Sound in urban culture 17th of June 2016

Recently Heathrow Airport has agreed to suspend night flights and curb noise pollution if indeed a new runway is to be built there. Noise is no respecter of space. Many complain about the noise of automobiles, the deafening roar of lorries, pneumatic drills, unwanted Muzac in shops, streets and everywhere else, the babble of overheard conversations on smart phones, on trains, in cinemas and concert halls. Technological innovations have turned up the volume of everyday life. Our response to amplification is often contradictory. Sonic defense often consists of producing a compensatory envelope – not silence – but more noise as we recreate the cinema in our living rooms using digital wrap around sound for our ever larger television sets – 80% of all complaints about noise involve noisy neighbours! If part of our sense of the social concerns how we share space with others, then understanding the multiple, contradictory and changing nature of our auditory environment becomes a compelling concern.

Michael Bull is Professor of Sound Studies at the University of Sussex. After writing books on the nature and meaning of new mobile technologies (the Walkman and then the iPod) the New York Times described him as the world’s leading authority on the use of mobile technologies. Michael is the founding editor of two journals – Senses and Society – he’s keen to point out that he researches all of the senses – and the Sound Studies Journal (both published by Routledge) He is also the editor of a new book series entitled The Study of Sound (Bloomsbury Press) for which he is writing a book on Sirens – from Myth to Materiality. Michael is also a founding member of The European Sound Studies Association and is a core member of The European Think Tank – Future Trends Forum based in Madrid. He advises a range of international companies on the design and development of their sonic products. Prior to becoming an academic Michael ran ‘Jazz at the Seven Dials’ in Covent Garden in the 1980s. Living locally – he is interested in all things educational – having until recently been Chair of Governors at Iford and Kingston Primary School and now on the governing body of Priory School in Lewes.

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