T R A N S C R I P T

THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND™ WITH CHRISTINE BUSH
CHAPTER FIVE: THE SOUND OF THE FURIES.
WRITTEN, PRODUCED, AND HOSTED BY CHRISTINE BUSH.

PATREON RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 8, 2020
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE: AUGUST 11, 2020
CC-BY-SA 4.0

TO THE FURIES, THE SIRENS
(ENGLISH LANGUAGE HAIKU BY JONATHA CHANCE)

AND WHAT SHALL YOU SAY
TO THE FURIES, THE SIRENS
WHOSE NOISE WILL NOT CEASE?


A-BLOCK

A1.    GREETINGS. THIS IS CHAPTER FIVE OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND (TM). I'M CHRISTINE BUSH, IN SEARCH OF HOW WE LISTEN TO WHAT WE THINK, AND WHAT WE THINK ABOUT HOW WE LISTEN.

[CUE BACH] 

A2.    IN THIS CHAPTER, I WANT TO EXAMINE OUR PRESENT MOMENT THROUGH THE LENS OF NOISE: THE SOUNDTRACK OF DISSENT.

A3.   ON JUNE 4, 2020, I LISTENED AS REVEREND AL SHARPTON DELIVERED THE EULOGY FOR THE FIRST OF GEORGE FLOYD'S MEMORIAL SERVICES AND I WAS STRUCK, IN PARTICULAR, BY THE FOLLOWING OBSERVATION. REV. SHARPTON SAID, [QUOTE]: “…THE THING I WANT US TO BE REAL COGNIZANT OF IS THERE’S A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THOSE CALLING FOR PEACE AND THOSE CALLING FOR QUIET. SOME OF Y’ALL DON’T WANT PEACE, YOU JUST WANT QUIET. YOU JUST WANT US TO SHUT UP AND SUFFER IN SILENCE. THE OVERWHELMING MAJORITY OF THE PEOPLE MARCHING WASN’T BREAKING WINDOWS, THEY WERE TRYING TO BREAK BARRIERS.” [/UNQUOTE]

A4.    REVEREND SHARPTON DE-CENTERS THE COMMON CONFLATION OF PEACE WITH QUIET. PEACE, A SOMETIME SYNONYM FOR AN IDEALIZED PASTORAL TRANQUILITY, IS ALSO THE PRODUCT OF INJUSTICE, CENSORSHIP, AND TYRANNY.

A5.    THE PAX ROMANA WAS FAR FROM PEACEFUL FOR THE PACIFIED, AS THE CENTRAL EVENT OF CHRISTIANITY TESTIFIES. THE TREATY OF VERSAILLES WAS ACHIEVED AT THE COST OF TWENTY MILLION DEATHS AND AS MANY WOUNDED. ACCORDING TO THE NAACP, THE UNITED STATES MAKES UP ABOUT 5% OF THE WORLD'S POPULATION BUT 21% OF THE WORLD'S PRISONERS. AFRICAN AMERICANS ARE INCARCERATED AT MORE THAN 5 TIMES THE RATE OF WHITES IN THE U.S. HISTORY IS FILLED WITH BLOODY, UNJUST "PEACE."

A6.   THE TITLE OF ALEX ROSS'S CELEBRATED WORK OF MUSIC HISTORY, THE REST IS NOISE: LISTENING TO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, WAS INSPIRED BY SHAKESPEARE'S HAMLET, WHOSE DYING WORDS ARE INSCRIBED IN THE BOOK'S EPIGRAPH: "THE REST IS SILENCE." BUT ROSS IS CAREFUL TO LEAVE HAMLET'S FINAL DECLARATION IN CONTEXT. NO SOONER HAVE FLIGHTS OF ANGELS SUNG THE PRINCE TO HIS REST --- TO HIS PEACE --- THAN WE HEAR THE SOUNDS OF A RETURNING ARMY AS HORATIO ASKS, "WHY DOES THE DRUM COME HITHER?"

A7.    THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW, THE AMBIENT WORLD OF OUR INDIVIDUAL CONSCIOUSNESS, ALSO INCLUDES NOISE. MY GOAL IN THIS CHAPTER IS TO DISCOVER SOME OF THE WAYS THAT NOISE SHAPES US.

A8.    WE'LL BEGIN THIS SOJOURN IN SOUND IN THE 1960s AS THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES...


B-BLOCK

B1.    1965, HOLMDEL TOWNSHIP, NEW JERSEY. ARNO PENZIAS AND ROBERT WILSON ARE TESTING A MICROWAVE DETECTOR AND IN ADDITION TO THE DATA THIS VERY SENSITIVE DEVICE IS FINDING, THERE IS SOMETHING ELSE. NOISE. AND IT IS, SOMEHOW, COMING FROM EVERYWHERE. AND EVEN MORE MYSTERIOUSLY IT DOES NOT GO AWAY OVER TIME. NO MATTER WHICH DIRECTION THEY POINTED THE DETECTOR, DAY OR NIGHT, OVER THE COURSE OF A YEAR, THEIR OBSERVATIONS INCLUDE UNEXPECTED, UNWANTED NOISE.

B2.    DURING THE FOLLOWING DECADE IT IS AGREED THAT THE NOISE IN THEIR SIGNAL IS THE COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION OF THE UNIVERSE: THE TELL-TALE REMNANT EVIDENCE OF THE BIG BANG. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS DISCOVERY SHOULD BE CONTEXTUALIZED IN RELATION TO THE WORK OF AT LEAST THREE OTHERS: GEORGE GAMOW, BOB DICKE, AND JIM PEEBLES WHO HAD PREDICTED AND WERE SEEKING MICROWAVE DATA TO SUPPORT THEIR HYPOTHESIS THAT i) EVIDENCE OF THE BIG BANG SHOULD BE DISCERNIBLE, AND ii) IF IT IS, IT WOULD DEMONSTRATE (IN CONTRADICTION TO AN ASSUMPTION IN EINSTEIN'S GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY) THAT OUR UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. IN 1978, PENZIAS AND WILSON RECEIVE THE NOBEL PRIZE IN PHYSICS FOR AN ACCIDENTAL DISCOVERY.

NONETHELESS, IT WAS PENZIAS AND WILSON WHO WERE LISTENING. CRUCIALLY, THEY CAME TO REALIZE THAT WHAT THEY INITIALLY CONSIDERED AS NOISE WAS IN FACT: SIGNAL.

B3.    NOVEMBER 18, 1989. NASA LAUNCHES THE COSMIC BACKGROUND EXPLORER MISSION TO BEGIN THE WORK OF MAPPING THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE. THIS WORK, THROUGH THE COURSE OF SUBSEQUENT MISSIONS, CONTINUES THROUGH 2013.    

[START PLAYBACK of BBSnd200.wav]

B4.    PROFESSOR JOHN CRAMER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON HAS BEEN RENDERING THE COLLECTED DATA INTO SOUND IN A FREQUENCY RANGE THAT WE CAN HEAR. HE CALLS IT "THE SOUND OF THE BIG BANG SIMULATION" REPRESENTING THE FIRST 760,000 YEARS OF OUR UNIVERSE. TAKE A LISTEN: 

YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HIS WORK, AND THE TEMPORAL MECHANICS AT PLAY IN IT, ON THE SHOW NOTES PAGE FOR THIS CHAPTER AT PATREON.COM/PERCHANCE.

B5.    I WANTED TO BEGIN WITH THE STORY OF COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION BECAUSE IT REVEALS SEVERAL IMPORTANT THINGS ABOUT THE NATURE OF SOUND IN GENERAL, AND NOISE IN PARTICULAR. ANIMALS AND MACHINES HAVE DIFFERENT SENSORY RANGES, INCLUDING WHAT DIFFERENT SPECIES AND ELECTRONICS CAN HEAR. WHILE MACHINES HAVE THE VIRTUE OF BEING PURPOSED TO LISTEN FOR ALMOST ANYTHING, WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT THERE ARE MANY SIGNALS WE SIMPLY CANNOT RECEIVE. THE UNIVERSE IS MUCH BIGGER THAN OUR LIMITED SENSES REVEAL. AS FAR AS I KNOW, HOWEVER, HUMANS ARE THE ONLY ANIMAL THAT CAN GO THE NEXT STEP AND APPRECIATE NOISE METAPHORICALLY.  THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW IS ABOUT HOW WE "MAKE SENSE" OF OUR EXPERIENCE. AS SENTIENT, SELF-AWARE, EMBODIED BEINGS WE ARE RE-MAKING SENSE.

B6.    IN THE PARADIGM OF THE ACOUSTICAL SCIENCES, NOISE HAS A SPECIFIC MEANING.  AN ARTICLE FROM 2016 IN THE ATLANTIC BY MEGHAN NEAL PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT OVERVIEW. NEAL WRITES:

QUOTE-01:

"MANY OF THE SOUNDS WE ASSOCIATE WITH WHITE NOISE ARE ACTUALLY PINK NOISE, OR BROWN, OR GREEN, OR BLUE. IN AUDIO ENGINEERING, THERE’S A WHOLE RAINBOW OF NOISE COLORS, EACH WITH ITS OWN UNIQUE PROPERTIES, THAT ARE USED TO PRODUCE MUSIC, HELP RELAXATION, AND DESCRIBE NATURAL RHYTHMS LIKE THE HUMAN HEARTBEAT. . .IF YOU DECOMPOSE A SOUND WAVE, YOU CAN BREAK IT DOWN INTO TWO FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS: FREQUENCY, WHICH IS HOW FAST THE WAVEFORM IS VIBRATING PER SECOND . . . . AND AMPLITUDE . . . . OR THE SIZE OF THE WAVES. THE NOISE TYPES ARE NAMED FOR A LOOSE ANALOGY TO THE COLORS OF LIGHT: WHITE NOISE, FOR EXAMPLE, CONTAINS ALL THE AUDIBLE FREQUENCIES, JUST LIKE WHITE LIGHT CONTAINS ALL THE FREQUENCIES IN THE VISIBLE RANGE."

B7.    HERE'S A BRIEF SONIC TOUR: 

[START PLAYBACK of Noise Colors montage]

THIS IS GREY NOISE....THIS IS PURPLE-VIOLET NOISE....THIS IS BLUE NOISE....THIS IS BROWN-RED NOISE....THIS IS PINK NOISE....THIS IS WHITE NOISE.

B8.    THERE ARE NUMEROUS PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS FOR THESE NOISES, RANGING FROM STUDIO MONITOR CALIBRATION...TO ADDING TEXTURE TO SOUND IN AUDIO PRODUCTION...TO A GROWING COTTAGE INDUSTRY OF APPS PROMISING THEIR CALMING NOISE TRACKS WILL HELP WITH FOCUS, MEDITATION, AND SLEEP.

B9.    BY CONTRAST, A VERY DIFFERENT TYPE OF NOISE IS MORE PERVASIVE --- AND INVASIVE: NOISE POLLUTION. SOURCES OF NOISE POLLUTION INCLUDE: CONSTRUCTION WORK (GIANT YELLOW MACHINES, PILE DRIVERS, DIESEL ENGINES, JACK HAMMERS, CHAINSAWS, BULLDOZERS); HIGHWAY TRAFFIC, POUNDING SUB-WOOFERS, HOT RODS; CAR ALARMS, GUNFIRE, CELL PHONES; GASOLINE-POWERED YARD IMPLEMENTS, STRING TRIMMERS, NOISY NEIGHBORS; ALMOST ANY  TELEVISION OR RADIO ADVERTISEMENT.THESE ARE JUST SOME OF THE NOISES THAT PEOPLE TEND TO FIND ANNOYING. WHAT MAKES THEM NOISE POLLUTION IS THE FACT THEY DEMAND OUR ATTENTION WITHOUT OUR CONSENT.

B10. 	NOISE POLLUTION IS A FORM OF AGGRESSION, AS DRAMATIZED IN THE QUIXOTIC 2007 FILM --- NOISE --- FEATURING TIM ROBBINS WHO PORTRAYS A VIGILANTE TILTING AT THE UBIQUITOUS NOISESCAPE OF MANHATTAN. A YOUNG WOMAN NAMED KATJA BECOMES HIS PROTÉGÉ AND EXPLAINS TO HIM THE HEGELIAN DYNAMIC DRIVING HIS OBSSESSION:

QUOTE-02:

[KATJA @52:00]"THE GENIUS OF A CAR ALARM IS THAT YOU CAN'T TALK BACK TO IT. IT HAS A MOUTH WITH NO EARS. IT MAKES YOU PAY ATTENTION TO IT BUT IT PAYS NONE TO YOU...YOU SUMMON ALL YOUR RAGE. YOU HURL YOURSELF AT IT. AND NOTHING HAPPENS. THE WHOLE SECRET OF POWER IS TO MAKE IT UNRESPONSIVE."IN THIS WAY, NOISE POLLUTION IS OFTEN A SYMPTOM, ARISING FROM THE EFFICIENCIES OF AUTOMATION. WE HUMANS ALSO GENERATE NOISE DANGEROUS TO A WIDE ARRAY OF OTHER SPECIES. I WILL HAVE MORE TO SAY ON THIS TOPIC IN FUTURE CHAPTERS OF THE PROGRAM.

B11.   THROUGH ITS AURAL DOMINANCE, NOISE CAN TRANSMUTE FROM ABRASIVE SOUND INTO METAPHOR. LET'S LOOK UNDER THE HOOD AND SEE IF WE CAN DECONSTRUCT THE CAR ALARM. A GOOD PLACE TO START IS WITH THE CONTEXT OF NOISE, EXPRESSED THROUGH THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO.SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO (OR S-N-R) IS A CONCERN FOR ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS WHO NEED TO MONITOR THE INTEGRITY OF THEIR SYSTEMS. IN CLASSICAL INFORMATION THEORY, THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO IS A WAY TO QUANTIFY THE AMOUNT OF UNWANTED INFORMATION INTRODUCED INTO A COMMUNICATION CHANNEL.

IN THE INFORMATION AGE, S-N-R ISSUES ARE OF CRUCIAL IMPORTANCE TO KEEP DATA FLOWING EFFICIENTLY ON OUR WI-FI NETWORKS AND ACROSS THE VAST INTERNET ITSELF.B11.  THE CONCEPT OF SIGNAL TO NOISE HAS ALSO BEEN APPLIED TO CONTENT. PATRICK LYNCH AND SARAH HORTON AT WEBSTYLEGUIDE.COM HAVE WRITTEN:

QUOTE-03:

"THE CLASSIC GRAPHIC METAPHOR IN SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO IS EDWARD TUFTE’S CONCEPT OF 'DATA INK,' THE RATIO OF INK IN A DATA GRAPHIC DEVOTED TO USEFUL INFORMATION, VERSUS THE AMOUNT USED BY DISTRACTING VISUAL NOISE, WHICH TUFTE MEMORABLY LABELED 'CHARTJUNK.'"

B12.    WITH THE ASCENDANCY OF CABLE NEWS AND THE PROLIFERATION OF INFORMATION SOURCES, THE CONCERN OF SIGNAL TO NOISE HAS BECOME A RECURRING TOPIC AT THE INTERSECTION OF MEDIA AND POLITICAL DISCOURSE.INTEREST IN THE SIGNAL TO NOISE RATIO IN MEDIA COVERAGE INCREASED AT THE TURN OF THE MILLENNIUM DURING THE GEORGE W. BUSH ADMINISTRATION. THE POLTICAL AFTERMATH OF THE ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, WHEN THE "WAR ON TERROR" WAS CONTRIVED AND THE BUNGLED FEDERAL RESPONSE TO HURRICANE KATRINA RAVAGED NEW ORLEANS, IS CHRONICLED BY AMY AND DAVID GOODMAN IN THEIR 2006 BOOK STATIC: GOVERNMENT LIARS, MEDIA CHEERLEADERS, AND THE PEOPLE WHO FIGHT BACK. THEY WROTE:

QUOTE-04:

"INSTEAD OF LEARNING FROM THE MEDIA WHAT IS ACTUALLY GOING ON IN THE WORLD, WE GET STATIC---A VEIL OF DISTORTION, LIES, OMISSIONS, AND HALF-TRUTHS THAT OBSCURE REALITY. AS BODIES PILE UP IN IRAQ AND NEW ORLEANS, MANY PEOPLE ARE MYSTIFIED, WONDERING WHERE IT WENT SO WRONG. WE NEED A MEDIA THAT CREATES STATIC OF ANOTHER KIND: WHAT THE DICTIONARY DEFINES AS 'CRITICISM, OPPOSITION, OR UNWANTED INTERFERENCE.' INSTEAD OF A MEDIA THAT COVERS FOR POWER, WE NEED A MEDIA THAT COVERS THE MOVEMENTS THAT CREATE STATIC---AND MAKE HISTORY." 

B13.    WHAT THE GOODMANS DESCRIBE IN STATIC IS A METAPHORICAL VARIANT OF A REAL-WORLD TECHNOLOGY: ACTIVE NOISE CANCELLATION. ROBERT TRIGGS, WRITING FOR SOUNDGUYS.COM, SUCCINCTLY EXPLAINS HOW IT WORKS: THAT WAVES OF EQUAL AMPLITUDE AND OPPOSITE PHASE CANCEL ONE ANOTHER, LEAVING ONLY THE DESIRED SIGNAL. THIS SHOULD BE THE ROLE OF THE FOURTH ESTATE, THE AMERICAN FREE PRESS, AS DESCRIBED BY THE GOODMANS. JOURNALISM NEEDS TO CANCEL OUT RATHER THAN AMPLIFY NOISE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A CLARION SIGNAL TO THE CITIZENRY.

BY 2006, THIS EFFORT TO CANCEL RATHER THAN AMPLIFY NOISE BY JOURNALISTS WAS WANING. A GRADUAL PROCESS OF DISCURSIVE EROSION HAD BEGUN WITH A CONSTANT REFRAIN BY CONSERVATIVES OF THE QUOTE-UNQUOTE "LIBERAL MAINSTREAM MEDIA." IN THIS WAY, THE SEEDS OF THE NOW TIRED, NEO-ORWELLIAN HASHTAG OF #FAKENEWS WERE SOWN.

B14.    TURNING TO THE PAGES OF TODAY'S NEWSPAPERS IS A SURREAL THROUGH-THE-LOOKING-GLASS EXPERIENCE. IN THE WASHINGTON POST ON MAY 20, 2020, COLUMNIST E.J. DIONNE WRITES:

QUOTE-05:

"STOP TRYING TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE SIGNAL AND THE NOISE EMANATING FROM PRESIDENT TRUMP AND HIS PARTY. THE NOISE IS THE SIGNAL. AND IT’S THE SORT OF CLAMOR THAT DESPOTIC LEADERS USE TO SOW CONFUSION, DIVISION AND DISTRACTION."

B15.    ONE OF THE HALLMARKS OF THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION WILL BE ITS LEGACY OF NOISE. A SYSTEMATIC, UNAPOLOGETIC EFFORT TO CANCEL ANY SIGNAL IT DEEMS A THREAT. THIS ACTIVE TRUTH CANCELLATION SEEKS TO PRODUCE THE "QUIET" ABOUT WHICH REVEREND SHARPTON CAUTIONS. CARE MUST BE TAKEN NOT TO LET THE WHITE NOISE FLOODING SOCIAL MEDIA LULL US INTO A PEACEFUL, VERY DANGEROUS SLEEP.

B16.    NEXT, I WILL TURN TO THE ROLE OF NOISE IN VISUAL ART, FILM, LITERATURE, AND SOUND ART AS THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES...   



C-BLOCK

C1.    YOU'RE LISTENING TO THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW: A SOJOURN IN SOUND. I'M MUSING ABOUT NOISE...IN ART AND AS ART.

C2.    THE FIRST INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WAS A PERIOD FROM 1760 TO 1840 IN BRITAIN, IDENTIFIED BY THE BRITISH ECONOMIC HISTORIAN ARNOLD TOYNBEE. IN SUBSEQUENT DECADES, THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION WOULD SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS EUROPE AND WESTWARD ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO AMERICA. LONDON, CONSIDERED A WORLD CAPITOL AT THE TIME, WAS ITS CENTER, AND THE INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT OF BATTERSEA ON THE SOUTH BANK OF THE RIVER THAMES WAS THE POINT OF ORIGIN.


HERE THE FAMOUS COAL-FIRED BATTERSEA POWER STATION, ICONICALLY FEATURED ON THE COVER OF THE 1977 PINK FLOYD ALBUM ANIMALS, WOULD LATER BE BUILT.
 

C3.    ACROSS THE THAMES FROM BATTERSEA WAS CHELSEA, WHERE A COLORFUL PERSONALITY --- THE AMERICAN PAINTER JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER --- CREATED SOME OF HIS MOST IMPORTANT WORK: HIS SCENES OF LIFE ON THE THAMES AND HIS NOCTURNES. THESE WORKS REPRESENT A GATEWAY TO THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN ART, SUBLIMATING THE JAPONESE AESTHETIC INTO THE WESTERN VISUAL IMAGINATION, COMPARED WITH, BUT DIFFERENTIATED FROM, HIS CONTEMPORARIES IN PARIS --- THE IMPRESSIONISTS, ALL WHILE PRESAGING ABSTRACTION WITH A COMMITMENT TO BEING AT THE AVANT GARDE OF NINETEENTH CENTURY ART.


C4.    IN THE 2014 DOCUMENTARY FILM, JAMES MCNEILL WHISTLER AND THE CASE FOR BEAUTY, EMORY UNIVERSITY ART HISTORIAN LINDA MERILL IDENTIFIES ONE OF THE KEY DISCOVERIES WHISTLER MADE IN THE COURSE OF TRYING TO LIBERATE ART FROM ITS SUBJECT MATTER:

QUOTE-06:

"THE REMARKABLE THING ABOUT HIM WAS THAT HE PAINTED THE AIR. AND YOU CAN'T REALLY PAINT THE AIR, BUT THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT HE WAS TRYING TO DO."

C5.    WHY WOULD WHISTLER WANT TO PAINT THE AIR?
 
HE TOOK SERIOUSLY THE CHALLENGE PUT FORTH BY CHARLES BAUDELAIRE THAT ARTISTS MIGHT CONCERN THEMSELVES WITH SUBJECTS GROUNDED IN THE MUNDANE. WHISTLER'S GENIUS, BEYOND HIS TECHNIQUE, WAS THE EVOCATION OF ATMOSPHERE, EVEN THE ATMOSPHERE OF A PERSONALITY IS FOUND IN HIS PORTRAITS. IN HIS URBAN SCENES, HE INITIALLY EVOKED THE ATMOSPHERE OF PLACE THROUGH SUBJECTS OF WORKING-CLASS LIFE ALONG THE THAMES. BUT HIS ATTENTION EVENTUALLY FOUND ITS MARK IN DOCUMENTING THE ATMOSPHERE ITSELF. FOG, ICE FLOWS, MOONLIGHT, TWILIGHT, URBAN ILLUMINATION, AND POLLUTION --- ELEMENTS HERETOFORE CONSIDERED VISUAL NOISE --- WERE FOREGROUNDED AND BECAME SIGNAL.


C6.    ARTHUR SYMONS IN 1906 WROTE OF WHISTLER:

QUOTE-07:

"...THESE TWILIGHT ASPECTS, THESE GLIMPSES IN WHICH ONE SEES HARDLY MORE THAN A COLOUR, NO SHAPE AT ALL, OR SHAPES COVERED BY MIST OR NIGHT, OR CONFUSED BY SUNLIGHT, HAVE COME TO SEEM TO HIM THE ONLY ASPECTS WORTH CARING ABOUT...IF HE PAINTS ARTIFICIAL LIGHT, IT IS TO ADD A NEW STRANGE BEAUTY TO NATURAL OBJECTS...HE FINDS ASTONISHING BEAUTIES IN THE FIREWORKS AT CREMORNE GARDENS, IN THE ROCKETS THAT FALL INTO THE BLUE WATERS UNDER BATTERSEA BRIDGE."


C7.    IN A PAINTING LIKE NOCTURNE IN BLUE AND GOLD: OLD BATTERSEA BRIDGE FROM THE EARLY 1870s, WE HAVE A CONFLUENCE OF NOISE ON THE CANVAS. WE SEE THE TOWERS OF INDUSTRY IN THE DISTANCE, THROUGH THE VEIL OF A TWILIGHT ATMOSPHERE IN WHICH SHOWERS OF FIREWORKS, THEMSELVES ALSO A SOURCE OF NOISE --- A DELIGHT FOR SOME, AN ANNOYANCE TO OTHERS --- ARC DOWN TOWARDS THE PLACID SURFACE OF THE THAMES. IT IS A TRANQUIL SCENE, BUT NOT A LUCID, OR QUIET ONE.

C8.     WHISTLER WENT BEYOND PAINTING MUNDANE SUBJECT MATTER. HIS WORK REVEALED SOMETHING GENERALLY TAKEN-FOR-GRANTED, AND THUS OVERLOOKED, BY PREVIOUS ARTISTS: THE AIR ITSELF. WHERE THE IMPRESSIONISTS WERE PAINTING THE EFFECTS OF LIGHT AND CHANGING THE EXPERIENCE OF SPACE ON THE CANVAS, WHISTLER WAS PAINTING SPACE ITSELF AND TURNING HIS CANVAS INTO WHAT WAS DESCRIBED AS A KIND OF MIRACULOUS WINDOW THROUGH WHICH ONE COULD GLIMPSE THE REAL WORLD. THAT HIS WORK WAS ASCRIBED THIS QUALITY BY CONTEMPORARIES IS EVIDENCE THAT HE HAD ACHIEVED SOMETHING REVOLUTIONARY. 

BY PAINTING THE AIR AND EMBRACING A METHOD OF SPATIAL ENHANCEMENT, WHISTLER HAD MADE ROOM IN HIS WORK FOR THE VIEWER TO PARTICIPATE. ONE IS PRESENT IN THE MOMENT VIEWING A WHISTLER NOCTURNE IN THE SAME WAY ONE IS PRESENT WHILE LISTENING TO ONE BY CHOPIN.

C9.    COMPOSER PHILIP GLASS IN HIS BOOK WORDS WITHOUT MUSIC: A MEMOIR ALSO SHARES HIS AFFINITY FOR THIS PRACTICE OF MAKING ROOM FOR THE VIEWER OR LISTENER...


QUOTE-08:
 
"THE CLOSER THE SPECTATOR-LISTENER IS TO THE 'IMAGE'—SOUND OR VISUAL—THE LESS CHOICE HE HAS IN SHAPING THE EXPERIENCE FOR HIMSELF. WHEN THE MUSIC ALLOWS FOR A DISTANCE TO EXIST BETWEEN THE SPECTATOR-LISTENER AND THE IMAGE, THEN SHE WILL AUTOMATICALLY BRING HER OWN INTERPRETATION TO THE WORK. THE SPECTATOR TRAVELS THE DISTANCE TO THE IMAGE HERSELF, AND BY MOVING TO THE IMAGE, SHE HAS NOW MADE IT HER OWN. THAT IS WHAT JOHN CAGE MEANT WHEN HE SAID THAT THE AUDIENCE 'COMPLETES' THE MUSIC."

C10.    IN ROBERT PIRSIG'S [PURR-SIG] 1974 NOVEL ZEN AND THE ART OF MOTORCYCLE MAINTENANCE, A MAJOR THEME OF THE BOOK IS REVEALED WHEN THE NARRATOR RECOGNIZES SOMETHING SEEMINGLY MUNDANE: A LEAKY FAUCET IN THE HOME OF HIS FRIENDS, JOHN AND SYLVIA:


QUOTE-09:

"WAITING FOR THEM TO GET GOING ONE MORNING IN THE KITCHEN I NOTICED THE SINK FAUCET WAS DRIPPING...AND THAT IN FACT IT HAD BEEN DRIPPING AS LONG AS I COULD REMEMBER...THIS MADE ME WONDER TO MYSELF IF IT GOT ON THEIR NERVES, THIS DRIP-DRIP-DRIP-DRIP, WEEK IN, WEEK OUT, YEAR IN, YEAR OUT, BUT I COULD NOT NOTICE ANY IRRITATION OR CONCERN ABOUT IT ON THEIR PART....ONE DAY WHEN [SYLVIA] WAS TRYING TO TALK ABOVE THE DRIPPING AND THE KIDS CAME IN AND INTERRUPTED HER SHE LOST HER TEMPER AT THEM....WHAT STRUCK ME HARD THEN WAS THAT SHE WAS NOT BLAMING THE FAUCET, AND THAT SHE WAS DELIBERATELY NOT BLAMING THE FAUCET. SHE WASN'T IGNORING THAT FAUCET AT ALL! SHE WAS SUPPRESSING ANGER AT THAT FAUCET . . . "


C11.    THE NARRATOR GOES ON TO CONNECT THE DOTS FROM THAT DRIPPING FAUCET, TO PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR AND ATTITUDES BY HIS FRIENDS, TO A MACRO-CULTURAL CONDITION. THE TECHNOLOGICAL ALIENATION ATTRIBUTED TO JOHN AND SYLVIA HAS SINCE EVOLVED INTO A PRESENT-DAY TECHNOLOGICAL IMMERSION. THE NOVEL IS A MEDITATION ON HOW TO INTEGRATE WHAT JOHN AND SYLVIA EXPERIENCE AS "A KIND OF FORCE THAT GIVES RISE TO TECHNOLOGY, SOMETHING UNDEFINED, BUT INHUMAN, MECHANICAL." 

THE BYWAYS CONNECTING THE INDUSTRIAL METAPHYSICS DESCRIBED BY THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT ON THEIR 1984 CONCEPT ALBUM AMONIA AVENUE TO THE DATA-DRIVEN BOULEVARDS OF "SILICON VALLEY" ARE WELL-TRAVELED. BUT WHERE HAVE THEY TAKEN US? TO A DYSTOPIAN SURVEILLANCE STATE, OR A CLOUD-BASED VIRTUAL UTOPIA? THE PERSISTENCE OF A HARD-TO-FIX, DRIPPING FAUCET IS MODERNITY MADE MANIFEST, CONVENIENCE ON TAP...AWAITING QUALITY ASSURANCE.


C12.    THIS STRIKES ME AS AN ECHO OF WILLIAM BLAKE'S POETIC PHRASE "DARK, SATANIC MILLS," BELIEVED TO REFER SPECIFICALLY TO LONDON'S FIRST STEAM-POWERED ALBION FLOUR MILLS, LIKELY SABOTAGED IN 1791. THE ALBION FLOUR MILLS WERE A HARBINGER OF THE PROLIFERATION OF INDUSTRIAL SITES LURKING THROUGH THE HAZE OF SOME OF WHISTLER'S PAINTINGS, AND WHOSE MID-TWENTIETH CENTURY DESCENDANTS ARE DESCRIBED BY PIRSIG AS [QUOTE] "STRANGE, INCOMPREHENSIBLE SHAPES" [UNQUOTE] THAT GIVE RISE TO PSYCHIC HOSTILITY...COGNITIVE NOISE.
 
C13.    KIM ADRIAN'S INNOVATIVE MEMOIR ENTITLEDTHE TWENTY-SEVENTH LETTER OF THE ALPHABET IS ORGANIZED AS A GLOSSARY OF TERMS, THROUGH WHICH THE STORY OF HER FAMILY IS REVEALED. UNDER THE ENTRY FOR "CRIMINAL" SHE SHARES AN ANECDOTE IN WHICH HER MOTHER'S OBSESSIVE RUNNING CONVERSATION IS DESCRIBED AS BEING AKIN TO NOISE WHICH, LIKE PIRSIG'S LEAKY FAUCET, MUST BE SUPPRESSED AS A COPING MECHANISM. ADRIAN WRITES:


QUOTE-10:

"WE WALK OVER TO THE CLOTHESLINE STRETCHED ACROSS OUR BACKYARD, AND I BEGIN CLIPPING THINGS TO IT AS SHE SPEAKS. IT'S NOT THAT I DON'T LISTEN. I DO. SORT OF. BUT IN THE SAME WAY I MIGHT LISTEN TO A BUZZ SAW OR A LEAF BLOWER. . .I HEAR CERTAIN WORDS, CERTAIN ALL-TOO-FAMILIAR WORDS---TEETH, DOCTORS, LANDLORD, DMH---AND THESE ALERT ME TO THE FACT THAT NOTHING NEW IS BEING SAID."

C14.    IN HER 2010 BOOK LISTENING TO NOISE AND SILENCE: TOWARDS A PHILOSOPHY OF SOUND ART, SALOMÉ VOEGELIN INTERPRETS NOISE AS A PROFOUNDLY EMBODIED PHENOMENON. THIS TREATMENT REVEALS THE INADEQUACY OF BOTH MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM TO GRAPPLE WITH IT. SHE BEGINS BY SITUATING NOISE IN THE SONIC REALM, WRITING THAT “SOUND IS NEVER ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THINGS, BUT IS THE RELATIONSHIP HEARD.”
 
    IN SO DOING, SHE SETS UP HER CRITIQUE OF THE MODERNIST CONCEPTION OF LISTENING TO MUSIC AS BEING TIED TO AN IDEALIZED OBJECT: THE SCORE. SHE ARRIVES AT WHAT SHE CALLS “ABSOLUTE LISTENING” TIED TO EXPECTATIONS OF PLAYING (AND HEARING) THE “RIGHT” NOTES, AND THEIR DISPOSITIONS TO THE RULES OF STYLE AND HARMONY FOR A GIVEN ERA, IN THE EFFORT TO AFFECT AND APPRECIATE AN IDEAL INTERPRETATION.

QUOTE-11:

“THIS KIND OF LISTENING AVOIDS THE CONTINGENT AND FLEETING NATURE OF SOUND BY LEADING ANY STRAY TONES BACK TO THE OBJECT OF THE SCORE: INTEGRATING THEM INTO THE SYSTEM OR REJECTING THEM AS THEIR DIALECTICAL OPPOSITE. IN THIS WAY IT CIRCUMVENTS DOUBT AND SPECULATION.”

C15.    WHERE THE MODERNIST PARADIGM IS FOCUSED ON “PLAYING” AS PERFORMANCE, THE POSTMODERN PARADIGM IS FOCUSED ON “PLAYING” LINGUISTIC GAMES. POSTMODERN LISTENING CAN BE BROUGHT TO THE SAME CANON OF MUSIC. RATHER THAN SEEKING A VALID, INTERPRETATION OF A SCORE OR CHART, HOWEVER, THE POSTMODERN LISTENER WILL DE-CONSTRUCT A GIVEN WORK, TO SITUATE IT IN MUSICOLOGICAL AND HISTORICAL DISCOURSES. VOEGELIN WRITES:

QUOTE-12:

“LYOTARD’S NASCENT POSTMODERNITY AS THE CONDITION OF PRESENT-NESS, CONTINUALLY TRANSITIVE, AND POTENTIALLY ANYTHING AS LONG AS IT IS HERE AND NOW, VANISHES INTO THE WEIGHT OF LANGUAGE. THE POSTMODERN NOW IS CEMENTED IN LETTERS THAT CONFER ACADEMIC AUTHORITY, PROFESSIONAL AUTONOMY AND LEGITIMACY. THE REAL NOW IS LONG GONE.”


C16.    NOISE ART, IN CONTRAST TO THE CANON OF CONCERT MUSIC OR THE IMPROVISATIONS OF JAZZ, EVADES DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS. THE PERFORMANCES AND RECORDINGS OF OTOMO YOSHIHIDE, CHARLEMAGNE PALESTINE, AND OTHERS MAKE US, TO USE VOEGELIN’S MEMORABLE PHRASE “THE HOST OF NOISE.” SHE FURTHER EXPLAINS:


QUOTE-13:

“NOISE BREAKS WITH THE LANGUAGE BASE. . .NOISE CAN ONLY FIND ITS WAY TO LANGUAGE IN THE ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT IT CAN’T. THE THING DISCUSSED IS THE BODY THAT HEARD[,] NOT THE WORK THAT PLAYED. NOISE FORCES THE LISTENING SUBJECT INTO THE CRITICAL RING AND TURNS THE WORK INTO MOMENTS OF EXPERIENCE. AND THAT IS THE TRUE CRITICALITY OF NOISE.”

C17. THROUGH ACTS OF SONIC POSSESSION, NOISE ART RESISTS BEING READ AS A TEXT.

C18.   IN THIS MOMENT OF CULTURAL RECKONING, I HAVE A FINAL NOTE THAT, AS A WHITE PERSON, IS TROUBLING TO ME. IN ADDITION TO THE SPECTRUM OF NOISE COLORS DISCUSSED EARLIER, THERE IS ONE I HAVE NOT MENTIONED. I FEEL THIS TERM IS LIKELY INDICATIVE OF AN UNAWAKENED NONCHALANCE, A REMNANT OF PRIVILEGED LANGUAGE THAT SOME ARE ONLY NOW STARTING TO SEE REVEALS IMPLICIT BIAS IN THE CONTEXT OF RACE. 

I AM REFERRING TO BLACK NOISE, THE DESIGNATION FOR A ZERO POWER LEVEL ACROSS ALL BUT A FEW RANDOM FREQUENCIES. SOMETIMES BLACK NOISE IS USED TO DENOTE THE ABSENCE OF SIGNAL DURING VIDEO PLAYBACK...WHEN THE SCREEN GOES DARK. THE TERM BLACK NOISE MAY ALSO INDICATE SILENCE. THIS BRINGS US FULL CIRCLE TO WHERE WE BEGAN, WITH THE CONFLATION OF PEACE AND QUIET. WHILE NOISE ART MAY RESIST BEING READ A TEXT, WORDS ARE MEANT TO BE READ. AND IF WE LISTEN CLOSELY, WE CAN HEAR THE NOISE IN THEM.  


SHOW NOTES AND CREDITS

EC1.    I HOPE YOU'VE FOUND THIS INITIAL SOJOURN INTO THE NATURE OF NOISE, FROM THE BEGINNING OF TIME TO CURRENT EVENTS, TO HAVE BEEN WORTHWHILE. THERE IS, AS ALWAYS, MORE TO BE SAID AND I WILL RETURN TO THIS TOPIC AGAIN. WHAT I TAKE AWAY FROM THIS CHAPTER IS A SENSE THAT SIGNAL AND NOISE ARE NOT ALWAYS DISTINCT, THAT NOISE CAN BRING TEXTURE AND NUANCE AS WELL AS ANNOYANCE, AND THAT IT IS, PERHAPS, TOO EASY TO DISMISS THE UNFAMILIAR, THE UNEXPECTED, AND LABEL IT AS NOISE.

EC2.   JOIN ME AGAIN ON THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW FOR CHAPTER SIX, MY NEXT SOJOURN IN SOUND, WHEN I WILL MUSE ABOUT THE WILDLY INNOVATIVE GUITARIST TOM MORELLO, AND SHARE ANOTHER MOVEMENT FROM MY WORK IN PROGRESS, THE DISQUIETING.

EC3.   THIS PROGRAM IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF A SMALL, BUT GROWING, COMMUNITY OF PATREON SUPPORTERS. I HAVE INITIATED A NEW TIER OF SUPPORT CALLED THE BIG BANG FOR WHICH THE FIRST TEN SUPPORTERS OF THIS YEAR -- AT ANY LEVEL --- WILL BE LISTED IN PERPETUITY ON THE WEB SITE. THERE ARE STILL A FEW SPOTS REMAINING. VISIT PATREON.COM/PERCHANCE TO JOIN.

EC4.    MY THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR LISTENING. PLEASE CHECK OUT THE COMPANION PLAYLIST OF NOW FOR CHAPTER FIVE ON SPOTIFY, WHERE YOU CAN ALSO FOLLOW THE PROGRAM. THE PLAYLIST OF NOW IS WHAT I LISTEN TO WHILE I WRITE THE SCRIPT FOR EACH CHAPTER AND IN A SENSE, IT IS THE TERRITORY TO WHICH THIS CHAPTER IS BUT A MAP. 

EC5.    THIS CHAPTER OF THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW FEATURES WORK SHARED THROUGH THE CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSING FRAMEWORK. MATERIAL HEARD IN THIS CHAPTER WAS SOURCED FROM: BANDCAMP, FREE MUSIC ARCHIVE, MUSOPEN AND SOUNDCLOUD.

MY SINCERE THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING MUSICIANS AND SOUND ARTISTS FOR SHARING THEIR DIVERSE TALENTS:

KIMIKO ISHIZAKA, PROFESSOR JOHN G. KRAMER, AYA HIGUCHI, LEE ROSEVERE, JULIE LICATA, JONATHA CHANCE, AND THE BAND PUBLIC SYMPHONY.

MY SPECIAL APPRECIATION TO BEN GOLDBERG FOR HIS KIND PERMISSION TO ALLOW USE OF SELECTIONS FROM HIS EXTRAORDINARY PLAGUE DIARY PROJECT IN THIS AND FUTURE CHAPTERS OF THE PROGRAM.

NOISE SAMPLES WERE PRODUCED USING WAVTONES SOFTWARE AT W-A-V-TONES-DOT-COM LICENSED FOR COMMERCIAL USE FROM DOCTOR OF ENGINEERING STÉPHANE (STAY-FAHN) PIGEON.

FABULOUS INTERSTITIAL SWEEPERS WERE PRODUCED BY DR. JENN KIRBY.


CLOSE

EC6.    CHAPTER FIVE WAS WRITTEN, PRODUCED AND HOSTED BY YOURS TRULY. ANY MISTAKES, INACCURACIES, OR EDITORIAL FAILURES --- IN CONTENT OR PRODUCTION --- ARE UNINTENDED AND ARE ENTIRELY MINE.

I’M CHRISTINE BUSH. THE SOUNDTRACK OF NOW CONTINUES. KEEP LISTENING.