Music, Noise and Conflict: Sociotechnical Imaginaries, Acoustic Agency and Ontological Assumptions about Sound

Abstract

Tinnitus maskers, white noise machines and noise-cancelling headphones are media devices used to reshape audible spaces, to suppress undesirable resonances and, more generally, to enable the individual to remain unaffected by others' sonic worlds. Hearing the Crimean War: Wartime Sound and the Unmaking of Sense, edited by Williams, Gavin. If manufacturers' marketing asserts that individuals could use noise-cancelling headphones to remove I unwanted i sounds and relax, they mostly frame the use of the device around music listening. However, related to the subject of I cancellation i , Hagood's analyses tell us almost nothing about which music repertoires the wearers of orphic devices - that is, noise-cancelling headphones - might listen to and the social imaginaries that these repertoires convey. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Journal of the Royal Musical Association is the property of Cambridge University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)