Sonic Writing

Sonic Writing explores how contemporary music technologies trace their ancestry to previous forms of instruments and media. Studying the domains of instrument design, musical notation, and sound recording under the rubrics of material, symbolic, and signal inscriptions of sound, the book describes how these historical techniques of sonic writing are implemented in new digital music technologies. With a scope ranging from ancient Greek music theory, medieval notation, early modern scientific instrumentation to contemporary multimedia and artificial intelligence, it provides a theoretical grounding for further study and development of technologies of musical expression. The book draws a bespoke affinity and similarity between current musical practices and those from before the advent of notation and recording, stressing the importance of instrument design in the study of new music and projecting how new computational technologies, including machine learning, will transform our musical practices. Sonic Writing offers a richly illustrated study of contemporary musical media, where interactivity, artificial intelligence, and networked devices disclose new possibilities for musical expression. Thor Magnusson provides a conceptual framework for the creation and analysis of this new musical work, arguing that contemporary sonic writing becomes a new form of material and symbolic design--one that is bound to be ephemeral, a system of fluid objects where technologies are continually redesigned in a fast cycle of innovation.

The field of Sound Studies has changed and developed dramatically over the last two decades involving a vast and dizzying array of work produced by those working in the arts, social sciences and sciences. The study of sound is inherently interdisciplinary and is undertaken both by those who specialize in sound and by others who wish to include sound as an intrinsic and indispensable element in their research. This is the first resource to provide a wide ranging, cross-cultural and interdisciplinary investigation and analysis of the ways in which researchers use a broad range of methodologies in order to pursue their sonic investigations. It brings together 49 specially commissioned chapters that ask a wide range of questions including; how can sound be used in current academic disciplines? Is sound as a methodological tool indispensable for Sound Studies and what can sound artists contribute to the discourse on methodology in Sound Studies? The editors also present 3 original chapters that work as provocative 'sonic methodological interventions' prefacing the 3 sections of the book.

Sonic fiction is everywhere: in conversations about vernacular culture, in music videos, sound art compositions and on record sleeves, in everyday encounters with sonic experiences and in every single piece of writing about sound. Where one can find sounds one will also detect bits of fiction. In 1998 music critic, DJ and video essayist Kodwo Eshun proposed this concept in his book “More Brilliant Than The Sun: Adventures in Sonic Fiction”. Originally, he did so in order to explicate the manifold connections between Afrofuturism and Techno, connecting them to Jazz, Breakbeat and Electronica. His argument, his narrations and his explorative language operations however inspired researchers, artists, and scholars since then. Sonic Fiction became a myth and a mantra, a keyword and a magical spell. This book provides a basic introduction to sonic fiction. In six chapters it explicates the inspirations for and the transformations of this concept; it explores applications and extrapolations in sound art and sonic theory, in musicology, epistemology, in critical and political theory. Sonic fiction is presented in this book as a heuristic for critique and activism.

The rise of digital publishing and the ebook has opened up an array of possibilities for the writer working with innovation in mind. Creative Writing and the Radical uses an examination of how experimental writers in the past have explored the possibilities of multimodal writing to theorise the nature of writing fiction in the future. It is clear that experimental writers rehearsed for technological advances long before they were invented. Through an in-depth study of writers and their motivations, challenges and solutions, the author explores the shifts creative writing teachers and students will need to make in order to adapt to a new era of fiction writing and reading.

"Treasure Team Tango," Part Two. Blaze joins Team Rose as it faces off against Team Dark for the Sol Emerald! But as fire and fists fly, a third team sneaks in to add to the chaos! Who is 'Team Hooligan,' and will they be the ones who come out on top? The laughs and mayhem continue in this latest story arc!

The SONIC SUPER SPECIAL MAGAZINE is back with an issue that’ll really knock your socks off! In this high-speed installment, you'll get a wrap-up of the Worlds Collide crossover, an exclusive interview with superstar Sonic artist Evan Stanley, a sneak-peek at the new Sonic game, Sonic Lost World, and MORE! Also featuring tons of comics, news, features, never-before-seen artwork and a brand-new cover by Sonic artist rising star Lamar Wells! Sonic super-fans can't miss this thrilling installment packed with tons of bonus features you won't find anywhere else!

Fly high above the clouds with Knuckles and the Chaotix in The Great Chaos Caper: Part One! Knuckles the Echidna has been tasked by a mysterious force to fix the shattered planet – but when the Dark Gaia monsters emerge from the word’s core, our hero finds himself in a fight for his very life! Luckily the ever-adventuring Chaotix are around to lend a hand, hired by Princess Sally to gather the all-important Chaos Emeralds. But wait, who’s that lurking in the dark?

"Treasure Team Tango," Part Three. The race for the Sol Emerald continues, and things are getting heated! Can Team Rose and Team Dark settle down long enough to track down a thieving trio of hooligans? And when a surprise fourth team joins the fray, will it make things better - or worse?