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Byrne, Rath and Blesser and Salter all discuss how sound and spaces interact. They look at how the sounds are impacted by the space in which they are produced; Rath explains this relationship using the term “‘catacoustics,’ the study of how sound was instrumentally projected, reflected, dissipated, and otherwise manipulated once it had been produced” (Rath). While they all agree that the space affects the sound and how one hears the sound, they disagree on if the sound or the space comes first. Byrne, in his TEDTalk says, the “vessel is created first” therefore, the sound, in his example, music, is made for the ‘vessel’ in which it is being performed. He explains how birds adapt their calls depending on the space which they are living in, and he uses this as a comparison to humans. He says, “the passion, the joy is not mutually exclusive, what the world needs now is for us to realize that we are like the birds. we adapt, we sing, like the bird, the joy is still there even though we have changed what we do to fit the context” (Byrne). For years, artist, from Bach to pop musicians today, adapt to and play for the place in which they perform their music. However, Rath and Blesser and Salter think that spaces adapt for the sound. Blesser and Salter discuss the Great Ball Court, which was a large gathering area place surrounded by large stone walls, was considered perfect for a religious leader to preach because his voice was louder, giving him “higher stature and perceived power” (Blesser and Salter). It was said that, “whispers at one end can be heard at the other end, making it an ideal place for a ceremonial leader to guide the audience” (Blesser and Salter). Rath talks about how spaces where changed to fit the sound, draping curtains to dampen echo and change the space’s catacoustics. Rath explain how “The Reformation changed the acoustics of existing churches. Graven sounds as well as graven images had to be removed. Clarity of voice rather than fullness became the goal” (Rath). Byrne, Rath and Blesser and Salter highlight different approaches to how sound and space interreact, giving each the reader gaps allowing one to figure out how they think about and interact with space and sound around them. 

In Stoever’s piece “The Sonic Color Line,” she addresses the idea of a “listening ear” and the “sonic color line.” The sonic color line can be explained as “the process of racializing sound” based on how people thing things should sound. With this idea comes the listening ear; it explains how society and culture teaches one how to listen. When we look at in the Narrative and the life of Fredrick Douglass’s, the slave songs can be interpreted using this idea of the sonic color line and the listening ear. The slave songs, “revealing at once the high joy and the deepest sadness,” were sang without any preparation or attention to timing for tune (Douglass 13). However, while fellow slaves could interpret the songs as songs of sadness, the white plantation owners did not. The sonic color line divides the society between blacks and white, causing meaning to shift on either side of the line. Douglass, a black slave, says, “I have sometimes thought that the mere hearing of those songs would do more to impress some minds with the horrible character of slavery, than reading of whole volumes of philosophy on the subject could do” (Douglass 13-14). He believes that these songs have more emotion and can portray more meaning to people than reading any book on slavery. While today, the sonic color line as progressed to allow many whites to hear the treachery of slavery in the songs, when they were singing, few whites could hear the true pain in the songs. Douglass explains how “every tone was a testimony against slavery, and a prayer to God for deliverance from chains” and how “[he] ha[s] frequently found [him]self in tears while hearing them” (Douglass 14). The songs hold more meaning for Douglass and his fellow Africain Americans who can more fully understand the struggle, having a listening ear that has been attuned to the hardships and oppression from whites. However, even despite progress, whites have still not developed a listening ear that is fully capable of understanding the slave songs. Will the sonic color line ever disappear and allow whites to understand the hardships of slavery?

Cover – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=20Ov0cDPZy8 

Original – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lWJXDG2i0A 

“Free Fallin’” originally by Tom Petty pales in comparison to John Mayer’s cover of the song. In the original version, the song lacks interest. The vocals, while constant, lack interest, leaving it hard to listen to the melody and hard relax while listening. The raspy voice adds to the discomfort of the song; it sounds as though Petty is straining his voice when he is singing. The vocals lack range, leaving the song to feel monotone. The melody, which is dominated by a guitar, lacks any interest, leaving the listener feel like they are missing something. However, the cover by John Mayer give life to the song. The acoustic guitar adds variation and depth to the song that the music was missing. The overall melody of the song is emphasized by the smooth vocals and guitar. With the smooth melody, the song becomes easier to listen to, allowing the lyrics to become more apparent and gain more meaning than in the original version. The background vocals also add to the relaxed nature of the song that brings more ease in listening to the cover. When Mayer sings “free” about three and a half minutes into the song, there is a lightness underneath is words that Petty lacked. The weightlessness of Mayer’s voice in these moments places his cover above the original. The acoustic cover feels like it is from a “’technologically innocent’ era…, it lends an aura of increased ‘humanity’ and ‘soulfulness’ to the singer’s voice” (Weheliye 513). The cover adds a humanity that make the connection to the listener stonger. 

Crawford talks about social media and the importance of the listener and audience in social media. The idea of “speaking up” and using one’s voice is often the most common an acknowledged way people participate in social media; however, “lurking” is also important for the continued growth of and participation in social media. The people who lurk are providing an audience for those “speaking up” to preform to and get reactions from, encouraging them to continue to share. Without people listening, social medias would die out; lurkers “contribute a mode of receptiveness that encourages others to make public contributions” (81). Twitter, as a social media, also plays off the idea of sound with its name; Twitter can apply to the “calling of birds, or the ‘idle’ chatter of humans” (83). The constant chatter of humans can be both entertaining and difficult to navigate and understand with “a stream of multilayered information” (83). One can have a tweet about a celebrity blog, political news, and a picture of a dog doing something crazy all in the span of seconds. This complex of information allows for many Twitter users to establish different types of relationships with the social media. Many will choose to share personal information while others choose to retweet other people’s thoughts or not post at all. However, all “disclosure made in social media spaces develop a relationship with an audience of listeners” (83). However, in 2009, when the piece was written, the norms of social media had not yet developed, leaving the relationship between audience and speaker unclear and difficult to define. In recent year, the increase in participation in social media has developed more norms. Corporations and politicians struggle to keep balanced communication with their audience with the growth in the platforms, so the expectation for constant responses has gone down. Therefore, they have moved to using their social medias for promotions and marketing. Individual users have also been able to set their own standard for how they are going to participate in social media. Lurking is no longer seen as a drain on social media; it has even been glorified. Many people openly enjoy, and even pride themselves in, being able to stalk other people. Therefore, the relationship between listener and audience can defined by the individual, breaking away from the idea of a norm. 

Bad Lip Reading Clips, while comedic, also makes one feel uneasy. The voice in the video looks like it is coming from the individual when it is understood that the video had been dubbed to make it seem like they are saying comical things. Voice is something personal to the individual, whether one believes in Barthe’s idea of voice coming from “deep down in the cavities, the muscles, the membranes, the cartilage” of the individual— also known as the grain—or one believes in Aristotle’s idea that voice comes the breath hitting “the soul resident” of the body (Barthes 505, Aristotle 670). It becomes unsettling to hear a computerized robot voice coming from a human’s mouth. The robotic sounding voice leads us to fall into the uncanny valley. The uncanny valley occurs when a humanoid object, which appears almost truly human or strangely familiar to a human, causes observers to feel strange and repulsed. The voice of a computer gives one a very different feeling then when “someone in flesh and bone who emits it” (Cavarero 522). The voice of human is strong but limited. Society has trained people to think, act, and speak in certain ways that are suitable for certain situations, making the bad lip reading live footage clips feel more uncomfortable. However, the cinematic lip reading to Star Wars, including nonhumans and music, makes is easier to watch and trust since one is not listening for the flaws; the setting, often used comedy allows for it because of viewer expectations. While the political stage adds comedic value, it also makes the sound untrustworthy. With sight being very linear and direct, sound is more nebulous; so while the video is easy to trust the words are not, making the viewer second guess the presentation. Overall, while the videos are entertaining, the uncanny value and setting makes the viewer feel uncomfortable. 

(1) Sound constantly surrounds you. Most of the time it goes unnoticed as one is constantly focused on a task or a conversation. Sitting in a room, the sound of the air conditioners or the ticking of a clock go virtually unnoticed. These noises drone aimlessly in the background of our lives. They essentially are pointless structures put in place by society. However, when one stops in search of a silence from the constant, noticeable noise they are left with the ticking and the humming left in society’s wake. Western society has become accustom to these luxuries making them into a necessity. However, once noticed, it becomes an annoyance that cannot be forgotten. In an effort to escape the droning on cycles and structures of society, many people look towards nature. But even in nature, there is still never silence. When one goes outside to become one with the natural world, the sounds of nature still surround them. The constant chirping of birds is noticeable along with many other factors, but as it falls into darkness and as the crickets start to make noise, the gradual increase of noise is hard to recognize. However, when noticed, it takes all of one’s attention. They can never truly escape into silence to find peace; there is always noise. There is no silence.  

(2)In Lucier’s “I am sitting in a room,” the idea of sound verse voice is discussed. Aristotle defines voice as sound with meaning and empty spaces to bring meaning to what one is hearing. When the recording progresses, his voice loses meaning turning it into pointless and aimless noise. Once the breaks between the words and sentences get smaller, the meaning behind his words is lost, leaving only the rhythm of his voice. However, much like the crickets in nature or the air conditioner, the gradual change often goes unnoticed until it is undeniable. The silences between words and sentences becomes gradually shorter as the feedback from the speakers in the room create echoes. By the end of piece, it sounds as if it was more of a musical piece than words. However, once it looses all the small breaks between the sounds, it simply becomes noise with no meaning at all and is essentially unescapable sound.