What?
by Dave Skipper

DEPARTMENT PAGE FOR THIS SERIES: THE WORD ON NOISE
PREVIOUS ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: My Ears Are Ravenous
NEXT ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: How to Listen to Noise Music

One of the many hats that noise wears is one of anti-expectation:

Negatively, noise as anti-expectation is a harbinger of disappointment or fear when expectations are curtailed, ruined, or otherwise not met. In this mode, noise quells what you were listening to, or intrudes with its classic unwantedness (like things that go bump in the night, startling you out of slumber), or enacts a sub-par version of what you were hoping for.

Positively, noise as anti-expectation is the delightfully unexpected: a new experience wrought as a jolt, a surprise, a U-turn, a mystery… thus side-stepping expectations like the humour of that brazen beetle who will not crawl onto your finger, or even surpassing expectations like an over-zealous catapult. Noise music compositions or performances sometimes tap powerfully into this zone, to memorable effect.

Out of place sounds: decontextualised, recontextualised. Extreme dynamics: quiet-loud, soft-harsh. Unrecognisable noises, bizarre sonic combinations.

In this article,

(Disclaimer: If you are disappointed that this article has not met your expectations, please read something else on this blog, or wait for future scripts about heavenly harmonies, earthly escapades, and hellish happenings…)

DEPARTMENT PAGE FOR THIS SERIES: THE WORD ON NOISE
PREVIOUS ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: My Ears Are Ravenous
NEXT ARTICLE IN THIS SERIES: How to Listen to Noise Music