Self-orientation

1.4.3 Self-orientation

Self-orientation is an expression of opinions and thoughts that centre on or emanate from the self. The ‘listening consciousness’ is mobilised by personal estimation or judgement. Listeners who espouse this strategy may respond to the qualities germane to the sounding flow or are observant of their own emotional and physiological reactions to the sounding flow and, more broadly, to the listening experience. These terms are qualified as physiological sensations and emotions. Self-orientation also refers to a type of perception of the sounding flow or the listening experience that allows for more neutral deliberations resulting in contemplation or reflection. These deliberations are qualified as evaluations (see Figure 1-2 for examples of emotion/physiological sensation and evaluation). Self-orientation thus includes the prospect of a greater degree of dispassion and detachment, one that permits listeners to centre on and develop their impressions without confining their appreciation to the utterance of physiological sensation or emotion.

Implicit in self-orientation is the distinction between its three components for the purpose of analysis. These components may appear simultaneously. Moreover,

19 My translation of the response from Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener K: «Superbe paysage, tout son se rassemblent presque en un [.] Laisse imagination à découvert [sic]; peu [sic] nous faire penser à une salle de travail, des machines occupées par des ouvriers [.] Fin de mélange assez spéciale … voire un peu contrariante […]».

these strategies may be either subject or object orientated owing to the fact that listeners may focus on themselves or on qualities they perceive to be inherent to the sounding flow, which impinge upon the listener, as illustrated in Figure 1-2.²⁰

Behaviour Subject Object Piece

Physiological

Evaluation “[…] I needed a different kind of structure […]”, City

Self-orientation, therefore, has numerous manifestations. An illustration of an appreciation of the sounding flow that is at once an evaluation, an object-orientated physiological response, and, additionally, a purview of structure, is illustrated in the remark about The Gates of H from City University Listener C: “[…] Sounds gimmicky at the beginning, loud – attacks you, put me off, build-up of voice-like sounds – very busy, then a cutback and build-up, dies away […]” (Anderson, 2001: 47). An example of an emotional reaction that is both subject and object-orientated exists in the response from City University Listener B to the extract of Bois: “[…] On an intuitive level, I dislike this, it is too threatening, violent […]” (ibid.: 30). An object-orientated evaluation can be seen in the response to the second movement of Deux aperçus du jardin qui s’éveille from Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener L: “Taking a [sound of a] camera to do [depict] the garden is not bad [as an idea]. – Instruments [–]

baby’s voice – birds – people […]” (ibid.: 27).²³

During examination of the listener responses that exemplified self-orientation, I

20 The concepts of subject and object are developed in Chapter 2.

21 My translation of the response from Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener C: «[…] On se croit dans un estomac […]».

22 Discussion of Figure 1-2 is developed in Chapter 4.

23 My translation of the response from Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener L: «Le fait de prendre un appareil photo pour faire le jardin n’est pas mal. Instruments [–] voix bébé – oiseaux – gens […]».

discovered that subject- and object-orientated references to the human condition abounded, including expressions of tension, loneliness, delight, confusion, and boredom. Nevertheless, as previously indicated, self-orientation is not constrained to observations about the physiological qualities inherent in the sounding flow. A listener may also respond in a physiological or emotional manner to, or otherwise evaluate, the perceived structure of the work, or alight on and respond to images that are perceived to be exterior to the work, but which the sounding flow and the listening experience invoke. These types of responses can comprise physiological sensations, emotions, and thoughts about topics remote from the human condition and the acousmatic piece in question, but which the listening experience spawns. This process occurs through evocation, which I introduced in 1.3.2. Although the process of evocation frequently begins with the qualification of a sound or sound world, hence justifying its alliance to sonic properties, such a qualification, or a mechanism internal to listeners, inspires them to engage in another strategy exterior to sonic properties. This process of

‘perceptual dislocation’ allows for other avenues of thought and reflection to occur and develop, and can yield themes that are far ranging, examples of which can occur as physical states and activity as well as thoughts of a literary, theatrical, social, religious or mediatic nature.²⁴ Several examples are given in Figure 1-3.

Reference Example Extract

Physical states or activity

Drawings of what appear as a detonating device and an explosion, by International School of Brussels

“[…] Classical drama, Greek chorus […]”, as noted by City University Listener C (ibid.: 47).

The Gates of H Religious or

Social Issues

Drawing of what appears as the Devil in Hell is accompanied by written remarks, “Represents Hell.

High-pitched voices are of people who die in the fire.

Low-pitched voice is the devil. Morbid ambience;

sombre. Good structure of sounds” by Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener L (ibid.: 48).²⁶

The Gates of H

Mediatic Images

Drawings of what can be interpreted as Darth Vador’s mask and a light sabre, by International School of Brussels Listener N (ibid.: 40).

Crystal Music Figure 1-3. Types of listening strategies in self-orientation²⁷

24 This list is by no means exhaustive.

25 See Appendix 5 for the integral set of findings from listeners at the International School of Brussels.

26 My translation of the response from Académie de Musique de Soignies Listener L: «Répresente [sic] l’enfer. Voix aigue [sic] = gens qui meurent dans le feu, voix grave = le diable. Ambiance morbide; sombre [.] Bonne structure des sons».

27 Discussion of Figure 1-3 is developed in Chapter 4.

Within the sphere of extrinsic reflection,²⁸ the topic of mediatic imagery is particularly complex. The issue concerning mediatic influence arose from the analysis of many written responses and drawings from younger listeners that included themes from outer space. If we take the remark, “I see astronauts on the moon”, we can consider it as a ‘generalised’ impression whereby the listener accesses a stock image, made available through the media, in order to help explain the listening experience.

However, if we consider the statement, “An invisible spaceship blocked radio and video transmission between the Earth and the astronauts while they walked on the moon”, the following difficult question presents itself: Is this construction a more elaborate version of the first statement, a stock image that serves as a foundation upon which an imaginary scene is constructed, or is the image a product of the listener’s imagination? Further research needs to be conducted on listening strategies in order to ascertain whether these types of responses are innately different.

It is important to address the listener relationships with ‘extrinsic threads’

(Smalley, 1997: 110), and their points of derivation. As explained in the introduction to sonic properties (1.4.1), a sound, sonic property or sounding flow in an acousmatic work may be perceived to assume a secondary function for the listener outside of a primary function as apprehended within the context of the work. It can also be perceived to become the basis of a secondary perceptual construction through the process of evocation.²⁹ The sound or sounding flow is, in most cases, the instigating element. When the ‘listening consciousness’ engenders thinking that is extrinsic to the work, whether a personal judgement, an image that is culturally or universally shared, or an archetype, and it appears without preamble regarding the sounding flow, we may inquire if it is seized upon by the listener during listening in order to illuminate the listening experience or to impart meaning to yet another experience extrinsic to the piece, the human condition included. Although a shift of focus between the intrinsic qualities of the music and extrinsic references occurs in both cases, the difference of directionality lies at the point of initiation and may affect the evolution of the listening strategy, and its outcome.