Sound Souvenirs: Audio Technologies, Memory and Cultural PracticesKarin Bijsterveld, José van Dijck In recent decades, the importance of sound for remembering the past and for creating a sense of belonging has been increasingly acknowledged. We keep "sound souvenirs" such as cassette tapes and long play albums in our attics because we want to be able to recreate the music and everyday sounds we once cherished. Artists and ordinary listeners deploy the newest digital audio technologies to recycle past sounds into present tunes. Sound and memory are inextricably intertwined, not just through the commercially exploited nostalgia on oldies radio stations, but through the exchange of valued songs by means of pristine recordings and cultural practices such as collecting, archiving and listing. This book explores several types of cultural practices involving the remembrance and restoration of past sounds. At the same time, it theorizes the cultural meaning of collecting, recycling, reciting, and remembering sound and music. |
Common terms and phrases
activities American analog Archives audio auditory became become cassette chapter collective communal concerts connection construction consumer create cultural describe devices domestication doo-wop early effects electronic emotional equipment example experience feeling Figure forms German guitar hear historical identity important individual interest Interview involved iPod listening living lost meaning memory mix tape mobile musicians Namen names narrative never nostalgia object original Park particular past performance players playing popular portable radio possible practices present preservation produced recent refer relation remembering rock role sensation sense social songs sonic sound sound souvenirs soundscape space specific stories studies suggests tape recorder technologies teenagers theremin things tion transistor transistor radio turn users voices Walkman West writes