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May 10, 2019 by jashakow

Film as a Sonic Art

By James Shakow

Because the importance of sound in my life up until this class has been a rather colloquial thing, I think it is best to start off with a story. When I was a kid I was a listener. I listened more than I ever talked. I would generally speak in whispers, and would always get flak from my grandparents when talking to them on the phone because of it. However, my days of being a quiet kid quickly ended in middle school when I was able to find a voice in theater. Up on stage I grew to enjoy the funny sounds that people can make and learned how to control and use my voice. There was something so strange about the way people talked when they spoke in front of an audience. I’d even change myself, something deeper and stronger, but nothing quite natural. I wanted to be able to act in a real voice, to make sounds without straining so I moved into film. I learned to direct, and found myself in charge of my first movie by the end of high school. As someone who loves sound, I felt that it would be essential to the movie. Not just the characters speaking, but the music itself, the wind and the birds, the sounds of a car, a typewriter. I borrowed a microphone from a friend and a camera from the library to set out to record a movie and all the sounds I needed. On that first day my hatred for noise began.

*Brigitte Wilson with her makeshift microphone at the Georgetown beach*

It was a bright day, a little after noon, two actors and a co-director helping me out on a small beach beside the Potomac river. We’d gone over lines, set up the camera, taped the mic onto the end of a long stick and a cardboard tube, and set out to shoot our scene. About 20 seconds into the take a plane flew by overhead. It was understandable, Georgetown is right next to an airport, so we decided to reset the shoot and try again. For the first few times it was funny. It took all day to get the shots we needed. By the time we were able to get enough takes without aviatory interruption the sunlight had changed so much that we already knew the shadows had changed completely. The next morning we got up early to check the audio and video we had recorded. The wind had ruined every single shot. The good ones and the bad ones. We hadn’t used the right air filter. Unwanted noise had come in and ruined every shot, in one way or another.

*Aligning microphone dialogue with camera audio in ‘Rules to Live by’*

I have since learned the difference between sound and noise, and in a film, that difference is vitally important. First and foremost, the most important sound in a movie is typically the dialogue. The words the characters are speaking. Schafer would define that kind of sound as a ‘signal’ sound, or a “foreground sound”. A sound that “must be listened to” in order to advance the plot (Schafer, 101). In amateur filmmakinng, achieving this alone can be hard enough. Getting a clear audio recording on a windy day, or trying to record a whisper on a crowded street can be near impossible, so that is the first hurdle I sought to overcome. Michel Chion believes that the very presence of a human voice in a film “structures the sonic space around it”, that everything we think about in a film comes in context of the voice (5). I would argue the opposite. As important as speech is, the other sound in the soundscape affects the way we understand these signals. Though the plot of a movie is understood through signals like dialogue, the underlying ‘keynote’ sounds are more important to the telling of a story.

*The Diner scene in ‘Perspective’ required half of the restaurant to shut down for a shoot*

Schafer’s subconscious keynote sounds tell us more about the story than words ever could. These are sounds that have “imprinted themselves so deeply on the people hearing them that life without them would be sensed as a distinct impoverishment”. They define landscapes, affect behavior of societies, and have a “deep and persuasive influence on our behaviors and moods”(Schafer, 101). If a scene is set on a beach, it is essential to hear the waves. If we are driving down a highway, the scene would feel strange without the sounds of passing cars. While these sounds are not as pertinent to the plot of the film, they create an environment for us to feel. Even in the first few movies I made, I realized that these keynotes would be essential to the process. I tried my best to fully capture the important pieces. The sounds of birds for instance could convey freedom, the sounds of a diner could make a scene feel homely. They rarely went farther than that, but I knew that they were essential to the character and plot of the film. Creating non-diegetic (not coming from on screen) soundscapes can make us recall certain emotions even without a direct connection to plot. These sounds behind the signals can tell us more about the way a character thinks than the words they are able to say.

*When a film is near completion, sound files can become messy. Each blue box is a separate audio file.*

Going into this class, I did not know I wanted to be a filmmaker. Taking ‘Voice, Noise, Sound and Sense’ alongside my film classes has given me a way to articulate my desires for sound in film. It has given me a language to speak in and a broader context to consider sound in film. For every sound scholar and listening activity, I could find a way to connect them with my life and film. In my first writing project (The Invisible Grain) I talked about how Jordan Scott’s poetic book ‘blert’ was intentionally unclear in order to send a particular message to an audience. It made me question if my storytelling methods were as unique in sound as they were visually. The concept of Ideophones, that some words and noises are universally understood across the barrier of language, piqued my curiosity for the second project (Universality in Language). I concluded that words inherently have more meaning associated behind them than you can find in a dictionary. The closest corollary is the music that I have put in my films. Specifically composed, it was made entirely to give off a certain feeling without any words. My third and final writing project (Noise Extremes; the Soundscapes of a Davidson Saturday Night) concluded that noise can be beautiful, and no matter how universally hated it can be, there is still reason for its existence. In film, every noise has a specific purpose to it. The soundscape is so carefully curated that nothing is wasted, every sound is there for a reason.

*An actor in ‘Galveston’ attempts some creative mic placement in order to capture the sound of his voice*

While my movies have only now begun to make sense, that is only the first step on the journey. I’m still not fully confident in getting a good recording. It’s still tough to set up the mics and do everything right, but someday I won’t have to worry about any of that. Through the painstaking reality of recording audio, my love for sound has faded. I have raged against drumming fingers and low summer breezes, passing cars and airplanes, I have sought to control the uncontrollable soundscapes that surround me. Sooner or later, I will realize how to do it right, how to embrace the little sounds in recordings and notice them in everyday life. At some point I want to focus on the sound more than anything else. I want be be able to create new sounds and eventually whole soundscapes to express my thought in film. When people think of a director’s style, they often consider it visually. It is easy to focus on Wes Anderson’s unique camera movement, or the way Tarantino makes his cuts, but even more unique to me now is the sound. The role sound plays in film is often greatly overshadowed by the visual. It seems counterintuitive, but one must go to great lengths to make a film sound natural. While the plot and genre of a movie can be expressed in words, greatness in film comes from sound.

Bibliography:

Noise Extremes; the Soundscapes of a Davidson Saturday Night
Universality in Language
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Qm6MAIBdj8_ybvBZiW3LTAgkUSisrGWUllMsNioZIWo/edit?usp=sharing – The Invisible Grain
Schafer, R. Murray. “The Soundscape.” In The Sound Studies Reader. Edited by Jonathan Sterne, New York, Routledge, 2012.
Chion, Michel. The Voice in Cinema. New York, Columbia University Press, 1999.
Movies cited:
https://youtu.be/oyNIb8OHkQk – Galveston
https://youtu.be/sfgkwHVjBeY – Perspective

May 10, 2019 by pamullinax

Authentic Appreciation

While it may not always be a factor in one’s enjoyment of music, the manner in which songs come to be can greatly impact one’s appreciation of them. Whether this be the cultural influences on music, the life story of the artist, or something else impacting the song, the reasons for songs being as they are, are important. These influences can help to enhance the meaning behind songs, but lack of influences can also be a downfall for them. Without true influences, songs can be fake. They attempt to be something they’re not and it results in a lack of appreciation. With music, this can manifest itself as cultural influences defining a genre or cultural appropriation ending a career. For me, this is something I have found to greatly impact my opinions on different songs and artists that I have listened to throughout this class. From Outkast and Bluegrass to Iggy Azalea, their creation of songs and how they go about it is a point I have begun to take into consideration when listening to music. Regardless of how influence or life stories may manifest itself, whether positively or negatively, the creation of a song, and the causes for it, impact my appreciation and reception of it.

In the late 90s Outkast burst onto the hip hop scene with a new Southern Sound. They had accents, different intonations, and talked about “fish n’ grits”. While this originally caused them to be literal outcasts, it kept them authentic. They stayed true to their Atlanta roots and became representative of a whole city. Their sound wasn’t manufactured, it was natural and it was distinctly Atlantan. This kind of authentic sound is why I love their music. There are other reasons as well, such as their sheer lyrical ability and their unique beats, but it is their authenticity that sets them apart. As someone from Georgia, I can appreciate some of their references and influences more than most. They aren’t trying to talk about Hollywood or New York, but instead they have a song called “Spaghetti Junction”, an interchange in Atlanta I grew up driving though hundreds of times. This is precisely the type of reference I pointed out in my piece on them from earlier in the year, where I specifically point out how “Outkast [is] appealing to the South” due to its references and recognizable feel (Mullinax). This perfectly shows how authentic they are in their music and why is appeals to me. The authenticity of their music is a large factor in why I appreciate it so much.

In the same way that Outkast’s sound was a product of the area they came from, so too was the sound of Bluegrass. Early Bluegrass musicians weren’t trying to be some radical new sound that the country hadn’t seen before, but instead they were embracing their culture. The Irish immigrants that settled in the Blue Ridge Mountains brought with them fiddle tunes. Slaves brought over during the 17^th and 18^th centuries introduced banjos to the South. Over the next couple centuries, the locals simply picked these instruments up and started playing. The natural way that this style of music manifested itself helps to give it its authentic sound. Just like Outkast appealed to me because of my southern roots and my appreciation for authenticity, so too does Bluegrass. Perhaps I am biased, having grown up around it, but I also love that when songs tell stories they are real stories from the homes of the artists. Whether it be a old mountain tune or a modern fiddle melody, the tradition of Bluegrass that connects the old and new is almost unparalleled by any other genre. This is just about as authentic as it gets, and as I pointed out in my previous piece, “Just like Outkast, Bluegrass was finding national success without abandoning its roots” (Mullinax). This is a big reason why I appreciate it so much.

Although authenticity has been a reason for me loving certain music, the lack of it can have the opposite effect. Iggy Azalea’s music has always been under scrutiny due to her past. It’s not that she has a criminal record or that she was trying to run away from bad decisions. In fact, in a way it’s because she has none of that. While that’s not entirely true, the reason she is scrutinized is due to her not quite fitting the mold of rap despite desperately wanting to. She didn’t have the hard life growing up that so many rappers did. She didn’t face racism for her skin color. She didn’t have any of the negative experiences that so many rappers use as fuel for their songs. That being said, some of her music was well received. It wasn’t that she was a bad lyricist, though many people may disagree. It also wasn’t that her songs were bad. She managed to find plenty of commercial success early on with hits like “Fancy”, which managed to hit the number one spot on Billboard’s Hot 100 list. While the rapping and beats were there, a good performance doesn’t always mean a good song. I pointed this out in my previous writing when talking about how Taylor Swift “delivers a great vocal performance….but she still failed to do the song justice” in reference to her cover of Earth, Wind, and Fire’s “September” (Mullinax). Just like Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea’s problem wasn’t just with her actual music, but the way it came to be. Iggy didn’t respect the genre or the culture surrounding it. On many occasions she was called out for this blatant disrespect and it let to her downfall. She wasn’t authentic in the realm of rap. She didn’t fit the bill and instead became accused of cultural appropriation, disrespect, and more. For me personally, her lack of authenticity is a large part in how I responded to her music. It didn’t sound real. It sounded fake, as though someone were doing a poor job pretending to be hardcore, which is exactly what happened. She wasn’t authentic, and that is why myself, and many others, couldn’t like her music.

Authenticity or the lack thereof became more apparent to me throughout my writing as the biggest factor in my appreciation of music.

Citations

Mullinax, Paul. “The Southern Sound of Then and Now.” Writing 101: Voice, Noise, Sound, Sense, March 24, 2019,
http://www.wri-101k-s19.andrewrippeon.com/blog/uncategorized/the-southern-sound-of-then-and-now/

Hope, Clover. “The Making and Unmaking of Iggy Azalea.” Jezebel, Jezebel, 2 Nov. 2018, jezebel.com/the-making-and-unmaking-of-iggy-azalea-1797030869.

May 10, 2019 by lalodhi

The Definition of the Voice

As a society we have been questioning what constitutes the entity of our voice. In my first paper for this class I wrote that,

the voice gains its identity… through its ability to fluctuate and produce varying rhythms and projections. Through this, the meaning and emotion of each statement can be altered, and it is in this ability that the identity of the voice lies.
Lodhi, 2019

When I wrote this, we had not yet covered all the material of the class, and while I still find that the our voice’s identity lies in the flaws of our voice, the material of the class moved further than what creates a unique voice, to what exactly makes the distinction of a voice. Dolar and others we have read have developed new ideas as to how to separate the voice from other sounds, even those produced from the same individual. So two points stand out to me from this class, one is that it is through the inflections and essential flaws in our voice that our identity lies, but secondly eliminating these flaws and leaving only the bare structure or frame of the voice is where we can begin to identify what constitutes the voice. Throughout this piece I attempt to understand how the definition and way of the looking at the voice has changed through time and what implications this has on how we recognize a voice as opposed to a sound.

The definition of the voice begins with Aristotle’s interpretation which seeks to make the voice distinct from other sounds produced, highlighting that the voice comes from a being with a soul. Sounds of the voice are formed with one distinction, an

…impact of something against something else, across a space filled with air…
Aristotle, 669

This impact between with an individual’s windpipe creates the sound, the voice, and Aristotle supports this with the evidence that fish are voiceless due to not having a windpipe. However, even though all living beings have a soul, the voice cannot be created solely by this impact, as the act, “must be accompanied by an act of imagination”, simply breathing in does not produce the voice. Aristotle confirms this by pointing to how there is an

…inability to speak when we are breathing either in or out…
Aristotle 670

When describing animals’ voices, he claims that “many animals are voiceless,” as they lack the imagination to produce a more complex voice. The sound that comes from animals does not hold greater meaning than a signal or set sound. While Aristotle does not come to a clear definition regarding what exactly formulates a voice, it can be implied that he considers the voice to be produced in the context of a language being produced by the sounds coming from the individual. We do not have a language called ‘dog language’ nor one for other animals. Humans do however have the ability to have greater distinction in what they say and therefore have a wider variety in what they can say. This requirement of the voice is something that I agree with Aristotle on, and is something that makes the quality and use of the human voice at a higher level than other sounds.

With the ever-growing technology, our definition and analysis of what produces a voice has changed. The expansion of technology has allowed new forms of the ‘voice’ to emerge. Lyrebird produces an online ‘voice’ that sounds exactly like that of the individual whose voice is used to record it, that is minus the lack of inflection due to the voice being produced from the technology. Mladen Dolar elaborates on the use of inflection as he outlines three modes – timbre, accent, and intonation – that all contribute to making one aware of the voice. These modes he claims contribute to the specific individual’s “fingerprints of the voice”, but that this “personal touch” does not in fact contribute to the meaning of what is being said, rather to creating an identity for that voice, (Dolar, 545). Michel Chion has a similar interpretation about how inflection does not contribute to the meaning of what is being said. In her piece The Three Modes of Listening she discusses a concept she calls ‘reduced listening’, which is listening to the melodic properties and texture of the voice without turning it into meaning. She examples the pitch of a tone, and how,

pitch is an inherent characteristic of sound, independent of the sound’s cause or the comprehension of its meaning.
(Chion, 51).

Dolar and Chion are in agreement here that the other traits of the voice, like inflection and pitch, should be observed as separate entities, away from the meaning of the voice. What this shows is that over time individuals have come to pick apart properties of sounds and eliminate factors in order to either focus on those traits itself, or on the specifics of the sound’s creation. I would say that I am in agreement here with these individuals, despite the fact that these methods make understanding the voice and other sounds more complex. This observation of the voice produces a way through which the voice can be understood for what defines its production and could lead to an answer as to what the voice is. However, I must state that this does complicate one’s understanding of the voice, and there does not seem to be a clear understanding as to what the voice is and how it is different from that of a sound.

Dolar further goes through the levels of understanding of the voice and claims the voice to be an object that can be seen as a level of thought. The voice is a vehicle of meaning and source of aesthetic admiration, a physical property rather than a conceptual property. Eliminating the other traits mentioned in the previous paragraph allows the voice to stand in this light, and I think that this nature allows a better and clearer picture as to what constitutes the voice. In eliminating these properties or traits it also allows various types of ‘voices’ to be distinguished. Aristotle claimed that the voice however must be the impact of the inbreathed air and a source of soul and imagination. The meter to then distinguish the level of significance of a voice type would be through the level of imagination used in formulating that voice. In my opinion this does not include the other traits of the voice simply the mental capacity of the individual producing the voice, and how much of that capacity is involved in producing that type of voice. A cough would thus hold less significance than a speaking voice would, as less imagination is used in producing that voice. But when it comes to crying between a baby and adult, the adult’s crying would hold less merit than the baby crying as the baby can’t necessarily use more imagination at that point in their life. The phrase,

Use your words…

has never been more clear to me then now as it holds much truth in this context, as an adult has the ability to use their words while the baby does not, so being mature one should use their words as oppose to leveling themselves to a baby. Perhaps this is harsh, but in a context of this nature the we gain a constructive way through which to discern types of voice.

Paul D. Miller aka. Dj Spooky introduces another level through which to understand our voice. He calls to question whether our voices are even our own. He states,

…today, the voice you speak with may not be your own,” societal factors have formulated this voice…
Miller, 068

I think that this explanation is interesting to note, and that it relates to the basis of what is being spoken, and perhaps to the inflections and traits we form the voice with. This theory does not deviate from whether the voice is our own or not, nor does it define what constitutes the voice, but rather that what we are saying and how these things are being said, is not our own. As it is, society adapts or alters us, therefore it is the aspects of what we are saying, the meaning, that is created by society. The nature of what we are saying is not our own, and I think that while the basic structure of the voice is our own and holds a unique identity, that following Miller’s theories, but what builds on the structure is not. Miller also discusses Charles Mingus’ concept of a “triple consciousness”, that for individuals, it is their

‘franchise identity’ [that is needed] to modulate their perceptions of themselves…
Miller, 061

We begin to understand ourselves through our group belonging, so this calls to question, in my mind, that if we have this sense of franchise identity then why cannot the slight deviations in each individuals voice (since no one has necessarily had the exact same life experiences) allow our own voice to be part of our franchise, the franchise of say, me, Laleh Lodhi. This would support the theories and actions of Lyrebird as they attempt to create online voice for individuals, and though it lacks specific inflection or tones, the general aspects that formulate the unique sound of the voice are still intact.

Understanding and listening to sounds has evolved throughout, there is a movement towards interpreting and looking into more of the sound than the just what emotion it makes you feel. Dj Spooky in Rhythm Science discusses the “ownership of the voice” and whether we are speaking with a voice that is ours or not. Technology like Lyrebird seeks to expand the ownership of the voice, the modality through which we can speak. Aristotle questions what defines the voice, whether voice and sound are the same thing. I have found that throughout this class there has been a common theme of a specific uncertainty around how far the voice and sound can be expanded and altered in order for the voice to still remain its integrity, but also to what extent the voice can remain a voice.

References:

Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle, pp. 667-670, Princeton University Press, 1984.

Choin, Michel. 1994. The Three Listening Modes. In Audio-Vision. Translated by C. Gorbman. New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. 25-34.

Dolar, Mladen. 2006. The Linguistics of the Voice. In A Voice and Nothing More. Cambridge: MIT Press. Pp. 13-32.

Lodhi, Laleh. Where the Identity of the Voice Lies. 2019.

Lyrebird • Ultra-Realistic Voice Cloning and Text-to-Speech, 2018, Lyrebird.ai, lyrebird.ai/

Miller, Paul D. Rhythm Science. MIT Press, 2004.

May 9, 2019 by aitwombly

A New Appreciation for Sound

I dove into the world of sound studies with no previous experience, or to be honest, no interest in digging deeper into how sound affects the world around us. Throughout my semester studying it though, I have come to truly appreciate sound and its effects, actions, and consequences. Through studying the sound in music, I gained a greater appreciation for music in general and the artists that create it. With the help of some philosophy, I reached my own definition about who can have voice. Finally, from immersing myself in the soundscape of Davidson, I discovered what sounds adds to this campus. I am now reflecting on everything I have learned to try and determine the impact my new focus on sound has on how I live my life. Hearing is a sense that people can take for granted but the world is constantly filled with sounds yearning to be listened to. Every sound has something it can tell me. My projects weren’t eye opening, but rather ear opening. I am amazed how much of the world has passed me by because I never had the awareness to simply listen. From this class though, I now know how. I now have the appreciation and tools to finally be able to comprehend what these sounds mean.

Thinking about voice in relation to sound taught me how to critically listen. Although I had thought about “voice” before, I never understood or cared about the widespread impact of this idea on those with speech difficulty or other disabilities. When I read Aristotle’s essay on voice and sound, his ideas didn’t seem right to me. I began to think about whether there is more to voice than the physical sound exiting the human mouth as Aristotle would define it, and after reading Cavarero’s essay “Multiple Voices,” I concluded there is (Aristotle 670). She wrote “the voice is the equivalent of what the unique person has that is most hidden and most genuine” (Cavarero 522). Voice reaches beyond the actual sound because it is most closely related to expression. This definition is far more inclusive than Aristotle’s.

“[Speech-impaired people] can [express themselves] through art, writing, sign language, and even through technology today, which in a way has given them the ability to verbally express themselves. If the true definition of voice was that it needed to be a sound generated from the resonance inside a human being, many non-verbal people’s souls and imaginations would never have been revealed.

This idea is from my first writing project and explains the reasoning behind people having a voice without the ability to speak. With this came another realization that definitions of sound, or even extensions beyond that, evolve along with the evolution of society. Aristotle described his definition of voice at a time before any technology existed that enabled speech-impaired people to speak. Of course, there were other ways to express themselves through writing or art, but it would have seemed impossible to them that those who were speech-impaired could express themselves using sound. Now, however, with the evolution of technology, they have the ability to do this. One of the more powerful articles I read was “Helping my Non-verbal Son Find his Voice.” The child described by his mother cannot speak, but rather uses a computer program that speaks for him (Sumner). This made me think. Why does he not deserve a voice? I came to the conclusion that he does. He expresses himself with this machine and although it is not the actual sound coming from within his body, the ideas and thoughts are his own. This writing project was an educative process for me. Thinking about voice in a deeper way gave me new perspectives on issues like that and I witnessed how changes in technology can influence definitions as basic as those for voice and sound. Sound has such a large impact on society and the meaning as a whole can be fluid. Because of this, my awareness for sound and the changes in its impact on society grew and I began to listen more to the soundscape around me.

After exploring the relationship between sound and voice in humans, I had a whole new view about the importance of the world of sounds around us. With the second writing project, this reared its head in music. I determined that the actual sound of songs can have meaning beyond what the lyrics are saying. Coming to this conclusion took the same strategic listening as the first writing project. Part of my listening focused on cover songs. Taylor Swift’s cover of “September” by Earth, Wind, and Fire was an interesting example that really made me rethink musical production as a whole. The lyrics were the same, yet somehow, the differences in genre and instruments changed the meaning of Taylor Swift’s version.

https://youtu.be/rEodWpnWBz0

“The change in sound of Swift’s cover shows how sound can augment the meaning of a song and the resulting reaction also showed that genre, being sorted by sound, inherently affects the meaning of a song.”

This conclusion took a lot of critical listening skills to come to. I have always believed music has the ability to create certain feelings in a listener, but studying Swift’s cover gave me a brand new perspective on the tools used by artists to convey meaning. There is so much more work that is involved in making music than I originally believed and this project reinforced to me that most of us never realize the amount of meaning sound can carry. Like the first writing project, my eyes were opened to what sound can impact in our daily lives. I can now appreciate music as an art more than I could before because of my new awareness. My renewed ability to listen and understand sounds was pushed further and this project showed me how I could use this skill to live a more fulfilling and understanding life.

My final writing project put all of these ideas together. I turned my focus from music and voice to the Davidson community as a whole. While studying music was more specific, I began to explore the everyday sounds that fill my soundscape. Even these sounds began to have some sort of meaning to me. My project focused on Vail Commons, the only dining hall at Davidson. While sitting in the dining hall, the noise, keynotes, and soundmarks as defined by Schafer gave me an insight into Davidson students and the use of the space itself.

“In addition to helping show the culture of Davidson, the sound also reveals what the space is used for. The loud volume during lunch and dinner means students are not doing work while they eat, but rather as a vessel to finally take a break from their hard work.”

My focused listening in the scoundscape showed me different things about the Davidson student body. Overall though, it taught me to be more aware of the everyday sounds around me. Similar to sightseeing, listening to an environment can reveal so much about a particular space. People, including me before this project, do not seem to put any emphasis or importance on sounds, but then they miss out on so much a place has to offer. I could have come to some of these conclusions about Vail Commons without the close listening but the sounds I heard reinforced my pre-existing beliefs. It also proved that these sounds do in fact have meaning and this idea can be expanded to help me in future situations to try and understand a certain space or the culture surrounding it.

Throughout the semester and with each subsequent writing project, my understanding of the world around me has expanded. The soundscape has always been there, but I never had the awareness to listen. I can now interpret spaces around me and I honestly see more beauty in the world and I see how each sound interacts together to paint a picture as much as any visual image could. Hearing is a sense most people take for granted. I always thought it was mostly used as a means for communication between individuals, but it can also be a means of communication with the non-human world. I am going to take this new appreciation and apply it to my everyday life. Whether that is seeing the artistic expression in a song, or immersing myself in nature with the constant chirping of the birds and the wind rattling the leaves, I have a lot more to explore in life now. There is a new story to appreciate in my life now; one written by the ever expanding catalog of sounds that are trying to author their own meaning.

References

“Taylor Swift – September Cover (Earth, Wind & Fire).” YouTube, 14 Apr. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnDnphYTb0Q. Accessed 24 Mar. 2019.

Schafer, R. Murray. “The Soundscape.” The Sound Studies Reader, edited by Jonathan Sterne, 2012, pp. 95-103.

Aristotle. “Aristotle on Voice.” 1984. The Complete Works of Aristotle, Princeton University Press, 1984.

Sumner, Jamie. “Helping My Nonverbal Son Find His Voice.” Ties, www.nytimes.com/2018/07/06/well/helping-my-nonverbal-son-find-his-voice.html. Accessed 11 Feb. 2019. Originally published in The New York Times, 6 July 2018.

“Earth, Wind & Fire – September (Official Music Video).” YouTube, 11 Jan. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk. Accessed 24 Mar. 2019.

April 19, 2019 by lalodhi

Opposing Soundscapes of Davidson College and Main Street

Listening to the variety of sounds on Davidson Campus and Main Street there is a clear differentiation between the atmospheres they create. The use of typing specific sounds helps formulate layers through which the importance and impact that sounds have on the location, can be determined. Modes of listening allowed the soundscapes to be understood in deeper listening exercises, helping understand the way the sounds formulate such specific actions of people in the two opposing areas.

As organisms, we have the ability listen to everything, to hear and pick up every sound that comes our way. Sounds like the ones we hear commonly in a specific area, tell us the location we are in. This leads to the understanding that as humans living in this complex society, certain sounds can tell us how to behave. The determination can be made that with each passing sound, a landscape of the environment around us is laid down, it is paved together almost like an architectural blueprint of a building, or land. Schafer in The Soundscape, evaluates, “…how sounds affect and change his [mankind’s’] behavior,” (Schafer, 96), which takes us into how the sounds on Davidson Campus creates an alternate behavior in comparison to the sounds on heard on Main Street. Sounds affect how mankind acts in an area, and Schaffer goes a step further trying to understand how mankind, “creates an ideal soundscape for that other life…” (Schafer, 96). By that other life, he means the distinction between the soundscapes form completely different realties, spaces – I use the spaces of Main Street, and the one on Davidson Campus. In attempting to differentiate the soundscapes of these places, it is integral to note that there is a very fine visible barrier between them, the area where the grass on the campus meets the sidewalk of the street. This barrier is able to separate the sounds from each area, keeping them distinct in their nature, holding an autonomy that provides the identity of the space. I chose these locations because of how central they are to my life right now, and how they differ greatly from any other areas I have lived in. As Schafer describes understanding a soundscape, he creates categories of different types of sounds, I will employ the use of “keynote”, “signals”, “soundmarks”, and “noises”, to enhance the purpose of the sounds heard on Davidson Campus and Main Street. When we listen intentionally to a space, we begin to understand the sounds that produce the qualities that manifest in that space specially.

Main Street is symphony of loud and differing sounds. The movement, humming of cars are unavoidable and prominent to the area, as they are ‘soundmark’ sounds, they are “…derived from landmark and refers to a community sound which is unique or possesses qualities which make it specially regarded or noted by people…” (Schafer 101). The importance of these sounds is how they encapsulate the main points, essentially, of the area. ‘Noises’ as Schafer defines are, “sounds we have learned to ignore,” (Schafer, 95), and these become sounds of the people chatting. These are frequent and abundant, fading into the background, while the chiming of doors and footsteps trotting along exhibit properties of a keynote sounds, as they are sounds that, “…are overheard but cannot be overlooked…” (Schaffer 100). They force us to be listening to something that reminds us constantly of the location we are in. The ‘signals’ are, “…quite elaborate codes permitting messages of considerable complexity to be transmitted to those who can interpret them,” (Schafer, 101). These are the honks and speeding up of cars, as well as the voice of the pedestrian signal, that alert an individual to the alteration in the movements of the space. As I walked along Main Street the general perception, I got was that this was not a slow-moving space, it was not a space conducive to quiet activities, but rather held a community for gathering, of social interactions and meandering to be the norm. Sounds exhibited here focus the space to being loud and distracting, the forces of sounds are overwhelming, and brought me a higher sense of alertness. Together these types of sounds created by Schafer, produce layers of sounds ranked in a form of importance.
Sitting on the benches near the metal sculpture in front of Chambers at around 12:40pm, the movement along campus was slow. It was a relatively peaceful day with the ‘noises’ being the wind brushing through the trees slightly, and few footsteps were heard walking along the paths. As a result, I do not usually may much attention to the sounds produced by these ‘noises’, as they are usually hushed and isolated. Throughout the campus ‘soundmarks’ are heard, with the faint sound of the doors to Chambers opening and shutting every now and then, obvious by the ‘swoosh’ sound made by the door, and the speak of the button being pressed to hold the door open. While sitting there the Church Bells rang once, with their tune playing out for a couple of seconds, the humming and clanging of the bells creating a symphonic sound that engulfed the quiet campus. The sounds of two golf carts that were driven through the pathways caught my attention as they bumped along to paved paths. The sounds of both the church bells and golf carts are those of ‘signals’, telling a person that there is something different happening than the usual tranquility on campus. Keynote sounds I hear involve people chatting along the path, and birds chirping in the trees. These levels of sounds that formulate a map in my mind, of the campus, ranking the sounds for the understanding of how the sounds make the space, how sounds dictate behavior of individuals. Here on campus, the mindset of individuals is to be in a formal setting, a setting in which there is a constant sense of direction and purpose.

From the time Davidson College was built in 1837 the college has been committed to being “…a liberal arts college, to maintain itself as a residential community of scholars…” (Davidson College Website). This “residential community of scholars” is evident in the way the college acts on a daily basis, with the lawns outside the academic buildings remaining serene and quiet. Walking over the boundary, one is situated in the alternate hustle bustle of a small town that now holds a variety of stores that attract people daily from neighbouring towns. Main Street however, used to hold a similar soundscape to Davidson College, with a former student who graduated in 1993 saying that, “Main Street was completely dead, all there was for special occasions was this shitty chinese restaurant.” The complete change was at first shocking to the alumni who was impressed by how “new and busy” the location was. This change, while some can claim is only natural with a Division 1 athletic college near it, is even more interesting because of how the campus itself has still maintained its tranquillity.

The two soundscapes hold similar properties in that there are people conversing, people walking, exerted movements that can for a short minute or less alter the pace of the location. However, on Davidson Campus, the general pace is lower and slower than that of Main Street. While people are goal oriented, walking specifically from dorms to Chambers, or other buildings, people were not in general walking aimlessly or killing time, nor is their intent to socialize. This does exhibit the purpose of a college campus, holding academics during the day to be the standard activity, as well as at night in this space. Main Street is opposite as it did not enforce a specific route to be taken, people chatted slowly, or walked fast, either way their intentions were generally to be present in the area in order to dine, socialize, shop, or visit a place for a while. What was interesting to note was the differences in where people talking fell onto the types of sounds outlined by Schafer. On Davidson Campus people chatting became keynotes, sounds that could not be overlooked, while on Main Street these sounds became noises, turned away as sounds to be noted prominently. I find this interesting as if truly does show a difference amongst the spaces, with talking due to being so common and prominent on main street being able to become background noises, whereas on the college campus, as talking is rarer, people are generally keeping a quieter mentality, hearing someone speak cannot be overlooked. Both places have pathways, paths people are meant to follow, and paths that people for some reason do stick to following. Society has shaped both spaces clearly, with underlying societal norms being held in these two spaces, aside from the different ones that each holds individually.

Michel Choin’s The Three Listening Modes highlights a section of listening called reduced listening, as she says that reduced listening is, “the listening mode that focuses on the traits the sound itself, independent of its cause and of its meaning,” (Choin, 50), and says that it is useful as we can, “…benefit from [the modes] disciplined attention to inherent qualities of sounds,” (Choin, 52). This mode of listening bares use in understanding the purpose of the soundscape around us as it allows someone to hear the more melodic natures of the sounds, as opposed to what their context is. From this mode we see that the melodic tendencies of Main Street are a lot faster, hold a greater variety of tones and of pitches, than those of Davidson College, that inhabits quieter sounds, and a more generic tones and pitches. I will however deviate from avoiding the contexts, in order to show that this form of listening shows the deliberate mentality that people inhabit around these different spaces with different melodies.

Each level of sound that is heard enforces the layout of the area you are surrounded by. Schafer’s distinction of types of sound creates categories by which we can understand the meaning and importance of the sounds that show what is held by humans as a typical sound to be found in this space, or a sound that this perhaps not common or meant to occur in the space. Both Schafer and Choin provide ways through which one can begin to realize their surroundings and understand how the space became that space. By Schaffer’s terms we can see the differences between which sounds are background noises and which are more in the forefront. Schafer’s terms further allow us to then understand why each sound in holds that definition, which ends up relating to the fact that in a different soundscape we act accordingly, and as a result the sounds that I observed are that way because the space was created to be a specific way, but as the circle must be completed, because the sounds exist the way they are, people happen to act in a specific manor.

Citations:

Choin, Michel. 1994. The Three Listening Modes. In Audio-Vision. Translated by C. Gorbman. New York: Columbia University Press. Pp. 25-34.
Schafer, R. Murray. 1994. The Soundscape. In The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books. Pp. 3-12.
“Statement of Purpose.” Davidson College, www.davidson.edu/about/statement-of-purpose.

April 9, 2019 by jawilson

Davidson College Soundscapes

Abstract

For students at Davidson College, stress from the school environment is a prominent factor that dominates most of their lives. In this project, I analyze the culture of the soccer locker room and how the soundscape creates a barrier between school and a positive social environment with friends and teammates. Through different recordings, I captured the cultural aspects that accompany this space before and after practice. The recordings show the change in attitudes of the people in the locker room once being free from school versus the attitudes of individuals coming back to the school environment. This study intends to display the impact a soundscape has on certain individuals, altering one’s mental state and the way one acts through auditory cues.

The Locker Room

The soccer locker room is a special soundscape that holds a variety of noises that change individuals’ mental states before and after practice. In writer R. Murray Schafer’s terminology, certain “keynotes” and “soundmarks” in the locker room are what make this soundscape so much different from any other place (Schafer 101). Many of these sounds are interpreted differently in the locker room. Some of my teammates put on headphones and block out all music, dialogue, and any other auditory disturbances so they can focus on performing well in practice. For others, their eyes drift, oblivious to any noises around them after an exhausting day of class, lift, and homework. For me, it is a place where I can escape the stress of school and be with friends and teammates that relax my mental state. Like many soundscapes, there is a collection of sounds going on at once, most of them we choose to ignore. Implicitly, the noises are what free me from life in the classroom. This soundscape allows me to release any tension and want to go out and play the game I love with all my friends. The sounds produced in the soundscape of the locker room create an environment isolated from the school work, thus allowing myself and my teammates to escape into a stress free environment.

Every Monday through Friday around 4:00 pm, the soccer team flocks out of their dorms or class to head past the Armfield apartments toward the locker room. Most students are tired and quietly walking back to their rooms to start their work, but the soccer players are excitedly waiting to get on the field. On one particular Thursday afternoon, I made my way up to the locker room joyfully awaiting my friends after the long day. As I walked up to the building, I could already hear music playing as well as my teammates talking and laughing. I opened the door to to the song “Keep On Loving You” by Reo Speedwagon. The calm and soothing beats and lyrics were the perfect remedy to help me forget the built up tension from school. Within the first ten seconds of the recording, my friends make me laugh while the joyful song resonates in the background. These auditory elements of music and laughter perfectly represent the keynotes alluded to by Shafer is his essay, “The Soundscape.” In the background, my friends Mateo and Stefane are joking around with each other, also acting as a special keynote to the soundscape. They are playfully fighting over a pair of socks, trying to convince each other over who they belong to. This example shows the bonds we create with our teammates in the locker room. Through this soundscape, the joking and messing around shows how comfortable we are with each other. These bonds between my teammates have strengthened due to encounters such as those pictured in the recording before practice. For example, at minute 3:45, our assistant coach walks in and greets us with multiple “Hey’s” and “What’s up’s.” This informal relationship with the coaches is a stress reliever because it makes me feel as if I can let loose and do not have to be in the serious mood that I have been stuck in the entire day for class. Instead, we have funny conversations such as where he got his new haircut. At minute 5:00 the whole team jumps in to debate about which barber shop is the best. My friend Jaylen begins yelling “Raeford’s” to emphasize his preference, and another group begins chanting, “Sports Clips.” While the discussion continues, we all get dressed and walk out listening to “Africa” by Toto to once again lift our spirits. No longer is anybody thinking about their class or work, but instead people are focused on bonding as a team through the funny conversation before practice.

Once practice is over, we arrive back in the locker room around 6:30. Like all other days, my teammates and I stagger back to our lockers on this Thursday afternoon. This soundscape changes immensely before and after practice due to our tired mental states. There is no “Keep On Loving You” or “Africa” playing as we sit down at our lockers. Instead, all that I hear is the running showers mixed in with conversation between a couple of individuals. People are coughing, sniffing, and voices sound exhausted from the training session. The muffled sound of running water from the showers is a special keynote for this soundscape after practice. It is this sound that brings me back to my senses of the real world. While I do not physically pay attention to the sound of the showers, in the back of my head, I know what comes next. Getting dressed and going back to my room to start homework is the last thing I want to be doing after a long day. Schafer describes this situation as he writes, “Even though keynote sounds may not always be heard consciously, the fact that they are ubiquitously there suggests the possibility of a deep and pervasive influence on our behavior and moods” (Schafer 101). His knowledge on keynotes perfectly match my mental state as the noises going on in the back of my head affect the way I feel and act in this soundscape. Adding to this, the soundscape after practice is much more quiet than before. While there is a couple faint conversations throughout the recording, the silence is a prominent factor that affects my mental state. Before practice, laughing and happy music was able to take my mind off the idea of school, but the silence does not accomplish this side tracking mechanism. My mood immediately changes because now I am thinking about the loads of work I still have to do before the next day. The locker room soundscape has a different impact on myself and my teammates after practice due to certain keynotes that put us back into the stressful mindset that accompanies the school environment.

Even though the locker room is one single soundscape, the noises produced change the moods of different individuals based off how they are heard and experienced. In Emily Thompson’s essay, she characterizes this space as she writes, “Like a landscape, a soundscape is simultaneously a physical environment and a way of perceiving that environment; it is both a world and a culture constructed to make sense of that world” (Thompson 117). The locker room culture before practice is a enjoyable environment where people can let go and enjoy the company of friends before going out and playing soccer. The culture in the locker room after practice is more of a state of realization where myself and others are less energetic and ready to get back to work. Thompson also describes how individuals’ attitudes may change based on how certain keynotes are interpreted as she writes , “A soundscape’s cultural aspects incorporate scientific and aesthetic ways of listening, a listener’s relationship to their environment, and social circumstances that dictate who gets to hear what” (Thompson 117). Through Thompson’s analysis, one can understand why people may hear the same noise but may interpret them completely different. For example, players on the soccer team who hear the music before practice are compelled to feel excited to go out and play soccer amongst friends. On the other hand, people who pass by this soundscape may still hear the music but will not be filled with the same energy as the soccer players. This is because the keynote of the music has a different relationship to the players than the people passing by. The music will serve a purpose to the soccer players while the same keynote may be deemed meaningless to any other person.

The locker room is a unique soundscape of Davidson College as it incites an array of emotions based off the individual listener as well as the time of day. For players on the soccer team, before practice means laughter and enthusiasm before heading out to the fields to have fun. Joyful music is resonating through each locker while teammates are bonding over conversation and jokes. The environment positively affects our mental states after a long day of work, freeing us from the stressful thoughts of class and studying. The interpretation of the soundscape changes from before to after practice. Different key notes such as the water from the showers have different effects on myself than the joyful music. Before practice, my teammates and I are able to escape from the burdens of school to a more enjoyable mental state before having fun playing soccer. After practice is the exact opposite. Here, I am awakened by the thought of coming back to the reality of the work I still have remaining for the rest of the night. The culture of the locker room hosts a mixture of emotions, all of which can be witnessed through actions of others developed from the unique keynotes that are associated with the soundscape.

Bibliography

Schafer, R. Murray. The Soundscape, Sound Studies Reader. Edited by Jonathan Sterne, Taylor

and Francis, 2012.

Thompson, Emily. Sound, Modernity, and History, Sound Studies Reader. Edited by Jonathan

Sterne, Taylor and Francis, 2012.

April 9, 2019 by pamullinax

The Manufactured Soundscape

The Soundscape of a library is one that is encountered daily by most students at Davidson College and impact their study habits. In this project, I compare and contrast the different levels of of the library and how their different soundscapes came to be and what kind of environment this creates. I look at furniture layout, architectural design, and even how different purposes on different levels create positive feedback loops to help sustain the soundscape. The recordings show the different feelings created by different types of soundscapes which impacts the type of studying done in an environment, from relaxed to serious.

The Davidson soundscape is one that combines both natural, urban, and educational influences for the betterment of its students. While some soundscapes are simply a result of how a place took shape, something like a college has more intentional meaning behind the design of its spaces. For Davidson this is most evident in the Little Library, a space designed and regulated to have unique soundscapes on the different levels. While the entire building is meant to be a study space and a place for students to come when they need different resources, these amenities present themselves in a specific way on each floor.

To properly understand soundscapes and how I will talk about soundscapes, first I need to establish the terms I will be using to talk about it. In Schafer’s piece “The Soundscape” he identifies different types of sound. There is noise, which he defines as the sounds that have become such an integral part of the environment that they blend in and are mostly unnoticeable. There are keynotes which stand out and catch our attention. There are also signals which stand out like keynotes but also deliver information, such as an alarm or a ringtone. Lastly there are soundmarks, which like landmarks, we seek out or make for the purpose of listening to it. These are the terms I will be using to talk about the three levels of the library and how they sound.

The first floor of the library is almost contradictory in its sound. It is simultaneously a place where students flock everyday and yet despite the numbers, it is relatively quiet (at times). There is still plenty of noise on this floor. From the hushed conversations around the room, to the click clack of a computer, or the flipping of pages and pens, the room is full of sounds that have become part of the environment and become ignored unless you are aiming to listen to them. Occasionally a signal will pierce the calm but active soundscape of the room. This could be in the form of a computer alerting its user that it is low in battery or a phone letting someone know they are getting a call. These sounds are ones we are always ready to respond to. Even if it is not my phone ringing I may check to see if I have any notifications waiting for me on my phone. If I hear a computer saying it needs to be plugged in, then I will check to see how my computer is doing. As time passes when I sit in the library, I may occasionally hear a tour group come in. This sound is distant but is enough to make me more aware of my surroundings. It becomes a keynote in a way. Because it gets louder, I almost wake up from ignoring the sounds around me and suddenly become more aware of the presence of others. In most cases, these distractions would cause students, myself included, to listen to music. Having music available as a soundmark helps me to turn signals and keynotes into noise, or the sounds I have learned to ignore. Its almost like how stubbing your toe makes you forget all about how your hand hurts. Even if music isn’t perfect silence, it becomes the only thing I hear. All of these sounds can change. As the sound levels of the room ebb and flow, so too does the definition of these words. What normally might be noise in a louder environment can become a keynote in a quiet one. When the library becomes more still, even the scratching of pencil can be heard more clearly cutting through the silence, changing it from being a noise to a keynote that brings me back to awareness of the world.

While this soundscape is not all that unique, the reason it has come to be is. The reasons behind the manifestation of this has to do with the purposes of the space. First and foremost, it is a study space. This is why so many people come together and yet there is still almost a hushed vibe to it all. While it is quieter than most spots on campus, the first floor still has plenty of background sounds thanks to the set up and purpose. Beyond just being a study space, the first floor of the library is great for working in a group or with friends in a social environment. This is reflected in the furniture throughout the room. There are long tables that can accommodate large groups and loads of tables for smaller groups. Also, these places where people may study are not strictly separated. You can see clear across the room without any visual or auditory obstacles. What results is a more relaxed environment. The space is not so stressfully quiet that you can’t work but it also isn’t so loud that you routinely get distracted. It is for this reason that the space was designed like this.

The library’s second floor soundscape has some similar features to the first level. You can still hear faint conversations from the floor below, but they are more dampened. The sound of typing and pages turning is still apparent, even more so than on the first floor. When I am up there I can hear the sounds of lights humming and the AC working. Each cough, sneeze, and movement stands out far more than before. More than anything when I’m there, I become aware of my own sounds. I hear the typing, my breathing, and my shifting more so than before. It’s nice and its quiet but not unsettling. There’s enough background sound from the space around me that I can still settling into my own bubble.

The explanation for this floor’s soundscape is the same of the first floor in that is meant for a certain type of studying. On the second floor study spots are more isolated. While there are still tables for a couple of people, these are separated by bookshelves. This dampens the sound of the area and isolates each study spot. Also on this floor are study carrels, desks that while connected, have dividers between them. This creates more isolation allowing for more focused and individual studying. This individual studying also means there are less people on this floor. With less people, there is bound to be less noise as well. While the second floor is certainly much quieter than the first level, there is still plenty of ambient noise from people studying. They are focused on individual work but are not concerned with keeping the space silent. Part of the ambient sound comes from the design of the floor as well. The stairs walking up the second floor have a large opening that is connected to both the first floor and the entrance. On the other side of the floor is a balcony of sorts. It leaves a large open area in the ground connecting them to first floor. Both of these spots let sound trickle in from the floor below. It isn’t nearly as loud but the conversations and movement below is still heard on the second level. What this creates is a relaxed environment that allows for serious study. The people there can focus and do good work but still be surrounded by others and not feel alone in their work.

While the first and second floors have a feeling of focus without isolation, the basement is much different. Down there it feels as though there is nothing but me. All I hear is the faint sound of the AC through the walls. I cannot even tell if anyone else is down there. There is no typing, no pages, no scrawling of pens, just me. Each time I shift my weight I feel as though I am interrupting someone’s work. I try to calm my breath as to not disturb the silence. Even as someone walks by, it feels empty. Each clack of my keys sounds like the dropping of a shampoo bottle in a shower; loud and disruptive beyond what I thought it was capable of. I don’t want to adjust my position for fear of my backpack making a sound. I am legitimately worried about creating sounds.

The earie feeling of being in the library’s basement is again created by the intended purpose of the library. The basement has strict rules when it comes to sound. You are supposed to be quiet. Not just trying to keep it down but being near silent. No music, no talking, and nothing disruptive is allowed don’t there. The unsettling feeling created is compounded by the structure and design of the basement. The ceilings down there are much lower than the rest of the library. Along with this, the entrance to the basement is entirely sealed off. There is a glass wall and thick door to ensure no sounds from upstairs will disturb people working. The layout is similar to the second floor with tall bookshelves blocking off the study spaces so that no interaction between students is even feasible. What this environment creates is a place that alerts you to any amount of sound at all. Any motion or presence can be detected almost immediately. It also causes people to want to be quieter. When people hear themselves move because of how quiet it is, it prompts them to remain quieter and thus creates a positive feedback loop.

These three study spaces are each designed to manipulate their soundscapes for the benefit of the type of work that occurs in each space. While on the first floor there is more open space for conversing, on the second flood there is more separation between students, and in the basement floor there is total isolation.

Schafer, R. Murray. “The Soundscape,” in The Sound Studies Reader, edited by Jonathan Sterne, 95–103. New York: Routledge, 2012.
“TEDTalks: David Byrne–How Architecture Helped Music Evolve.” Performance by David Byrne, TEDTalks: How Architecture Helped Music Evolve, TEDTalks, 2010.

April 8, 2019 by jashakow

Noise Extremes; the Soundscapes of a Davidson Saturday Night

On a weekend night, only one sound can be heard communally throughout Davidson’s large college campus: the sound of Armfield. Colloquially named ‘F’, on a Saturday night, the apartment complex is home to the biggest party on campus. From the outskirts on Main Street to the Cross country trails out in the woods, the sounds of Music and raucous college students can be heard. This essay is an exploration and soundscape of the final minute of a Davidson Saturday night. Recordings of the same minute from different places around campus (The Well, Hobart Park, Cannon Hall, The Golf Course, and the top of F itself) will give a comprehensive study of how sound changes over distance and acoustic location. I will contextualize my work to that of sound scholars like Schafer, Gross, Guzy, Chion, and Cage. I seek to show how physical locations alter the perception of sound, to emphasize the value of noise in quiet places, and to help contextualize sound studies into the real world here at Davidson.

The Armfield apartments at F could best be described as the opposite of silence. Not only one enormous speaker is blasting music, but one in each of six different apartments playing six different songs that can be heard from the top of the hill and beyond. I have never been to a place that sounds quite like Armfield. In the heart of it, the spot I have labeled ‘The Epicenter’ on the campus map, all of the noise from all of the different houses blends together into a deafening cacophony, the mass of humanity, the shouting and talking and singing, everything becomes one unintelligible sound that is itself as unique as its surroundings. On any given Friday or Saturday night, the strange sounds coming from the bottom of the hill can be heard all around campus. Sound scholars like R. Murray Schafer categorize noises into distinct groups. On a base level, Schafer describes a keynote sound as the “anchor or fundamental tone” of the soundscape, or even the “behavior or life style of a society”(Schafer, 100). The sounds of F are quintessential to the life style of college and the behavior of the people that patronize it. The party culture of F is so ingrained in Davidson culture that it would be amiss to hear it in complete silence on a Saturday night. Because it is so important socially and behaviorally in life here, the Keynote sound of a Weekend night at Davidson would be the sound that comes from F.

Recording from the top of F

At the top of the apartment complex, there is a small island in the middle of the road where two cops always stand posted waiting for trouble. This spot is also equidistant from all of the fraternity houses and their speakers. Every song being played will converge at that location. While it is possible for the ear to pick up on an odd track or two, the sound and sense of each song cease to be recognizable and instead are interpreted as pure noise. The enjoyment of F becomes the enjoyment of noise, and despite its lack of sense, the noise at F holds a strange captivation. Nothing can be heard over it. Nothing can be understood. In the true center of F, the swell of noise is so intense that my ears forget to listen. An odd signal, or a conciously listened to foreground sound, might pop out and draw me out of my trance, but otherwise I could easily forget that I was so enveloped in the noise.(Schafer, 101) At the little island where the cops stand at night, F can be heard loud and clear. However, when standing there the noise of the people walking nearby trumps the music coming from the bottom. It is possible to make out specific people as they go past the microphone, but they quickly get lost into the dull roar of the apartments. The music is the backdrop upon which the entire soundscape rests. Every once in a while a part of a different song sticks out and is recognizable, but then seems to be swallowed up again. Sound here is not something desirable but without it F would be an entirely different place.

Recording from Cannon Hall

The area in between Sentelle and Cannon is one of my favorite acoustic environments on campus. Compared to the noise of F, this place produces an entirely different sound. The two buildings are so closely aligned that they trap the sound coming up the hill and bounce it back across the gap. Walking home late, the only sounds that stick out are the echos of ‘Soulja Boy’ and the occasional slamming door. The sounds here are more muted, nowhere near as dense, but interesting in their own right. On this particular Saturday, one song is recognizable as it winds its way up from Armfield. Because it is more of an isolated location, it is easier to pick out one song over the noise. It is still possible to hear the quiet roar coming from down the hill, with a few shouts cresting over top. Even though they are recorded at the same minute, the environment and surroundings create two completely different soundscapes.

Recording from the golf course

Though the golf course is geographically farther away from most of the other points, its unique landscape amplifies certain sounds of the night. At 11:59, I stood and recorded the world from the middle of nowhere. Compared to the other locations, it can seem less intense. Screams can be heard faintly popping out in the distance carrying far across the open grass. The music occasionally rolls in with the wind, but more often than not, the golf course is silent and peaceful. The noise coming from the apartments is hardly noticeable, almost a ghostly faint sound. It is only there when you desire to hear it. If it is not wanted, than it does not need to exist. The golf course is a happy medium where noise is present but not overwhelming. When Shafer describes the ear’s ability to “filter out undesirable sound in order to concentrate on what is desirable”, he believes that silence is the ultimate want of the ear (Schafer, 103). Out on the golf course that night, my biggest desire was to hear more of the weird contoured sound coming from F. Silence is not always the only longing of the ear.

Recording of Hobart park

As the locations get farther and farther away from F, the sounds of the wind and rustling leaves become more prevalent than the noise coming from Armfield. On a clearer night at the well or at Hobart park, the music can still be heard in the distance, however in these recordings there is hardly a hint of it. On that Saturday at Hobart park you could still hear the music with a naked ear. Yet through the recording everything is lost but the soft jingle of someone walking by and the knocking of wood on wood. At the Well, even though it was the same minute, the world was reportedly completely silent. Only the sounds of leaves scraping on the ground and the grain of iphone audio can be heard on the recording. The opposite of F, nothing could be heard because there was nothing to be heard. So far away from all of the lively dorms, even on the loudest nights it is expected to hear nothing but silence there. The silence never fails to impress me as I walk away from the apartments. No matter how noisy one particular minute at F is, at the same moment there is still peace and quiet found near the well.

Recording from the well

In an article pondering the marketing potential of Finland’s natural noiselessness, Daniel Gross proposes that “In a loud world, Silence sells” (Gross). In an increasingly noisy world, silence is perceived as more of a boon than a burden. As much as I believe in the importance of silence Davidson would not be the same without its noisy Saturday nights. Out in North Carolina, silence is worth less to me than it was in a city like Washington. We are lucky to live in a place where finding silence is as easy as walking out 10 minutes into the woods, or even on a lucky night, walking out to the Davidson well. Noise is too often understood as something unwanted. Beauty can come from the ugly mass of noise that is F. Hearing the echoes bounce back and forth in between Cannon and Sentelle, the windy noise flowing out onto the golf course, the quiet murmur audible at Hobart park, something so massive can become so very small and easily manageable. The same noise at any given place on campus has the ability to be heard as something good. Enjoying dissonance is not something entirely confined to the Davidson environment. Marinna Guzy created a soundscape called Utopia that is based on “The beauty that arises from conflict”. The piece contrasted a soundscape’s both “micro and macro levels” that were both needed to “paint a picture of the diverse makeup of a community” (Guzy). While the location of the recording may contribute to a micro feature of the soundscape, the macro feature throughout all of Davidson Saturday night is the noise of F. While the sounds of F are nearly ubiquitous on campus, each chosen location presents them in their own unique ways.

With all of these noises from all of these different places, it is important to develop an understanding of the way to listen to them. Michel Chion breaks listening down into three basic listening modes. The most nuanced of the three is a concept of ‘reduced listening’. The concept, originally coined by R. Murray Schafer, is taken one step further, to define noise as something to be observed in and of itself, rather than simply a vehicle for something else. It is something incredibly hard to do, to perceive noise without regard to “any cause, meaning, or effect” (Chion, 50). Yet in an “omnidirectionally” noisy location such as F, the ambiguous nature of noise is able to come out (Chion, 53). At all of the other locations of campus, the sound is recognized and immediately understood as coming from F. Yet at the place itself, in the chaos of sound, all cause, intent, purpose, and meaning is stripped from sound, and people are able to enjoy a unique case of pure noise. Another sound philosopher, John Cage says in an interview on silence, “I don’t need sound to talk to me”. He “loves sounds just as they are” (Cage, 2:41). While all of those locations have their merits, at 11:59 on a Saturday night, there is no more unique a soundscape as the one that comes from Armfield.

Bibliography:

Schafer, R. Murray. "The Soundscape." In The Sound Studies Reader. Edited by Jonathan Sterne, New York, Routledge, 2012

Chion, Michel. "The Three Listening Modes."  In The Sound Studies Reader.  Edited by Jonathan Sterne, New York, Routledge, 2012.

Gross, Daniel A. "This Is Your Brain on Silence." Pocket,
getpocket.com/explore/item/this-is-your-brain-on-silence.
Accessed 8 Apr. 2019. 

Guzy, Marinna. "The Sound of Life: What Is a Soundscape?" Folklife,
4 May 2017, folklife.si.edu/talkstory/the-sound-of-life-what-is-a-soundscape.
Accessed 8 Apr. 2019. 

"John Cage about silence." Youtube.com, uploaded by Jdavidm, 
14 July 2007, www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcHnL7aS64Y. Accessed 8 Apr. 2019.

April 8, 2019 by sahardy

The Sounds of Silence (Or Lack Thereof)

Sarah Hardy

WRI 101

Professor Rippeon

8 April 2019

Abstract:

With over 25% of Davidson students playing on a varsity athletic team, the soundscape of a sports practice is widely familiar to many students. Life at Davidson is hard enough, but combined with the extreme pressure of competing at a division 1 level, and the constant noise at practice, simply living our lives becomes deafening. I play lacrosse, and will discuss both the sounds heard, and unheard, at practice along with the noise athletes create in our own heads while playing. I explore how the mind tries to tune out background noise to focus, and how this intensifies the constant noise in our minds. As athletes, we are strive for a happy balance between myopic focus and environmental awareness, and it is quite possible that the key to this balance comes from sound.

Human beings long for silence. We drive ourselves mad longing for a sense of peace in a world filled with unwanted noise, searching for quiet that can calm our frantic minds. On the rare occasions that we are able escape the cacophony of car horns, pedestrian chatter, bird song, and text-tones, odds are that silence still evades us. Environments that are considered quiet, without the “keynote sounds” of modern society, are actually filled with noise: the hum of the air conditioner, the sound of our own breath, and the soft whirl of wind hitting the window are sounds that are almost inescapable. Further, in places that lack obvious noise there is an even more intrusive “mental chatter” that inundates the stillness of our minds, a time when our own thoughts become so glaringly loud that silence seems unattainable. As a college athlete, I know all about the annoyance and frustration that an overabundance of noise can bring to my life. One of the biggest distractions I face during a game or practice is unwelcome noise, whether that be from the cheers from the crowd, the other team’s insults, or the constant shouts of negative thoughts from my own head. As athletes we are taught at a young age to block all of these things out, to create a self-made inner silence in a world of chaos and disturbance. This past year, however, I have learned that this coveted silence is not everything, and that it can be detrimental not only to my performance as an athlete but my life in general.

Typically, during lacrosse practice I hear little more than the obvious sounds around me – my teammates talking through plays, my coach giving instructions, and the occasional ball hitting the pipe. After being sidelined with an ACL injury though, unable to participate in practice, I have had a lot of time to sit and listen. There was not much else to do, so I threw all of my energy into hearing as many sounds as possible at practice. At first, I was skeptical as to how many sounds I would actually hear, but I found that there are a myriad of sounds that I had been blocking out all these months at practice. To start, there was the wind. It rustled through leaves, softly brushed the back of my neck, and flicked through pages of our playbook quietly. Then, there was the intermittent sound of track boys running by. They run in packs of four or five and their feet clapped the track harshly as they shuffled past me, slowly coming in and out of earshot as they proceed on their lap. I could hear their broken breath, and as they heaved in, trying to get their heart rate down, their breath hit the back of their throats jaggedly. I also focused on the sounds coming from my teammates. There was, of course, lots of talking and shouting from down the field. Words I couldn’t make out all the time, but almost always I could hear the urgency behind the words. Feet stomped the turf angrily, scuffing up plastic bits as their toes dragged. When the ball hit the pocket of their sticks, there was a sharp pat. The balls collided with the tough strings and the strings gave in to the hit. There were painful grunts as my teammates hit each other, and as one player’s stick slapped the waist of another there was a dull thud that reverberated into the air. These once-ignored noises have without a doubt been occurring all year, but this was the first time I had truly taken notice of them.

One theory behind my inability to hear all of this background noise during practice is that of inattentional deafness. This theory states that when focusing on an intense visual or mental task, we unintentionally become deaf to the extraneous sounds around us. Inattentional deafness could explain, for example, why your friend doesn’t respond to you while he is texting on his phone – he is not ignoring you, but rather simply cannot hear you. As athletes, inattentional deafness seems to be the key to blocking out distraction. Interestingly, it creates a positive feedback loop where the act of fully focusing on the lacrosse game causes us to filter out any noise that could potentially pull our focus away in the future. Many athletes refer to this phenomenon as getting “in the zone”, where one’s focus is so absolutely acute the mind cannot process anything going on around it. When I was younger, I believed that blocking out sound around me would create a more conducive environment for athletic success. In the past few years, however, I have realized that this self-made deafness is not as useful as I once believed. As Science Daily explained, inattentional deafness “has more serious implications in situations such as the operating theatre where a surgeon concentrating on their work might not hear the equipment beeping” (“Why Focusing on a Visual Task”). Clearly, the stakes in a lacrosse game are a lot lower than those in an operating room, but the point remains the same. While I am focusing on a play, my natural ability to block out sound around me could lead me to, for example, ignore my coach giving me vital instruction from the sideline, or my teammate telling me where to run. This deafness, while temporarily helpful, can actually be very detrimental to our success as athletes by hindering our ability to communicate with those around us. In the case of lacrosse, it is important to actively listen to and process more sound on the field than most players currently do.

Another possible reason as to why I had never heard all of this background noise during practice before is the overwhelming ‘mental noise’ or ‘mental chatter’ that I hear every day. When I refer to ‘mental chatter’, I am talking about to the constant stream of thought that can pull an athlete’s attention away from their sport. It is an inner dialogue that feeds doubt, negativity, and insecurity to the brain, playing with one’s focus. Most people have experienced deafening thoughts of anxiety telling them they aren’t good enough. These thoughts can drown out anything going. As an athlete, this ‘mental chatter’ is amplified to the maximum. There is a certain preoccupation involved in the way an athlete approaches their negative performance – we obsess over every mistake, breaking each moment down into seconds, deciding what we did wrong and how we could have done better. This stream of negativity, while not actually physical sound, is far louder than the people talking around us, the whistle of the referee, the crowd cheering off the field, and especially the small sounds like the wind in the leaves. This sound, the sound of self-doubt, is perhaps the biggest obstacle an athlete has to overcome in their path to success. To effectively block out mental noise is challenging at best, especially when one is trying to continue to process physical noise around them. It is entirely possible that I missed all those background sounds simply because I was too focused on my own thoughts, a problem that my coach actually worked to address this year.

This past year, my coach placed a lot of emphasis on something called EQ, which stands for ‘emotional intelligence’. Back in August, she had Dr. Izzy Justice, who specializes in emotional intelligence, come and talk to the team about what it means to be smart with our emotions. According to Dr. Justice, out of two teams who are evenly matched physically, the team with the higher EQ would come out on top. Thus, my coach launched a mission to make us the emotionally smarter team on the field. A key part of this is in our routine before practice, where we work to silence our ‘mental chatter’ while halting our natural inattentional deafness. We do this by selecting something we call our “macrofocus”, or a keynote sound that we hear as we step onto the field. Sometimes, it’s the chirp of a bird, a distant siren, or echo of a voice in the stadium. We take deep breaths and focus on that sound, using it to situate ourselves in the context of lacrosse practice. These sounds we hear only at the field are meant to draw ourselves away from the classroom, the library, or Commons. As we focus on the chirping birds and the pace of our breath, the world outside the field melts away, our mental noise bows in quiet reverence, and we prepare to give one-hundred percent of minds to practice. Its effectiveness is remarkable, the deep breathing is able to bring silence to our minds while we continue to process the little sounds going on around us. The introduction of this tradition was at first met with laughter, but as the weeks progressed and we found ourselves more prepared for practice each day, it’s a custom that we finally embraced and look forward to each day.

Ultimately, the question of how athletes should handle noise is a personal one and should be up to the athletes themselves. Unwanted noise is both annoying and incredibly distracting in most areas of life, but especially in sports. After all, the opposing team doesn’t “boo” before a foul shot for no reason – the sound they make is meant to distract the shooter enough to miss the shot. Too much noise in competition can win or lose games — the team with sharper focus no doubt has the upper hand. Additionally, too much mental noise in competition can wreck a team entirely, the athlete with the stronger mind will almost always come out on top. That creates an interesting challenge for athletes and coaches alike, where no longer is just the physical body being tested but also the mind. Too often athletes revert to using inattentional deafness to block out any distractions, but this has its consequences. The unselective way in which inattentional deafness ignores sound allows for the possibility to miss vital auditory information on the field. Blocking out sound also gives the athlete little to hear except for the voice in his own head, the voice that is telling him he won’t succeed. Thus, the way EQ doctors approach sound seems to be the most effective way for athletes to handle the pressure of testing themselves every day. Honing focus in on the sounds of practice combined with deep breathing to lessen mental noise successfully prepares athletes for competition. Noise does not have to be a burden on the field, if used correctly, it can be the distinguishing factor between winning and losing.

Works Cited

University College London. “Why focusing on a visual task will make us deaf to our surroundings: Concentrating attention on a visual task can render you momentarily ‘deaf’ to sounds at normal levels.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 8 December 2015.

<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/12/151208184335.htm>.

Sridhar, Narayanan. “Effect of Mental Noise on Sports Performance.” International Journal of Physical Education, Sports, and Health. IJPESH, 2014, pp 1-3.http://www.kheljournal.com/archives/2014/vol1issue2/PartA/11.1.pdf.

March 24, 2019 by mijones

Ideophones and Sound Poetry

When you hear the words boom, bang, or thud, you probably recall an idea about the sound the word describes. They don’t mimic the sound like an onomatopoeia does, but the sound of the word and its meaning just seem to fit. For example, try to identify the meanings of the following words in various different languages.

Shiin in Japanese means (a) loud or (b) silent?

Chamak chamak in Hindi means (a) plain or (b) flashy?

Varkpara in Dagaare means (a) messy or (b) clean?

Ratzfatz in German means (a) fast or (b) slow?

Mozhu-mozhu in Tamil means (a) rough or (b) smooth?

The answers to the questions are b/b/a/a/b.

Words like those above are called ideophones and they can be found in nearly every language on earth. If you answered many correctly, don’t be too surprised, the sounds of the words help you understand the meaning. If you struggled, don’t worry too much, studies show humans understand ideophones more easily when they are spoken by a native speaker rather than being read on a page. The notion that words evoke feelings within us is quite obvious; crying at the end of a sad movie or rejoicing after reading a college acceptance letter are evidence of this. The quandary that ideophones bring up is the concept of feelings evoked not by the meaning of the words spoken, but rather the sounds produced in saying them. The same concept can be seen in sound poetry. For those who are unfamiliar, sound poetry is a mix of literary and musical composition with few or no words that is specifically intended for performance. Sound poets attempt to evoke feelings using speech, in the same way ideophones do, not based on societal conceptions of language but instead using sound. The prevalence of ideophones in language and creation of sound poetry by humans can be comprehended in one of two ways. The first sees them as creatively advanced, showcasing how far the human race has come intellectually. The other interpretation regards ideophones and sound poetry as inherently primitive and a devolution of language. Ideophones are words that depict sensory imagery that are foundational to language as we know it, while poetry including sound poetry is seen as one of the most high functioning developments in human thought, this intensifies the debate of whether comprehension based simply upon sound is primitive or sophisticated.

According to linguist and ethnomusicologist Roger Blench ideophones are, “a characteristic feature of languages worldwide” (Blench 1). This near-universality of ideophones in language suggests that they serve a purpose for speakers or at least don’t hinder understanding. Other things that are evident in cultures around the globe include the use of fire and tools, division of labor, and belief in the supernatural (or something similar). All these require relatively high functioning thought. Anything that is universal in human cultures seems to have some advantage. Through this lense, maybe its true that ideophones are conceptually advanced rather than primitive. The view that sound poetry should be considered intellectually advanced is one that is widespread. Journalists like David Barber of The Atlantic explain, “poetry qualifies one for membership in an insular subculture, if not something closer to a secret society” (Barber 1). Louis Menand of The New Yorker wrote an article titled “Can Poetry Change Your Life?” where he later explains why it can, and has for many people. As for sound poetry in specific, it’s easy to focus on both Steve McCaffrey’s Carnival and The Four Horsemen’s Emotional Poetry.

Both pieces contain seemingly incoherent blurts, shouts, and noises by their performers. While some may see these performances as gibberish, it’s clear by reading the comments of the YouTube videos and seeing the followings McCaffrey and the other Four Horsemen have amassed, that many view this as art. Carnival and Emotional Poetry have gained so much notoriety not because listeners understand, but rather because the performance makes them feel a certain way. Creation for pleasure rather than necessity is in many ways what makes a species advanced. Similarly, poetry is believed by some to be a marker of intelligence, as Albert Einstein once said, “the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.” Furthermore, the forethought necessary to create a piece of sound poetry that will please and make sense to an audience is no small task. After all, is today’s society words are the overwhelming choice of how people express themselves in general, but especially sonically; based on this information it’s not hard to see how the use sound poetry and ideophones in society could be considered intellectually advanced.

The argument that sound poetry and ideophones is instead an example of primitive language practices is more complex. For starters, the origin of ideophones is claimed to be a universal or at least almost universal characteristic of human language. There is a basis to this claim, indigenous African languages are some that utilize ideophones the most whereas ideophones are the least prevalent in western languages like English. Psycholinguist Mark Dingemanse states, “the sheer ubiquity of ideophones… makes it clear that depiction in speech, and in particular, a class of marked words that depict sensory imagery, is a common feature of human language” (Dingemanse 6). The fact that ideophones are a foundational element of human language strengthens the argument of them being primitive. Additionally, sound poetry as a whole is an abstract composition and can be seen as a devolution of language. Sound theorist Brandon LaBelle argues that an integral thread to sound poetry is “a recuperation of a primal, original voicing” (LaBelle 148). The lack of formal words in McCaffrey and The Four Horsemen’s performances is gibberish to an uninformed listener or on paper. LaBelle even talks about McCaffrey specifically, engaging with McCaffrey’s thought that the primary goal of sound poetry is “the liberation and promotion of phonetic and sub-phonetic features to language… for creative, subversive endeavors” (LaBelle 150).

The origins of ideophones and sound poetry can be interpreted differently as either being primitive or advanced. Does being central to almost every human language classify as being primitive because its roots date back to the beginning of humankind, or does this classify as being intellectually advanced because it has survived for so long? Does sound poetry devolve language because it uses no words and relies on the listeners to interpret sounds for themselves, or does it advance language for the same reason? Each person may have varying answers to these questions, and none of them are objectively wrong. The ability of humans to comprehend and derive meaning from sounds alone is complex and not easy to explain. What is true, is that it can’t completely be described as intellectually primitive or advanced. It’s almost certainly a mix of the two. The composition of a piece using primitive sounds that people understand instinctively, in a way that is conceptually advanced is no simple feat. So maybe it’s best to just enjoy sound poetry, and enjoy the uncanny ability to comprehend some words from foreign languages.

Works Cited

barambia. “”The Four Horsemen’s” emotional poetry.” Youtube,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5sB_YvvSS4. Accessed Mar. 2, 2019

Barber, David. “ What Makes Poetry ‘Poetic’?” The Atlantic. 1999. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1999/03/what-makes-poetry-poetic/377508/

Blench, Roger. “The Sensory World: Ideophones in Africa and Elsewhere.” Perception of the Invisible: Religion, Historical Semantics and the Role of Perceptive Verbs, Sprache und Geschichte in Afrika. 2010. http://www.rogerblench.info/Language/Africa/General/Blench%20African%20Ideophones.pdf

Dingemanse, Mark. “Advances in the Cross‐Linguistic Study of Ideophones.” Language and Linguistics Compass. 2012. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/lnc3.361

LaBelle, B., Neumark, N., Gibson, R., & van Leeuwen, T. Raw Orality: Sound Poetry and Live Bodies. Voice: Vocal Aesthetics in Digital Arts and Media, 147-71. 2010 http://www.brandonlabelle.net/texts/LaBelle_RawOrality(2010).pdf

Menand, Louis. “Can Poetry Change Your Life?” The New Yorker. 2017. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/07/31/can-poetry-change-your-life

shuffleboil. “Steve McCaffery reading from Carnival, @ Instal 09, Glasgow.” Youtube,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=843O0bTVKHQ. Accessed Mar. 2, 2019.

March 24, 2019 by makay

Blood on the Leaves Essay

Malia Kay

Professor Rippeon

WRI 101

24 March 2019

WRI Essay #2

“Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze/Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees” (Meeropol). This is just a snippet of the powerful lines in Abel Meeropol’s famous poem, “Strange Fruit” and Billie Holiday and Nina Simone’s performances of the poem in the 1930s. Abel Meeropol’s poem about the protest of lynching was a paramount moment in African American history. In his hit “Blood on the Leaves,” Kanye West uniquely samples “Strange Fruit” and puts a modern spin on this empowering song about black violence. His version can be seen as both offensive, as well as a vocal masterpiece. He expertly juxtaposes Simone’s voice with his messages of the modern life of an African American man. Kanye sings about who he was, who he is, and his desire to show how African Americans still face similar challenges as people of color in the past. Kanye alludes to bigger issues than just voice or sound by tackling the controversial concepts of race and violence, while simultaneously turning it into a popular rap song.

“Strange Fruit” caused a national outcry. In the wake of this song began one of the first cultural rebellions against lynching in our nation. Without the presence of this iconic song, it is unclear how many more tragic deaths among people of color would have occurred. Nina Simone’s rendering of the song initially starts off with her raspy voice singing the haunting words of Abel Meeropol. She begins by specifically mentioning the “southern trees” and this “strange fruit,” which serves as an extended metaphor throughout the piece: “Southern trees bear strange fruit” (Awka). Simone goes on to discuss the blood on the leaves and graphically depicts dead bodies suspended from tree branches: “Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze” (Awka). The song becomes increasingly graphic and emotional when it describes the mangled bodies acting as fresh meat for the birds to pluck: “The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth/Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh/Then the sudden smell of burning flesh/Here is fruit for the crows to pluck” (Awka). This powerful language flows from Simone’s tongue in an incredibly haunting and morbid manner. This deeply resonates with the listener and allows us to feel the harrowing pain of Simone as she sings. With Meeropol’s revolutionary song, wider audiences were able to experience a minute fraction of the grief that African Americans felt during this period of lynching.

In his pop song “Blood on the Leaves,” Kanye West creates a unique blend of ideas with his use of both sampling and original soundtracks. He not only presents to the public a catchy and “ hip” song, but also addresses deeper cultural issues pertaining to African Americans. While he distinctly alters the way in which the original song, “Strange Fruit” is presented, Kanye maintains much of the underlying meaning in his rendition. While lynching is no longer a widespread problem in the United States, Kanye compares the constant scrutiny of black celebrities in modern America to lynching in 19th and 20th centuries. Although they are not exactly the same by any means, Kanye draws many reasonable parallels between the two situations.

Kanye’s song “Blood on the Leaves” addresses both the press and his audience with regard to how he believes that everybody in the world seems to be against him. Splicing in Simone’s voice at the beginning of the song–and intermittently throughout–seems controversial at first. West is referencing a historically rich song about the graphic lynching of African Americans while he sings about women and drugs. When first hearing the lyrics, I thought West’s use of “Strange Fruit” in his song was incredibly inappropriate; but as I reflected on the words and researched the song, I began to understand where he was coming from. West states that: “All want somethin’ out me/Then they talk about me” (West). He implies that everyone is out to get him and exploit him because of his fame. West sings about how he sometimes feels alone in the world because his popularity has cost him important relationships in his life. He feels overexposed and scrutinized by the public: “We could’ve been somebody/Thought you’d be different ’bout it/Now I know you not it” (West). He references this relationship with a woman whom he thought was “the one,” but then quickly realizes this was not the case because she rapidly changed when Kanye became famous. One comparative analysis on “Strange Fruit” and “Blood on the Leaves” even recognizes that: “The limelight makes it easy to lose your identity and almost impossible to maintain a healthy relationship, and this is where his loneliness comes from” (Colvin). This is akin to the metaphorical version of modern-day lynching: black celebrities are heavily scrutinized and criticized by the press, almost as if they are being “judged and hung” by the surrounding white masses, drawing parallels to American history.

The context in which Kanye samples Nina Simone’s voice in “Blood on the Leaves” has incited major public criticism. However, while Kanye does sing about drugs, abortions, and women in an offensive manner, he also conceals deeper meanings in his work that is missed by much of his audience. I myself was unaware of the cultural context rooted within the song until I completed thorough research. Now I recognize how this is a clear demonstration of the sonic color line that Jennifer Lynn Stoever discusses in her book, The Sonic Color Line. Here, Stoever explains how ideas related to white supremacy and racism are not simply a visual practice, but an audible one as well. According to Stoever, the sonic color line is not visible or audible until someone who is not “allowed’ to cross this line-does. Prior to my effort to better understand West’s music I considered myself to be as ignorant as some of the people that Stoever mentions in The Sonic Color Line: “The inaudibility of whiteness stems from its considerably wider palette of representation and the belief that white representations stand in for ‘people’ in general, rather than ‘white people’ in particular” (Stoever 12). I naively assumed that what Kanye was saying was offensive towards a racial community that I am not even apart of. I generalized my personal views (a white person) and inflicted it onto everyone else. According to Stoever, “That right there, the fact that [I] and so many white people have this same ‘black voice’ in [our] heads, is the sonic color line” (Stoever 8). This invisibility of privilege and assertion of white dominance is what many of West’s viewers are employing when they scrutinize his work.

Another reason why West is judged so harshly is because much of what he says is controversial. Kanye has this enormous God complex and views his own opinion as the only opinion. Though he is hyper aware of himself as a black man in popular culture, he has done and said some incredibly impulsive things that have shocked and offended his fans. However, this very idea of the transgressions of voice shows that we as a culture have preconceived notions of what we think is appropriate and acceptable. In our society today, African Americans still face higher rates of incarceration, gang violence, poverty, unemployment, and police brutality (Breeze). West sings about these issues in his Yeezus album and desperately wants to help change them through his musical platform. Kanye takes this chilling song and turns it into something that many modern day people can comprehend: “The song takes something from the slave and oppression era and transposes it in a contemporary setting” (Colvin). By taking “Strange Fruit,” this extraordinarily powerful song, and transferring it a relevant platform, Kanye allows his audience members–who take the time to dig deep enough–the privilege of understanding the harrowing things that the black community still deals with to this day.

Without Kanye’s god complex and artistic risks this wouldn’t be possible. Kanye masterfully took a piece that previously made such a vast cultural impact and turned it into a relevant and modern phenomenon: “…having that Nina Simone sample up front that would bring everyone in, using postmodern creativity where you kind of lean on something that people are familiar with and comfortable with to get their attention.” (McQueen) Nonetheless, many people still do not agree with the artistic feats that West chose to utilize in his songs, especially “Blood on the Leaves,” however those who are most offended don’t seem be putting in enough effort to understand the perspective that Kanye is coming from. According to a 2013 interview that West gave about his Yeezus album, he states, “It’s very important to me that [my lyrics are] completely in sync with what’s happening in society at that time—that they’re very timeless, but very up to date …” (McQueen). Kanye is determined to make his songs relevant to society today, even if that means sparking controversy in the process.

Although his sampling of “Strange Fruit” was seen as “inappropriate” by many, these people have a different understanding of the song than Kanye himself. I had this very dilemma when first hearing his music, but digging more into West’s main purpose for creating his album has helped be better understand his message. At first glance, “Blood on the Leaves” seems like another rap song about women, drugs, and sex with the inappropriate addition of a historical musical landmark. However, if one takes the time to attempt to understand West’s perspective and goal to expose and correct current issues in the African American community, a whole other side of his music is revealed.

Works Cited

Breeze. “The 10 Most Pressing Issues Facing 21st Century African Americans.” Americans Perspective, 20 Aug. 2015, americansperspective.com/the-10-most- pressing-issues-facing-21st-century-african-americans/.

Colvin, Jessica. “Comparative Analysis of ‘Strange Fruit’ and ‘Blood on the Leaves.’” Medium, Medium, 11 July 2017, medium.com/@jessica.colvin10/comparative- analysis-of-strange-fruit-and-blood-on-the-leaves-9ac2855d3e5c.

Awka, Dan, director. Nina Simone-Strange Fruit. YouTube, YouTube, 20 Jan. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnuEMdUUrZQ.

McQueen, Steve. “Kanye West.” Interview Magazine, Interview Magazine, 28 Jan. 2014, www.interviewmagazine.com/music/kanye-west#_.

Meeropol, Abel. “Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit.” Genius, genius.com/Billie-holiday- strange-fruit-lyrics.

Stoever, Jennifer Lynn. The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening. New York University Press, 2016.

West, Kanye, director. Blood on the Leaves. YouTube, YouTube, 8 Feb. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn0Pu2Qun-E.

March 24, 2019 by pamullinax

The Southern Sound of Then and Now

OutKast was instrumental to the rap scene of the late 90s and early 2000s and changed the national dynamic of hip hop. By finding success they proved that good hip hop didn’t have to come from New York or L.A. but that it could come from anywhere. Their unique sound helped give the South a new musical identity in a way that they hadn’t had before. In a way they were the first to usher in the Atlanta rap scene, now one of the most well respected in the business. While it may not be their most intense song or their most lyrically active, “Hey Ya” is without a doubt their most recognizable track. The upbeat tempo and energy helped to cement its place as one of the most iconic songs of the last 20 years. Despite the lively sound that the song emits, the lyrics are shockingly depressing and discuss the artists’ troubles with commitment and relationships. This meaning is hidden beneath the beat and rhythm, but in Avriel and the Sequoia’s folksy cover of the song, the song becomes more focused on the vocal talent of the lead singer Avi Kaplan and the meaning behind the lyrics. With a slowed down and acoustic version of the song, the audience can more clearly understand the emotional pain of the artists, but this defeats the original purpose of the song. Andre 3000 meant for the lyrics to be buried underneath he beat and rhythm. The lyrics say that they are “in denial when we know we’re not happy” which is echoed by the happy sound of the song. The song itself is a representation of being in denial about the painful truth that is hidden in plain sight. While the bluegrass cover is a beautifully sung and has a unique take on the song, it fails to deliver the same meaning as the original song. In most cases this would constitute an ignorant and daft cover of a song, but what saves this version from butchering the original song is the cultural identity of the music found in both renditions. The bluegrass cover of “Hey Ya” works because it culturally appropriate to the South.

To understand how cultural identity, or the lack thereof, can make or break a cover consider last year when Taylor Swift released a cover of “September” by Earth Wind and Fire, an iconic song that has more energy and joy than almost any record in history. Unfortunately, this energy and joy that are integral to the song’s continued success is exactly what Taylor Swift left out. In her rendition of the song, she drastically slows the tempo down, plays a banjo, and gives the song a more somber message about looking back on old times with remorse rather than nostalgia. She delivers a great vocal performance, and the banjo playing is a nice throwback to her southern roots, but she still failed to do the song justice by eliminated what the song stood for. For many people, Swift’s cover was not only insultingly inconsistent with the original, but it also represented a white artist making monetary gains off a black anthem. On top of this, the groove that made the original so widely loved, and was part of what made the song a black anthem, was removed entirely. By doing so she lost the cultural identity that song had. While there is more than one problem with her cover, it was this that put the nail in coffin.

Clearly, the cultural identity in a song can help the song to find success, but it can make doing a cover of such a song tricky, especially for a song by Outkast, a group who’s cultural identity was different than anything both hip hop and the South had seen before. During the 80s and early 90s the rap scene was dominated by East Coast (New York) and West Coast (California) rappers. Icons like Tupac and Biggie lead the charge and turned hip hop in America into a very divided culture that didn’t allow for other styles to be welcomed. For rappers in the South this meant they must identify with one or the other, and they did. Despite roots in places like Tennessee, Houston, and New Orleans, rappers would often emulate the ganster rap of the West Coast or the sexually charged story telling of the East Coast. This same phenomenon happened in Atlanta where groups would ignore their southern identity in favor of commercial success across the country. This is where Outkast differed. Their style embraced the culture of Atlanta and the South as a whole as was reflected in their lyrics and sound. In “ATLiens” the group displays their southern roots in their chorus by saying “Throw yo hands in the ay-ur / And wave ’em like you just don’t cay-ur / And if you like fish ’n’ grits and all that pimp shit / Everybody let me hear you say oh-yay-yur!” The use of two syllables instead of one and the mention of fish ‘n’ grits show both how the lyrics themselves are changed, as well as the manner in which they are performed. In their song “Rosa Parks” Andre 3000 recruited his step father, Rev. Robert Hoda, to play harmonica on a mid-song breakdown giving the song the feeling of a hoe down that welcomed all to come to the party. The cultural differences of the South are also seen through songs talking about Cadillacs instead of Mercedes and chicken wings instead of hot dogs.

Not only was Outkast appealing to the South, they were appealing to the true working class of the South. Modern rap from Atlanta has plenty of big names but so much of what they say is about the money and fame they’ve acquired. Even once Outkast reached this level of notoriety, they kept telling stories of poverty and struggle, crime and regret, relationships, tragedy, and more. These melancholy themes may not have been understood by all, but they were deeply respected by the working class of the South, both urban and rural. Using this formula Outkast was able to find major success in the early 2000s, winning 6 Grammys and many other awards, but they started off with a lot of backlash. Because they were different, it was almost as though they were fighting against the rest of the country for not only success but respect. This culminated at the 1995 Source Awards where Outkast accepted the award for best new artist. After receiving jeers and boos from the crowd when walking up, Andre 3000 summed up what all of the South was thinking when he said “The South got something to say.”

Outkast showed the country what true southern identity was through their use of music, and while they were some of the first people to do this through hip hop, Bluegrass had provided the South with a musical cultural identity decades before in a similar way. In the early 1900s, the South was a melting pot of cultures from the people who had settled there in the centuries prior. There were many Irish and Scottish immigrants living in the hills of Southern Appalachia, along with the ancestors of slaves from the many plantations in the coastal plains of the South. These cultures each brought music along with them. From the British Isles, immigrants brought fiddles and step dancing and from Africa slaves brought banjos. What resulted was a type of music that hadn’t before been seen. Over time locals brought in other instruments. The Italian mandolin was brought in to add a percussive off beat. The guitar was introduced to add a fuller sound. And the upright bass was added to provide a deep thumbing rhythm. This unique mix of instruments created a sound that was uniquely southern. In time this traditional music shifted and changed until it became what is now known as Bluegrass. This new genre found commercial success thanks to Bill Monroe. Before him, nearly all bluegrass was played in barns and living rooms across the South, but it hadn’t yet reached the radio. This wasn’t to say that there was a lack of talent in the genre. In fact many performers during the pre-Monroe era found success after Monroe broke the mold. What helped Bill Monroe was his access to get on a national stage. He was integral, not only in establishing the new style, but also in introducing the country to this southern sound. The southern accents and references to southern landmarks had not been heard on a national stage yet. Just like Outkast, Bluegrass was finding national success without abandoning its roots.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcTjv4i-mak

In the same way that Outkast had appealed to the working class of the South, so too did Bluegrass. The common themes throughout hip hop and bluegrass are very similar. By talking about things like crime and regret, relationships and their pitfalls, tragedy, and more, bluegrass appealed to the poor rural family of the South. We see these same things in rap. Whether it be a song about the regret one feels even years after committing a crime and seeing the consequences like we see in “Rounder” by Mandolin Orange and “Crown” by Run the Jewels, or being in denial about a failing relationship like we see in “Hey Ya!” by Outkast and “Redeye to Raleigh” by Mipso, there are many correlations amongst the topics these genres revolve around. This is part of what links bluegrass and southern rap of the late 90s through their cultural identity. Both genres have a distinctly southern sound that is expressed through lyrics and diction, both genres were born from and appeal to the working class and their struggle, and both genres were an expression of a community that was ignored on a national stage until a champion came along to help break the mold. Although Avriel and the Sequoias’ rendition of “Hey Ya” might be missing the groove and energy of Outkast’s original song, because it keeps the cultural identity of the South the cover works as a southern anthem in the same way that the initial recording does.

Citations

Carmicheal, Rodney. “The Making of OutKast’s Aquemini: Andre 3000, Big Boi and Cast Look Back on a Classic.” CreativeLoafing, 24 June 2010, creativeloafing.com/content-168326-The-Making-of-OutKast’s-Aquemini. Accessed 24 Mar. 2019.

Fire, Earth Wind &. “Earth, Wind & Fire – September (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Jan. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk.

“Former Pentatonix Singer Avi Kaplan Delivers Cooler Than Cool Bluegrass Cover of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 21 July 2017, www.imdb.com/news/ni61328218.

Grem, Darren E. “‘The South Got Something to Say’: Atlantas Dirty South and the Southernization of Hip-Hop America.” Southern Cultures, vol. 12, no. 4, 2006, pp. 55–73., doi:10.1353/scu.2006.0045.

latelylyrics. “Taylor Swift – September (Lyrics).” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Apr. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEodWpnWBz0.

Mipso. “Red Eye to Raleigh.” YouTube, YouTube, 17 July 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcTjv4i-mak.

Orange, Mandolin. “Mandolin Orange – ‘Rounder’ (Official Audio).” YouTube, YouTube, 5 May 2015, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCFzqWcVuZg.

OutKastVideoVault. “OutKast – ATliens (Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 30 July 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktc9hsSfUck.

OutKastVideoVault. “OutKast – Hey Ya! (Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 25 Oct. 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWgvGjAhvIw.

OutKastVideoVault. “OutKast – Rosa Parks (Official Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Apr. 2013, www.youtube.com/watch?v=drsQLEU0N1Y.

RunTheJewels. “Run The Jewels – Crown (Official VR 360 Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 4 May 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCNzOQ2Ok8s.

Scoggins, Michael C. The Scotch Irish Influence on Country Music in the Carolinas: Border Ballads, Fiddle Tunes and Sacred Songs. History Press, 2013.

Sequoias, Avriel & the. “HEY YA! – AVRIEL & THE SEQUOIAS.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 July 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=whBQCkhFwYg.

Wanshel, Elyse. “Taylor Swift’s Cover Of An Earth, Wind & Fire Classic Is Pissing People Off.” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 14 Apr. 2018, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/taylor-swifts-cover-of-an-earth-wind-and-fire-classic-is-pissing-people-off_us_5ad0f015e4b016a07e9c2d10.

March 23, 2019 by laschabes

Iggy Azalea, Mac Miller, and the dubious term that is cultural appropriation

Landon Schabes

Dr. Rippeon

Voice, Noise, Sound, Sense

24 March 2019

Hip-hop music has a storied origin; it has been a vehicle used to draw attention to injustices perpetrated on African-Americans for as long as it has existed. The Sonic Color Line and the Listening Ear, by Jennifer Lynn Stoever, outlines some of those injustices with a particular focus on the contrasts in sonic expectations between Americans with differing racial backgrounds. Stoever opens a dialogue on the differences in listening spaces and vocal habits of black and white Americans. These sonic expectations often intersect with hip-hop culture, as hip-hop music is often dubbed raucous and disruptive by many white Americans. The Sonic Color Line has altered hip-hop culture since its beginnings in the Bronx in the late ‘70s. Due to the fact that the Sonic Color Line has affected African-American music and artists since the advent of hip-hop, cultural appropriation is a particularly sensitive and heinous crime within the hip-hop community, yet the term cultural appropriation is poorly drawn out and defined; some artists prompt the accusation more than others. Despite the fact that they are both white, Iggy Azalea incites more accusations of cultural appropriation than Mac Miller, primarily because she uses other artists’ voices in ways that change the way their voice is interpreted, and she manipulates her voice in an attempt to copy African-American sound. She encroaches upon African-American sound and culture more than Mac Miller because of her careless use of vocal appropriation, or embezzlement of African-American vocal quotations and properties. While the term cultural appropriation is beneficial in calling out artists with little to no respect for the culture they are borrowing from, such as Azalea, it does little else to help the hip-hop music industry. Indeed, the definition is so loosely agreed upon that artists can dodge the accusation simply by donning an apologetic public persona. Additionally, the term does not apply in both directions. There is no uproar, for example, when African-American artists appropriate a comparable minority culture.

Iggy Azalea’s “Kream” is an example of a song that expresses no respect for African-American culture; it stands as an egregious example of cultural appropriation because of the ways that she alters other artists’ voices and her own voice in it. Specifically, Azalea samples the vocals of Method Man, a member of Wu-Tang Clan, in the song “C.R.E.A.M.” and uses his voice in her song in a way that robs the original meaning behind his vocals. It is important to recognize each song’s context when considering the ways in which Azalea used the sample. The Wu-Tang song, just like so much hip-hop music from the early 1990s, centers around the inequalities that black citizens face in America. In particular, Inspectah Deck speaks on the troubles he faced in his experiences with the justice system as a young black man.

“The court played me short, now I face incarceration

Pacin’, goin’ upstate’s my destination

Handcuffed in the back of a bus, forty of us

Life as a shorty shouldn’t be so rough” (genius.com).

Deck’s lyrics communicate a strong message; black men are at a much greater risk of facing prison time in their lives. According to the NAACP’s website, African-Americans are incarcerated at more than five times the rate of white Americans (naacp.org). Iggy Azalea samples this song, with its societal critique and racially significant context, and inserts it into a song with a fraction of the meaning. The song “Kream”, which clearly takes inspiration from the song it sampled with its title, is a meaningless flex piece in which Azalea talks about nothing but her copious amounts of money, sex, and power. The sample in particular is the all-famous line from Method Man, “Cash rules everything around me C.R.E.A.M., get the money, dollar dollar bill, y’all” (genius.com). This fact is significant, as the sample is not just of the beat but the voice of a performer. The fact that Method Man’s voice is being used, rather than just the drum loop or the piano loop, makes the sample a less acceptable instance of cultural appropriation. Voice is often thought of as a part of one’s identity. Azalea’s use of Method Man’s voice affects the way those lyrics are viewed in pop and hip-hop culture. She robs Method Man of his individuality and expression by using his voice in her new, comparatively meaningless song. Thus, the controversiality of Azalea’s appropriation is only heightened by the fact Method Man’s voice is viewed differently in her sample. Vocal appropriation, whether the majority of people realize it or not, makes instances of cultural appropriation less acceptable.

Azalea’s appropriation is also inherently more offensive due to the blaccent she dons every time she raps. Azalea hails from Australia, but when she appears in her songs, she abandons her Australian accent and adopts an unmistakable southern African-American accent. She attempts to sound as black as possible in her songs and sell her gangster personality. Maeve Eberhardt and Kara Freeman, in their essay on Iggy Azalea’s hip-hop persona and linguistic appropriation, discuss white artists and what they do to appropriate African-American voice. “Linguistic minstrelsy is a form of ‘figurative blackface’, in which white users of African American English (AAE) do not literally darken their skin with make‐up as in turn‐of‐the‐century minstrel shows (Lott 2013), but in essence perform in blackface, drawing on linguistic and other symbolic elements that signify racialized ideologies to a wide U.S. audience” (Eberhardt and Freeman). The linguistic elements they mention, in particular, are put to use by Azalea. She sonically barges into the space that many African-American artists occupy in the hip-hop industry by copying their accent. Since voice is often considered proprietary, Azalea’s encroachment on the southern African-American accent is extremely offensive and forces her music into a less acceptable sphere of cultural appropriation.

While Iggy Azalea is the poster child for egregious cultural appropriation, Mac Miller is white artist that has earned the respect of the rap community due to his ability to avoid flagrant embezzlement. His song “Kool Aid and Frozen Pizza” is a much more tolerable example of cultural appropriation because he avoids vocal manipulation and appropriation. The song that Miller samples in it, “Hip 2 Da Game” by Lord Finesse, is an old hip-hop classic, but not one that gained mainstream success. As such, it was a sample that caught the attention of many hip-hop artists at the time that Miller released his album titled “K.I.D.S”. Though Miller avoided outrage because he does not alter Lord Finesse’s message or voice or his own voice. “Hip 2 Da Game” stands as a hip-hop classic, and Miller successfully borrows from the song without changing anything Finesse originally said. In a Rolling Stone article commemorating some of Miller’s greatest work after his death, Tirhakah Love and Brendan Klinkenberg comment on “Kool Aid and Frozen Pizza” in the same manner, “Flipping Lord Finesse’s seminal ‘Hip 2 Da Game’ without regurgitating the latter’s flow or topicality at the age of 18, Miller paid tribute to the genre while staying squarely in his own lane” (rollingstone.com). Importantly, the sample does not consist of any vocals from Lord Finesse. Miller simply borrows the beat of the song. The fact that he avoids sampling any of Finesse’s vocals makes his borrowing of African-American music more acceptable. Miller also avoids using a blaccent or altering his voice in any way to identify with a different persona. In fact, that is one of the trademarks of his character. Miller garnered sustained success over his career because he was never anyone or anything but emphatically his own self. Miller mastered the ability to borrow only the elements of hip-hop music and culture that he could make his own. His lack of vocal appropriation and alteration with this song and much of the rest of his work allows for his music to be placed into a more acceptable sector of cultural appropriation.

The term cultural appropriation is weakly defined, as evidenced by the fact that Mac Miller receives comparatively few accusations of appropriation when set side by side with Iggy Azalea. The term cultural appropriation has long been used in the hip-hop music industry (and in countless other areas of art and expression) as a way to discourage white artists from barging in and profiting from or reaping the benefits of a minority culture. Though its definition, or lack thereof, creates problems as artists can avoid the accusation with simple tweaks to their public persona and style of music. An article published in 2018 from The Economist verbalizes this fact, “… what is cultural appropriation? There is no agreed definition. Generally speaking, it’s the idea that a ‘dominant culture’ wearing or using things from a ‘minority culture’ … is inherently disrespectful because the objects are taken out of their native context” (economist.com). The solution to this issue is not to use the term more liberally, so as to flesh out its definition better. Rather, it should be to remove it from popular vocabulary and pick up the well-defined terms that already exist in order to describe people or artists who lack respect for minority cultures. The term also falls short in its equality of applicability. Artists who are already part of minority cultures never receive accusations of appropriation; 2 Chainz, an artist known for his rashness and unapologetic musical style, receives no accusations of cultural appropriation when he pilfers other cultures in his music. For example, in his song “Here We Go Again” Chainz uses a beat clearly inspired from an East Asian style of music.

The song holds absolutely no cultural significance, as Genius tells us, “On this song, the rapper talks about his riches and his extravagant lifestyle which includes wearing fancy clothes and jewelry” (genius.com). Yet 2 Chainz does not receive any pushback for such an affront. The term cultural appropriation fails to be applied to any demographic other than white people. This, along with its unclear definition, are reasons to eradicate the term, not cultivate it.

As evidenced by Iggy Azalea’s use of vocal appropriation and Mac Miller’s lack thereof, Azalea exhibits little to no respect for African-American culture, while Mac Miller shows a substantial sense of respec for the culture from which he borrows. The action of appropriating another artist’s vocals or altering one’s own voice is much more offensive than borrowing from the instrumental styles of a minority culture. As a result, Azalea receives more accusations of cultural appropriation than Miller even though both steal from African-American culture in their music. This fact lends to the idea that the term cultural appropriation is poorly defined. Jennifer Lynn Stoever’s The Sonic Color Line and the Listening Ear describes the audial inequalities that African-Americans encounter in their lives. In the hip-hop industry, the social stigma against cultural appropriation is a manifestation of the Sonic Color Line and the inequalities Stoever delves into in her dissertation. The term cultural appropriation and its strength seem to be bolstered by Stoever’s thesis, but the term breaks down when its effect on artists of all styles and demographics is examined. Thus, the term cultural appropriation is less useful than its commonality suggests and should be done away with.

Works Cited

“2 Chainz – Here We Go Again.” Genius, 28 Oct. 2016, https://genius.com/2-chainz-here-we-go-again-lyrics.

Anonymous. “When Respect for Diversity Is Taken to Crazy Extremes.” The Economist, The Economist Newspaper, 15 May 2018, www.economist.com/open-future/2018/05/15/when-respect-for-diversity-is-taken-to-crazy-extremes.

Azalea, Iggy. “Iggy Azalea – Kream Ft. Tyga (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 6 July 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7lM7Bn16Zg.

Chainz, 2. “2 Chainz – Here We Go Again (Audio).” YouTube, YouTube, 27 Oct. 2016, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEA4XtsYB2A.

Clan, Wu-Tang. “Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M. (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 21 Jan. 2014, www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBwAxmrE194.

“Criminal Justice Fact Sheet.” Naacp.org, NAACP, www.naacp.org/criminal-justice-fact-sheet/.

Eberhardt, Maeve, and Kara Freeman. “‘First things first, I’m the realest’: Linguistic appropriation, white privilege, and the hip‐hop persona of Iggy Azalea.” Journal of Sociolinguistics 19.3 (2015): 303-327.

Klinkenberg, Brendan, and Tirhakah Love. “10 Essential Mac Miller Songs.” Rolling Stone, 9 Sept. 2018, www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/10-essential-mac-miller-songs-721709/.

Miller, Mac. “Mac Miller – Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 July 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnAbszcy3bs.

TheVisiting, and Lord Finesse. “Lord Finesse – Hip 2 Da Game 1995 HQ.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Jan. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oQeg460wos.

“Wu-Tang Clan – C.R.E.A.M.” Genius, 31 Jan. 1994, https://genius.com/Wu-tang-clan-cream-lyrics.

March 23, 2019 by jolodish

White Freedom: Kanye West’s Refusal to give into Societal Notions on Race and Music

Josh Lodish

March 24, 2019

Professor Rippeon

Voice, Noise, Sound, Sense

Intro:

It may upend your perceptions of race and politics to hear a story of a white actor calling out a black artist for their endorsement and support of Donald Trump. You may be less surprised if you knew that black artist was Kanye West. In the season opener of Saturday Night Live (SNL), Kanye West finished his performance with a defense of his support for the President. Kanye claimed he doesn’t “agree with everything anyone does,” and that “we have the right to independent thought” (Corsarcelli). However controversial this claim may be, at its purest form, Kanye states that he has the right to support whomever he wants. He has the right for ‘independent thought’ regardless of circumstance. Nonetheless, Kanye immediately received criticism from the popular black artists Questlove and Swizz Beatz, who stated Trump was “blatantly hurting our people” (Corsarcelli). Furthermore, Kanye received intense pushback from Pete Davidson, a white actor on the SNL cast, who claimed “being mentally ill is not an excuse to act like a jackass,” calling out Kanye for his unethical stances on politics (Weekend Update). Davidson explained that Kanye’s actions offend people, for example, “every black person ever” (Weekend Update). As a white man, Davidson not only criticizes Kanye for his honesty and independent thought, but tells Kanye how he should act, in large part, due to his race.

In his endorsement of Trump, Kanye West attempts to alter our expectations of black men and artists. Kanye forces us to ask what our expectations are, and knowingly challenges them. When describing the Veil, W.E.B DuBois focuses on a similar process. The Veil forces black individuals to see themselves “through the revelation of the other world,” by constantly processing their actions through the dominant white culture (Brodwin 307). Years later, Jennifer Lynn Stoever extended DuBois’ Veil claiming that “sound and listening enable racism’s evolving presence,” illustrating through her concept of the Sonic Color Line, that race is strongly connected to sound (Stoever 5). Both the Veil and the Sonic Color line rely upon expectations of obedience. These expectations only become visible when someone challenges them and is forcibly corrected.

Yeezus, Kanye’s sixth studio album, challenges our expectations of obedience in terms of race and music, thus disregarding both the Sonic Color Line, and the Veil. Kanye has fielded criticism for his actions (by both black and white artists), and continues to stand for what he believes in. He does not accept a lifestyle in which he must alter his actions to fit the desires of dominant white culture. Instead Kanye acts genuinely, staying true to himself, and in the end of his speech on SNL, asks us one basic thing, “if you want the world to move forward- try love,” (Corsarcelli). In this essay I will demonstrate that Kanye West disregards the Veil and the Sonic Color Line both through three songs on Yeezusand his endorsement of Trump.

Part 1: Yeezus

Blood on the Leaves:

To create the track Blood on the Leaves, Kanye sampled Strange Fruit– a song written by Billie Holiday about the murders of African Americans by lynching. This song undoubtedly carries an important and heavy weight in terms of race in America. Kanye chooses to take this intense song about murder and morph it into one about an unhealthy, oversexualized, and drug fueled relationship as demonstrated by his lines, “my second-string bitches,” and “when you tried your first molly” (Blood on the Leaves). By ignoring the historical context of the sample and completely redefining to himself what the song means, Kanye explicitly goes against the Veil, which limits black’s ability to “see themselves outside of what white America describes and prescribes for them” (UVA). In describing his music Kanye tells us he would, “rather piss a bunch of people off and make myself happy than make everyone else happy and be pissed off inside” (Dombal). Clearly, Kanye does not want to buy into how he should act in regard to artistry, fame, or race. Kanye lives by the terms he sets for himself. Through a disregard for societal expectations for his sampling choice in Blood on the Leaves, and his genuine opinions on the understanding of his music, Kanye denies the Sonic Color Line and the Veil.

New Slaves:

Undoubtedly a song titled New Slaves is designed to be provocative. New Slaves follows along with Yeezus’ themes of confrontation and vanity with lines such as “You see there’s leaders and there’s followers, but I’d rather be a dick than a swallower” (New Slaves). Kanye references “Broke ni**a racism,” being told he shouldn’t touch anything in the store, and “rich ni**a racism,” when he’s profiled for what he wants to buy, being told “all you blacks want all the same things” (New Slaves). These lines demonstrate Kanye’s experience with the Sonic Color Line and the “imposed racial identities and structures of racist violence” thrust upon him as a black man (Stoever 4). Kanye connects contemporary racism to Jim Crow, “the era when clean water was only served to the fairer skin,” and to slavery, both in the song title, and lines such as ‘they wasn’t satisfied unless I picked the cotton myself’ (New Slaves). He asks us (his audience) to re-evaluate our concepts of racism in America and he acknowledges, as the Sonic Color Line explains, that sound has been “ever present in the construction of race and the performance of racial oppression” (Stoever 4). In forcing us to re-evaluate their perceptions of racism, as opposed to reinforcing them, Kanye disregards the Veil and the Sonic Color Line.

I am a God:

I am a God is perhaps the song on Yeezus that most directly challenges our societal expectations of race and music, as exemplified through this short interview of Kanye describing the song. In the interview, Kanye makes clear that America expects black artists (especially rappers) to possess stereotypical characteristics such as ‘pimping,’ or being a ‘gangsta’ (Zane Low). He states that society does not expect black artists to be self-confident or articulate. And for a black man to claim he’s a god? Well society would find that blasphemous. Kanye chose I am a Godas the title for his track to cause a visceral reaction. Kanye understands how the Sonic Color Line operates “as an organ of racial discernment” (Stoever 4); that the Veil commands the black artist to “channel his natural abilities and personal aims into political and social arenas” (Browdwin 303). Nonetheless, Kanye challenges these expectations, and uses his music to alter society’s perception of what it means to be a black male rapper. Kanye does so by calling himself a literal God.

Part 2: Endorsing Trump

Not only does Kanye’s music on Yeezus exemplify his rejection of the Sonic Color Line and the Veil, but so does his endorsement of President Donald Trump. By supporting Trump, Kanye delivers the shock value that he went for on Yeezus. He is being genuine, and provocative, acting so they we think, why? Kanye challenges our expectations of race and does so intentionally. In his article, I’m not Black, I’m Kanye, Ta-Nehsi Coates writes about Kanye’s endorsement of Trump and claims that Kanye desires freedom in his actions. But not any kind of freedom- white freedom. Coates describes white freedom as, “freedom without consequence…criticism…to be proud and ignorant” (Coates). Essentially, Coates claims Kanye simply wants to be freed from racial expectations and to function as an artist defined only by himself. When DuBois describes the Veil as something that, “yielded him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world,” he was describing the intense filtering of self through white culture that African-Americans are forced to do (UVA). In endorsing Trump, Kanye removes the idea that black men should filter themselves and their actions through the lens of race. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Kanye states “everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me,” further describing a worry that if he endorsed Trump, people would “kick him out of the black community because blacks are supposed to have a monolithic thought” (Jimmy Kimmel). Kanye knows the expectations thrust upon him as a black man. He is perfectly aware of the veil society expects him to see himself through. This level of “true self-consciousness,” which DuBois claimed was impossible in a life with the Veil, is attainable for Kanye exactly because he refuses it. Kanye describes his endorsement of Trump as a representation of overcoming fear, and “doing what you felt no matter the consequences” (Jimmy Kimmel). Kanye refuses the Veil and the Sonic Color Line by dictating his own life, challenging societal perceptions of black men, and above all else- being true to himself, no matter the consequences.

Conclusion:

Kanye West refuses the expectations thrust upon him by the Sonic Color Line and the Veil as demonstrated through his honest and unique work on Yeezus, and his endorsement of Trump. In his song Ye vs. The People, Kanye has a rap-argument with Atlanta rapper T.I, defending his endorsement of Trump. Kanye drops insightful lines such as, “Make America Great had a negative perception, I added empathy, care, love, and affection” and “is it better if I rap about crack, because its cultural?” (Ye vs. The People). In his rap, Kanye focuses in on one main point – Love. Kanye tells us that “yall be leading with hate,” but instead we should be leading with love, which he claims to have done by adding it to Trump’s slogan (Ye vs. The People). As he did in his SNL speech when he stated, “if you want the world to move forward- try love,” Kanye asks us in Ye vs. The Peoplenot to focus on perceptions or expectations of people, but instead to focus on being genuine and honest (Coscarelli). People like Pete Davidson may have a hard time accepting Kanye’s proud endorsement of Donald Trump, but throughout it all Kanye has made clear that he doesn’t care. Kanye, through his music and actions has consistently challenged societal expectations of race, as set out in the Sonic Color Line and the Veil and left us with his message of love.

Works Cited:

Stoever, Jennifer Lynn. The Sonic Color Line: Race and the Cultural Politics of Listening. NYU Press, 2016. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1bj4s55.
Ta-Nehsi Coates. “I’m not Black, I’m Kanye”. Atlantic Magazine.7 May, 2018. https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/05/im-not-black-im-kanye/559763/.
The Veil and Double Consciousness. University of Virginia Press (UVA). http://xroads.virginia.edu/~ug03/souls/defpg.html.
Ryan Dombal. Kanye West, Yeezus. Pitchfork Magazine. 18 June, 2013. https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18172-kanye-west-yeezus/.
Kanye West. Interview by Zane Low. “Kanye West Explains his Meaning behind “I Am A God” with Zane Low”. December 31, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge33hrlN2Uc
Kanye West. Interview with Jimmy Kimmel. “Jimmy Kimmel’s Full Interview with Kanye West”. April 10, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmZjaYdS3fA
Joe Coscarelli. Kanye West Ends ‘S.N.L’ With Speech About Trump and Bullying. The New York Times. 30 September, 2018.
Weekend Update. Interview with Pete Davidson. “Weekend Update: Pete Davidson on Kanye West- SNL”. Youtube. Saturday Night Live. October 7, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=218&v=ASqnnZpsX1M
Stanley Brodwin. The Veil Transcended: Form and Meaning in W.E.B DuBois’ “The Souls of Black Folk”. Sage Publications.https://www.jstor.org/stable/2783720
Kanye West. “Blood on the Leaves.” Yeezus, Def Jam Records, 2013. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nn0Pu2Qun-E
Kanye West. “New Slaves.” Yeezus, Def Jam Records, 2013. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wcFyBPcSpM
Kanye West. “Ye vs. The People.” Def Jam Records, 2018. Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swQWUa5-9TM