Sound:mind the gap
Sterne questions why so little has been researched on sound in a cyberculture context?
My guess is that cyberculture is rooted in a computer mediated environment in which we usually deal with an ‘inter-face’, and how we interact is mainly directed by visual input. The use of sound is therefore in relationship to the image.
Looking at cinema may offer some theoretical support (writings on Robert Bresson for instance, who was a master of sculpting images and sound tracks by the use of silence) but Sterne suggests an epistemic break and ’object construction’, involving a move away from research problems that carry certain assumptions of the institutions in which they were defined.
As an experiment,I have been looking for projects that could potentially break with cinema and TV, that may support Sterne’s challenge.
http://www.soundsurvey.org.uk/index.php/survey/soundmaps/more/97/35/
Tied by the interface of the computer, a map outlines London, based on the (visual) ordnance survey maps. Click and select a sound sample, and the spacial restrictions disappear, instantly moving your mind to London. No visual clues here which would render the sound subordinate, but sheer audio pleasure!
One particular favourite is described as ‘Raindrops and rush of rainwater, thunder, the rain grows more intense, faint birdsong’
And why would this one have any particular visual quality, other than the sound it is attached to?
According to this website,
http://archive.org/details/LondonSoundSurvey
Mind the Gap is one of their top downloads (this is a US website) This seems linked to a desire to ‘possess’ sound, similarly to downloading images possibly for a ringtone on a mobile phone. American tourists visiting London?
perhaps as cyberculture moves increasingly into the territory of the street (field, train), sound will emerge more strongly as an orienting mode. One of the talks at ‘this happened’ last night was from an iphone audio game designer – http://cycling74.com/project/meltdown-location-audio-game/
http://www.thishappened.org/talks/varun-nair
wow… fantastic. I think I will need to post this to the #udrift blog. Thanks!
The sound map is pretty amazing.The location game presents an example of how visually impaired people might have been using technology.
Digital representation on the web, is definitely, made richer with the use of sound, alongside the text and visuals. However, taking the visual and text away, and mainly focus on sound, brings back memories of the days when film-making is not so prevalent on the internet. The use of sound files was critical to add interactivity.
Thank you for posting these examples.