Promotional Information

At last, a book that reveals that spaces are meaningful beyond their acoustics! I was captivated by this impressively well-documented book, and recommend it to anyone with an interest in acoustics or architecture. -- Jean-Dominique Polack, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris Blesser and Salter have thoughtfully synthesized a wide range of technical, aesthetic, and humanistic considerations of aural architecture to create a valuable interdisciplinary resource for anyone interested in thinking about sound, space, and society. -- Emily Thompson, Professor of History, Princeton University, and author of The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933 This wide-ranging, articulate, and probing investigation of how humans listen helps us to appreciate the value of natural and constructed acoustics. It also shows that our sense of the space of sound has largely been lost in the vast library of recorded music. This book will change how you listen. Well done! -- Floyd Toole, Vice President of Acoustical Engineering, Harman International Industries This book is a serious overview of aural architecture and its growing importance in our world. Its comprehensive range - from historical essay to technical and social aspects of the field - makes it an important addition to the existing literature on this subject. -- Karen Van Lengen, Dean, School of Architecture, University of Virginia The 'final frontier' of computer music is undoubtedly microsound -- the quantum level of acoustics -- and Curtis Roads boldly leads us into this new domain, which will become increasingly important in the 21st century. In providing the history, theory, and compositional practice of the micro scale of sound design, Roads clearly lays out the roadmap to this exciting and challenging area of digital research. The book is destined to become the standard reference in the field for years to come. -- Barry Truax, Professor and Composer, Simon Fraser University

About the Author

As a former Professor at MIT and a founder of digital audio, Barry Blesser has spent the last 40 years working at the junction of audio, acoustics, perception, and cognitive psychology.

Linda-Ruth Salter, Ph.D., is an independent scholar who has spent the last 25 years focusing on the interdisciplinary relationship of art, space, culture, and technology.

Reviews

Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? is book that would round out the collection of musician, engineer, architect, musical historian, or philosopher.—Colin Novak, International Journal of Acoustics and Vibration

Outstanding Academic Title, 2007.—Choice