Research - Listening Modes (PRE FMP)

There is a difference between hearing and listening. Hearing is about it being passive while listening is active. Hearing is where we are receiving auditory information through our ears whilst listening relies on the capacity to filter, selectively focus, remember and respond to sound. Our ears allows us stereophonic reception, helping us perceive distance, spatial relationships and our place in the world

Three different types of listening modes; Reduced, Causal and Semantic. A forth type of listening is introduced as referential.

Reduced 

• Reduced sound is the object of attention that is the qualities of characteristics of the sound itself.
• Real time awareness of all the sound quality parameters. 
• Observation of sound itself and not its source or meaning - which is a unnatural midset that can disrupt lazy habits and open fruitful exploration to the sound universe. 
• Happens when eyes are closed. 
• Listening to a sound library of effects without needing to know their sources. 
•  - eg. Listening to sound art or acousmatic music. 
•  - eg. Listening to an interesting and unusual sound. 

Causal 

• Listening in order to identify or gather information about a sound cause - called causal listening.
• Listening to a sound to be able to gather information about its cause. 
• If helps assists what type pf space, object or person creating the sound. 
• It can be accompanied by synchronized visual helping identify source. 
• doesn't necessarily coming from that source - it uses its filmic logic to direct the audience belief system.
• All treat sound (not including speech) causal. 
•  - eg. An auto-mechanic locating the source of a malfunction through listening for sound.
•  - eg. Shaking a closed box to know whether it is full or empty and what the contents are.  

Semantic

• Listening to understand and interpret the meaning of an encoded message - language, morse code - involves a learned association of sound patterns and meanings.  
• Relates to the spoken language and other code systems that are able to symbolize ideas, actions and things. 
• Study of linguistics delves deeply into this area and points out that the variation can be great in actual sound (gender, age, accent, grammar) and still has the same meaning. 
• Alongside causal listening it understands so much more about a person that simply linguistic meaning. 
•  - eg. Listening to a language you understand. 
•  - eg. Responding to the affective/emotional context of music with which you are familiar. 

Referential 

• Being aware of or affected by the context of the sound - linking not only to the source but principally to the emotional and dramatic meaning. 
• Instinctual or universal level or all humans.
• Culturally specific to a certain society or period.
• Within the confines of the sound coding of a specific film.