Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The "Otherized" Body in Music (Karp)
In "Corporeographies," Longhurst stresses that the body has been treated as the "Other" in most academic discourse (specifically in geography). The body and its normal functions could detract from the neat and tidy rationality of such discourse, especially in an intellectual tradition that treats humans as dichotomous, with reason contained in the mind and lustful passions in the body. Music harbors some of the "Otherization" of the body. Recordings often seek to minimize what is human and bodily in order to create a more "perfect" sound. Just think of the wildly popular Autotune trend in pop music. It is basically no longer acceptable in pop music to even sound like a human, whose voice slides along an analogue continuum of pitches and often does not rest perfectly at the exact desired frequency. Rather, we aim to sound like computers: digital, perfect, and squeaky clean. Any signs of the body - voices cracking, breathing - are treated as deviations from the norm. I've attached a video of YouTube sensation Tay Zonday's "Chocolate Rain" to demonstrate how musicians make concerted efforts to minimize breathing noises, even though singing itself is a variation of breathing. Fast forward to 0:25.
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You said: "It is basically no longer acceptable in pop music to even sound like a human... Any signs of the body - voices cracking, breathing - are treated as deviations from the norm." I think you're right, and this trend strikes me as bizarre because it's precisely these 'signs of the body' that I really enjoy in musical performance. I mean, sometimes it's a voice crack or a deep sigh that provides the song with a richer emotional context or helps to make a point.
ReplyDeleteYes, Adam - and as we said in class, sometimes it's exactly these types of "emotional" auditory devices that are, in fact, intentionally added - almost "commodified" (i.e., selling "emotional [or corporeal] authenticity")
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