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Steve Goodman
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Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear (Technologies of Lived Abstraction) 1st Edition

by Steve Goodman (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings
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An exploration of the production, transmission, and mutation of affective tonality--when sound helps produce a bad vibe.

Sound can be deployed to produce discomfort, express a threat, or create an ambience of fear or dread--to produce a bad vibe. Sonic weapons of this sort include the "psychoacoustic correction" aimed at Panama strongman Manuel Noriega by the U.S. Army and at the Branch Davidians in Waco by the FBI, sonic booms (or "sound bombs") over the Gaza Strip, and high-frequency rat repellants used against teenagers in malls. At the same time, artists and musicians generate intense frequencies in the search for new aesthetic experiences and new ways of mobilizing bodies in rhythm. In Sonic Warfare, Steve Goodman explores these uses of acoustic force and how they affect populations.

Traversing philosophy, science, fiction, aesthetics, and popular culture, he maps a (dis)continuum of vibrational force, encompassing police and military research into acoustic means of crowd control, the corporate deployment of sonic branding, and the intense sonic encounters of sound art and music culture.

Goodman concludes with speculations on the not yet heard--the concept of unsound, which relates to both the peripheries of auditory perception and the unactualized nexus of rhythms and frequencies within audible bandwidths.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0262013479
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0262013475
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    Mit Pr
  5. Publication date
    January 1, 2009
  6. Part of series
    Technologies of Lived Abstraction
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    7 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  9. Print length
    270 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Steve Goodman is a Lecturer in Music Culture at the School of Sciences, Media, and Cultural Studies at the University of East London.

Steve Goodman is a Lecturer in Music Culture at the School of Sciences, Media, and Cultural Studies at the University of East London, a member of the CCRU (Cybernetic Culture Research Unit), and the founder of the record label Hyperdub. He produces bass-driven electronic music under the name kode9 and is also a member of the sound art collective Audint.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mit Pr; 1st edition (January 1, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 270 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0262013479
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262013475
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.42 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 59 ratings

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Steve Goodman

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4.4 out of 5 stars
59 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Joro
    5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book
    Reviewed in the United States on February 6, 2011
    Verified Purchase
    This book was published under the name of Steve Goodman (a lecturer in Music Culture at the School of Sciences, Media, and Cultural Studies at the University of East London), not of Kode9. So it is not a tutorial on how to make wobbly bass in Massive. True, because of its subject matter it can be at times heavy on the SAT phraseology, but I seriously doubt the usefulness of writing a vibrational ontology for kindergarteners, especially if that ontology is explicitly developed in the context of Leibniz, Deleuze and Guattari.

    If you are looking for a fresh perspective on sonic weaponry, piracy, pop music as torture, sound systems, earworms, crowd control, and the Big Bang then this is the book for you.

    Read the editorial review. If you feel like its phraseology is incomprehensible (it is a good indicator of the style of academic writing used in the book), save your money and buy instead Kode9's Memories of the Future.
    36 people found this helpful
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars AMAZING BOOK
    Reviewed in the United States on April 8, 2019
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    Never read such an integrated view of psychoacoustics and physiology materialized into an impressive reading by showing examples of the many military applications and health impacts under a scientific approach, plus the amazing cultural overview the author allows through the case studies throughout time. It motivates the reader to know more about the subject and to look for references the author has based this very special book.
    One person found this helpful
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  • chawmpee
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating concepts
    Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2013
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    Despite the heavily academic language (lots of multi-syllable words that are often unnecessary), this book explores a range of fascinating concepts with rigorous detail. The author also makes music as Kode9 & runs the Hyperdub record label, so check this book out if you're a fan of electronic music, the science of acoustics or dystopian visions of the future.
    6 people found this helpful
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  • ChrisNH
    5.0 out of 5 stars good for research paper
    Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2019
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    My son wanted this book for a research paper.
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  • JD Parker
    3.0 out of 5 stars Relevant to "Affect Theory" and "Sound Studies" Readers
    Reviewed in the United States on October 14, 2014
    I think there is an audience for this book that would appreciate it for its ability to connect several key topics, namely, affect theory, sound studies, and 'sonic warfare'. Please don't be put off by the fact that the author is an electronic music producer, as that is the least important thing to know about this book.

    First of all, it is useful for trying to better understand "affect theory," which is actually a reaction against 'post-modernism'. As such, it is actually trying to go beyond the circular semantic arguments that post-modernism seemed to constantly produce and look for concrete ways to understand a variety of things through inter-disciplinary studies that bridge the sciences and humanities. For those interested in 'affect', this book draws on the main sources for this theory, which come mainly from the subjects of philosophy, psychology, neuroscience, and anthropology. Affect theory certainly has its critics (who probably outnumber its proponents), but Goodman puts his two cents into the debate in favor of it as a useful framework for understanding things that affect the mind and body at the same time.

    Secondly, Goodman tries to explore noise and its effects on the human body and mind from several angles, trying to bridge the psycho and physical by arguing (if I understood correctly) that a lot of factors come into play when sound is used as a non-lethal weapon to control populations and individuals. His ideas on "bass materialism" seem to be original, at least to me, and they help you conceive of sonic warfare as a use of noise that can be considered deeply unsettling, if not painful in some contexts, while in other contexts, deeply pleasurable and stimulating. Thus, his notion of noise as a potential (problematic) force for creating an "ecology of fear" is worth considering.

    Thirdly, the subject of sonic warfare itself is a fascination topic to many, I assume, and while it take a lot of active reading to understand what Goodman is trying to say here, I think it is possibly because he doesn't want to be accused of being a proponent of the use of noise to kill or injure other humans. If you want to learn more about this subject, some interesting cases can be found in the book "Sound Targets" by Jonathan Pieslak.

    Goodman's interdisciplinary agenda means that he doesn't fully explain any particular element he's putting into the mix, which can be frustrating. And yes, the writing is convoluted at times. A better introduction to all of the theory he is planning to use, followed by clear applications of the theory would have been better than the sort of random uses and reuses of theories that seem always incomplete and unresolved, and rarely fully applicable to the examples at hand.

    Finally, some of the sources he uses are more obscure than he would seem to make them, and I couldn't always follow up on them or find them in a good university library.
    14 people found this helpful
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  • MJM
    2.0 out of 5 stars Postmodern rambling
    Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    I'm gonna start off by saying I freaking love Kode9 and HyperDub. The guy just beams out incredible well designed sound. So when I heard he was coming out with a book regarding affecting with sound, I bought it expecting to have a pretty interesting philosophical read and perhaps come away with some fresh perspective. But Sonic Warfare as a meal is quickly filling and hard to digest. The whole thing is over-written like someone who was trying to make even the simplest statement horribly difficult to grasp. I can easily read several pages and still only have a whisper of an idea of wtf he's talking about. So unfortunately I can't recommend it.
    30 people found this helpful
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  • Douglas Groothuis
    1.0 out of 5 stars Unbearable
    Reviewed in the United States on May 15, 2013
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    This is the worst written book I have read in 40 years of serious reading in cultural criticism. How any editor let his by is a dark mystery I do not want to explore.

    Cultural criticism can be written clear. Consider Neil Postman. This, however, is replete with:

    1. Convoluted sentences, some of which approach comedy in their pretentiousness.
    2. Adjectival overload
    3. Adjectival meaninglessness
    4. Over use of adjectives such as "deployed," which is also misused.
    5. Compound words without hyphens, mot of which are unintelligible.
    6. Over use of other sources. The author seems to have no original ideas. Or, if he does, I have no idea what they are, given the maddening opacity of the writing.

    One could go on, but why bother with this execrable exercise in ugliness?
    14 people found this helpful
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  • arigato
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not as bad as other reviews would have you believe...
    Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2014
    ...however, there are some fundamental problems with the way this book is outlined. First, the author does not note who he is quoting without subscript - it should not be difficult for the reader to locate who is saying what within a piece of nonfiction writing. Secondly, the author writes in tangents with no relatable frame to the general idea of sonic warfare, so the piece hits and misses in spots.

    I highly recommend those who read this piece have some knowledge of sonic arts prior to reading as well as the uncanny and experimental sound. It will make reading the piece much more relatable and make it a more interesting read.
    2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • ThorinOakenshield
    4.0 out of 5 stars Libro interessante
    Reviewed in Italy on May 11, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Il libro è molto interessante, il linguaggio è tecnico ma chiaro. L'unica nota negativa il materiale dells copertina, la carta e troppo sottile
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  • Amazon Kunde
    5.0 out of 5 stars Alles super.
    Reviewed in Germany on January 21, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Sehr interessantes Buch, kann ich nur weiter empfehlen, wenn man sich für die Wirkung von Schall und Klängen auf menschliche Körper und Massen interessiert. Die Kaufabwicklung lief einwandfrei und der Versand war schnell. Alles wunderbar.
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  • Digiboy Design
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great guy, interesting read
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 2, 2013
    Verified Purchase
    I found the book engrossing and enjoyed the story telling edge it has, great sense of dread and a great depth on knowledge.Good work Steve.
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