The next book I’ve chosen that I’ve read through is titled On Listening by Angus Carlyle and Cathy Lane. On listening is a collection of essays speaking about listening as a practice and how it can be used in context. The important part that this book tries to communicate is the connection between the scholarly activity of research and writing with the experimental practical element that sound has.
The essays contained in this book all bring together opinions and research into areas that combine both elements. Concentrating on listening and field recordings as a practice and how they can connect us with the environment is a strong element in these short essays. The book has four sections, the first being listening perspectives, which touches on the idea that listening is an active experience and that simply changing our awareness of what we are hearing can alter our perspective on what we hear. In the second section, listening places. Speaks on the idea of the different experiences we can have within spaces, and that spaces are just as important as the sound itself, one essay even argues that the space is the sound as without space sound cannot exist. Thirdly listening to self and others, a combination of the both can create a unified idea of our surroundings and each other.