Recorded sound has been understood as a container since its earliest incarnations. However, the question of 'where sound actually is' when it is contained leads to a seemingly endless search. Sound is nowhere to be found. Yet, the structures and relations that guarantee sound's playback abound. In what follows, I argue that understanding a sound recording as a 'container technology' leads to more problems than it solves. Problems such as the commodification of fidelity, endless debates concerning the metaphysical effects of digital discretization, and over-substantialized notions of intellectual property are all rooted in the erroneous belief that sound, and music, can be contained. As a way out of this quagmire, I suggest that we look to Gilbert Simondon's notion of milieu, as well as his alternative to Shannon's notion of information. Together, Simondon's concepts allow a more adequate understanding of recorded sounds. / Depuis ses premiers incarnations, le son enregistré à été interprété en tant que contenant. Cependant, la question de 'ou se trouve le son en tant que contenu' nous mène vers une recherche sans fin pour celle-ci. Le son nous échappe. Mais, les structure et les relations qui garantissent la reproduction du son abondent. Dans ce qui suit, je soutient que comprendre un enregistrement de sons en tant que 'technologie de contenance' mène à plus de problèmes que ça nous évite. Les problèmes tels que la commodification de la fidélité, les débats infinie concernant les effets métaphysiques du pouvoir de discrétization du digital, et les notions sur-substiels de la propriétée intellectuelle, sont tous ancrés dans la croyance erronée que le son peut être contenu. Je suggère comme solution à cette problématique la notion de milieu et la notion (alternative à celle de Shannon) d'information de Gilbert Simondon. Ensemble, ces notions nous permet une image plus adéquates du son enregistré.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.103743 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Moody Grigsby, Daniel |
| Contributors | Jonathan Sterne (Internal/Supervisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | French |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Art History and Communications Studies) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | Electronically-submitted theses. |
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