ey.
vinl logical apparatus that enabled filmmakers to Strongly influenced by musique concre`te and
eo
ualruse separateproductionofthevisualnarrativefrom Schaeffer’stwinnednotionsofthesoundobject
m www.annor personal tpthoooastksiobffluetllhteahdeavuaprnartloadnguaercrtoaifotintvheeo.fTrehscoiosurnpddriontrcgaecsskstsumdtaihoda’est aethnxepdeUraimcnoietuensdtmalSattmiactuse,ssica(sLtraawBdeeiltlliloena2ss0i0on6th)E,eursroopuponesdtawanardrt
oF ability to enhance the listener’s experience of is another refraction of relationships between
d fr12. attendingtoandfocusingonparticularsounds sound, space, technology, expression, and
de7/
nloa01/1 andevenparticularfeaturesofsounds.Recent culture that emerged in tandem with the
wn film scholarship has witnessed an explosion idea of the soundscape. A number of elec-
oo
Dn of literature on the soundtrack (Altman 2007, troacoustic composers associate their work
45. ctio Buhler et al. 2009, Chion 1994, Donnelly directly with Schafer’s concepts (Truax 2008,
3e
329-als S 2001, Goldmark et al. 2007, Kassabian 2000). Westerkamp 2002). Architects, visual and
010.39:e - Seri Monutchheorfoltehoisfwmourskiccionntthineueexspteoriecnocneceonftfiralmte pmeernfotarrmyarnecceoradritsitsst,s,anmdusscichocloarmsphoasveersa,lldworciut--
hropol. 2st Colleg voisif,edwtiheeergsehqtiiupce,asetnixdopnlnooronifndgwie,hgfoeettrhiceexrmamuthspieclesi,notuhfirelcmen,aottuhfraeat trleeecnctoearddbeovdoultusosmoueunsndd(sCcaaaprrtel,ysl,seoo2uft0ne0dn7i,innDsttrahollebantsiiaocmnkse2,0ca0on4ld-,
nter
v. AAmh musicalsoundisinthestoryandmeantforthe Gray&Yan2007,Licht2007,Rudi2009;also
Rey charactersorinthescoreandmeantfortheau- seeSoundscape:TheJournalofAcousticEcol-
u. b dience.Chion(1994)haschallengedscholarsto ogy).Theinsituethnographicfieldrecording
n
An thinkoffilmasanaudio-visualexperienceand hasalsoservedasaprecedentforsomesound
tounderstandsoundinfilmassynergisticwith artinwaysthatintersectdirectlywithanthro-
vision.Chion’semphasisonacousmaticsound pological interests and with framings of the
acknowledges the mediated means by which soundscape(seeKahn1999,pp.101–22).
filmmakersusethesoundtrackto(re)createthe Asasocialscience,however,anthropology’s
materialrealityinwhichthefilmtakesplace. engagement with sound has, for the most
Growing attention to the produced nature part, been different from that within the arts
of the aural experience of film is echoed by and humanities. Despite exceptions such as
a terminological move from film sound to “deeplistening,”(Becker2004,Oliveros2005),
sound design in articulating how soundtracks anthropology has largely treated the work
are constructed, and construed, as more of sound artists as tangential to its enter-
than the musical score that accompanies the prise. Anthropologists’ disregard is returned
narrative arc of a film (Beck & Grajeda 2008, in kind by sound artists who often dismiss
334 Samuelsetal.
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
ethnographic field recordings for their rudi- in performance, recent work has expanded
mentary production techniques and their the goals of documenting music, oratory,
largelyarchivalimpetus.Zhang(2007),forex- storytelling,languageelicitation,orthelikeby
ample,criticizesfieldrecordingsaslow-fiand situatingtheexpressiveartswithinanacoustic
academicratherthancommercialandaspreser- environmentinwhichlistenersareactivesocial
vationistratherthancreativeinimpulse,argu- participants. Earlier literature gestures in this
ingforthecreativelicensetomanipulatewhat direction. Turnbull’s classic Mbuti Pygmies
he records. Such rhetorical stances, however, of the Ituri Rainforest (Turnbull & Chapman
limitthewaysinwhichsoundartcanbeconsid- 1992[1957])isanearlyforayinthisdirection.
eredasaformofethnographicargumentaswell Influenced by Turnbull, Guillaume & Surgue
ascreativematerialforsocialanalyststothink (1982) produced a recording that attempted
with.Itlimits,aswell,thewaysthatsoundartists to offer listeners “an impression of what life
mighttreatethnographyasmakingacontribu- amongtheAka‘soundslike.’”ButFeld’sKaluli
g
or tiontoartisticwork,especiallywithregardto recordingsandhisdiscussionofthem(1991b)
ws. representingalternativepositionsofaudition. especiallychallengedethnographerstorethink
ey.
vinl Soundscapecompositionrevealsandsome- theauralrepresentationofculture.Influenced
eo
ualruse timesreplicatesalimitationofSchafer’ssound- inpartbyRouch’sfilmplaybackandfeedback
m www.annor personal solecnaalvpyienagcmounanctdteeeprrtt—hoefiottsrhiezaesvdsiubtmrhaeptitsoiooncnsiaotlh,faitdtheesoolsuoonguidrccaeils,, eFpxrepoldejerchimtasse(npAtrsnondinauncteh&deeF1x9ep5led0rism2,0e10n98t6,a0lRsc,yoaalnnladb&o1r9aF7tei0vlsde,
oF or political positionalities of listeners. Docu- 2007) that blur the boundaries between doc-
d fr12. mentarysoundartandsoundscapecomposition umentary, ethnographic, and compositional
de7/
nloa01/1 takeonthechallengeofrepresentingsoundina work, raising questions about the premise
wn socialorenvironmentalcontext.Someprojects of these distinctions in the first place and
oo
Dn add environmental sounds. Others blend mu- theorizing the aesthetics of recordings (see
45. ctio sic into environmental recordings (Cradick Feld2000,Feld&Brenneis2004,Zemp1996).
3e
329-als S 1993, Cusack 2003, Sarno 1995). Still other Exceptforlinguisticanthropologyandeth-
010.39:e - Seri sporuesnsdinagrttihstesiraroewcnoanecsetrhneetdicporrimpaorliitlyicsw.iLthocekx-- nteonmdeudsictoologinyv,esatntlhitrtolepoilnogliecaarlnitnrgaintiongwohraks
hropol. 2st Colleg wDfeocetoLidvae’usarAenndStciosau’rsneadfcuMtlilvyaiosptboOsfeutrrhveSedtDraeanentdsu!hb(e2ea0(r20d06,0)b8au)rteatanhfde- wgtiioietnsh,foisnoruadnceodvuesrlteoiccpoi“nrtdgeixnttgse,c”haannndiqdueinedsirteionfifgniinntetgecrheptnhroenltooa---
nter
v. AAmh listening position of these multivocal sound- graphic language to articulate the poetics of
Rey scapesissolelythatofthecomposer/recordist. sonicforms.Inproducingrecordings,however,
u. b Documentary sound art centered on musi- field recordists make decisions behind which
n
An calexpressionsometimesblendsenvironmental lie histories of ideas about what needs to be
soundsintotherepresentationofmusicalper- made audible. For example, they must con-
formances.InhisVoicesoftheRainforest(1991a), siderhowtobridgetheseemingdividebetween
by contrast, Feld was less interested in pro- representing local soundscapes in their own
viding listeners with a sense of “Kaluli music terms(howevertheethnographermightunder-
in context” than in shaping a representation stand this) and translating local performances
ofaKaluliwayoflistening,dialogicallymixed into terms that are legible in foreign markets
withKaluliartistsandlisteners.Thus,itdiffers and other listening contexts (the classroom,
frommanyrecordingsframedasmusicalsound- the archive, or the lecture, for example). The
scapes,whetherbysoundartistsorbyscholars. best field recordings are those in which the
Althoughanthropologicalorethnomusico- recordisthaspaidcloseattentiontotheseques-
logicalfieldrecordinghascontinuedtohavean tions, their quality due in part to the way
archivalfocusondocumentingexpressiveforms the researchers have been guided through
www.annualreviews.org Soundscapes 335
•
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
their research by deep and nuanced listening. hesionthatwasmodifiedintheseauthors’own
Such recordings are derived as well from ex- laterwork(Feld1996a,2000;Seeger2003),as
tensive ethnographic knowledge and consul- wellasworkinotherauralenvironments.
tation about the sounds recorded, combined
with concerns on the part of the recordist RecordingCosmopolitanism
withthepoliticsandpoeticsofrepresentation. andStruggle
These recordings are themselves statements: The holistic approaches to sound, history,
creative, interpretive, empirical, hermeneutic, environment, and place of these rainforest
analyticaltextsrenderedinacousticform.The ethnographies provided the inspiration for
recordingsofTurnbull(Turnbull&Chapman successive work on aurality in metropolitan,
1992[1957]), Arom & Renaud (1990 [1975]), ambient, and cosmopolitan environments and
and Berliner (1995 [1973]), for example, have inplacesinwhichformsofsocialstrugglemade
enjoyedassustainedalifeashavetheirmono- coherenceitselfdifficulttofind.Scholarstaking
g
or graphs.(SeealsoZemp1990[1974].) anethnographicapproachtosonicpracticesin
s.
ewy. urban environments (Wallach 2008), zones of
evionl ETHNOGRAPHIESOFSOUND conflict (White 2008), or virtual communities
ualruse ANDTHESOUNDSCAPE (Bennett&Peterson2004),forexample,focus
www.annpersonal RecordingtheRainforest oinnptheerfcoornmtaenmcpeoarnardytehnecomuenatnesrboeftpwreoednuscotiuonnd,
m or In the late 1970s through the 1980s, with reproduction, and consumption. Studies that
oF
d fr12. Turnbull (1961) as a precursor, music ethno- examine theways thatsoundtechnologiesare
de7/ graphers working in rainforest societies made embroiled in the shaping of sonic aesthetics,
a1
nlo01/ a vital contribution to globalizing sound- whether through manipulation of musical
owon scape studies (Basso 1985, Feld 1990 [1982], instruments (Berger & Fales 2005), technolo-
329-345. Dals Section Rrtiaooinnsefaomlraeensctol1oc9agn9ico1a,plyeSnewveaigrseornam1es9en8nt7s)oi.nriTawllhhyeicehdxecoennpsee- gd19ieev9so9t)oi,ofonrdailpstarptitrbeaurcnttiisoconesf(cS(iHructiutrolsancthiok1ni9n9ad6n)d,20rme0ce6ed,piatLitoeende
010.39:e - Seri cthoiusldemhepahrasfuisrthoneratchoaunstoicneecxopuerldiensecee., Wthietihr (tNoothvaekw20ay0s8,iSnowlohmicohn2li0st0e9n)ianlgsoiscasllpaatctee-ntainond
2g
nthropol. erst Colle eoantnhdcnesooginmriacbparhlilicyeasdteesdnhsoeiwneendsvpisrioroicntiumaalellwnyt,osr.elWdcsooltorogkiibcnaeglliaynt, plWilsatocerenk-isnptgheatcotifithch,iegahsalcwiogeuhlsltstaiscmtcoeogtmhacpeiotmineueslntatipssloepfrwsooadyuusncodtsf.
Ah
v. Am theshadowsofstructuralism,usingTurnerian of voyages and circulation and the daily
nu. Reby aaprtprtooacbheesatocroitmuaploansepnetrfoofrmsyamncbeo,laincdatcatkiionng, methonveomgreanpthsieosfopfeeomplpelawceitdhainudtihtoemrylhaansdslecadpteos
n
A thesestudiessoughtanunderstandingofsocial andmediausage,leadingtoanunderstanding
coherence. For them, the interrelationship of media and the construction of the urban
between the arts played a role in producing landscapeasmutuallyconstitutiveofeachother
a sense of communality. Studies of music in (Garc´ıaCanclinietal.1996,Gray2007,Hansen
theseplacesdemonstratedhowsoundstructure 2006,Hirschkind2006,Sakakeeny2010).
associalstructureblurredthedistinctionsbe-
StudioProduction
tweennatureandcultureandbetweenmusical
andListeningPractices
andacousticanalysis.Theirfocusontheideaof
coherence—associal,sounded,andsymbolic— Keytomuchoftheworkthatputssoundinto
combinedwithdetailedethnographicresearch a more contested framework is a willingness
to reveal that the soundscape was dense with to grapple with multiple dimensions of sound
significance,ledthemtoaparticularlycohesive that are manipulable in the recording process
senseofhowsuchsignificanceoperated—aco- and that have become part of the palette of
336 Samuelsetal.
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
expressiveresourcesusedbyrecordingartists, theculturalproductivityofformallydislocated
sound engineers, and producers: timbre (or sounds, positing a creative and cultural pro-
sound color), spatialization (via use of echo ductivity to various schizophonic moments
or reverberation as well as stereo-field or in the production of new forms of identity,
surround-soundmanipulation),ambience,and performance, and memory. The globalizing
distortion. Space in particular has received a music industry (Burnett 1996, Taylor 1997)
greatdealofattentionbecauseitisahighlycon- and the circulation of new technologies of
structed artifact of the mediations inherent in production have bequeathed a preponderance
production and listening practices. Thus run- of new forms of emplacement for music and
ningparalleltotheconceptofthesoundscape sound, including hip hop in Japan (Condry
isthatofthesoundstage,athree-dimensional 2006), new forms of reggae in Jamaica (Veal
recordedrepresentationofaspacefromwhich 2007),countrymusicinNativeAmericancom-
performanceemerges(Moylan2002).Record- munities (Samuels 2004) as well as other new
g
or ingshavealwaysincludedsomerepresentation forms of Native American musical identities
ws. of the space of performance, ranging from (Browner2009,Lassiteretal.2002),theglobal
ey.
vinl close-miked recordings, which seek to create circulation of hip hop (Alim et al. 2008), and
eo
ualruse the artifice that the performance is occurring newformsofmusicalexpressioninexile(Diehl
m www.annor personal o1ap9up9tsr9iod),aectohofeastn,hwyephchilcayhsssisicceaaellkspctaoocnpecowesrhitt-aihotsnaollethvreeerclio(sBrtderanindegyr 2mo0fu0ist2isc).oeTmlohgeirysg,tiobnpugitclicthoeavrsaebtruienrcegomitshebeceecyonomtnrdaplltethoteeetrshacnonpgoee-
oF as an “ideal ear” (or ears) in an audience ofthisarticle.Wenote,however,thelegacyof
d fr12. (Chanan 1995), to spaces that are invented, thechronotopeimplicitinethnographiesthat
de7/
nloa01/1 imaginary,orinwhichthespatialfeaturesare probe the relationship between time, place,
wn themselves part of the composer’s (or pro- andpersonhoodthroughthevoice(Fox2004,
oo
Dn ducer’s)compositionalpalette(Blesser&Salter Samuels2004,Webster2009,Weidman2006).
45. ctio 2007,Doyle2005,Porcello2005,Zak2001). Grappling with the means of understanding
3e
329-als S Otherworkhasemphasizedtheroleofme- anauditoryintimacywhilemaintainingasense
010.39:e - Seri dicisatininmgutesicch.nEotlhongoiegsrainphtehreswpoolriktiicnsgodfiraeecsttlhyeitn- oemf psloaccieadlly,relgaetoiognrsahpihpisc,alltyh,isanwdorkhisetoxrpilcoarlelys
hropol. 2st Colleg rionetvchooerlrvdiiinnntggermsetuustdssiicoinisanhthsa,eveepnargtotidneunecedtreisdo,nptoroonfderugecoceotrirasdt,iiaonnngdss sieshctuiefmrteinedgneicn.onthsteituvtoioicnes oinf ptheersomnhoodoerdnasglorebga-l
nter
v. AAmh (Bates2008,Meintjes2003).Musicscholarsin- Mostofthisworkcontinuestobeindialogue
Rey creasingly listen to music with an ear to the withthepoliticsofschizophonicemplacement
u. b soundengineeringpracticesthatunderpinthe ascrucialtothepoliticalunderstandingofsonic
n
An recording (Katz 2004, Porcello 2005), and an production,findingnewsocialmeaningsinthe
increasingnumberofsoundengineersandpro- tensions heard in sounds that are or are not
ducers have sought to theorize the recording “naturally” associated with the new places in
process(Moylan2002).Othershavelookedat which they are found. In recent extensions of
theintersectionofsoundproductionandcom- this scholarship, work attentive to the politics
munitiesoflistenersorconsumers(Fikentscher ofplaceandtimefurtherdisplacestherelation
2003,Wong2003). between sound and place as the central node
of political concern by an attention to sound
andthepoliticsofcirculation(Lemos&Castro
NewFormsofPlaceinthe
2008,Novak2008,Ochoa&Botero2009).
GlobalEconomy
Thisreworkingofplaceispartlyaproduct
A fourth engagement with soundscape, me- of decentering the politics of production and
diation, and culture ethnographically traces circulation to different critical domains: the
www.annualreviews.org Soundscapes 337
•
AN39CH20-Samuels ARI 13August2010 18:8
coming of age of a generation for whom properties,etc.;butonecanonlyimagine,in-
global consumption of media products is fer,oratbestindirectlyreconstructwhatthey
not necessarily seen as oppositional to their sounded like. Witmore’s (2006) discussion of
local appropriation in certain parts of the developing techniques in archaeological map-
world, which decenters place as the arbiter of pingimpliesthatmethodsofvisualinscription
authenticityorsignification(Novak2008);the enhancedtheideaofthepermanenceofvisual
appropriationoftechnologyforusesthatques- objects,whereasmethodsofsoundinscription,
tionthehistoricaldividebetweenthereligious ironically, underscored the impermanence of
and the secular, thus displacing technology sonicobjects.Thesalvageethnographyworkof
as the exclusive scientific-secular domain of early anthropologists was similarly predicated
emplacement(Hirschkind2006,Larkin2008); onapremisethatlossofsoundproducers(the
thepoliticsofsoundproductionandcirculation lastspeakersofnativelanguagesorperformers
increasing as a contested legal terrain that of expressive genres) without recording them
g
or blurs the line between copyright laws, illegal wastolosethosesoundsforever(Brady1999,
ws. forms of appropriation (generally glossed as Ames2003).
ey.
vinl “piracy”), and the emergence of new juridical Compelling and provocative research by
eo
ualruse regimes of circulation that recognize alterna- sound scholars in a number of disciplines
m www.annor personal ts&iovceCiamalsotcrdooems2m0oo0fn8p,sr,oOfdrcuehceotiasoon&ft(wcBraoerteaet,rivoeetc2c.0)o0m(9Lm);emoannosds, hpaseassromcdiaaentmeednotnwpstrirtohadteuadcntdiothnsehsaopwfeamdysabteytrhitaahltecuthsloteu-crmealaloersdet
oF the questioning of the politics of circulation intangibility of sound. Exploring the ways
d fr12. byindigenousgroupswhoincreasinglycontest in which spaces of sonic performance both
de7/
nloa01/1 ideasofcopyrightandfreecirculationinefforts shape and are shaped by ideologies of proper
wn to develop their own politics of circulation of aural practices and listening, this work covers
oo
Dn culturalobjects(Christen2009). a range of built, modified, and natural spaces
45. ctio usedforsonorouspractices,includingpainted
3e
329-als S THESONIC,THESPATIAL,THE Paleolithic caves (Reznikoff 2006), churches
010.39:e - Seri MATERIAL,THEEPHEMERAL a(Tndhocmatphseodnra2l0s02(W),arnigdhtthe1a9t8e9r)s,pcaocensc(eArtrmhsal&ls
hropol. 2st Colleg Stahscahctoolomanrpseaaronefddthwceoitmhdpifiofimsceuarglsteiesh,savipseotslhoeedngibnysaubgsiolgiuetynstdetsdo, Csinaryaaowmnfoatrhtdeer1iMa9l9as5ltl,roBufc.tASummreietrdhiic1sat9i(n919c9t)9l.y7A)nssoShntoeswronnse,o’ersvoeeusn-s
nter
v. AAmh extractsoundsfromtheirtemporalconstraints. inpurpose,weoughtnotignoreitsroleasan
Rey Sound recording allows for the temporal ambientsoundingenvironment.
u. b dislocationofasoundfromitstimeandplace Thesoundscapeconceptprovidessomere-
n
An of origin, but does not facilitate the ability to sponsetotheephemeralitydilemmabyoffering
do the auditory equivalent of sustaining the a means to materialize sounds, their interre-
gaze on an image for as long or as short as lations, and their circulation, much as Urban
one desires. Thus even though sounds can (1991) argues for the materiality of discourse.
be reproduced and replayed, sound is often Yet the soundscape tends to be theorized as
considered to have, by its nature, a kind of strongly geographic, leaving the complexities
temporalitythatthevisualmaynotshare. of sound’s temporality largely unexplored.
Thiswayofthinkingaboutthetemporality Timeinmuchsoundscapeworktendstomean
ofsoundhasoftenledtoanessentializationof diurnaltimeorhistoricaltimeratherthandura-
soundasephemeral,oratleastelusive.Onecan tion.Thisdefinition,alongwiththeneglectof
see the material remains of Pompeii or Mesa the socially and culturally positioned listener,
Verde,forinstance,anddescribewithsomeac- weakens the engagement of soundscape with
curacy their architecture, spatial and material politicsandpower.Asimilarlimitationresults
338 Samuelsetal.