The Meaning of Indeterminacy: Noise Music as Performance

Abstract

In aesthetic terms, the category of 'sound' is often split in two: 'noise', which is chaotic, unfamiliar, and offensive; and 'music', which is harmonious, resonant, and divine. These opposing concepts are brought together in the phenomenon of Noise Music, but how do practitioners make sense of this apparent discordance? Analyses that treat recorded media as primary texts declare Noise Music to be a failure, as a genre without progress. These paint Noise as a polluted form in an antagonistic relationship with traditional music. But while critiques often point to indeterminate structure as indicative of the aesthetic project's limitations, we claim that indeterminacy itself becomes central to meaningful expression when the social context of Noise is considered. Through observational and interview data, we consider the contexts, audiences, and producers of contemporary American Noise Music. Synthesizing the performance theories of Hennion and Alexander, we demonstrate how indeterminacy situated in structured interaction allows for meaning-making and sustains a musical form based in claims to inclusion, access, and creative freedom. We show how interaction, not discourse, characterizes the central performance that constructs the meaning of Noise.

Musik Noise: Sebuah Seni, Ekspresi, dan Perlawanan

“…Pemusik noise bahkan dapat menggunakan gergaji mesin, palu, piring, kaca, atau benda lainnya yang menghasilkan bunyi. Melalui kebisingan dan tidak adanya harmonisasi nada dan ritme, musik noise menyajikan "inversi simbolik" dari bahasa musik tradisional (Babcock, 1978 dalam Klett dan Gerber, 2014). Inversi simbolik dalam musik noise memperlihatkan adanya keterbalikan nilai simbolis dalam seni musik melalui pendobrakan pakem-pakem musik konvensional; sehingga membuat makna musik yang berbeda dengan musik-musik konvensional pada umumnya.…”

“…Musik noise menjadi bagian musik dari caranya dalam mengorganisasikan suarasuara bising dari alat yang tidak lazim dijadikan sebagai alat musik dengan cara yang ekspresif. Musik noise hadir bukan untuk menghancurkan seni musik yang sudah ada, melainkan untuk memperluas bahasa musik sekaligus menciptakan hubungan-hubungan antara seni dengan manusia melalui suara dan hal-hal lain di sekitarnya (Klett dan Gerber, 2014).…”

Advertising morality: maintaining moral worth in a stigmatized profession

“…While the importance of such studies is evident, they have moved interest further away from engagement with the accounts culture producers provide for their work. Although there have been several meaning-centered studies of sites of culture production in recent years (Bartmanski and Woodward 2015;Klett 2014;Klett and Gerber 2014;McCormick 2009), these studies have not yet approached the broader moral significance cultural products bear for their producers.…”

Listening without ears: Artificial intelligence in audio mastering

“…In this section, I discuss the affective and intuitive aspects of human audio mastering in order to provide a concrete and accessible account of how human labour is changing, or not, in response to AI. There is a felt, affective, emotional side to this labour alongside the routine and scientific aspects, since audio mastering involves engagement with human socio-cultural notions of noise as desirable or undesirable depending on the genre and taste of the listener (Klett and Gerber, 2014). After Atkinson, sound demarcates territory: the 'sound of a neighbour's music does not have to be loud, to compromise our sense of autonomy in the domestic setting ' (2007: 198).…”