Sound and Technology
The proposed Sound and Technology working group is concerned with the a focus on scholarship coming from history of technology and science towards a history of sonic technocultures. This group welcomes scholars interested in sound and sound technology from all time periods, though the group’s reading and writing will focus on cases, debates, and actors that engage the conditions of sound’s technological reproducibility since the late 19th century. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the topic, relevant studies have been fragmented across a variety of fields within the humanities, arts, social sciences, engineering, acoustics, and the sciences. This working group will work across these disciplines to collectively interpret sources and commentary that share an interest in sound.
The group meets at 11:30 am Eastern Time on third Thursdays of each month.
Please set your timezone at https://www.chstm.org/user
Consortium Respectful Behavior Policy
Participants at Consortium activities will treat each other with respect and consideration to create a collegial, inclusive, and professional environment that is free from any form of discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.
Participants will avoid any inappropriate actions or statements based on individual characteristics such as age, race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, nationality, political affiliation, ability status, educational background, or any other characteristic protected by law. Disruptive or harassing behavior of any kind will not be tolerated. Harassment includes but is not limited to inappropriate or intimidating behavior and language, unwelcome jokes or comments, unwanted touching or attention, offensive images, photography without permission, and stalking.
Participants may send reports or concerns about violations of this policy to conduct@chstm.org.
Upcoming Meetings
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Thursday, December 21, 2023 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EST
TBA
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Thursday, January 18, 2024 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EST
TBA
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Thursday, February 15, 2024 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EST
TBA
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Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EDT
TBA
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Thursday, April 18, 2024 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EDT
TBA
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Thursday, May 16, 2024 11:30 am to 1:00 pm EDT
TBA
Past Meetings
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November 16, 2023
We'll discuss Joe Snape and Georgina Born, "Max, Music Software and the Mutual Mediation of Aesthetics
and Digital Technologies" from Georgina Born (ed.), Music and Digital Media: A Planetary Anthropology
https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/187643
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October 19, 2023
We'll read and discuss chapters 1 and 4 from Viktoria Tkaczyk's book Thinking with Sound: A New Program in the Sciences and Humanities around 1900
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September 28, 2023
We'll discuss the introduction and Chapter 4 from Michele Friedner. Sensory Futures: Deafness and Cochlear Implant Infrastructures in India. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2022.
The book is open access and available here: https://muse.jhu.edu/book/101002%20/
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May 18, 2023
Virdi, J. (2020). Hearing Happiness: Deafness Cures in History. University of Chicago Press.
We'll be discussing chapter 1, Improbable miracles.
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April 20, 2023
Noah Kahrs - PhD candidate, University of Rochester
Chapter title: "Electronic Music’s Separation of Acoustics from Tonality" from a dissertation currently titled: "Composing (with) Theories of Acoustics and Pitch Perception after 1950."
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March 16, 2023
Kelli Smith-Biwer (UNC)
Dissertation chapter 2: Tangled Technologies: Audio Cables and Midcentury Scientific Masculinity
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February 16, 2023
We'll discuss the introduction and first chapter of Fanny Gribenski's new book, Tuning the World: The Rise of 440 Hertz in Music, Science, and Politics, 1859–1955 (Chicago, 2023).
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January 19, 2023
We'll discuss the Intro and Chapter 1 of Computing Taste: Algorithms and the Makers of Music Recommendation by Nick Seaver (Chicago Press, 2022).
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December 15, 2022
We'll be discussing
McCray, Patrick. 2020. Making Art Work: How Cold War Engineers and Artists Forged a New Creative Culture. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press.
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November 17, 2022
We'll be discussing a chapter from Katherine McKittrick's 2021 book Dear Science, "(Zong) Bad Made Measure" (pp125-150).
Magnus Schaeffer will be joining back as discussant!
Group Conveners
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Eamonn Bell
Eamonn Bell is Assistant Professor at the Department of Computer Science, Durham University. Most generally, his research examines the history of digital technology in relation to contemporary musical production, consumption, criticism, and analysis. He holds a doctoral degree in music theory from Columbia University (2019) and a bachelor’s degree in music and mathematics from TCD (2013).
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Brian Miller
Brian A. Miller is a lecturer in the Program in Computing for the Arts and Sciences at the University of Michigan. He completed a Ph.D. in music theory at Yale University in 2020, where he has also served as a lecturer. His research focuses on the role of computation in both the intellectual history and current practice of music theory, particularly in relation to the work of music theorist Leonard Meyer and his influential theory of musical style. He has also published on the computer modeling of jazz improvisation and and on Adorno's conception of musical style.
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Magnus Schaefer
Magnus Schaefer is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Art History and Communication Studies at McGill University. Magnus's thesis focuses on digital sound analysis and synthesis in the 1950s and 1960s, tracing practices of formalization that turn simulated acoustic phenomena into objects of knowledge. Magnus holds an M.A. in Art History from Humboldt University, Berlin.
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