Transduction and Techno-aesthetics

Propositions for a Philosophy of the Audible

Abstract

We propose a study of the relationship between acoustic sound and auditory perception with an approach that slightly touches psychoacoustics, having as main element the notion of transduction. We discuss the problem of the analysis of few transductive processes in musical practice context, its analogies and inter-relations, such as in the instrumental gesture, in the utilization of technical apparatuses in mixed music realization, and in listening. The hypothesis presented assumes that from detailing these processes and from a vision based on techno-aesthetics, it may be possible to approximate the relationships between acoustic and perceptive universes in the musical context. The techno-aesthetics considers aesthetics as a category of action, studying the systems of actions that approximate subject and object, formed by technical objects, aesthetic reality and energetic propagation. Based on these two categories, we discuss the creative and performance processes of Mikrophonie I, for tam-tam and live electronics, by Karlheinz Stockhausen, work in which systems of mutual interference formed by groups of musicians are elaborated. We perform the analysis of these processes and conclude emphasizing the main ideas that come to light through this approach.