I have been honored to be recognized as an early ethnographic researcher of live sound studies by an international group of scholars dedicated to live sound studies. This group convened for a symposium, inviting me to present, “Microphonicism: Amplifying the Structures and Agencies of Musicians and Engineers.”

Nick Reeder, a contributor to the Symposium, published an article in Live Sound International Magazine, characterizing the the day, writing “Whitney Slaten described a new line of research in which he has been examining dialog in post 1950s electronic engineering texts regarding terms like “microphony” or “microphonic,” used to describe unwanted resonances or impurities in electrical systems…the way they are used reminds Slaten of the way that disciplines like ethnomusicology once held the pentatonic scale system to be evidence of a musical society not having a comparatively developed tonal system.” In addition the Reeder also recounts, “He found that engineers valued transparency, or the ideal of making invisible the engineer’s role in facilitating the music and/or the connection between the artist and the audience…He found this condition of invisibility could also be observed in the dress and stationing of others in the industry, who are often hidden from view to preserve the illusion of an unmediated performance.”

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