On Sonic Art

by Trevor Wishart, Simon Emmerson (Editor)

In this newly revised book On Sonic Art , Trevor Wishart takes a wide-ranging look at the new developments in music-making and musical aesthetics made possible by the advent of the computer and digital information processing. His emphasis is on musical rather than technical matters. Beginning with a critical analysis of the assumptions underlying the Western musical tradition and the traditional acoustic theories of Pythagoras and Helmholtz, he goes on to look in detail at such topics as the musical organization of complex sound-objects, using and manipulating representational sounds and the various dimensions of human and non-human utterance. In so doing, he seeks to learn lessons from areas (poetry and sound-poetry, film, sound effects and animal communication) not traditionally associated with the field of music.

Genres: Music, Art

372 pages, Hardcover

Published September 1, 1996

Reviews

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times a very laboured read that takes some getting through but there is such a wealth of ideas and investigations here into sound and it's perception that is invaluable to anyone interested in creating experimental compositions or performances or wants to work in sound design. Again, it does take a bit of patience but this is still one of my very favourite books on sound. Essential in my eyes/ears.

[Imri Talgam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very unusual perspective on making musique concrete- Wishart tries to relate it to politics and the world in innovative ways (as in his piece Red Bird).
Lots to learn here- highly recommended to anyone active in these genres. Also, do try out the Composers Desktop Project- a suite of digital transformation tools that implement some of the transformations the Wishart discusses. In particular, you can do wonderful things with waveset operations on samples...

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of really good stuff. I liked chapters 3, 9, and 13 especially.

[Fred Scharmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for dipping into, a very abstract discussion of structure and composition as they've developed in recent music, with hand drawn diagrams.