The Logic of Filtering: How Noise Shapes the Sound of Recorded Music [Paperback]

The Logic of Filteringoffers a media archaeological perspective on sound and music that develops a new analysis of the noise that technologies add to recorded sound. It shows that this noise is not a disturbance but a central characteristic of recorded music that shapes how listeners relate to it.The Logic of Filteringtraces the profound impact of technical media on the sound of music, asking: how do media technologies shape sound? How does this affect music? And how did it change what we listen for in music? Since the invention of sound recording in the second half of the nineteenth century, media that transmit, record, store, and reproduce physical sound inspired dreams of perfect reproduction, but were also confronted with the inevitable introduction of noise. Based on a wide range of historical, technical and theoretical sources, author Melle Jan Kromhout explores this one hundred and forty-year history of sound media and shows why noise should not be understood as unwanted by-effect, but instead plays a foundational role in shaping the sonic contours of recorded music.The Logic of Filteringdevelops an extensive media archaeological analysis of the 'noise of sound media,' encompassing all the disturbances, distortions, and interferences that these media add to the sounds they reproduce. It thereby stands to enrich our understanding of the way in which sound media changed and continue to change the sonorous qualities of music, and offers new perspectives on the interaction between music, media and listeners.AcknowledgementsIntroduction: The Noise of Sound MediaChapter 1: The Myth of Perfect FidelityChapter 2: The Logic of Noise ReductionChapter 3: Ideal and Technical FiltersChapter 4: Time and TransienceChapter 5: The Logic of FilteringConclusion: The 'Other Music'BibliographyMelle Jan Kromhoutis an independent scholar working on the intersection of musicology, sound studies, and media studies. After clCF