Sound Unseen 论文

摘要

Sound Unseen explores acousmatic sound—a sound that one hears without seeing its cause. Pierre Schaeffer, the inventor of musique concrète, in his Traité des objets musicaux, first popularized the term “acousmatic.” After an introduction, chapter 1 provides a thorough exegesis of Schaeffer’s theory of acousmatics. It also presents three objections to Schaeffer’s theories (myth, phantasmagoria, and ontology) around which the book is structured. In part I, the origins of the word acousmatic are traced from Pythagoras to 18th- century France, and then to the present. After showing the mythic use of the term throughout history, a rationale is given for a better way to uncover the history of acousmatic sound. In part II, a sketch of the history of acousmatic sound in music is presented, focusing on the use of unseen sounds in 19th- century music aesthetics and concert practice. A theory of acousmatic technê is presented. Then, through a reading of Kafka’s tale “The Burrow,” a theory of the ontology of acousmatic sound is presented that focuses on the roles of “spacing” (espacement) and underdetermination. In part III, the theory is applied in two case studies: first, on the guitarist and inventor Les Paul; and second, on the role of the acousmatic voice in 20th-century philosophy, starting with Husserl and Heidegger, and ending with Mladen Dolar,The book concludes with some final thoughts about acousmatic sound, music studies, and sound studies.