I have just sent off the final proof for the book I have edited with my colleague Aaron Einbond, titled Noise In And As Music and published by Huddersfield University Press. The book will be formally launched at the Noise In And As Music Symposium at the Centre for Research in New Music (CeReNeM) at the University of Huddersfield, 4-6 October 2013.
The central focus of the book is the practice of noise: noise in music, noise and music, noise as music. More importantly, it is about the state of that practice now. One hundred years after Luigi Russolo’s “The Art of Noises,” the book exposes a cross-section of the current motivations, activities, thoughts, and reflections of composers, performers, and artists who work with noise in all of its many forms. In particular, the book examines the role of noise as musical material—as form, as sound, as notation or interface, as a medium for listening, as provocation, as data. Its contributors are first and foremost practitioners, which inevitably turns attention toward how and why noise is made and its potential role in listening and perceiving.
The book also features a collection of short responses to a two-question “interview”—“what is noise (music) to you?” and “why do you make it?”—by some of the leading musicians working with noise today. Their work spans a wide range of artistic practice, including instrumental, vocal, and electronic music; improvisation; notated composition; theater; sound installation; DIY; and software development.
It has been a massive project that has taken many months and hundreds of hours, but we’re very excited about the results. The complete contents are listed below.
Contents
Introduction
Aaron Cassidy and Aaron Einbond
Part 1: Theories, Speculations, & Reassessments
Interview: Ben Thigpen
Chapter 1. Black Square and Bottle Rack: noise and noises
Peter Ablinger
Interview: Antoine Chessex
Chapter 2. Un-sounding Music: noise is not sound
James Whitehead (JLIAT)
Interview: Alice Kemp (Germseed)
Chapter 3. Noise and the Voice: exploring the thresholds of vocal transgression
Aaron Cassidy
Interview: Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje
Chapter 4. Subtractive Synthesis: noise and digital (un)creativity
Aaron Einbond
Interview: Pierre Alexandre Tremblay
Chapter 5. Noise Music Information Retrieval
Nick Collins
Interview: Eryck Abecassis
Chapter 6. Inside Fama’s House: listening, intimacy, and the noises of the body
Martin Iddon
Part 2: Practices
Interview: George Lewis
Chapter 7. “We Need You To Play Some Music”
Phil Julian
Interview: Lasse Marhaug
Chapter 8. Beyond Pitch Organization: an interview with Michael Maierhof
Sebastian Berweck
Interview: Kasper Toeplitz
Chapter 9. Materiality and Agency in Improvisation: Andrea Neumann’s “Inside Piano”
Matthias Haenisch
Interview: Franck Bedrossian
Chapter 10. Noise-Interstate(s): toward a subtextual formalization
Joan Arnau Pàmies
Interview: Diemo Schwarz
Chapter 11. Molding the Pop Ghost: noise and immersion
Marko Ciciliani
Interview: Ryan Jordan
Chapter 12. Qubit Noise Non-ference: a conversation
Bryan Jacobs, Alec Hall, and Aaron Einbond
Hi Aaron! Can I buy this book in amazon or other place?
The book has sold out the first printing (!), but a second printing is under way and should be available very soon. Best bet is to order directly from the Press here: http://www.store.hud.ac.uk/browse/extra_info.asp?compid=1&modid=1&deptid=168&catid=26&prodid=3090. The book is also listed on amazon.co.uk, though strangely with the wrong title (we’ve asked for it to be fixed). There is also an effort afoot to get a kindle version as soon as possible.
It would be great if this has a ebook edition, for guys like me who is far from UK
is this book still available, anywhere?
The best bet is usually to order directly from the publisher: http://unipress.hud.ac.uk/catalogue/books/noiseinandasmusic.php. It’s also available through Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/noise-in-and-as-music/aaron-cassidy/aaron-einbond/9781862181182. I’m aware there’s some issue with amazon at the moment — it shows as being unavailable, but there are at least a dozen or so copies in stock. We’re looking at a third print run, which will use a POD system. It’ll be much more easily accessible, but won’t have the fancy Italian paper of the original! Thanks for the interest in the book!
In case anyone stumbles across this thread … hardcopies of this book can now be purchased here: https://gazellebookservices.co.uk/products/9781862181182?_pos=1&_sid=4c4b2ae69&_ss=r (The open-access pdf is still available through the University of Huddersfield Press.)
Hello, is the book translated in any languages? In German maybe?
Thank you!
Not yet!