Sound Culture: How Music Evolved Towards its Present Stand - Essay Example

THE SOUND CULTURE: A HISTORY A Discussion on how Music Evolved Towards Its Present Stand Introduction Sound has been a prevalent concept in the society affecting and influencing humanity in many ways known to man. Because of the influential nature of music, this medium is perceived to an effective tool for society in different aspect. Every element of the general concept of sound becomes a significant one namely the voice, music, sound effects, ambience and even silence. Each of these elements brings a different significance mainly emphasizing the expression of the general theme of a certain project. The use of voice can significantly influence the understanding of the expressed idea of the certain public or audience being pointed at. The intonation of the voice of the speaker can designate the emotion of the person and his or her loudness or softness will depict the personality, authority and character of the speaker.1 The use of background music, sound effects either through cyclical or continuous mean can intensify the environment's emotion which can later contribute to the personality of the speaker and/or character and can encourage the curiosity and enthusiasm of the audience. Also, these elements can significantly contribute to the meaning and intensity of the concept being expressed by the certain project thus aiding its dissertation and understanding by the public. In addition, the employment of the effects of silence as a background can also contribute to the expression of the general theme as it can set stages of excitement thus promoting the audience's interest (Altman, 1992). Thus, the employment of sound through the application of each of its elements can significantly contribute to the general theme of a certain project as it promotes a better communication approach between the main concept and its audience. The use of sound can facilitates the dissertation and understanding of the public thus aiding the effectiveness of the project of communicating a certain concept and its significance to the society. In the discussion that follows, it would be directly seen how the utilization of sound has created a remarkable intuitive approach in assisting the human culture to become more appreciated and artistic as it is right now. 2A basic understanding as to how the different cultural music becomes a trademark of different nations around the world shall be considerably tackled within the context of the presentation that follows. What Sound Culture Development Suggests about the World The creation of cultural music has practically brought about a better sense of realization among cultures of the ancient times. It could not be denied that it is through this that the majority of the nations around the globe today have their own signature music, a trademark that makes them known to the world. Instead of being simply a sense of appreciative art, music has practically become a mirror of development among countries around the world. Ancient generations of human civilization have naturally used music for rituals and matters that concerned the higher power of control. However, music was not recognized the way that it is right now. The collection of sounds that are produced through the use of different instruments utilized by the ancient civilization has basically given birth to well arranged music that later on had meaningful indications of the messages that the people making the music would want to impose to others as they present their music to the public. The basic realization of music being a probable source of information and presentation of emotional standing of those who have created the said music completions has given way to the creation of the different music genres that directly affect the emotions of human individuals today. Sound Art Culture is defined by Murray Schafer (1977) as the basic depiction of human creativity. The utilization of different natural resources to create sound has better increased the interest of the ancient individuals to find better ways of creating meaningful sounds that could serve as a particular form of communication which they could use those days. It is from this particular intuitive process that the people learned how to make use of personal intuition and the instruments that they had to have a well arranged collection of sounds that appeal to the human ear and the human emotions all at the same time3. It could not be denied that the entire developmental process of using music as a primary form of communication paved way to a better sense of sending message through the use of sounds. But why is it called sound art The art of utilizing sound that affects the three particular branches of sound appreciation namely that of sound, listening and hearing are noted to have a practical effect on how a particular sound is considered as an art. Art as known is any form of crafty creations that amaze the human appreciation for beauty and meaning. Basically then, sound art is the collection of different sounds put together to create a beautiful presentation that attracts the human senses of hearing and emotional classification of what they are hearing and how they are to respond to its arrangement. Compared to a lot of other art forms such as painting and sculpture, sound art is considered to be interdisciplinary in nature. It takes different hybrid forms of sound creation. The different classifications of instruments used to produce these sounds are the ones that are able to define the kind of sound art that a particular musical arrangement pertains to. Being able to produce sound art requires skills and understanding of the importance of music and the meanings that it perceives towards the understanding of the listeners with regards what they are hearing. This is the reason why creating music is considered as a serious art that requires time, effort, proper motivation and realization of worth on the part of the one creating the said arrangements. Yes, through this understanding about music, it could be realized that sound art is indeed a sophisticated form of utilizing several instruments to create sensible sound collection that intends to make a practical presentation of message to the target listeners of music. THE Different Kinds of Sound Art As mentioned earlier, sound art is recognized as a conceptual art that is directly considered as major presentation of human creativity. Basically, the ones involved in producing the said art know that there are different kinds of sound art. In this section, understanding the said kinds of sound art shall be presented properly for better knowledge building possibilities: Cultural Division: the cultural division of sound art is comprised of the different cultural music that stands as the trademark of each civilization and each particular human racial group that is better progressed through the years. This type of sound art is created through the use of ancient instruments and the original instrumentations created by each race from different countries around the globe. The authenticity of the sound created through this artistic division of sound art is characterized by the personal touch of the people who create the said sound craft. Basically, this type of sound is a practical mirror of the character of the people to whom the said music belongs to. Pop Music Culture: Popular music is composed of sound collection created through the use of modern produced instruments that bring about interesting sound that most likely attracts the hearing sense of almost everyone. Likely, the pop music culture division of sound art caters more to entertainment and is thus considered to be less serious than that of the cultural division. This particular music is more concerned on being free and being capable of providing the best source of relaxation and message sending both for those who create the music and those who listen to the created sound. These particular art may or may not consist a voice aspect wherein there may be lyrics or not to the craft. The more important consideration is that it does conform to the attention getting factor of the sound collection that makes it marketable enough both for entertainment and the profiting values of those distributing the said created art. Today, this particular kind of sound art is considered to be one of the most influential. Entertainment Music: like pop music, entertainment music may be used for marketing as well as plain hearing pleasure. The important difference that this particular division of sound art from that of pop sound art is that of its requirement to be more definite when it comes to the arrangement of rhythm. It is more definitive when it comes to the audience who are able to appreciate it. Most likely, these genres of sound art are more definite in arrangement, well arranged and specifically created for a particular group of listeners. [e.g jazz/reggae music]. The arrangement of the sound collected for these particular creations are more sophisticated in comparison with that of the popular music culture. The sophistication makes this type of sound art a rather separated from of art in comparison with that of the others that are created within the same genre. Creative Musical: Creative musicals are created to host pure instrumental presentations; the process is that it directly imposes creativity through the use of the collaborative rhythmic application of modern and classical instruments. The important implication of collaborative instrument use n this particular arrangement makes a great process of musical differentiation from that of the production of the regular types of music. In the field of sound art, this particular arrangement directly imposes the capability of musicians to create artistic arrangements that are most often than not appear to be extraordinary to the human eye. These divisions of sound art depict the necessary elements that make up modern and classical music from one another; a depicting line that creates a fine understanding as to how sound art evolved and still continues to evolve towards modern developments. Besides the actual developments on the arrangements used to create sound art, there is also a depicting development as to how sound art is perceived and used by the human generations that particularly appreciates its existence.4 The consideration placed on value of sound and the music that it gives birth to is a definite identification of the fact that creating music through the use of collaborative instruments [both natural and synthetically created ones] is a very influential way to which the different genres of music is born. The Sound Art: A Depiction of Human Ingenuity As history suggests it, sound art was born when humans began to discover the different usage of natural instruments. These instruments include tapping wood, clanging a chime or other matters as such that creates a rather interesting sound to the ear. The development of the natural instrumentations paved way to the production of modern musical chimes, harps, violins, other wind instruments as well as percussion musical materials. All these matters have been produced to support the human thirst for wonderful music. Considerably, humans were created with ears to appreciate something more than just talking. Hence, the beauty of music that entices the majority of the people living around the globe today suggests the fact that music was indeed planned to be among the most important things that would bring humans the excitement and interest that they need to have themselves focused on something that they are most attached to. Yes, the development of the different types of music from the definite creation of sound art depicts the creativity of human individuals in their quest towards having the most effective procedures available to deal with their needs of sending the message that they ought to share with others5. The specific consideration that humans provide towards the attention that they are giving to music production at present further imposes the fact that people are more than just creators; they are masters of their own craft and are now at the edge of the peak of their success as they try to instill the most effective culture that is needed to perfect the sound art culture recognized in the world at present. Conclusion Yes, considering the fact that there are indeed different kinds of art that depicts human artistry at present, music remains to be one among the most appreciated and the most time defying of all the other art forms. The proper arousal of emotions granted through musical creations brings out the best in every individual suggesting the idea that music is indeed a molding pot of human culture. No nation is not noted for its musical contribution to sound art; yes, as repeatedly mentioned within the context of this discussion, it could not be denied that every nation around the world has their own signature music, a sound art that serves as a mirror of their culture, their traditions and their characteristics as a collective group of people belonging to one nation. The conceivable sense of understanding the facts behind the impressive accounts of musical creations and sound art as it is makes a great indication that humans could still find it best to come together through music. Many matters have already been settled because of music. When it comes to the expansion of sound art, humans cannot defy the law of development but to simply follow the trend of advancement in the field of musical progress. Every year, there are hundreds of artists added in the list of musicians making a name in the field of musical entertainment, several hundreds more are listed on the names of those who create musical arrangements for the said artists, these added numbers in the statistics of the growth of sound art directly implies the fact that sound is indeed a remarkable note of human's creativity and human's pursuance of being able to mandate the kind of message that they are able to send towards their listeners, their audience, the world. References: Altman, Rick (1992). The Material Heterogeneity of Recorded Sound. Sound Theory, Sound Practice. American Film Institute. Routledge, London. Pages 15-31. Lander, Dan, and Micah Lexier (eds.). 1990. Sound by Artists. Toronto: Art Metropole/Walter Phillips Gallery. Licht, Alan. 2007. Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories (with accompanying compact disc recording). New York: Rizzoli International Publications. Lucier, Alvin, and Douglas Simon. 1980. Chambers. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press. Nechvatal, Joseph. 2000. "Towards a Sound Ecstatic Electronica". The Thing. Oliveros, Pauline. 1984. Software for People. Baltimore: Smith Publications. Paik, Nam June. 1963. "Post Music Manifesto," Videa N Videology. Syracuse, New York: Everson Museum of Art. Peer, Ren van. 1993. Interviews with Sound Artists. Eindhoven: Het Apollohuis. Schafer, R. Murray. 1977. The Soundscape. Rochester, Vermont: Destiny Books. Read More