When studying music from an auditory perspective, it is necessary to clarify what we are actually investigating. Schafer (1977: 274) defines our sonic environment as a soundscape. This can be an actual environment, for example in the city or out in nature, where all the sounds we hear belong to the soundscape, whether it be people talking, birds singing, or cars passing by. But the concept of a soundscape can also mean an abstract construction such as a musical composition. In such a case, the musical piece should be seen as a whole, spanning all instruments and their qualities, loudness and position.
I prefer to use the term musical sound to describe the sound in a soundscape that contributes to the music. To clarify this, I suggest looking at a typical concert situation, where it is possible to roughly categorize the soundscape into three groups, dependent on the sound source:
- Sounds from the musicians and their instruments (music they make, noise they make) - Sounds from the audience (sounds of moving chairs, coughing, whispering, etc.) - Sounds from the environment (reverb, ventilation, traffic outside, etc.)
There is no easy answer to which of these should be considered musical sound. Let us start by first looking at sounds from musicians and their instruments. They can probably be subdivided into the following groups:
- Musical sounds from the instrument (sounds made with the intention of belonging to the composition) - Technical sounds from the instrument (e.g. noise from the pedal on a piano, keys on a flute) - Musical sounds from the musician (singing, humming, whistling, etc.) - Body sounds from the musician (breathing, fingers sliding, etc.)
Traditional music analysis is usually concerned with the first group of sounds, i.e. the musical sounds from the instruments. For a typical classical piece, these sounds would correspond to the musical idea notated in the score. We may therefore safely assume that this is also the most important contributor to the musical sound. After all, we usually listen to music because we are interested in the composition. However, I think it is also important to recognize the significance of the other sounds.
In the case of technical sounds from an instrument, it is not easy to say whether they should be considered part of the musical sound or not. This is because in some cases they might not be audible at all, while in others they probably are very important for the timbre of the instrument. From the far back of a concert hall one will not be likely to hear mechanical sounds from the piano pedal, but up front it may even be possible to hear the moving keys on a flute. What about the sounds of fingers sliding on a guitar or violin strings? Such sounds are probably not notated in the score, but appear because of choices made by the musician. Should these examples be considered musical sounds? My best answer is that if we hear sounds related to musical creation they do form a part of the performance. This is the case even though the creation of such sounds might not be intentional or controlled by the musician. However, intentional or not intentional, they also contribute to the overall sound we hear.
When it comes to the musical sounds from the musician, these may be liked or disliked. Keith Jarrett, for example, is renowned for humming while playing his piano solos. While some might not like this, Carr (1991) claims that this is an important part of Jarrett’s performance. The singing is a means of helping him indulge in the music and is an integral part of the solo. Carr argues that if Jarrett could not sing, he would have to restrain himself, resulting in poorer piano music. This way, the singing could be seen as unintentional body sounds, much the same as the sounds of nails on keys or heavy breathing. Such sounds are not controlled by the musician, but are rather consequences of the musician’s effort, and they do form part of the soundscape in a performance.
In a performance situation it is not easy to control what sounds are audible, but on recordings the policy usually seems to have been much stricter. It seems that sound engineers in general have been quite conservative, carefully removing any extra-musical sounds from instruments or musicians. But there are also examples of musicians, especially in contemporary jazz, using amplifying equipment to enhance body and instrument sounds, and thereby making it part of the actual musical content.
When it comes to the sounds from the audience, it is interesting to see an ambiguous treatment. On one side, it seems like all sounds from the audience should be kept as low as possible while the music is playing. On the other side, everybody wants the applause to be as loud as possible. Small (1998) reflects on how the audience, at a typical classical concert, are following unwritten rules about how to behave during a performance. While the musicians are playing, everybody should be absolutely quiet. Between the movements, when there is not supposed to be applause, many people starts coughing and turning pages in their programs. Finally, when the piece is finished, everybody is supposed to start clapping. This is quite opposite to the behaviour that is expected in a typical jazz concert, where the audience is supposed to applaud after every solo, or in a rock concert where the audience is clapping, shouting and screaming throughout the whole concert. In short, the different genres have their own rules for how you are supposed to behave as an audience. This way, it can be argued that the sounds of the audience are indeed an important part of music perception.
Finally, there are the sounds made by other sources than musicians or audience. Some of these, for example reverb in the room might be intentional and very important for our perception of the timbre of an instrument. In many cases, reverb is used as an important parameter of music. Other sounds from the environment, for example sounds of ventilation systems and traffic outside, could be considered noise, because they are not intentional. But if they are audible, they also form an integral part of the music experience. As such, it could also be argued that their presence changes the overall content of the sound. Such environment sounds thus both contribute in themselves, but they may also have a “sound colouration” effect on the rest of the sounds.
As this discussion has shown, defining what should be considered musical sounds in a soundscape is not easy. I believe that a definition of musical sound that only takes the actual music into consideration violates the importance of our perceptual experience. In this thesis, I will therefore consider all components that are audible in a musical context as essential for our perception of the music. If we listen to an old recording of Louis Armstrong, it is impossible not to take into account the bad sound quality. Of course, this has nothing to do with the quality of his playing, but it is probably a significant aspect of our recognition of his music.
This text is part of my master’s thesis.