“THIS MUSIC IS NOISE!” REFLECTIONS ON POSSIBLE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN MUSIC, NOISE AND THE ENVIRONMENT

The evolution of the musical thought during the twentieth century, as approached in this essay, brings about in the progressive inclusion of “noise” into “music”. Firstly, this is arguable by referring to the many sounds, traditionally considered as “noise”, which enter the musical composition. The spread of electronic instruments, the change of orchestras, the transformation in the aesthetic consideration of the environment – as in futurist music, aleatoric music, radio music, soundscape composition – prove this change. A second interpretation of the initial statement turns music itself into a “background noise”, which often tends to be ignored by the public, especially in an urban environment. The several available recording tools have an impact also on the compositional process, which detaches from a purely aesthetic and artistic perspective to satisfy different needs – as demonstrated by the so called “muzak”, for instance.
This scenario urges the research to re-establish the three categories of “music”, “noise” and “environmental sound”, to clarify both their interpretive role – compared to the quality and the usability of urban places – and their potential for the architectural project. In this perspective, this contribution aims at encouraging some reflections to highlight the relationships that sound establishes between the intention of the producer and the cultural references of the listeners. This demonstrates, therefore, the inadequacy of the common approach, which intends to define acoustic quality starting exclusively from objective and quantitative parameters. Some musical experiences of the last century represent significant references, which point to the importance of local participation and the activation of processes to raise awareness and consciousness within the people. This could represent a good starting point towards the definition of models for sound management and treatment.