CONCEPTS OF MUSIC - WEEK 2

More definitions! I notice a relationship between concepts that we had discussed in Audio Studies to those discussed in the Aural component of this week’s Concepts of Music lecture, namely: sound as a physical event and sound as a subjective experience (psychophysical). It’s becoming clear to me that sound engineering involves finding a working balance between those definitions of sound within one’s professional life and that good sound engineers are possessed of both a useful pair of ears, as well as a fine sense of auditory discrimination and the ability to truly hear and analyse perceived sound. I found it interesting to examine the supposition that the relationship between quantifiable and qualifiable sound is a non-linear one: this makes sense and is one of those things that one probably knows at some instinctive level but has no reason to expound upon (until one embarks on a potential career as a sound engineer anyway). As Stephen said, the ear is the final judge but the tools in the studio environment can make the engineer aware of changes in sound that he or she cannot otherwise detect. I wonder how useful this is? If the engineer, with their supposedly refined hearing skills, cannot detect these sonic variations, are they of any importance, given the supposition that most of the sound being produced in the world is designed for human beings to listen to? Nathan (reading over my shoulder) suggests that minor, undetectable variations in the components of the mix may have a cumulative effect, which when compounded become noticeable. Leave it with you....