Listening
Hearing is the passive reception of sound waves by the auditory system — it happens automatically. Listening is an active, intentional act of directed attention.
“Hearing is a physiological phenomenon; listening is a psychological act.” — Roland Barthes, Listening, 1985
Modes of Listening
Three modes, drawn from Pierre Schaeffer1 and Michel Chion2:
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Causal listening — listening to identify the source of a sound. What made that noise?
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Semantic listening — listening for meaning, as in speech or language. What is being said?
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Reduced listening — listening to the sound itself, separated from its source or meaning. What does this sound like, as pure sonic material?
Related
Footnotes
Linked from
- Field RecordingField recording is the practice of recording sound in real environments — outdoors, indoors, urban, industrial, natural.
- Foley ArtFoley is the reproduction of everyday sound effects added to film, video, and other media in post-production.
- Furniture MusicMusique d'ameublement (furniture music) is a term coined by French composer Erik Satie in 1917 for music composed to be actively ignored.
- PsychoacousticsPsychoacoustics is the study of how humans perceive sound — the relationship between the physical properties of a sound wave and the subjective experience of hearing it.
- SoundSound is a mechanical wave — a vibration that propagates through a medium (air, water, solid matter) as a series of compressions and rarefactions.
- Sound DesignSound design is the practice of creating and shaping sound purposefully for a given context.
- GlossaryKey technical and conceptual terms used in this course.
- Week 1Learn to Listen to Your Environment21 Apr
- Week 2Audiocumentaries + Sound Taxonomy28 Apr