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  • My definition of echo

    Wikipedia defines echo like this:

    In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound.

    Wikipedia

    In common use of the word, this definition works well. But today, while writing my thesis on echosophy, I reached for a more phenomenological definition. This is what I came up with:

    An echo is the observation of a sensation returning in time and space.

    The definition consists of a couple of elements that I felt were necessary. First, echo needs an observing subject. Second, an echo is not necessarily tied to sound, but can relate to any sensation. One can, for example, listen to one’s emotions, or physical vibrations that are outside the scope of normal aural hearing. Third, the experience consists of a returning, which implies that the subsequent appearance of the sensation is perceived as the same as the first one (even if altered). And finally, this experience is tied to both space and time.

    I’m still exploring other forms of this definition. For example, following Jean-Lucy Nancy’s terms, the definition could take this form:

    An echo is the observation of a resonance returning in time and space.

    Even though my thesis is based on Nancy’s philosophy of listening, I feel a tiny hesitation to embrace his term of resonance in my definition of echo. Maybe I don’t fully understand the full depth of resonance as Nancy means it, or maybe I’m drawn more towards sensing. But I do like this formulation, too.

    Nancy also talks about sense, but I’m writing in Finnish, and don’t like to make the poetic dimension any more complicated than it already is, so I’m leaving that topic for others to ponder on.

    (And while we are on the topic of language, I’m writing this blog in English because I believe that figuring these topics out in a foreign language will force myself towards a more clear understanding of these topics.)

  • Re: What Is an Echo?

    What is an echo?

    A shift in time, a disintegrating waveform record of time and space, a return of an old friend.

    What is an echo?

    An observation of recurrence, an inner reflection of the world out there, an outer and inner resonance.

    What is an echo?

    A constant rise and fading of the sonorous, an observer relating to the where-and-when, an arriving and a leaving of a lingering question in the ear of someone who listens deeply:

    what is an echo?

  • Altered Spaces, Altered States

    When I write that a sound is more delicate than a theoretical concept, I mean that it contains information about the surroundings in which it exists, and it can’t really be considered without all that information. The sound of a handclap activates the space around it, making its resonant and reverberant potential reveal itself — it doesn’t really exist without the space around it.

    There are ways to manipulate or suppress the acoustic properties of a room by using complex materials or architectural designs. A fully treated, non-echoic chamber will feel extremely strange for most people because non-echoic spaces hardly ever occur in the natural world. A highly reverberating and echoing space, on the other hand, can strike us with awe and inspire us with complex, even religious experiences. Next to a large echoing structure we can feel the presence of something larger than us.

    Echo and reverb both locate the listener in time and space. By changing the acoustic properties of a space, we can introduce various effects to the mind. The development of experimental sound design methods during the last century has allowed artists to express themselves not only through their instruments but also through virtual spatial effects, such as reverb and delay.

    As a musician, I know that reverbs and delays can introduce an exciting dimension to any sound. They add texture, create rhythmic effects, and most importantly — a sense of instruments and sounds being somewhere, in relation to us.

    The composer Edgar Varèse wrote in 1936, “When new instruments will allow me to write music as I conceive it, taking the place of the linear counterpoint, the movement of sound masses, of shifting planes, will be clearly perceived.”

    Varèse dreamt of artistic expression, but I believe he wanted to express a certain aspect of being in the spatiotemporal world. We now have the tools to create and recreate imaginary echoes and reverbs at will.

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