[MUSIC]

Hi, with this video we've come to the end of the first module.

And after a short summary Hafez and

I will discuss one specific item which we haven't addressed so far.

But first, looking back I think we have already taken quite some steps to

think about relation between music and society.

And we have talked about and seen how music is almost always around

us from the moment we get up till the moment we go to sleep.

We have looked into interviews.

Perhaps you have kept a sonic diary over the past few days and

had a close look at the reading stuff we have selected for you.

And on top of that, I have listed several roles and

functions of music in our contemporary society through a particular example,

namely Brian Eno's Music for Airports.

Now of course, I'm also happy that I can listen to my favorite music at

almost any moment of the day.

When I travel I'm almost always using my headphones and playing music, I don't

have to hear the noises or uninteresting conversations in my environment.

Or to be able to concentrate on the work that needs to be done while traveling by

train or plane.

But simultaneously, I also think back on George Steiner,

who in the 1970s asked what negative effects all this music might have.

And this brings me to the opposite of music's omnipresence,

namely to almost complete absence of silence in our daily lives.

I remember very well from my own youth how silent it was.

We had no stereo.

Only a small radio mostly for the news and the weather forecast.

There was hardly ever music on the streets.

And as far as I can remember, stores were not playing any music.

And the other day, I was having dinner in a restaurant.

When we entered it,

we noticed something that at first we couldn't really figure out what it was.

It seemed like it was empty, even though there were quite a few guests.

And then we suddenly heard that there was no music playing and

we really had to get used to that.

So I guess, Hafez, my question to you is- >> Yes.

>> Have you become afraid of silence?

Don't we need some silence every now and then?

>> Well, I think that's a really good question.

And I don't know whether we are really afraid of silence but I mean,

I think we are living in societies which are saturated with sounds.

I mean, just when we don't say anything, there's already sound here playing, right?

Because we're recording here at the conservatory and

there's all kinds of repetitions going on.

So to find a place within society where there's an absolute absence of sound,

seems to me quite challenging or perhaps even impossible.

However, in this saturated environment, saturated with sound,

people do seek another type of silence, which is not the absence of silence,

but they seek a sonic, let's call it a sonic bubble, where at least

the sounds that are playing there are sounds which they find desirable.

So not agitating,

like cars driving by, people talking, phones ringing and so on and so forth.

These can be really annoying, agitating sound.

So in that sound bubble, you can at least play music you find desirable.

That's one thing and the other thing has to do with controllability, right?

This year there's a rehearsal going on.

I don't mind the music but I can't control it.

However, if I'm playing on my iPod and playing my playlist, I can switch.

This song is an opera, now I want to listen to this song, and so on and so

forth, so I can control this sound.

So silence in the sense of a sonic environment that I don't find

agitating is something we do seek, I think.

>> Yeah, but coming back to that,

we were having dinner yesterday evening, me and my family.

And we were chatting and talking about school, about work, and about soccer.

>> Sure.

>> And at a certain moment, my oldest daughter asked me, Dad,

can we put on the radio because it is so silent here.

But we were having a conversation.

We were having a good time.

So why this need to add on top of our conversation this music.

>> Sure, well, I think that's silence in the sense of absence of sound.

That kind of silence has one particular feature I think which is really important.

And that's silence is really confronting.

If there's no music, if there's no sound, you and

only you become responsible for creating the atmosphere.

And if that's an atmosphere which is somehow not interesting,

or is a bit boring, or some how unappealing,

then you will right away feel that atmosphere.

And I think, therefore, we tend to play music to cover up the fact that it's kind

of hard to stay sonically interesting.

And talking about sonically interesting environments, I think we pay a lot

of attention in visually shaping the environments we live in, right?

We take great care in designing nice buildings.

The infrastructure looks nice, but my question to you would be how about

designing a sonically appealing environment?

Do you think we take enough care when we are designing a sonic environment, Marcel?

>> Well, of course,

as you said before, and as I also told you in the introduction,

we are, by using headphones all the time or lots of time and

by using the iPod and the mobile phones, we already are selecting our own music.

So we live in this sonic bubble quite a few hours a day.

So in that sense, we are already designing our sonic environment.

The music that is playing everywhere around us, in shops, in restaurants,

in elevators, while we're waiting on the telephone, etc., etc.,

is also saying already something about how our society is solidly designed.

But I think one thing perhaps we forget and that is what we do with the music

that we're playing is covering all the existing sounds that are already there.

So perhaps it is time that we think

about how we can design those sounds that are already there.

Now of course there's something like sonic design, so lots of devices,

our microwaves, etc., already have a certain kind of sonic design.

But I think the way all these devices and things that are surrounding

us interact with one another sonically, that needs more attention.

So in that sense I think we can make a next step where music is not used to cover

sounds, because these sounds in themselves can be already of interest.

>> Interesting, so

I think this next step would be a nice place to end the discussion.

Because the next step asks from us to think not only about the fact that music

is omnipresent but it also asks from us that we need,

it's not only that we seek but that we need some kind of silence and

some kind of responsible design of sonic environments.

And we, therefore,

invite you to participate in a discussion thinking about the sonic environments.

Do you agree that we need more attention when designing this sonic environment?

We hope to hear from you and read your reactions.

And for now, thank you for participating and we hope to see you next module.

Thank you.

[MUSIC]

Music and atmosphere: Concluding discussion

The Importance and Power of Music in our Society

Rencontrer les enseignants