These sound-studies highlights of the week originally appeared in the March 12, 2025, issue of the Disquiet.com weekly email newsletter, This Week in Sound. This Week in Sound is the best way I’ve found to process material I come across. Your support provides resources and encouragement. Most issues are free. A weekly annotated ambient-music mixtape is for paid subscribers. Thanks.
▰ NINJA STARS: Tokyo is home to a “silent theft” event — called “盗-TOH-” — “challenging participants to take home products without making a single sound.” Per coverage in Tokyo Weekender: “The rules are simple yet nerve-wracking: enter the venue, select items you want to take home, and leave without making any sound. The venue is equipped with over 200 highly sensitive microphones that catch even the slightest noise. Make a sound, and your ‘theft’ attempt is immediately terminated. Each participant or group has just 60 seconds to complete their silent mission. … What makes 盗-TOH- particularly fascinating is how it transforms the concept of ‘stealing’ into a legitimate, rule-bound challenge. The event’s disclaimer specifically notes that it ‘does not promote or condone criminal activities’ — rather, it creates a uniquely Japanese blend of tension, skill, and reward.”
▰ POSITIVE DEVELOPMENT: The noise of construction may be diminishing thanks to technological advances, per Feargus O’Sullivan of Bloomberg: “A wave of electrification is sweeping the construction industry, fueled not just by environmental concerns and tightening pollution mandates but also by demands for machinery that is less disruptive than the diesel-powered standard. The transition from fossil fuel to electricity is notably less discussed for backhoes, wheel loaders and forklifts than it is for passenger vehicles, but it is one that could make a real difference in creating cleaner, quieter cities and a healthier environment for workers and residents alike. That in turn stands to deliver other positive effects, easing public resistance to noisy construction projects and potentially paving the way for less costly development.”
▰ DULY NOTED: The New York Times pays attention to an underknown, and under appreciated, role in the classical music industry, that of the music editor: “Like a page-turner for a pianist or a sheet music librarian, music editor is the kind of job that only the idiosyncratic structures of classical music can produce. It requires an extremely high aptitude with all aspects of notated music, an understanding of the intricate layers of this literate, visual tradition — not just of notes on a page, but also of how minute cosmetic changes to their appearance might fundamentally alter how those notes sound — and a strong working knowledge of all the strands of music-making that have sought to expand, critique and dismantle notational systems over the past century.”
▰ GRACE NOTES: (1) Bed Time: “If a teen under 16 is still using the app after 10PM, TikTok will interrupt their feed with a full-screen ‘wind down’ reminder, which will play ‘calming music to help teens relax and be mindful of the time.’” ▰ (2) Beak Up: There’s an illustrated guide to identifying how birds chatter. It’s by Becca Rowland and due out June 24. … (3) Music of Changes: And the book may eventually need an update, as research shows “birds can change their tunes as their populations evolve.” ▰ (4) Screen Time: Apparently pets like Flow, the animated movie that won the Oscar: “Matiss Kaza, who produced and co-wrote the film, said in an email that he suspects that it’s the real animal sounds used in production that attract the attention of our domesticated friends.” (5) Ear Ring:New AirPod Pros are likely three months away, reportedly promising heart rate monitoring and better noise cancellation — with cameras, perhaps, down the road in a future version. ▰ (6) Welcome Home: And Apple may be developing its own doorbell. ▰ And the next Apple mouse may take dictation. ▰ (7) Water World:“Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery about the origins of the human outer ear, revealing that this distinctive mammalian feature evolved from an unexpected source: fish gills.” ▰ (8) Like a Prayer: There’s discussion ongoing as to whether laws in India forbidding street preachers and loudspeakers are fighting noise pollution or religious activites.
▰ Credit Due: Thanks, Michael Rhode, for the music editor piece and the birdsong book, and Rich Pettus for the bird song research piece and the gill piece.
