#paper/current 21.36 ### [[Sound Design]]: **Sound Art**: An artistic practice distinct from music that focuses on the use of sound for creative, narrative, or representational purposes. It encompasses various forms of experimentation and does not adhere strictly to musical conventions such as pitch and rhythm. ## Introduction - It is natural to describe [[Twin Peaks]] as atmospheric - most easily when with think of the more surreal scenes: Black Lodge/Waiting Room - [[Sound Design]] is a key way in which the 'show creates atmospheres' - In this talk I want to pin point a particular effect that we can describe as > [!breaking the auditory atmosphere of a scene] > - [[The structure]] of the talk is as follows: 1. Introduce Jagnow's Theory of Atmospheres from his forthcoming paper 2. Although he focuses on vision and light in paintings it is easy to see how there can be auditory atmosphere 1. reverb and room sound seem to be part of this 3. In [[Twin Peaks]] Auditory Atmospheres are, on occasion, broken - Hyper-Rendered sounds of electricity - Backwards Talking and reverb/room tone - (there is no officially agreed upon label for this way of speaking. Waiting Room-ease?) ## 1. Atmospheres and Ambient Sensible Qualities - René Jagnow's theory of atmospheres explains what atmospheres are and how they are experienced within a space. - He argues that atmospheres are composed of ambient sensible qualities—qualities that are experienced as pervading a space, rather than being perceptually attributed to any specific object. - These qualities form the background against which distinct perceptions emerge, yet they continue to shape how we perceive and engage with our surroundings. - Understanding Jagnow's theory requires grasping three related ideas about these ambient sensible qualities. - The first concerns their basic phenomenal character. Unlike ordinary perceptual qualities that we experience as properties of objects, ambient sensible qualities are "experienced as divorced from particular objects" (p. 5). When we encounter them, they do not appear to belong to any specific thing in our environment. - The second aspect concerns how these qualities occupy space. Rather than being localized to particular objects, ambient qualities are "experienced as filling or permeating the surrounding space" (p. 4). They spread throughout our environment, creating what we might call an atmospheric field. - The third aspect concerns how these qualities combine. - Ambient sensible qualities do not remain separate in our experience but undergo what Jagnow calls a "fusion" where they "come together to form a distinctive phenomenal character" (p. 6). This fusion creates the atmosphere of a space. These fused ambient qualities shape our experience without becoming the focus of our attention. As Jagnow notes, we typically maintain only a "peripheral awareness" (p. 4) of them - they colour our experience of a space while remaining in the background of our consciousness. ## 2. Auditory Atmospheres - Jagnow includes sounds among ambient sensible qualities (REF). - Divorced from Sound Sources - Like ambient lighting, sounds are sometimes heard as permeating a space, - Fusing together rather than as belonging to any distinct source. - Imagine standing in a shopping centre before Christmas: you would hear conversations, footsteps, piped in carols, etc., but none stand out in your [[auditory experience]] as belonging to any distinct particular in your environment. - Instead, they blend into the general hubbub of the space. - That is, they contribute to the auditory atmosphere of a particular place at a particular time. ### Reverberation and Room Tone - [[Auditory experience]] is affected by **reverberation**. - Reverberation occurs when sound waves reflect off surfaces within an enclosed environment and continue to reach the listener's ears after the original sound has stopped. - The properties of the space—such as its size, shape, and type of reflective surfaces—determine how sound waves behave, thereby shaping the [[auditory experience]]. - For instance, a large cathedral with hard, reflective surfaces will produce extended reverberation, allowing sounds to blend and linger, which creates an immersive auditory atmosphere. - In contrast, a smaller, enclosed space like a woodshed with absorbent surfaces will produce minimal reverberation, resulting in a more distinct [[auditory experience]] where sounds remain separate. - This relationship between the properties of a space and reverberation helps explain auditory atmospheres. - Reverberation influences how sounds overlap and merge, contributing to the unique character of an auditory atmosphere. - The reverberative properties of a space determine how these sounds fuse and linger, thereby affecting the overall [[auditory experience]]. - Thus, the auditory atmosphere of a cathedral differs from that of a woodshed, even if the same sound sources are present, due to the differing reverberative characteristics of the spaces. - Reverberation also aligns with Jagnow's notion of ambient sensible qualities. - Just as visual qualities like light and colour contribute to the holistic experience of a space, reverberation shapes how ambient sounds blend and affect the auditory atmosphere. - The spatial properties of an environment, such as its size, shape, and surface materials, thus contribute to the perceptual qualities that define its atmosphere. - This reinforces [[the idea]] that both visual and auditory experiences are shaped by the broader environmental context, not merely by individual, discrete objects or events. - The interplay between the **physical scene** and the **atmosphere** it generates helps explain how auditory atmospheres are formed. - The **reverberative properties** of a scene determine how ambient sensible qualities are experienced and how they merge to form an atmosphere. - The spatial characteristics of an environment—such as size, shape, and [[the nature]] of its surfaces—influence how sounds are experienced as filling and permeating the space. - Reverberation shapes how [[auditory qualities]] are perceived by influencing both their temporal and spatial characteristics. - It is not merely a passive effect of sound reflection; it plays a role in shaping the auditory atmosphere by determining how sounds linger, overlap, and fill a space. - In summary, by extending Jagnow's theory of atmospheres to include auditory experiences, and by examining [[the role]] of reverberation, we can better understand how the physical characteristics of a space shape its auditory atmosphere. - Ambient sensible qualities—whether visual or auditory—are experienced as pervasive aspects of the environment, and their fusion contributes to the distinctive atmosphere of a space. - Reverberative properties further influence this fusion, affecting both the temporal and spatial characteristics of ambient sounds, thereby shaping the overall auditory atmosphere. - This theoretical framework provides a detailed account of how atmospheres are formed and experienced, with emphasis on [[the role]] of reverberation in creating a cohesive perceptual environment. - Room tone, distinct from reverberation, also shapes auditory experience. - While reverberation concerns how sounds reflect and persist, room tone refers to the baseline acoustic properties or "sound signature" of a space when seemingly "empty." - The properties of the space—its size, shape, materials, and ambient mechanical systems—create a constant, subtle sonic presence that underlies all other sounds. - For example, a large shopping centre's room tone might include the subtle hum of air conditioning, the distant buzz of fluorescent lights, and the general resonance of the space itself. - These tonal qualities provide a constant acoustic "ground" against which other sounds are experienced. - Room tone aligns with Jagnow's theory of ambient sensible qualities in a distinct way from reverberation. - While reverberative properties affect how sounds interact within a space, room tone exists as an inherent ambient quality of the space itself. - Like reverberation, room tone shapes how we experience other sounds, but does so by providing a constant acoustic context rather than by affecting sound reflection patterns. - This distinction shows how different aspects of a space's acoustic properties can contribute to its atmosphere in complementary ways. - The relationship between room tone and atmosphere differs subtly from that of reverberation. - While reverberative properties influence how sounds merge and persist, room tone provides a constant ambient quality that permeates the space. - In the shopping centre example, the general hubbub is shaped both by how sounds reverberate and by the underlying room tone that gives the space its characteristic sonic signature. - Together, these properties create the complete auditory atmosphere of the space. - Room tone affects ambient sensible qualities by: - Providing a constant acoustic presence that helps define the space's character - Creating a baseline against which other sounds are experienced - Contributing to the overall fusion of ambient qualities that Jagnow describes - The interaction between room tone and reverberation shows how multiple acoustic properties can work together to shape auditory atmosphere. - While distinct, both contribute to the way sounds are experienced as filling and permeating space. - Their combined effect helps explain how spaces acquire their distinctive auditory atmospheres. ### The Simultaneity of Reverberation, Room Tone, and Foreground Sounds - Importantly, **reverberation** and **room tone** coexist with any foreground sounds that are the focus of our attention. - While **reverberative properties** and **room tone** are not themselves ambient sensible qualities, they **affect how these qualities are experienced** by shaping the auditory environment. - **Reverberation** influences how sounds linger and merge within a space, affecting both their temporal and spatial characteristics. - When we hear someone speaking in a cathedral, for example, their voice doesn't just reach us directly; it also reflects off the walls and ceiling. - These reflections cause the sound to **fill and permeate the space**, enhancing the ambient sensible qualities without detracting from the speech we're focusing on. - **Room tone** provides a continuous acoustic backdrop inherent to a space, even in the absence of specific sound sources. - It consists of subtle sounds like the hum of air conditioning or distant traffic, which we might not consciously notice. - This backdrop **influences how we perceive other sounds**, contributing to the overall atmosphere. - The **simultaneous presence** of reverberation, room tone, and foreground sounds allows ambient sensible qualities to permeate the space while we attend to specific auditory events. - In the shopping centre example, conversations, footsteps, and music are foreground sounds. - These sounds merge with the **reverberative properties** and blend into the **room tone**, creating a cohesive auditory atmosphere. - Thus, reverberation and room tone **work in tandem** with foreground sounds, enabling the **fusion of ambient qualities** that Jagnow describes. - This simultaneity is crucial for the formation of auditory atmospheres, as it allows us to focus on particular sounds while still experiencing the space as filled with ambient qualities. - The **reverberative properties** and **room tone** of a space shape how we experience ambient sensible qualities, enhancing our sense of **being within that space**. - By influencing how sounds fill and permeate the environment, they contribute to the overall atmosphere without becoming the focus of our attention. ### How Backwards Voices Break the Auditory Atmosphere **Revisiting Ambient Sensible Qualities and Spatial Integration** - **Ambient sensible qualities** rely on the seamless integration of foreground sounds with reverberation and room tone to create a cohesive atmosphere. - **Reverberation and room tone** affect how sounds are perceived within a space, influencing the listener's sense of presence and immersion. **Disruption Caused by Backwards Voices** 1. **Failure to Integrate with Reverberation** - **Unnatural Acoustic Properties**: The backwards voices often lack the expected reverberation effects, making them sound **detached** from the space. - **Perceptual Disconnect**: Without proper reverberation, the voices do not contribute to the spatial cues that inform the listener about the environment. - **Impact on Spatial Hearing**: The listener cannot accurately perceive the size or nature of the space based on the voices, leading to a sense of **disorientation**. 2. **Incompatibility with Room Tone** - **Spectral and Temporal Mismatch**: The reversed phonetics of the voices create sounds that **clash** with the continuous background noises. - **Interruption of Background Continuity**: The voices disrupt the room tone by introducing elements that are **anomalous** and **attention-grabbing**. - **Break in Atmospheric Consistency**: The inconsistency between the voices and the room tone leads to a **fragmented auditory environment**. 3. **Interference with Fusion of Ambient Sensible Qualities** - **Resistance to Fusion**: The backwards voices do not blend with other sounds due to their **unnatural characteristics**. - **Shift from Peripheral to Focal Attention**: The strangeness of the voices draws the listener's focus, reducing the influence of ambient qualities. - **Prevention of Atmosphere Formation**: The inability of the voices to fuse with ambient sounds **hinders the creation** of a cohesive atmosphere. 4. **Alteration of Spatial Perception** - **Disembodied Sound Sources**: The voices seem to emanate from nowhere, violating the listener's expectations of spatial localization. - **Lack of Environmental Embedding**: The voices do not appear to be situated within the space, undermining the sense of being **within a coherent environment**. - **Cognitive Dissonance**: The listener experiences a conflict between the visual cues and the auditory input, leading to discomfort. **Comparative Analysis with Normal Speech** - **Normal Speech Integration** - **Reverberation Effects**: In standard scenarios, speech is naturally affected by reverberation, embedding it within the space. - **Harmony with Room Tone**: Normal speech shares spectral characteristics with the room tone, facilitating fusion. - **Support of Atmosphere**: Speech contributes to the atmosphere by integrating smoothly with ambient qualities. - **Backwards Speech Disruption** - **Lack of Reverberation**: Backwards voices often sound dry or artificially processed, lacking spatial integration. - **Spectral Anomalies**: The reversed sounds have atypical frequency patterns that stand out against the room tone. - **Atmosphere Breakdown**: The voices disrupt the atmosphere by failing to integrate, causing fragmentation. **Implications for the Listener's Experience** - **Heightened Awareness of Artificiality** - The unnatural qualities of the backwards voices make the listener aware of the constructed nature of the scene. - **Emotional Impact** - Feelings of unease, tension, or disorientation may arise due to the break in atmospheric cohesion. - **Reduced Immersion** - The inability to perceive the voices as part of the environment diminishes the sense of being **present within the space**. **Conclusion** - The **backwards voices** in _Twin Peaks_ effectively **break the auditory atmosphere** by disrupting the normal interplay between foreground sounds, reverberation, and room tone. - By failing to integrate with the ambient sensible qualities, the voices prevent the formation of a cohesive atmosphere, altering the listener's perception and emotional response. - This deliberate sound design choice serves to enhance the show's themes of the uncanny and the surreal, using the disruption of auditory atmosphere as a tool to affect the audience. ## 3. Anti-Atmospheric Features in Twin Peaks ### **1. Relation of Brief, Harmonically Rich Staccato Blasts to Ambient Sensory Qualities and Auditory Atmospheres** **Understanding the Nature of the Staccato Blasts** The staccato blasts of electricity in the scene you mentioned are **brief, harmonically rich, and clearly artificial**, distinguishing them from natural sound sources. Their **very short duration** and **complex harmonic content** make them perceptually **salient** and **unnatural**. **Implications for Ambient Sensible Qualities** According to René Jagnow's theory, **ambient sensible qualities** are experienced as **pervading the space** and are **divorced from specific objects or sources** (p. 5-6). They typically **fill the environment** and are **peripherally** experienced, contributing to the atmosphere through **fusion** (p. 7). The staccato blasts in question: - **Do not blend** into the background; instead, they **stand out** due to their abruptness and richness. - **Draw focal attention**, shifting from peripheral to **focal awareness** (p. 3). - **Lack natural provenance**, making them **difficult to attribute** to any real-world source. **Impact on Auditory Atmospheres** The **unnaturalness** and **salience** of these sounds prevent them from: - **Fusing** with other ambient sensible qualities to create a cohesive atmosphere. - Being experienced as part of the **ambient soundscape** that pervades the space. Instead, they: - **Interrupt** the auditory atmosphere by introducing elements that are **disjunctive** and **isolated**. - **Resist fusion**, thereby **disrupting** the formation of a unified phenomenal character necessary for atmosphere (p. 7). **Conclusion** The **brief, harmonically rich staccato blasts** relate to ambient sensory qualities and auditory atmospheres by **contrasting** with them. Their characteristics make them **anti-atmospheric** elements that **break** the atmosphere by: - **Preventing Fusion**: Their abruptness and salience hinder integration with ambient sounds. - **Dominating Perception**: They shift attention away from peripheral awareness. - **Highlighting Artificiality**: Their lack of natural origin underscores their disconnection from the environment. --- ### **Continuation of the Paper** ## 3. Anti-Atmospheric Features in Twin Peaks In *Twin Peaks*, certain sound design elements act as **anti-atmospheric features** by disrupting the show's auditory atmosphere. According to René Jagnow's theory, atmospheres are formed through the **fusion of ambient sensible qualities** that pervade a space, remaining in the **periphery of our awareness** (p. 4). These qualities blend seamlessly, creating a cohesive environmental experience. ### 3.1 Hyper-Rendered Sounds Breaking Atmosphere One prominent example of an anti-atmospheric feature in *Twin Peaks* is the use of **hyper-rendered sounds**—specifically, the **staccato blasts of electricity** heard when the Woodsmen are outside the convenience store. These sounds exemplify how hyper-rendered auditory elements can **break through** the show's auditory space, disrupting the atmosphere by resisting fusion with ambient sensible qualities. #### 3.1.1 The Scene: Staccato Blasts of Electricity In this scene, the sound design features **very brief, harmonically rich staccato blasts** that resemble electrical noises interspersed with what seems to be **cut-up recordings**. These sounds are characterized by: - **Abrupt Temporal Structure**: The sounds are delivered in **very short bursts**, lacking sustained duration. - **Harmonic Richness**: They contain complex harmonic content, making them sonically dense. - **Artificial Quality**: The sounds do not originate from natural sources, enhancing their unnaturalness. #### 3.1.2 Disruption of Auditory Atmosphere According to Jagnow, ambient sensible qualities contribute to atmospheres by **filling the space** and **fusing** to form a distinctive phenomenal character (p. 6-7). The staccato blasts in this scene **disrupt** this process in several ways: - **Resistance to Fusion**: Their abruptness and prominence prevent them from blending with other ambient sounds. - **Salience and Focal Attention**: The sounds **draw attention**, shifting from peripheral to **focal awareness** (p. 3), which interrupts the subtle influence of ambient qualities. - **Temporal Discontinuity**: The **short, disjointed bursts** lack the temporal continuity necessary for fusion, leading to a fragmented auditory experience. #### 3.1.3 Lack of Natural Provenance The fact that these sounds **do not come from 'real' or natural sound sources** further impacts their relationship with ambient sensible qualities: - **Artificial Origin**: Their synthetic nature makes them stand out against any natural ambient sounds, emphasizing their separateness. - **Disconnection from the Environment**: Since they cannot be attributed to identifiable sources within the scene, they resist being experienced as part of the environment. #### 3.1.4 Impact on Peripheral Awareness and A-Moods The staccato blasts **overwhelm the auditory field**, preventing the ambient sensible qualities from shaping the atmosphere through peripheral awareness: - **Interruption of A-Moods**: The sudden, jarring sounds may induce feelings of unease or disorientation, conflicting with any existing affective states (a-moods) elicited by the atmosphere (p. 4). - **Breaking the Atmospheric Field**: By dominating attention, these sounds **fracture** the cohesive atmospheric field created by the fusion of ambient qualities. ### 3.2 The Role of Reverberation and Spatial Hearing Reverberation plays a crucial role in how we experience auditory atmospheres by influencing how sounds **linger, overlap, and fill a space**. In typical environments, reverberation helps sounds to: - **Blend Together**: Overlapping reflections allow sounds to fuse, contributing to the auditory atmosphere. - **Fill the Space**: Reverberated sounds permeate the environment, enhancing the sense of space. #### 3.2.1 Reverberation in the Scene In the scene with the staccato blasts: - **Presence of Reverb**: Although the sounds do have reverb, the **short duration** and **abrupt onset** limit the reverberation's ability to facilitate fusion. - **Insufficient Integration**: The reverb is not enough to integrate the staccato blasts into the ambient soundscape, as the other factors (salience, temporal structure) dominate. #### 3.2.2 Spatial Disjunction The sound design creates a **spatial disjunction**: - **Non-Matching with Visuals**: The sounds do not correlate with on-screen actions or sources, disrupting the coherence between auditory and visual inputs. - **Undermining Spatial Hearing**: The lack of identifiable sources and the abrupt nature of the sounds challenge the listener's spatial hearing, further preventing fusion. ### 3.3 Hyper-Rendered Sounds as Anti-Atmospheric Elements Hyper-rendered sounds like the staccato blasts in *Twin Peaks* function as **anti-atmospheric elements** by: - **Exceeding Neutral Value Ranges**: Similar to how ambient light acquires a distinctive character when deviating from neutral values (Jagnow, p. 9), these sounds deviate significantly from typical ambient sounds. - **Preventing Fusion**: Their exaggerated qualities resist blending with ambient sensible qualities, essential for atmosphere formation. - **Dominating Focal Awareness**: By drawing the listener's focus, they disrupt the peripheral awareness necessary for ambient qualities to shape the atmosphere subtly. ### 3.4 Implications for Sound Design The use of hyper-rendered sounds in *Twin Peaks* demonstrates how sound design can be employed to **break atmospheres intentionally**: - **Creating Disorientation**: The anti-atmospheric sounds contribute to a sense of unease, aligning with the show's thematic elements. - **Challenging Perceptual Expectations**: By introducing sounds that resist integration, the show **challenges the viewer's perceptual expectations**, enhancing the surreal experience. ### 3.5 Conclusion In *Twin Peaks*, hyper-rendered sounds such as the **staccato blasts of electricity** serve as prime examples of how sound design can **break auditory atmospheres**. By resisting fusion with ambient sensible qualities and dominating focal awareness, these sounds disrupt the cohesive environmental experience described by Jagnow's theory. This intentional use of anti-atmospheric elements enhances the show's distinctive aesthetic, demonstrating the powerful role of sound design in shaping (or breaking) atmospheres. --- ### **References** - Jagnow, René. "Experiencing Atmospheres in Paintings." *The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism*, 2024, XX, 1–18. --- **Note**: This continuation integrates the scene you've mentioned as a prime example of hyper-rendered sounds breaking atmosphere, following the structure and concepts outlined in your draft. It focuses on the psychoacoustic effects and sound design elements without delving into the narrative, aligning with your instructions. ## Brainstorm - In Twin Peaks, certain sound design elements seem to 'break through' the show's auditory space, and in doing so the show's atmosphere. %%I am not happy with the way the second half of this sentence is phrased%% - The structure of the paper is as follows: 1. Introduce Jagnow's Theory of Atmospheres 2. Show how this can be connected to my own account of reverberation and spatial hearing 3. In Twin Peaks Auditory Atmospheres are, on occasion, broken - Hyper-Rendered sounds in Twin Peaks - Backwards Talking - (there is no officially agreed upon label for this way of speaking. Waiting Room-ease?)