The idea of creating art using sounds and vibrations might seem bizarre; however, the specified concept has recently been the source of unfaltering interest among numerous audiences. In his book, Trevor Wishart (1996) explains the concept of sonic art, including the nature of the phenomenon, its aesthetic value, and the way of perceiving it as a legitimate art form, appreciating its multiple nuances. By incorporating the history of sonic art and its current perceptions with the physical and linguistic interpretation of sound, Wishart (1996) has created a compelling multifaceted way of interpreting sound art.
Incorporating his personal experience into the narrative, Wishart understandably starts with the definition of sonic art. However, according to the author, prior to building an understanding of what sonic art is, one must grasp the notion of music. Wishart explains that music can be interpreted as a constellation of sounds arranged in the order defined by its creator (Wishart, 1996). Thus, sound art as the extension of music should be regarded as the connection between a sound and an object (Wishart, 1996).
In his attempts to demonstrate the concept of sonic art, Wishart continues to explain that the notion in question extends beyond the idea of the pitch/duration paradigm. Namely, writing and speaking as the sources of sound, the former being a potential one and the latter being an immediate one, are represented as the essential precursors to creating sonic art. Moreover, the notion of sonic art, when viewed as the direct product of philosophical thought, can be traced back to as far as Plato, with his notion of a personal experience being less realistic than the perceived idea of an object (Wishart, 1996). Juxtaposing music to the “hegemony of writing,” Wishart (1996, p. 14) also connects music to a language, pointing out the numerous systems of symbols that have been used for expressing music ideas.
Continuing his dive into the philosophical perceptions of sound and music, Wishart (1996) offers a look at the phenomenology of sound. According to Wishart (1996), the development of the understanding of sound can be interpreted as the string of conclusions made by Pythagoras, further elaborated upon by Fourier, and completed by Helmholtz. Thus, musical theory and the theory of sound in music can be seen as the continuity of analyzing stable vibrations and the further development of the standard musical theory and practice.
Having addressed the theory, Wishart (1996) transfers to the discussion of the nature of the sound in the spatial context. Specifically, Wishart (1996) concludes that pitch space has a unique structure based on harmony and adjacency. Namely, the perception of the sound as a part of the sonic-spatial system is examined through the lens of duration, explaining that once the distance in time between different sounds reaches a critical point, they are no longer perceived as a part of the harmony. Moreover, Wishart (1996) questions the legitimacy and reasonability of the Western 12-note structure, outlining other approaches to perceiving the sound.
The concept of sound structures within the spatial and time-related continuum is another critical point of the argument. Namely, it is established that, apart from building specific noise structures, it is also vital to introduce the concept of dynamic morphology in order to create the string of sounds that exist as the representation of coherent musical thought. For this purpose, specific notation conventions can be advised, including the ones that allow for the separation between objects and sounds. As a result, a comprehensive and helpful vocabulary of sound objects can be compiled.
The concept of the pitch as a part of the sound in music is inextricably linked to gesture, a Wishart (1996) explains. Offering multiple hints at the nature of composition and the manner in which it should be performed, pitch and pitch contour can be applied to a variety of sounds that might seem to be a divorced form of music at first glance, such as whistling. Similarly, gesture plays a tremendous role in adding expressivity to the sound and enriching it, both thematically and emotionally. Connecting language, dance, and music, gesture offers a broad range of artistic expressivity options that may complement the sound.
Bringing the discussion back to sound as a phenomenon in music, Wishart (1996) turns to the analysis of the sound landscape as a part of the sound framework. Implying that some aspects of the sound landscape and, therefore, the internal architecture of the sound may impact the end product, Wishart (1996) emphasizes the role of the environment in which a sound is produced on the result. Due to the multifaceted and often convoluted nature of the Western perception of the sound landscape, recognizing the source of the sound may become a problem, which constitutes one of the key characteristics of Western music and the role of sound in it. Thus, in order to amplify the effect of the sound as a part of the musical experience, enhancing the artistic impression of the target audience, the specifics of the landscape must be taken into account.
Furthermore, a range of myths inhabits the realm of music and the discussions around it. The mythology associated with music and, specifically, the sound complicates the task of understanding the notion of the latter. Furthermore, the phenomenon of the sound image could be interpreted as a metaphor. Implying the combination of the musical object and the physical object that the music strives to represent, the sound-image turns into a metaphor that translates into every language and speaks similar ideas to all listeners. With additional structural changes, the perception of the sound image can be transformed in order to communicate an array of ideas to listeners.
Wishart (1996) also points to the possibility of a natural morphology within sounds as the key property of the sound object. Therefore, opportunities for the sound object to evolve and represent unique ideas increase. Implying that the sound morphology contains two key concepts, namely one of an intrinsic sound and one of imposed one, Wishart (1996) suggests that imposed morphology should be split into nine categories, namely, continuous, iterative, unsteady, and the available combinations of two types within the specified system.
Connecting sound to the concepts of spatial motion and utterance, Wishart concludes that the human repertoire, in regard to the range of sounds that an individual can produce, is quite vast, yet it is inevitably restricted by human physiology. Thus, incorporating other elements to include variability into the process of creating the sound is a desirable yet not quite necessary step. For instance, the use of the air stream allows controlling the production of the sound, thus, altering it slightly yet intentionally. As a result, the human repertoire can be expanded by considering the human body’s limitations and focusing on using the available advantages to minimize the disadvantages.
Exploring the opportunities of improving the sound further, Wishart (1996) addresses the notion of phonemic objects, thus, incorporating the principles of linguistics into constructing the sound and enriching the experience of the audiences and the performers simultaneously. The specified assumption leads to the idea of natural morphology as the main criteria for the assessment of the sound object that originates from the performance of the mouth-tract system. Consequently, it is vital to consider the nature of the sounds as they are produced within the mouth-tract system in order to improve the quality of the end result and enhance the overall experience of the sound. In this respect, the phenomenon of paralanguage should be mentioned as the components of speech that are not related to lexis. Wishart also points out that no sound as a form of art is produced in isolation from society and, therefore, must be viewed as the outcome of the relationships between the two.
Finally, the book concludes with the idea of building sound models as a means of moving away from instruments. However, pointing out the acoustic limitations of the current perspective, Wishart suggests that the specified notion should remain the subject of further research. Nonetheless, Wishart emphasizes that with the transfer from music to sound as an artistic unit, civilization makes a tremendous step on the path of cultural progress.
Wishart’s approach toward understanding sonic art, which implies tracking down its history and including not only the musical but also the physical and linguistic nature of a sound, has allowed for a unique and refreshing way of looking at the notion of sound art. Although the book also pays a vast amount of attention to the musical perspective on sounds, it also features approaches that might seem alien to the realm of art, including those of physics, biology, and even philosophy. Therefore, the book offers a constellation of ideas that create a comprehensive, all-embracing interpretation of sound, both as a musical unit and as an integral part of people’s lives.
Reference
Wishart, T. (1996). On sonic art (Vol. 12) (Emmerson, S., ed.). Psychology Press.