Perhaps this is too broad a question to ask. Perhaps it is unanswerable. I am, however, interested in the attempt to define noise. Though I am a composer and primarily interested with concepts of noise in terms of sound, I don't want to limit myself to only sonic concepts of noise.
Common notions of noise refer to its dualism. Noise is not _____. But noise can be something positive too, as it is sometimes thought of when used in music. Noise can enrich an otherwise lifeless sound when constructing a sound from scratch--such as in synthesized electronic music. Noise has been wrangled into traditional musics for centuries through percussion instruments.
To me, noise represents a kind of ungraspable stuff that we cannot precisely define. The unknowable has always fascinated us as a species and this is evidenced by our strong inclination toward religion. I think in the attempt to define what noise is, we should always remain humble since defining a phenomenon that you may not precisely perceive can be a tricky business.
What do you think?
