Huge sections of the Earth’s crust resonate across hundreds of miles: seismology, infrasound. Fish larvae differentiate tiny vibrations in ocean water produced by diverse coral ecosystems: hydroacoustics, ultrasound. Humans gather in large numbers to watch each other carefully manipulate air pressure: music, architecture, psychoacoustics. Each of these phenomena can be understood to fit within the field of sound studies, and each among many further examples has an effect upon each other, contributing to a delicately interlinked planetary system of pressure, vibration, and resonance within air, water, land, and body. This system is now in crisis. From the most densely populated cities to the remotest nature preserves and industrial hinterlands, the extraction, processing, transportation, and consumption of natural resources by humans interferes with delicate systems of sounding and listening essential to almost all forms of life on Earth. How can sound studies and audio technology help us navigate this moment?

This course takes students of environment, geography, and urbanization through a survey of sound studies and audio technology, from physics, electronics, hearing, and psychoacoustics to the aesthetics, politics, and poetics of musical and non-musical sound production. Foci include acoustic ecology, deep listening, field recording, and sound mapping; infrasonics and ultrasonics; human and non-human listening; seismographic, atmospheric, and underwater acoustics; urban noise, acoustic construction, and human health; sound and historical time; music and naturalism; data sonification; and the auditory aesthetics of combustion and electricity. Students will also learn the basics of acoustic recording, audio processing, and data sonification through hands-on workshops and collaborative projects.