Cross Polytropes and Octaphons More Agreeable: Toward a Taxonomy of Sounds All Around But Not Quite There
Hillel Schwartz · 2020
Entering the Sanctuary of Atotonilco, in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico, one can enjoined by a Latin inscription on an interior arch to consider the "inexpressible terror" of Christ&s;s sacrifice and the "ineffable Trinity" of his theo-physicality. The historian, the ethnographer, the folk musician and composer strain to hear such sounds in place, in or out of time, in or out of sync. Listening, to be sure, is hardly incontrovertible, whether with one&s;s ears, bones, bellies, or apps and extensions. Neurophysiologically, listening is transductive, converting one form of energy into others, so already vulnerable to challenge. No one seems to know what it is. It is the voice of God. It is minute particles caught in the inner ear. It is people in the world making so much noise that there is nowhere to escape the last dying reverberations of human sounds.