Week 1: The Soundscape Syllogism

The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World, written by R. Murray Schafer, is one thrilling reading. I, myself, am a huge fan of the Industrial Revolution, and the way Schafer describes it reflects it from a lens that most of us have never previously considered. While we all know that the industrial revolution was a period in which many new inventions were brought to earth, I'm sure none of us have ever thought of the disturbances it brought in the process in terms of everyone's peace, in that it suffered with sound congestion. Furthermore, it brings to light how while it may have been unpleasant back in the day, it is nothing compared to the overpopulation of sounds that we face today, due to the world's population expanding more rapidly than ever before. Another intriguing point Schafer mentions in this article is that this historian by the name of Oswald Spengler separates social development into two different categories. These include the "cultural phase" and the "civilization phase." The "cultural phase" is specified to be when the main ideas of something are still maturing, while the "civilization phase," which is when the main ideas of the innovation have improved and have become legalized and transmitted. The last interesting point from this article that I feel should be brought to light is the fact that the industrial revolution brought in something called "the flat line in sound." The reason I especially like this one is that I find the way sound-waves travel extremely fascinating, so it's beyond intriguing for me to visualize how ventilators have straight lines that are just slightly bumpy, an axe chopping wood has a very bumpy line pattern, etc. Overall, this whole article inspired me tremendously, and I would recommend it to any historian, sound media enthusiast, and anyone who is just looking for a little fascination to have in their life.

Work Cited:

1. Schafer, Raymond Murray. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Destiny Books, 2006. 

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© James Goudros, 2021