A Little Noise Music
When he was three years old and just starting to make and imitate different sounds, my son Charlie would occasionally give voice to a series of whirs, burrs, beeps, and clicks that, as we realized after careful listening, were his imitation of the microwave oven or of the garage door opening and closing. Unlike the ever-varying sounds of the human voice—now high or low pitched, now fast or slow, not to mention different accents and whether the speaker is male or female, a child or an adult—mechanical devices always make the same noises, in the same rhythm, and all at the push of a button. (And, when they do not make those sounds, this is a sign that something might be broken.)
Composer Annie Gosfield finds inspiration in noise and, indeed, in mechanical noise as she writes today in the New York Times:
It’s all raw material to me: the random banging of the radiator, a wildly oscillating car alarm, or the hypnotic churn of a cement truck. Other kids may have loved sing alongs and nursery rhymes, but my cherished childhood musical memories are of broken pianos, Steve Reich, audio collages, and the gentle static hum of a radio drifting out of tune.
I have always loved to listen intently to things that aren’t music, such as the radio tuned between stations, television static, and white noise. Machine sounds, ambient noises, and deteriorating instruments have had as much of an influence on my work as any composers or teachers. Over the years, figuring out how to integrate these ideas into my work has been an important part of discovering my own voice as a composer.
I guess it might be said that, while Charlie certainly likes to listen to music, he also seems to like to “listen intently” to things that are not language. I suspect that he hears ambient noise—-”the level of acoustic noise existing at a given location, such as in a room, in a compartment, or at a place out of doors” (see Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) ). Gosfield incorporates this “sound world outside of traditional instrumentation and techniques”—-these “detuned sounds”—into her music: Just as Charlie also brings the noise into his language. As Gosfield notes in conclusion,
These odd sounds have, in a sense, opened my mind to find beauty in sound everywhere, and taught me that sometimes a less conventional approach to music can be the most compelling.
And perhaps a “less conventional approach” to speech and language can, too.
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POSTED IN: Language, Music, Technology
9 opinions for A Little Noise Music
Laura Cottington
Mar 30, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Oh how our family relishes the sounds of mechanical sounds that Sam has long imitated. Every morning starts with me getting our coffee ready, which has a bean grinder included in it. Sam hears me pouring the beans, or his big brother does. Then big brother usually yells “Sam, come on, it’s going to start”. The grinder that is. The morning ritual of hearing Sam imitate the coffee grinder in the exact same pitch and length is a delightful way our family starts everyday.
Annie Gosfield
Mar 31, 2007 at 12:47 pm
It’s enlightening to read about the process of listening from your point of view. We all hear ambient noise, but some of us are more intrigued by it (myself and your son Charlie, to name two).
Glad to have run across your post, since it wasn’t up at the New York Times, but it could be enlightening for readers there as well.
Yours,
Annie
Kristina Chew, PhD
Mar 31, 2007 at 5:44 pm
Laura—I don’t grind my coffee beans but I think Charlie would be curious about that sound for sure!
Annie, thanks so much for writing in here—I was very struck by your description of your auditory experiences as a child. My son’s ears are very attuned to all sounds in the world around him; sometimes I have thought he has to filter through these to hear speech.
Autism Vox » The Sound of Throat Sliding
Mar 31, 2007 at 6:55 pm
[…] noted yesterday in A Little Noise Music that my son Charlie seems just as focused on ambient noise as on the words […]
Daisy
Mar 31, 2007 at 8:27 pm
We bought a “bird clock” many years ago for Amigo. We were a little nervous that he might learn the birdsongs by their time, not their names, but our fears were unfounded. Instead, we get statements like, “I’ll take my shower when I hear the cardinal.”
Annie Gosfield
Apr 1, 2007 at 12:23 pm
Kristina, my pleasure. I’m glad Google Alerts pointed me to your posting, your thoughts could potentially open up some enlightening discussion at the times as well.
Yours,
Annie
Autism Vox » Teaching Strategy #6: 1st Cooking Lesson
Apr 2, 2007 at 11:13 pm
[…] and round with his green bowl and the one piece of chicken in it. When it stopped, and the machine beeped, I pointed to another button at the bottom to open the microwave door. Charlie pushed it. […]
The Bus Comes and a Trail of Bread Crumbs
Sep 15, 2007 at 10:14 am
[…] put on the part with the Who and then Jimi Hendrix, and Charlie looked up from where he was stomping and chortling and opened his brown eyes till they were big. He watched a few minutes then stood up, […]
Drumbeats
Mar 29, 2008 at 1:19 am
[…] always been a table-tapper with his fingers and our downstairs neighbor has (ahem) noted that Charlie’s a bit of a foot stomper too (in a Riverdance kind of way). […]
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