Why Sound Matters makes the case that how we hear — and what we choose to silence — shapes the fabric of community, labour, and ecological health in ways that digital culture has accelerated and largely ignored.
About This Book
Musician and author Damon Krukowski moves through an impressive range of territory in this compact but substantial work: from the social bonds forged through shared auditory experience, to the unintended isolation produced by urban noise-mitigation strategies, to the slow erasure of the world's quiet places. He interrogates the commodification of sound in the digital era with the precision of someone who has lived inside the music industry, and extends that critique outward to environmental acoustics and the deep sea. For architects, designers, and urbanists thinking seriously about the sonic dimension of built and natural environments, this is essential reading on acoustic ecology and the politics of listening.
Key Features
- 128 pages of essayistic argument interspersed with personal reflections from years in the music business
- Published by Yale University Press, ISBN 9780300272246
What You'll Discover
- How urban noise-mitigation efforts paradoxically increase isolation and sever residents from their physical surroundings
- The consequences of sound's commodification in the digital era — for listeners, musicians, and the broader cultural economy
- What is at stake in preserving the world's dwindling quiet places, including the acoustic environment of the deep sea
- Sound reconsidered as a material with ecological value, a dimension of labour, and a medium of human connection
About the Author
Damon Krukowski is a musician and author whose work spans the music industry and cultural criticism. His personal experience in the business of sound informs the book's grounded, first-hand perspective on the commodification and loss of meaningful auditory experience.
Specifications
- Format: Hardcover
- Pages: 128
- Dimensions: 20 x 13.5 cm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9780300272246
- Publisher: Yale University Press
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Architects, urban designers, acoustic consultants, and cultural theorists engaged with the sonic dimension of built environments and the ecology of listening.