Sounds of the system: the emancipation of noise in the music of Carsten Nicolai

Abstract

In contrast to general perceptions of noise as undesirable audio phenomena, consideration of the objective acoustic properties of ‘noise’ and the functional aspects of noise in Information Theory are used to show how, rather than an impediment to communication, noise can aid in increasing communication. A review of noise in music of the twentieth century and beyond shows how this has become increasingly understood by composers, and that the greater use of noise as a sound source has arisen out of developments in audio technology. This article argues that the music of Carsten Nicolai (alva noto) represents a consolidation of this process. The Autorec CD and the track Impulse are cited as examples of how noise is used as part of a new practice in electronic music. By looking at the structural features of the cited musical examples, it is seen how this new practice follows neither the electroacoustic nor the commercial dance music mainstreams but manages to synthesise references to both traditions.

The Meaning of Indeterminacy: Noise Music as Performance

“…Performance is usually defined in its essence as human expression (Demers, 2010), and such definitions rely on clear boundaries between performer and spectator. In Noise, however, indeterminacy celebrated as spectation invariably gives way to participation and interaction, and in fact requires an interactive listener (Collis, 2008: 38). From the view of information theory in social performance, noise is an excess of signification, presenting the greatest range of creative materials to be drawn from (LaBelle, 2006); art made of noise forgoes ‘conclusive meaning’ and instead offers ‘non-objective communication of emotional significance’ through excesses of sensation in ‘a lush, phantasmagorical clamor developed on the basis of inclusion’ (Nechtaval, 2011: 33, 35).…”

Sound-based Brutalism: An emergent aesthetic

“…Regardless of their substantial contribution to the field in the past decade or so, works of only a few Raster-Noton artists receive only occasional mention in a limited number of academic writings. Excluding a few instances such as Adam Collis’s article in the New Aesthetics issue (Collis 2008), these mentions usually do not move beyond broad survey discussions as part of a more general discourse on glitch, microsound, noise and sound art. For instance, Hegarty, Voegelin and Demers briefly touch on the contributions of Carsten Nicolai (aka Alva Noto, the other co-founder of Raster-Noton), Ryoji Ikeda and Pan Sonic to microsound and glitch (Hegarty 2007; Demers 2010; Voegelin 2010).…”

Channelisation of Noise through a Rhythmic Grid: Brutalist Mechatronic Sound-sculpture

“…As he "gradually removes the periodic elements of a sound to leave noise and then reintroduces regularity", Stockhausen "magnifies the boundaries of these temporalities to question their distinction" [15]. Kontakte (1958-60) is an example in which his aim is to "reconcile polarities (acoustic-electronic, pitch-noise, determinate-indeterminate, and so on) by creating a scale of intermediate states" [20].…”

“…In all these instances, some undesired sonic byproducts of technology, as Hainge describes, are integrated "into an aesthetic construct, as primary content" [3]. 6 musique concrète In his article in Organised Sound, Adam Collis states that the presence of noise in the music of the 20 th century, that started with "musicalising noise" (accepting the concept of noise as a valid musical material) and "noisification of music" (unconventional use of conventional instruments to create noisy sounds), was synthesised into a third state towards the end of the century in tandem with developments in technology: that is "using the sounds of the audio system itself" [20]. This whole process is expounded in Kim Cascone's article "Aesthetics of Failure" [19], and even more thoroughly in Caleb Kelly's book Cracked Media [21].…”

“…This whole process is expounded in Kim Cascone's article "Aesthetics of Failure" [19], and even more thoroughly in Caleb Kelly's book Cracked Media [21]. Collis categorises this creative approach into "lowering the signal-to-noise ratio" and "use of the errors, failures, 7 and crashes of computer hardware and software" [20]. The former can be explained via Greg Hainge's discussion of noise in the context of communication theory, as he argues that not only is it impossible to fully eliminate noise from the signal, a certain amount of noise can be even semantically constructive for the communication [23].…”