John M. Picker: Victorian Soundscapes (2003)
Filed under book | Tags: · 1800s, acoustics, history of literature, listening, literature, music, noise, phonograph, recording, silence, sound, sound recording, united kingdom, voice
“Far from the hushed restraint we associate with the Victorians, their world pulsated with sound. This book shows how, in more ways than one, Victorians were hearing things. The representations close listeners left of their soundscapes offered new meanings for silence, music, noise, voice, and echo that constitute an important part of the Victorian legacy to us today. In chronicling the shift from Romantic to modern configurations of sound and voice, Picker draws upon literary and scientific works to recapture the sense of aural discovery figures such as Babbage, Helmholtz, Freud, Bell, and Edison shared with the likes of Dickens, George Eliot, Tennyson, Stoker, and Conrad.”
Publisher Oxford University Press, 2003
ISBN 0195151917, 9780195151916
220 pages
PDF, PDF (updated on 2017-3-2)
Comments (4)Rudolf Arnheim: Radio: An Art of Sound (1936/1971)
Filed under book | Tags: · film, listening, public broadcasting, radio, sound recording, voice
“Arnheim treats all aspects of sound. He explores words and music as kinds of sounds; discusses direction and distance, spatial resonance, sequence and juxtaposition in radio sound; makes comparisons between sound film and radio techniques and effects; and details the benefits of imagination with sound from a creative and emotional point of view. The art of announcing, the psychology of the listener, and two generalized discussions of radio around the world, and the prospects for television are covered in the last chapters.”
Translated by Margaret Ludwig and Herbert Read
First published by Faber and Faber, London, 1936
Publisher Arno Press, New York, 1971
287 pages
Alan Lomax: Selected Writings, 1934-1997 (2003)
Filed under book | Tags: · cantometrics, dance, field recording, folk, music, polyphony, sound recording, voice, world music
Alan Lomax is a legendary figure in American folk music circles. Although he published many books, hundreds of recordings and dozens of films, his contributions to popular and academic journals have never been collected. This collection of writings, introduced by Lomax’s daughter Anna, reintroduces these essential writings. Drawing on the Lomax Archives in New York, this book brings together articles from the 30s onwards. It is divided into four sections, each capturing a distinct period in the development of Lomax’s life and career: the original years as a collector and promoter; the period from 1950-58 when Lomax was recording thorughout Europe; the folk music revival years; and finally his work in academia.
Edited by Ronald D. Cohen
With Introductory Essays by Gage Averill, Matthew Barton, Ronald D.Cohen, Ed Kahn, and Andrew L.Kaye
Publisher Routledge, 2003
ISBN 0415938546, 9780415938549
363 pages
Sound Recordings catalog comprises over 17,400 digital audio files, beginning with Lomax’s first recordings onto tape in 1946 and tracing his career into the 1990s
PDF (updated on 2014-11-30)
Comments (2)