BORIS
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Let me first begin by stating that I am glad to be discussing Kittler again. Last time I approached his writing from the wrong perspective. The second day of class truly helped me learn how to read Kittler’s writing. In this latest excerpt from Kittler’s book “Gramophone”, Kittler discusses the early evolution of recording equipment, the practical applications of the equipment and the recording produced. Kittler begins this section mentioning the fictitious use of recording equipment in the treatment of the insane and how Bram Stoker was quite on the ball when it came to the application of current technologies in his time. From this point Kittler then discusses the actual application of the phonograph in psychology. This part was particularly interesting to me. I always knew that the words that came out of one’s mouth aided the psychologist in discovering how to treat the patient. However, I did not know that the way the words came out of the mouth meant so much as well. A nuance so easily captured by the phonograph. This is just another instance where the progression of technology makes life easier on humanity, in this case the patient and the psychologist. Moving onward, Kittler then states the next logical use for machines that can record sound, music. The only reason music had not been recorded yet was because Edison had not built his phonograph to record music, just the sound of one’s voice. To me it is strange that music was not the first thing someone attempted to record. People are obsessed with music. Many philosophers consider music to be the highest form of art. Even in Kafka’s story about the singing mouse it is illustrated how much music means to a community. Edison designing the phonograph to record voice instead of music says a great deal about who is was. Kittler goes on for a lengthy amount of time writing about several governments’ use of recording equipment. This is a trend we have all seen before.
Elan
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I feel like there should be a series of Venn diagrams to illustrate the relationship of patients and analysts, to memory, writing, and recording via gramophone. This is my real question: this book was copywritten in 1986. Why no mention of Steve Albini or noise pollution? Everyone knows Albini's sound. He produced Pixies' Surfer Rosa and Nirvana's Inutero. Albini's production methods are unique. He records the whole band playing together instead of recording each instrument separately. Also, instead of miccing each instrument he places the mics in separate places all around the room. As a result the recordings sound full like a wall of sound and the vocals are low and kind of gritty. Also, I would like to note that throughout this whole text on gramophone innovations and recording technology there is no mention of noise pollution, which exists in recordable audio form. Noise pollution is not glorified piping or 'an expression of life' instead it is an unnecessary and obnoxious annoyance. For example the sound a garbage truck makes when backing up is noise pollution. One other note, I think is illustrated in Kittler's gramophone, functionality and innovation become art once exploited. I think the emergence of Germany's Central Broadcasting Bureau after WWI illustrates this note.
Brenda
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