Environmental Sound Artists In Their Own Words

Environmental Sound Artists: In Their Own Words is an incisive and imaginative look at the international environmental sound art movement, which emerged in the late 1960s. The term environmental sound art is generally applied to the work of sound artists who incorporate processes in which the artist actively engages with the environment. While the field of environmental sound art is diverse and includes a variety of approaches, the art form diverges from traditional contemporary music by the conscious and strategic integration of environmental impulses and natural processes.

This book presents a current perspective on the environmental sound art movement through a collection of personal writings by important environmental sound artists. Dismayed by the limitations and gradual breakdown of contemporary compositional strategies, environmental sound artists have sought alternate venues, genres, technologies, and delivery methods for their creative expression. Environmental sound art is especially relevant because it addresses political, social, economic, scientific, and aesthetic issues. As a result, it has attracted the participation of artists internationally. Awareness and concern for the environment has connected and unified artists across the globe and has achieved a solidarity and clarity of purpose that is singularly unique and optimistic. The environmental sound art movement is borderless and thriving.

Frederick Bianchi is a composer and music technologist. Recognized internationally for his musical compositions, installations, and innovative music technology development, Bianchi has been associated with interactive music applications since the mid-1980s.

V.J. Manzo is Assistant Professor of Music Technology and Cognition at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is the author of the books MAX/MSP/Jitter for Music, Foundations of Music Technology, and co-author of Interactive Composition, all published by Oxford University Press.

Foreword
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Sonifications of Global Environmental Data
Andrea Polli
2. Sewer Pipe Organ
Philip Blackburn
3. Biophonic Sound Sculptures in Public Spaces
Bernie Krause
4. A Philosophical Report From Work-In-Progress
David Dunn
5. Listening to the Earth
John Bullitt
6. The Place Where You Go to Listen: An Ecosystem of Sound and Light
John Luther Adams
7. Meltwater
Cheryl E. Leonard
8. Hearing Curved Space
Jeff Talman
9. River Listening
Leah Barclay
10. Sun Boxes
Craig Colorusso
11. Bridge Music and Tower Music
Joseph Bertolozzi
12. Data as Music: Why Musically Encoded Sonification Design Offers a Rich Palette for Information Display
Marty Quinn
13. Sonic Landscapes (finding a sense of place with my ears)
Bruce Odland
14. Sonic Migrations: listening in-between, sensing place
Ximena Alarcón
15. Sound Architecture
Zimoun
16. The Sonic Ecology of Structures
China Blue
17. Why Bring Nature Into Your Music?
David Rothenberg
18. The Dawn Chorus
Gordon Hempton
19. Bivvy Broadcasts
Dawn Scarfe
20. A Philosophy of Eco-acoustics in the Interdisciplinary Project "Fragments of Extinction"
David Monacchi
21. Towards Activist Sound: N30 Live at the WTO Protest November 30, 1999
Christopher DeLaurenti
22. The Listening Experience of "Paramnesia"
Aki Pasoulas
23. Musical Heuristics in Six Ecoacoustic Quintets
Matthew Burtner
Index