ABSTRACT
Sound is a material and cultural phenomenon that embodies and catalyzes a diffuse set of relations. It functions as both a carrier of cultural knowledge and an expressive medium modulated by individual and collaborative creativity. It is sound’s relational aspects, and its dynamic modes of connecting and transecting individual elements and complex wholes, that make it resoundingly political. This chapter presents sound definitions, histories, and methods by examining soundmakers’ work alongside key concepts in cultural studies of music and sound, proposing a range of possibilities for approaching sound creatively and critically.
