The Audible Past: Cultural Origins of Sound Reproduction

If you like this topic and like some deep reading, as I do, you'll enjoy this book

Just what I was looking for

good book

Amazing Book!

This book is both a fascinating history of attempts to record/reproduce sound and a history of how we learned to listen to recorded sound. On the first point, the book traces the history of speech reproduction from early unsuccessful attempts modelled on the mechanics of the speech organs (vocal chords/tongue/mouth), to the ultimately successful inventions modelled on the mechanics of the ear (the vibrating membranes in microphones and speakers). The author argues convincingly that this conceptual shift from mouth to ear was the key insight in understanding how sound works.On the listening point, the book examines the history of *listening* as a distinct activity, from early doctor's stethoscopes for listening to the body, to communal listening around a family radio, to the highly personalized modes of listening enabled by the development of headphones. I'm not an academic, but I am a musician and a sound designer, and I loved how this book led me to a deeper understanding of recorded sound and how our relationship to it has developed over the centuries.

Got hooked on this book after reading chapters for my anthro class (Technology Media and Perception). Sterne's writing style is quite informative but without being quite as dry as a lot of cultural theory you might read (have read). If you are into music recording, editing, production, playing, media studies, cultural studies, anthropology, or are just looking for some interesting nonficiton then this is a good book to check out. Really, really cool stuff.

Servizio nei tempi programmati e libro in ottimo stato.