Sound, space and noise: influence of the radio on music and sound art

Abstract

This dissertation aims to address and contribute to the discussions surrounding the relationship of radio, electroacoustic music, and sound art practices. Thesis discusses the relationship between the acoustic environment created through radio and its influence over music and sound art. Topic is evaluated from contextual and artistic perspectives. Discussions include the aesthetic choices made by artists who work with radio, the influence of radio noise on the current musical sound palette, and radio's impact on sound art with a three-part timeline. All discussions and historical evaluations revolve around an installation based on the radio broadcasting, electromagnetic fields and inaudible sounds. The presented installation is a way to actualize the blurred lines between noise and musical sounds, at an inaudible level. The inaudible level represents the development of wireless communication and the presence of radio in the current environment. Electromagnetic waves function as the audio reflection of constructed radio networks. Theories behind the installation consider this network as any landscape's inaudible profile, an avoided layer of the current acoustic environment. In this sound installation, the relationship between the audible and inaudible layers of the acoustic environment is presented as a game. The influence of the acoustic environment on the sound palette in music and radio arts throughout the 20th century will create the core of discussions through a historical timeline. The thesis examines electronically distributed sounds and their identification throughout the 20th century, with an emphasis on radio's involvement in our daily lives. The sounds that we are consciously or unconsciously exposed to have an impact on our personal listening habits, artistic outputs, or artistic foresight. The creation of alternative acoustic environments and the reassessment of silence throughout the 20th and 21st centuries are analyzed under the principal factors of sound propagation systems, recording technology, and silent carriers. The identification of electronically distributed sounds and their shifting identities through the second half of the 20th century will provide the basis for the conclusion. The discussions about the influence of technology and the radio space were looked at in a timeline that was inspired by Denis Smalley's Spectromorphology. The main components of this timeline are covered in the first part, while the second part examines and evaluates radio as a musical and ambient acoustic material. Various acoustic identities that change through time are involved in the mentioned sound palette used in music, radio and sound art. The influence of radio on arts and environmental sounds creates the core question for the thesis. Will sound propagation influence musicians and artists in shaping and re-identifying their sound palette, while following the technological influence over the environment? Will artists shape and identify the 'future sonic networks' in art through the utilization of technology and their foresight? Where should current radio practices be placed as sonic reflections in sound art? Discussions will also look at how music and radio intersect in specific artworks. The history of music and radio's intersection in specific artworks will show the identity shift of electromagnetic field and radio sound. As a practical outcome, the intersection between technology, arts, and acoustic narratives created through modern lifestyles will be reflected through a sound installation. The installation uses the simplest electronic structures one can find in technology related to sound. The use of tone generator circuits, copper coils, a radio transmitter, and two speakers is employed to explicate the materialistic simplicity of the onset of radio narrative, along with the sonic/musical identity's complexity through a game.