ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the subject of noise itself and why it is so effective a tool for the sound artist. The gentle sound of a gurgling brook can suggest the tranquility of the forest. The choice of sounds, their level of amplification, and the visual cues associated with a work of art all play together to garner an impression. The term noise connotes the unwanted, the uncontrolled, and the imbalanced. There can be noisy sounds but also “noise” in a technical sense when errant audio or visual data interferes with or obscures otherwise meaningful information. The purposeful inclusion of noise in music and sound art has a meaningful social history. Elements of noise have become a part of the sound palette of music. The Italian Futurists are credited with creating new noises using custom-made intonarumori (noise intoners), which were handmade instruments comprised of nonelectric means for creating beats, roars, thunder, screeches, and other sounds.
