60 years since Pierre Schaeffer’s call for ‘primacy of the ear’ (Schaeffer 1957) in music theory and composition, this research agenda asks an ostensibly simple question: whose ear / aural perception is this now deeply embedded doctrine predicated on? The findings of this research which are explored in full in two papers contained in this portfolio, show a tendency for tacit, and in some cases explicit, such as in the field of acoustics (BS ISO 226:2003), adherence to a specific audiometric profile. The research refers to this dominant episteme, as auraltypical. Bringing audiology into the sphere of sound and music, this research points to a growing awareness of hearing concerns in contemporary culture and argues for a new paradigm acknowledging hearing as a spectrum, freed from the singular, idealized, symmetrical model. The research promotes openness to diverse forms of hearing through creativity, whilst stressing awareness of the needs of sensitive hearers (e.g. hyperacusis, tinnitus, misophonia, etc…), named auraldiversity. Steps are made to achieve this challenging proposition through two contrasting methods of creative practice in the portfolio that share an agenda on unwelcome hand dryer noise: Sanitary Tones: Ayre #2[Dan Dryer], a site-specific installation, and Ayre # 3, a live work for 6 performers. Problematizing Alfred Tomatis’ concept of the audio-phonation loop (1963), in Ayre #2, 98 different voices phonate recordings of Denmark’s Dan Dryer, projected via a multichannel generative spatial sound system in a cloakroom in a Danish nightclub. Ayre #3 was presented in the first auraldiverse concert, where performers phonated the sonic emission of a range of anechoically recorded hand dryer models and mimicked each other’s phonations, whilst moving round the performance space. These works are participatory, inclusive and place the performers’ hearing, albeit diverse and for some, volatile, at the centre of the process.

• Drever, John L.. 2019. ‘Primacy of the Ear’ – But Whose Ear?: the case for auraldiversity in sonic arts practice and discourse. Organised Sound, 24(1), pp. 85-95. ISSN 1355-7718 [Article]
• Drever, John L.. 2021. Sound Art: Hearing in Particular. In: Jane Grant; John Matthias and David Prior, eds. The Oxford Handbook of Sound Art. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190274054 [Book Section]
• Drever, John L.. 2016. Sanitary tones: ayre #2. [Dan Dryer]. [Composition]
• Drever, John L.. 2019. Sanitary Tones: Ayre #3 [Kelston]. [Composition]

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/29361