Sonic Warfare

Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Music, Theory & Criticism, History & Criticism, Reference
Cover of the book Sonic Warfare by Steve Goodman, The MIT Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Steve Goodman ISBN: 9780262266338
Publisher: The MIT Press Publication: August 24, 2012
Imprint: The MIT Press Language: English
Author: Steve Goodman
ISBN: 9780262266338
Publisher: The MIT Press
Publication: August 24, 2012
Imprint: The MIT Press
Language: English

An exploration of the production, transmission, and mutation of affective tonality—when sound helps produce a bad vibe.

Sound can be deployed to produce discomfort, express a threat, or create an ambience of fear or dread—to produce a bad vibe. Sonic weapons of this sort include the “psychoacoustic correction” aimed at Panama strongman Manuel Noriega by the U.S. Army and at the Branch Davidians in Waco by the FBI, sonic booms (or “sound bombs”) over the Gaza Strip, and high-frequency rat repellants used against teenagers in malls. At the same time, artists and musicians generate intense frequencies in the search for new aesthetic experiences and new ways of mobilizing bodies in rhythm. In Sonic Warfare, Steve Goodman explores these uses of acoustic force and how they affect populations.

Traversing philosophy, science, fiction, aesthetics, and popular culture, he maps a (dis)continuum of vibrational force, encompassing police and military research into acoustic means of crowd control, the corporate deployment of sonic branding, and the intense sonic encounters of sound art and music culture.

Goodman concludes with speculations on the not yet heard—the concept of unsound, which relates to both the peripheries of auditory perception and the unactualized nexus of rhythms and frequencies within audible bandwidths.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

An exploration of the production, transmission, and mutation of affective tonality—when sound helps produce a bad vibe.

Sound can be deployed to produce discomfort, express a threat, or create an ambience of fear or dread—to produce a bad vibe. Sonic weapons of this sort include the “psychoacoustic correction” aimed at Panama strongman Manuel Noriega by the U.S. Army and at the Branch Davidians in Waco by the FBI, sonic booms (or “sound bombs”) over the Gaza Strip, and high-frequency rat repellants used against teenagers in malls. At the same time, artists and musicians generate intense frequencies in the search for new aesthetic experiences and new ways of mobilizing bodies in rhythm. In Sonic Warfare, Steve Goodman explores these uses of acoustic force and how they affect populations.

Traversing philosophy, science, fiction, aesthetics, and popular culture, he maps a (dis)continuum of vibrational force, encompassing police and military research into acoustic means of crowd control, the corporate deployment of sonic branding, and the intense sonic encounters of sound art and music culture.

Goodman concludes with speculations on the not yet heard—the concept of unsound, which relates to both the peripheries of auditory perception and the unactualized nexus of rhythms and frequencies within audible bandwidths.

More books from The MIT Press

Cover of the book Arguments that Count by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book A Composer's Guide to Game Music by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Intellectual Property Strategy by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book An Economist in the Real World by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Greening Berlin by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Can We Price Carbon? by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Invisible Engines by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book The Acceleration of Cultural Change by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Imperial Technoscience by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Rock, Bone, and Ruin by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book The Politics of Invisibility by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book IT Strategy for Non-IT Managers by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book Codename Revolution by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book The Wild and the Wicked by Steve Goodman
Cover of the book The Ethics of Computer Games by Steve Goodman
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy