9 Essential Studies on Music, Audio & Soundwaves

“Various sound frequencies were sent through the tube which caused the styrofoam balls to align in different patterns.” Photo by Skippy13.

Minimalist, post-minimalist, rhythm, melody, ambience, abstract, polyphonic, sound-art, counterpoint… the list goes on and on. The world of music study is vast and expansive, ranging from the mathematical to the spiritual, and today’s noise-makers are forever learning and redefining the sonic boundaries in the wake of new experiments and technologies.

For any budding sound scientists, these 9 books make up the essential learning you need on the path to audio mastery and exploration. Once again, this list is in no particular order, but if you do think we’ve missed anything out, leave a comment below the article and let us know!

09. Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music

By Tony Herrington
Publisher: Continuum International
ISBN-13: 978-0826464507

From a highly authorative source in modern music, comes “Undercurrents: The Hidden Wiring of Modern Music”; a collection of essays, compiled and published by Wire magazine.

These guys are renowned for their expertise in contemporary music, and this book “identifies the key concepts and underlying themes that have been hardwired into the modern era’s most radical musics, ever since Thomas Edison invented the record player.” Amazon Link

08. The Fundamentals of Sonic Art and Sound Design

By Tony Gibbs
Publisher: AVA Publishing SA
ISBN-13: 978-2940373499

“The Fundamentals in Sonic Art and Sound Design” is a sought after title from Swiss publishing house AVA, who are known for providing illustrated educational books in the applied visual arts field.

Fundamentals of Sonic Art… “considers new and radical approaches to sound recording, performance, installation works and exhibition.” Amazon link.

07. Audio Culture: Readings in Modern Music

By Christoph Cox, Daniel Warner
Publisher: Continuum International.
ISBN-13: 978-0826416155

“Readings in Modern Music” is a hugely popular tome, which collects essays mapping the aural terrain of post-electricity music; and features writings from the likes of Brian Eno, Glenn Gould, Umberto Eco, Ornette Coleman; to name a few.

This title is widely considered “essential” for exploring the methodology and philosophy behind recorded audio. Amazon Link.

06. Silence: Lectures and Writings

By John Cage
Publisher: Wesleyan U.P.,U.S
ISBN-13: 978-0819560285

“Lectures and Writings” is the most reputed written work on the subject of silence, from late avant garde American composer John Cage; composer of the infamous, 4′33″ piece; in which not a single note was played.

The 20th century pioneer discusses ideas where silence mingles with zen buddhism, in this comprehensive collection of lectures and essays. Amazon Link.

05. Sound Art: Beyond Music, Between Categories

By Alan Licht
Publisher: Rizzoli International.
ISBN-13: 978-0847829699

In “Beyond Music, Between Categories”, Alan Licht journeys through the various manifestations of “Sound Art”, while highlighting pioneers of the movement; in a book that is praised for its rich visual documentation of installations and sound art events.

“Beyond Music…” also features sound art biographies, and features artists including Christina Kubisch and Max Neuhau. Amazon Link.

04. On the Sensations of Tone as a Physiological Basis for the Theory of Music

By Hermann von Helmholtz
Publisher: Dover Pubns.
ISBN-13: 978-0486607535

19th century German phycisist Hermann von Helmholtz, led a life of research and discovery in physiciology, perception, colour, energy and electrodynamics; but it was this work that influenced musicologists into the 1900s, and continues to do so today.

Helmholtz’s study is still a useful guide for the application of music as sound stimuli, which can affect both the mind and body. Amazon link.

03. Hearing Cultures: Essays on Sound, Listening and Modernity

By Veit Erlmann
Publisher: Berg Publishers
ISBN-13: 978-1859738283

“Hearing Cultures: Essays on Sound, Listening and Modernity”, is an adventurous exploration of audio as a vehicle in higher learning and human development; created as a reponse to the “almost total absence of accounts of hearing in larger cultural processes.”

Veit Erlmann’s work is a historical and contemporary study into the sense of hearing, which is as bold as it is fascinating and informative. Amazon Link.

02. Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice

By Pauline Oliveros
Publisher: iUniverse.com
ISBN-13: 978-0595343652

“Deep Listening: A Composer’s Sound Practice”, is the work of 70-year old sound experimental composer and researcher Pauline Oliveros; and is a practical guide to “how consciousness may be effected by profound attention to the sonic environment.”

“Oliveros is recognized as a pioneer in electronic music and a leader in contemporary music as composer, performer, educator and author.”

Amazon Link.

01. Modern Music and After: Directions Since 1945

By Paul Griffiths
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN-13: 978-0198165781

Now in its second revised edition, Paul Griffiths’ “Modern Music and After: Directions Since 1945″ is still the ultimate guide to musical development since the end of the Second World War.

“The disruptions of the war, and the struggles of the ensuing peace, were reflected in the music of the time: in Pierre Boulez’s radical re-forming of compositional technique and in John Cage’s move into zen music, in Milton Babbitt’s settling of the serial system, and in Dmitry Shostakovich’s unsettling symphonies, in Karlheinz Stockhausen’s development of electronic music and in Luigi Nono’s pursuit of the universally human, in Iannis Xenakis’s view of music as sounding mathematics and in Luciano Berio’s consideration of it as language.”

Amazon Link.

if you think we’ve missed out an essential piece of audio writing, or you just want to add your two cents, drop us a comment below and let it be known!

Posted in Books & Music

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