THE MONOCHORD

"It is, however, only in the electronic age that international tonal centers have been achieved; in countries operating on an alternating current of 60 cycles, it is this sound which now provides the resonant frequency, for it will be heard (together with its harmonics) in the operation of all electrical devices from lights and amplifiers to generators. Where C is tuned to 256 cycles, this resonant frequency is B natural. In ear training exercises I have discovered that students find B natural much the easiest pitch to retain and to recall spontaneously. Also during meditation exercises, after the whole body has been relaxed and students are asked to sing the tone of “prime unity"—the tone which seems to arise naturally from the center of their being—B natural is more frequent than any other. I have also experimented with this in Europe where the resonant electrical frequency of 50 cycles is approximately G sharp." 

The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World (R. Murray Schafer)

WITCH TRAPS

I shall start with the image of a snarl of cables, wrapped around themselves and apparently inextricably tangled. They snake across the floor of a windowless room, connecting unknown pieces of equipment to each other in an arcane pattern. The air hums with a net of electromagnetism and audio feedback

I shall add a second image to this: a glass ball, or sealed bottle containing a labyrinth of red string and shreds of metallic foil, buried under the threshold of a dwelling, or standing sentinel at a window. The connection between 

The first image is a recording studio, the second a charm that was known as a “witch trap”.

The spectral, understood as a liminal state of being (un-dead), is an integral part of our electronic ecosystem. Recording and sound manipulation technology gives rise to the existence of ghosts; or maybe it is more accurate to say that these technologies have provided the spectral with an hospitable environment. There are obvious examples such as EVP(electric voice phenomenon),  Some people believe that the voices of the dead sometimes manifest on magnetic tapes and more latterly digital media, this is known as Electronic Voice Phenomenon (EVP). The website of the EVP Research Association UK advises that “You will find that analogue recordings contain a high level of background hiss, which is where many of the voices can be found during analysis”. As far as digital recorders go, they say that they are “[…]most effective for capturing EVP when used on the lowest quality settings. These settings appear to generate a higher degree of background hiss […]” (http://www.evpuk.com/evp_equipment.html Accessed 17/01/12) The spectral manifests itself in noise. 


There is also the spectral powers the technology itself.

A paranormal and ghost hunters’ site expresses some excitement at predictions of solar storms: "Solar Flare activity and Geomagnetic Field activity seems to affect the amount of ghost activity [...]Spirits often tap into normal electrical sources such are electrical appliances and batteries to get this energy." (emphasis mine). There is, interestingly, another site that describes a piece of technology similar to the witch trap described above - 


"The sprite trap is created from a blackthorn stave and copper wire that has never carried electricity. During a ritual process, the copper wire is bound to the stave with red thread and the stave is marked with a Dag (or D) rune.[...] After the sprite trap has captured a spirit, it is removed from the location and the red thread is cut with a consecrated knife; the thread is then placed into a prepared witch bottle." One wonders why the copper wire should never have carried electricity if it is to be efficacious. Perhaps once it has been a conduit for the lumeniferous ether, it remains forever open to it and the sprite can simply slip away.


Which brings me back to my linked images of the spirit catching charms and the recording studio.

THE HUM

WE ALL GREW UP WITH THE HUMMMM.....GHOSTS DRIBBLING THROUGH THE WALL SOCKETS, BABBLING THROUGH THE ROOM SPEAKERS. IT WAS NOT WHAT THEY SAID - THEY ALWAYS SAID THE SAME THING, IT WAS HOW THEY DID IT - VOICES SHADED OFF INTO NOISE. THAT WAS ALWAYS THERE. FROM TUNING IN A CRAPPY TRANSISTOR TO LISTEN TO THE TOP 20 (REMEMBER THE TOP 20?) TO CONCENTRATING ON ANOTHER'S WORDS AS THEY TOLD US THEY LOVED US/IT'S ALL OVER/THEY NEED OUR HELP/WE HAVE CANCER AGAINST THE CONSTANT HUM OF THE OTHER. THE LEECH ON THE WIRE. WE ALL GREW UP WITH THE CAPACITY TO SEPARATE SIGNAL - WHICH IS THAT WHICH MEANS SOMETHING TO US; FROM NOISE - WHICH IS THAT WHICH WE CANNOT MAKE USE OF.

THE DEFINITION OF THE UNWORTHY POOR "YOU ARE OF NO OBVIOUS PRESENT USE TO ME", AS OPPOSED TO THE SUPPOSEDLY WORTHY POOR "YOU ARE USEFUL".