Three Modes of Listening - Reading Response
This week's reading talks about three modes of listening, according to Michel Chion. The three modes are: Causal Listening, Semantic Listening, and Reduced Listening.
Causal Listening
This type of listening is pretty much how we all listen to things: we analyze the sound to deduct what made the noise. You can tap on a container to listen to the sound it makes, and then determine how full it may be. Likewise, tapping on a wall can help us deduct where a stud is. Often, and by experience of associating images with sounds, we can deduct what actually made the noise. However, we don't need to know what makes a noise in order to get information from the sound. Scraping noises carry tone, speed, and pitch. All of these provide information regarding how something is moving against another object.
Semantic Listening
Here we get an inversion of Causal Listening: Semantic Listening. This is a way to interpret a message with sound, and it is independent of the nuances of casual listening. Take Morse Code or a spoken language, for example. The message is heard, regardless of what makes the sound, how fast it goes, or what pitch is used. This type of listening is more of code interpretation via sound. It paints a picture, but it's a picture of words.
Reduced Listening
Reduced Listening is more commonly known to me as Deep Listening. With this type of listening, every sound is heard, and every sound matters. However, determining the source of the sound or determining the semantics of the sounds is not important; the sound just is. Sometimes, allowing our brains to process the sound through Causal or Semantic Listening can help the act of Reduced Listening. Once you've accepted what a sound is, how it's made, what it's doing, and all the other listening nuances, you can start to devote your listening energy towards exploring what the sound is outside of those elements.
Causal Listening
This type of listening is pretty much how we all listen to things: we analyze the sound to deduct what made the noise. You can tap on a container to listen to the sound it makes, and then determine how full it may be. Likewise, tapping on a wall can help us deduct where a stud is. Often, and by experience of associating images with sounds, we can deduct what actually made the noise. However, we don't need to know what makes a noise in order to get information from the sound. Scraping noises carry tone, speed, and pitch. All of these provide information regarding how something is moving against another object.
Semantic Listening
Here we get an inversion of Causal Listening: Semantic Listening. This is a way to interpret a message with sound, and it is independent of the nuances of casual listening. Take Morse Code or a spoken language, for example. The message is heard, regardless of what makes the sound, how fast it goes, or what pitch is used. This type of listening is more of code interpretation via sound. It paints a picture, but it's a picture of words.
Reduced Listening
Reduced Listening is more commonly known to me as Deep Listening. With this type of listening, every sound is heard, and every sound matters. However, determining the source of the sound or determining the semantics of the sounds is not important; the sound just is. Sometimes, allowing our brains to process the sound through Causal or Semantic Listening can help the act of Reduced Listening. Once you've accepted what a sound is, how it's made, what it's doing, and all the other listening nuances, you can start to devote your listening energy towards exploring what the sound is outside of those elements.
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