Is Noise Categorizable?

Noise is a tricky subject. It evades capture into cognitive categorical thinking. Noise is a paradox. It is everything and it is nothing. Every category that you try to put noise into it reveals contradictions or even evictions from said category. Take the statement “Noise is unwanted sound.” Unwanted by whom? If we are to except that noise only exists subjectively than what is noise music? Noise music in the ears of many avid listeners is quite beautiful. Someone may say in response to this, “well, noise music is made up of ‘acoustic noise,’ which is not subjective.” Well then, what is acoustic noise? If you say “white noise” is acoustic noise you would be wrong. White noise is a mathematical construction that does not exist outside of theory, much like a circle or a triangle. White noise is a kind of theoretical randomness that states that all frequencies are of equal amplitude. A computer, which may purport to be creating white noise, can only create pseudo random numbers and hence pseudo white noise.

Is noise disorder? Disorder is no less tricky of a subject than noise itself. But I suppose disorder represents that which cannot be comprehended. Defining noise is certainly disorderly. But when noise becomes captured into music, is it still noise or does is become something else entirely? When 4’33” by John Cage is performed, do the sounds that arise from listening to them in the sort of forced concert environment turn them into something that is not noise?