2.4.3.4. The outcome of the listening project
Procedure
The sessions confirmed the utility of the procedure:
- Preparation
Participant A conducts a series of preparatory listenings, approximately 15, in order to collect possi-
ble questions and listening tasks. - Listening strategy
Participant A sketches a preliminary plan for the sequence of questions, tasks and cues. - Experimental listening
Participants A and B conduct a series of listenings, approximately 30, performing phenomenological
variations directed by questions, tasks, and cues. The variations alternate between open listening,
music-focused listening, and hermeneutical listening. Participant A continuously modifies the prelimi-
nary plan according to the outcome of the listenings.
In the project, the time required was roughly four hours for preparation and four hours for conducting
the session, plus one or two working days for transcribing and editing the session notes.
A summary of phenomenological variations
The sessions engendered a considerable number of questions and tasks which can be applied in
experimental listening. This is a summary of the findings, categorized according to listening focus:
Music-focused
Spatial focus
Listen for foreground and background. Solo and accompaniment.
Listen for the background alone. Listen for a particular voice or instrument alone.
Listen for layers and surfaces of sound. Voices in polyphony.Describe the music as movement.Listen for the space between high and deep tones.
What happens at the top? What happens at the bottom?Listen for transparence and density.
Listen for the total space of sound.Listen for surroundability and directionality: When do you hear that the music surrounds you?
When do you hear the music coming from a particular direction?