Wild Sound

An exploration of "wild sound," the cinematic term for sound not synchronized with an image, bringing concepts from early film theory into dialogue with sound studies.

Bringing concepts from early film theory into dialogue with the vibrant field of contemporary sound studies, Wild Sound turns an analytic eye and ear to the role of the soundscape in cinema, particularly the way that film soundtracks capture, create, represent, and even critique our sonic environment.

Listening beyond music and dialogue, this book draws attention to the oft-ignored background soundscape—film's "wild sound"—which plays a quiet but substantial role in determining how film audiences feel about certain places, people, and processes. It explores the relationship between location sound and wider practices of phonographic field recording in the creation of a cinematic sonic environment.

The latter half of the book shifts attention from the controlled soundscapes of cinema to the relatively chaotic sonic environments of the world around us. Michael Pigott ultimately demonstrates how a theory of cinematic soundscapes helps us develop practical strategies for investigating the sonic environment in our personal and natural sound worlds, beyond the cinema auditorium.