Between Air and Electricity: Microphones and Loudspeakers as Musical Instruments

Description

This book is open access and available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by Knowledge Unlatched. Composers and sound artists have explored for decades how to transform microphones and loudspeakers from "inaudible" technology into genuinely new musical instruments. While the sound reproduction industry had claimed perfect high fidelity already at the beginning of the twentieth century, these artists found surprising ways of use - for instance tweaking microphones, swinging loudspeakers furiously around, ditching microphones in all kinds of vessels, or strapping loudspeakers to body parts of the audience. Between air and electricity traces their quest and sets forward a new theoretical framework, providing historic background on technological and artistic development, and diagrams of concert and performance set-ups. From popular noise musician Merzbow to minimalist classic Alvin Lucier, cult instrument inventor Hugh Davies, or contemporary visual artist Lynn Pook - they all aimed to make audible what was supposed to remain silent. www.microphonesandloudspeakers.com

Cathy van Eck is a composer, sound artist, and researcher in the arts with an interest in relationships between everyday objects, human performers, and electronic sound. She holds a Ph.D. of Leiden University and is lecturer at the University of the Arts in Bern.

This is a genuinely fascinating and under-represented area of compositional research and activity, and the strongest portion of van Eck's book is the riveting overview of the repertoire. * TEMPO * There is much to like about Between Air and Electricity ... An interesting feature of the book is a website ... There are a lot of examples and new text on the website, and one could spend numerous hours there alone. * Journal of Sonic Studies * The book was a combination of amazingly thoughtful critiques of pieces and techniques ... with new pieces and new ways of looking at (or listening to) equipment ... Anyone who is working in the area of sound art, interactive electronic composition or sound studies needs to read this book ... Van Eck brings a mature approach to the study of electronically produced sound, and I see a myriad of future scholarship written using the concepts and ontologies she developed for this book. * SoundEffects * One of the most informative aspects of this book is its citation, and discussion of, documents and patents published many decades ago ... A succinct, well-researched text. * Computer Music Journal * The subjects of this book, microphones and loudspeakers, are observed from an interesting and unusual perspective ... The opportunity for the author to exchange ideas with many different artists ... makes this research extremely lively and rich. * Musica Elettronica (Bloomsbury translation) * It is obvious that the influence of technology is a key issue in the study of music. Van Eck goes one step further: she explores the conscious use of speakers and microphones themselves as instruments ... An ambitious book. * GROOVE (Bloomsbury translation) * Van Eck offers a captivating history of the development of loudspeakers and microphones and their fundamental influence on music practice-and the world beyond. In addition she covers an exciting collection of music, which she uses to analyse their fluid identity as a composing method and a musical instrument. * Gonzo Circus (Bloomsbury translation) * The large number of female composers represented here is noteworthy - it seems as though the allegedly male-dominated field of electronic music is just as much in the hands of women. (Bloomsbury translation) * Positionen * The book is worth reading and aimed in particular at an audience without technical expertise ... A particularly informative addition is the accompanying website (www.microphonesandloudspeakers.com), where you can find not only audio and video documents discussed in the book but also numerous examples of other relevant works ... This book's originality lies in its dedication to these unconventional interactions with technology. * Dissonance (Bloomsbury Translation) * Cathy van Eck takes us on a wondrous journey from pressure waves to electric currents and reveals behind the curtain of technology historical narratives, cultural ideologies and artistic imaginings that bring its norms and capabilities into a new light. Her book draws out insightful connections between standards and possibilities, and permits the timely questioning of technological determinism and instrumental inevitability. * Salome Voegelin, Author of Sonic Possible Worlds (2014), Listening to Noise and Silence (2010), and Associate Professor in Sound Arts at the London College of Communication, UAL, UK * Between Air and Electricity fills a long standing niche. The text sets itself apart from the many technical books on microphones and loudspeakers, as Cathy van Eck gives refreshing and well-articulated insight into the artistic potential of working with these mediums. * Katharina Rosenberger, Associate Professor, University of California San Diego, USA * In the hands of creative sound artists and composers, microphones and loudspeakers have challenged and changed our traditional definition of the musical instrument as well as the relationship of performance gesture to sound. Cathy van Eck's groundbreaking book systematically explores these alternative and radical new uses, finding four key approaches - 'reproducing - supporting - generating - interacting' - to help us navigate. Using a wide range of practical examples she shows how musicians and sound artists have explored this new found land which lies Between Air and Electricity. This book will be essential reading for practitioners and writers in music and media arts, as well as anyone interested in how things work in experimental art and music made with technology. * Simon Emmerson, Professor of Music, Technology and Innovation, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK *