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COPYRIGHT AND USE OF THIS THESIS This thesis must be used in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. Reproduction of material protected by copyright may be an infringement of copyright and copyright owners may be entitled to take legal action against persons who infringe their copyright. Section 51 (2) of the Copyright Act permits an authorized officer of a university library or archives to provide a copy (by communication or otherwise) of an unpublished thesis kept in the library or archives, to a person who satisfies the authorized officer that he or she requires the reproduction for the purposes of research or study. The Copyright Act grants the creator of a work a number of moral rights, specifically the right of attribution, the right against false attribution and the right of integrity. You may infringe the author’s moral rights if you: - fail to acknowledge the author of this thesis if you quote sections from the work - attribute this thesis to another author - subject this thesis to derogatory treatment which may prejudice the author’s reputation For further information contact the University’s Director of Copyright Services sydney.edu.au/copyright The Life History of Sound Sophia Maalsen The University of Sydney December 2013 Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Declaration I declare that this thesis is the result of my own independent research and that all authorities and sources which have been used are duly acknowledged. Sophia Maalsen ii Abstract In recent years, the emergence of cultures and practices of music-making associated with new music-making technologies has generated controversy and conflict, being both variously embraced and vilified. Just as some are determined to explore the possibilities that these technologies afford for the re-use and re-circulation of music, others have been determined to regulate such practices through aggressive assertions of ownership over sounds. Central to these controversies is a deeper question concerning the nature of musical sounds and their relationship to the people who produce and work with them. In order to explore this issue, this thesis develops a new conceptual framework for thinking about the biographies of musical sounds. Drawing on concepts from material culture studies and feminist philosophy, the thesis critiques traditional conceptions of musical sounds as the property of a possessive individual, and offers an approach that seeks to better appreciate the complex relationships between sounds and human agents. This framework is applied and further developed across a series of case studies, which take an ethnographic approach to following the eventful biographies of selected pieces of music. These ethnographies trace the ways in which legal, ethical, economic and cultural concerns about the ownership of music are navigated in the practices of people who sample, collect and re-issue music. In tracing how these practitioners work with musical sounds, the research also uncovers the ways in which musical sounds work on those practitioners. In the process, these musical sounds develop a life of their own. Through these ethnographies, the thesis traces the life histories of musical sounds and demonstrates the ways in which those life histories are ‘multibiographical’, drawing together a range of actors and distributing their personhood and agency across space and time. The thesis concludes with a discussion of how an appreciation of multibiographical sound could inform new approaches to the production and regulation of musical sounds in the digital age that are based on connection rather than control. This recognises that music making changes as new technologies influence its production and accommodates the distribution of both sound and human agency through the reuse of sound recordings that digital technologies encourage. iii Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the guidance, time and support of many people. Firstly I would like to thank Dr Kurt Iveson and Dr Charles Fairchild for steering me through my PhD, with their suggestions, belief in the project and being open to my sometimes rather left of field ideas. Special thanks also to Dr Leonn Satterthwait for cultivating such left of field ideas and for initially inspiring my interest in material culture. His informal guidance throughout the PhD process has been invaluable. I would like to thank all the people who gave up their time to talk to me about collecting records, reissuing albums, and the way they make music. Without them I would have had nothing to write about! In no particular order: Bevan Jee, Sean Dunstan, Pat Dooner, Callum Flack, James Pianta, Dave Reitman, Wally de Backer, Sven Libaek, Martin Dingle, The Karminsky Experience, Atesh Sonneborn, Rob Thomsett, Jeremy Thompson, Bianca Valentino, The Roundtable, Votary Records, Sing Sing Records, and Smithsonian Folkways. Special mention to Bevan Jee for connecting me with so many sounds and to so many people during the years I’ve been studying music and music subcultures. All of this would not have been possible without the support of my family. My parents, Willem and Jill Maalsen, who inspired a love of learning in me and who believe in me more than I do. Anna, Melanie, Jodie, Kate and of course Angus Gair for words of wisdom, support and patience. Thanks also to the Madsen crew: you know who you are, and you know I appreciate your support over the last few years. Special mention must also go to Laurence Troy for sharing the PhD process with me. Thank you for discussing ideas, moral support, sharing musical finds and of course IT assistance! Finally I would like to thank music. Not really in an ABBA-ish “Thank you for the Music” kind of way, but for being one of my favourite things. In that sense I would particularly like to thank The Rolling Stones whose records fascinated me as five year old. High Tide, Green Grass was one of the first albums I was allowed to play on the hi-fi system. I’m proud to say I didn’t scratch the record. The pleasure and experience of carefully taking the album out of its sleeve, the gentle click of the needle, the crackle, and then the magic of music, has stayed with me ever since. I love the smell of vinyl. iv Contents Declaration ................................................................................................................................... ii Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... iii Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures ............................................................................................................................. viii List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii Playlist ......................................................................................................................................... ix Chapter 1 Entroducing Sound as material culture ........................................................................................................ 4 Material culture, music and geography: Towards an integrated approach ............................. 6 Research question and aims ................................................................................................... 10 Chapters and themes ............................................................................................................. 12 Chapter 2 Biography: A Tale of People and Sound Part 1 Definitions and significant theoretical concepts ......................................................... 22 Part 2: Material culture studies and object biography .......................................................... 24 Part 3: Making sound material ............................................................................................... 29 Part 4: Personhood ................................................................................................................. 49 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 57 Chapter 3 v Biographical Methodology Material culture and ethnography ......................................................................................... 60 Method ................................................................................................................................... 66 Case studies ............................................................................................................................ 68 Ethnography ........................................................................................................................... 69 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 74 Chapter 4 Yaraandoo: Biography, Music, and Personhood The making of Yaraandoo ...................................................................................................... 77 Bevan’s, Callum’s, Jordie’s and Shadow’s story ..................................................................... 81 The reissue ............................................................................................................................. 91 Mobilising