Primacy of the Ear – But Whose Ear?: The Casefor Auraldiversity in Sound and Music Practice and Discourse
John L. Drever · 2020
60 years on from Pierre Schaeffer’s call for ‘primacy of the ear ’ [‘primaute de l’oreille’] (Schaeffer 1957) and Denis Smalley’s reassertion of ‘the primacy of aural perception’ (Smalley 1986) in music theory and composition, this presentation asks an ostensibly simple question: whose ear is implied when we talk of and compose under this fundamental principle? Is there a tacit audiometric norm, the ‘otologically normal’—an acoustics standard from which A-weighted decibels is based (ISO 226:2003) – or even a pair of golden ears, at its core? And if a music is predicated on a specific auditory acuity, where does this leave the audience. With reference to his own practice and hearing, the author will tackle the above issues. In conclusion the concept of auraldiversity is proposed and creative strategies that eschew or problematise auraltypical archetypes in sound and music and related theory are encouraged.