Research Catalogue

an international database for artistic research

• 27. Issue 27 Issue 27

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  From culture to nature and back. A personal journey through the soundscapes of Colombia (2020) author(s): Lamberto Coccioli published in: Journal of Sonic Studies, Birmingham City University
  The purpose of this essay is twofold: to celebrate the astonishing richness and diversity of Colombia’s natural and human soundscapes, and to reconstruct the process through which my direct experience of those soundscapes has influenced my own creative work as a composer. Reflecting on a long personal and intellectual journey of discovery that plays out on many levels – musical, anthropological, aesthetical – helps bring to the fore important questions on music composition as the locus of cultural appropriation and reinterpretation. How far can the belief system of a distant culture travel before it loses its meaning? From a post-colonial perspective, can a European composer justify the use and repurposing of ideas, sounds and songs from marginalised indigenous communities? In trying to give an answer to these questions through the lens of my own experience I keep unravelling layer upon layer of complexity, in a fascinating game of mirrors where my own identity as a "Western" composer starts crumbling away.
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  Tropicália: Sonic Resistance, Relationships, and Reframing (2020) author(s): Laura Robinson published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
  In 1964, the military dictatorship in Brazil seized political power and extended their domain to many facets of Brazilian society. In this context of repression, artists and musicians created the powerful yet short-lived cultural movement called Tropicália. This paper examines the sounds of the Tropicália in response to the call to remap sound studies to include sounds of the “South” issued by Gavin Steingo and Jim Sykes in their edited volume Remapping Sound Studies. Concerning the terms “South” and “North,” they critically probe conceptualizations of the South not only in terms of geography but also as implicit bias in power relations. Significantly, they argue against the use of the “South” as an oversimplified binary that is contrasted with framings of the conceptual “North.” Instead, they argue that the terms are fluid and indicate both “empirical categories” and “ideological constructs” (Steingo and Sykes 2019: 3). Taking issue with the hegemonic influences along multiple axes of power, Steingo and Sykes argue for the fundamental need to examine sounds from the South as constituting an important but often neglected genre in the large field of sound studies. To fill this need, they make three proposals for the remapping of a new cartography of sound theory. First, in terms of sounds’ relationship to technology, Steingo and Sykes urge for exploration of the constitution of culture through techniques made possible by technological innovation. Second, they argue for sonic studies to move in a relational direction to illuminate the relationship between listener and what is heard. Third, they encourage scholars to unpack the elements of sonic studies that reveal friction and antagonism, particularly in terms of social relations, a shift that moves the field beyond the perceptual qualities of sound toward the emotional and relational constructions of sounds as they are interpreted by listeners.
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  Editorial (2020) author(s): Pedro J S Vieira de Oliveira published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
  Editorial for the Journal of Sonic Studies 19.
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  Rail Transport Soundscapes: Journeys in the Urban Space of São Paulo (2020) author(s): Nicolau Centola published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
  Project R$4.00 proposes a study of the soundscapes of public rail transport in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. The author travelled with an audio recorder for more than three hours on the city’s subway and train lines. The aim was to analyze the sound similarities and differences between the 12 city lines. This recording was transformed into a sound installation which uses binaural techniques to recreate the sound spatialization recorded inside the wagons.
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  Radio Art in Brazil: A Panorama of Artists and Productions (2020) author(s): Mauro Sá Rego Costa, Adriana Gomes Ribeiro and Pedro de Albuquerque Araujo published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
  Abstract: The essay begins with a synthetic history of the emergence of radio art in Brazil. We present different ways in which radio art is produced and programmed in Brazil, enumerating the principal stations and artists, starting with the two public cultural stations in which it was first produced: Rádio Cultura FM (São Paulo) and Rádio MEC FM (Rio de Janeiro). The text also introduces readers to artists who have created radio art and sound art pieces in and out of the space of airwaves within art galleries and museums or outdoors. Finally, we present the most recent overview of Brazilian radio art using the Internet and all interconnected media.
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  The Triangle and the Thin Biscuit: Reverberations of a Walking Practice (2020) author(s): Thaís Amorim Aragão published in: Journal of Sonic Studies
  The sound of the triangle played by street vendors who sell a kind of wafer, known as chegadinho, in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza is often associated with childhood memories. Taken together, however, these acoustically marked trajectories can reveal complex dynamics regarding the city's own territory and its relationship to other places in Latin America and Europe. This article aims to present data collected from street vendors who reported on how they use sound and space to communicate with the population. I also discuss documentary research on the precedence of the practice as well as its influence on Brazilian music.
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