Conceptualising Sound

摘要

Sound studies covers a vast area of different fields within art studies, architecture, musicology, film and media studies, perceptual psychology, anthropology etc. This not only means that sound has no natural ‘home’, but also that sound is conceptualised in various ways depending on the concepts, methods and approaches that traditionally define each area of study. Sound may be considered a musically structured art form that one must listen to carefully, disturbing and unhealthy noise in urban environments that must be reduced or part of mass communication that must either be critically analysed or studied as meaningful entertainment. Sound can be described in physical terms, in formal terms and in more (inter)subjective terms, depending on the academic interest. It is not possible to define a common language, a lingua franca, spoken by all researchers and practicians of sound. This may seem regrettable. On the other hand, such a language may not even be desirable, since we can benefit from the present polyphony, which keeps sound studies connected to and integrated with all kinds of academic and artistic practices. In other words, it is both a challenge and an advantage: a challenge because we need to be updated on sound studies in all kinds of areas, and an advantage because it makes sound studies more than just an esoteric subject area. As sound researchers and practitioners we have a natural need for interdisciplinarity, and we have to maintain an ongoing dialogue about sound across many different fields of study.