Mechanical Sound
INSIDE TECHNOLOGY edited by Wiebe E. Bijker, W. Bernard Carlson, and Trevor Pinch A list of books in the series appears on page 315.
Mechanical Sound Technology, Culture, and Public Problems of Noise in the Twentieth Century
Karin Bijsterveld
The MIT Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
© 2008 Massachusetts Institute of Technology All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher. For information about special quantity discounts, please email
[email protected] This book was set in Bembo by Graphic Composition, Inc., Bogart, Georgia, using InDesign CS2. Printed and bound in the United States of America. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Bijsterveld, Karin, 1961– Mechanical sound : technology, culture, and public problems of noise in the twentieth century / Karin Bijsterveld p. cm. — (Inside technology) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-262-02639-0 (hardcover : alk. paper) 1. Noise pollution. 2. Sound—Social aspects—History—20th century. 3. Machinery— Noise. 4. Noise control. 5. Noise music. I. Title. TD892.B548 2008 620.2—dc22 2007037600 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
do not close the windows it will enter soon the very quiet [sluit de ramen niet straks zal het binnenkomen het allerstilste] —J.C. van Schagen, Ik ga maar en ben (Amsterdam: G.A. van Oorschot, 1972), p. 245.
Contents
Preface
ix
1
Listening to Technology
2
Infernal Din, Heavenly Tunes: Repertoires of Dramatizing Sound
3
8
137
A Wall of Sound: The Gramophone, the Radio, and the Noise of Neighbors
7
91
The Art of Noises: The Celebration and Control of Mechanical Sound in Music
6