11 Matching Annotations
  1. Feb 2016
    1. The pure contralto sings in the organ loft,

      akin to the lines in another Whitman poem, "I Hear America Singing." IHAS describes the sounds of America as a growing nation full of promise--including, of course, urban sounds

    2. I witness and wait.

      to witness is also to listen

    3. Shall I postpone my acceptation and realization and scream at my eyes,

      A literal interpretation suggests that the speaker is having a visceral sonic response to his eyes, as they enable him to see things that would prompt such screams. This interpretation furthers the idea that sound often exists as a reaction to the visual--the antithesis to Stern's argument

    1. “mystiqueofrhythm,”

      doesn't fall in line with the biological/physical aspects of rhythmanalysis

    2. obsessedwithindividualized,subjectivefeeling,denigratesthevibrationalnexusatthealtarofhumanaudition,therebyneglectingtheagency'distribute'daround avibrationalencounterandignoringthenonhum,anparticipantsofthenexusofexperience

      there is an untouchable aspect to the science of vibrations, one that can't be "denigrated" by human feeling

    3. oundcomestotherescueofthoughtratherthantheinverse,forcingittovibrate,looseningupitsorganizedorpetrifiedbody.

      "thought" here equates to definitions of sound as assigned by human listeners; this suggests that one does not pontificate on sound, but sound is inherently revealing and lends itself to philosophical insight rather than being theoretical fodder

    4. insertingthematweakspotsinthehistoryofWesternphilosophy,

      sound is tied to theory, physics, and even the Big Bang, but to characterize sound as a human-driven auditory experience reduces sound to something entirely human-centric

  2. Jan 2016
    1. JohnCagehasdeclared:“Musicissounds,soimdsarounduswhetherwe’reinoroutofconcerthalls:

      this calls into question what constitutes sound itself, as Cage composed a piece consisting of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of utter silence (as mentioned in the paragraph below.) might the absence of sound still qualify as sound?

    1. Wemustnotautomaticallytakeanydiscourseaboutsoundinitsownterms,butratherinterrogatethetermsuponwhichitisbuilt.

      characterizes the relationship between sound and language--discussions of sound have given rise to a new vocabulary for sound students

    2. arawayfamouslyusedvisionmetaphorstodescribeperspectiveasaconstitutivefeatureofepistemology,butonecoulduseauditionjustaseasily.

      implies that audio and visual metaphors are equally effective

    3. eopleinpositionsofpowerallover19th-centuryEuropeweresoworkedupaboutthedifferentstandardsfororchestraltuningthatmanycountriespassedlawstoresolvetheproblem.'

      demonstrates the close relationship between sound/music and how each is often conflated with the other; additionally, the extent to which sound has infiltrated society, from the personal (entertainment) to the political (legislation)