To Have an Ear: Music and the Otological Experience

Abstract

This essay analyzes the historical development of otology in relation to music. It illustrates the integral role of music perception and appreciation in the study of hearing, where hearing operates not simply as a scientific phenomenon but signifies particular meaningful experiences in society. The four historical moments considered-Helmholtz's piano-keyed cochlea, the ear phonautograph, the hearing aid, and the cochlear implant-show how the sounds, perceptions, and instruments of music have mediated and continue to mediate our relationships with hearing. To have an ear, one does not just bear a physiological hearing mechanism; one experiences the aesthetics of musical sound.