Sounding Situated Knowledges - Echo in Archaeoacoustics

This article proposes that feminist epistemologies via Donna Haraway's “Situated Knowledges” can be productively brought to bear upon theories of sonic knowledge production, as “sounding situated knowledges.” Sounding situated knowledges re-reads debates around the “nature of sound” with a Harawayan notion of the “natureculture of sound.” This aims to disrupt a traditional subject-object relation which I argue has perpetuated a pervasive “sonic naturalism” in sound studies. The emerging field of archaeoacoustics (acoustic archaeology), which examines the role of sound in human behaviour in archaeology, is theorized as an opening with potentially profound consequences for sonic knowledge production which are not currently being realized. The echo is conceived as a material-semiotic articulation, which akin to Haraway's infamous cyborg, serves as a feminist figuration which enables this renegotiation. Archaeoacoustics research, read following Haraway both reflectively and diffractively, is understood as a critical juncture for sound studies which exposes the necessity of both embodiedness and situatedness for sonic knowledge production. Given the potential opened up by archaeoacoustics through the figure of echo, a critical renegotiation of the subject-object relation in sound studies is suggested as central in further developing theories of sonic knowledge production

Non-musical sound branding – a conceptualization and research overview

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to advance the understanding of sound branding by developing a new conceptual framework and providing an overview of the research literature on non-musical sound. Design/methodology/approach Using four mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive types of non-musical sound, the paper assesses and synthesizes 99 significant studies across various scholarly fields. Findings The overview reveals two areas in which more research may be warranted, that is, non-musical atmospherics and non-musical sonic logos. Moreover, future sound-branding research should examine in further detail the potentials of developed versus annexed object sounds, and mediated versus unmediated brand sounds. Research limitations/implications The paper provides important insights into critical issues that suggest directions for further research on non-musical sound branding. Practical implications The paper identifies an unexploited terrain of possibilities for the use of sound in marketing and branding. Originality/value The paper identifies a subfield within sound-branding research that has received little attention despite its inevitability and potential significance. </jats:sec

Sonic Bodies: Reggae Sound Systems, Performance Techniques and Ways of Knowing

The reggae sound system has exerted a major influence on music, popular culture - and with Sonic Bodies - the idea that sound itself could provide a conceptual framework and research tool. Every night Dancehall sessions stage a visceral, immersive and immensely pleasurable experience of sonic dominance for the participating crowd - out on the streets of inner city Kingston, Jamaica. Sonic Bodies concentrates on the skilled performance of the three crewmembers responsible for this auditory signature of Jamaican music: the audio engineers designing, building and fine-tuning the hugely powerful “set” of equipment; the selectors choosing the music tracks played; and MCs (DJs) on the mic hyping up the crowd. Sonic Bodies proposes that these dancehall "vibes" are taken literally as the periodic movement of vibrations. These provide the basis for an analysis of how a sound system operates - not only at auditory, but also at corporeal and sociocultural frequencies. Sonic Bodies establishes the basis for a vibrational cultural studies, as distinct from a cultural study of vibrations. It formulates a fascinating auditory critique of visual dominance and the dualities inherent in ideas of image, text or discourse. This innovative book questions the assumptions that reason resides only in the mind, communication is an exchange of information and meaning is only ever representation

Audio branding empowerment: a dissertation proposal about the interactive process between brands and consumer behaviour

In the XXI century, brands' transformation happens by the minute and there is no room for failure. Competitiveness is global and it is no longer enough for brands to have wellstructured and well-planned strategies year after year because the consumer is now part of the whole process and disbelief in the corporate world keeps rising. That is why it is urgent for companies and brands to distinguish themselves from competitors, using the tools available today, in order to remain relevant, credible and efficient. Here is where Marketing, in constant reinvention through new trends, intervenes, helping brands to win consumer’s trust, becoming Love Brands and ultimately, increasing their sales. The main objective of this paper is to note that it is not only necessary to focus on what the eyes see but also on what we hear. The focus is the sound and it accentuates the fact that our sensory scope affects our brain in a number of ways, without us, consumers, realizing it. Here, the use of Audio Branding shows, through a less obvious and known reality, that brands need to explore other senses. These senses will arouse unknown areas of the brain, generating needs and decisions, which consumers do not realize are oblivious. This unawareness is where brands need to go before consumers, and this is the special factor that can be determining when reaching a certain goal.Em pleno século XXI, a transformação das marcas acontece ao segundo e não há espaço para falhar. A competitividade passou a ser global e já não bastam estratégias pensadas e estruturadas ano após ano pois o consumidor já é parte integrante de todo o processo e a descrença no meio empresarial ganha proporções cada vez maiores. É por isso urgente que empresas e marcas se distingam da restante concorrência, utilizando as ferramentas hoje disponíveis, para permanecerem relevantes, credíveis e eficientes. É aqui que o Marketing, em constante reinvenção através de novas tendências, intervém, auxiliando as marcas a ganharem a confiança do consumidor, a tornarem-se "Love Brands" e em último caso, aumentarem as suas vendas. O objectivo principal deste trabalho é alertar para o facto de que não basta focarmo-nos no que os olhos vêm, mas também no que ouvimos. O foco de todo o trabalho passa pelo som, e torna cada vez mais óbvio o facto de a nossa esfera sensorial afectar o nosso cérebro de muitas maneiras possíveis, sem nós, consumidores, nos apercebermos. Neste caso, a utilização do tema Audio Branding demonstra, através de uma realidade menos óbvia, que é necessário para as marcas, explorarem outros sentidos inerentes ao ser humano. Sentidos esses que despertam zonas desconhecidas do cérebro, originando vontades e decisões que muitas vezes os próprios consumidores não se apercebem ser inconscientes. Este desconhecimento é onde as marcas precisam de chegar primeiro que os consumidores, e é este factor espacial que pode ser diferenciador quando se pretende alcançar determinado objectivo