Century and a Half of mediated listening: A Diachronic Calibration and Classification of Our Relationship with Sound Players

Abstract

This research shows the evolution of listening through the analysis of paradigmatic innovations in sound-reproducing devices. The first objective is to show the new possibilities for listening that each new technology has incorporated. Therefore, significant variations in listening modes or possibilities are analyzed. The second objective is to group the changes that have occurred in listening to identify different historical trends and stages. Finally, an analytical framework for current listening is established based on its diachronic transformation over the past century and a half. Using specialized literature, it is concluded that the main possibilities of the device-listener relationship –mobility, individualization, and multimedia– were established in the first fifty years, from the appearance of the phonograph to the introduction of talkies. A diachronic increase in the three possibilities is observed, with corresponding historical stages, and a final period focused almost exclusively on ease of access and use. Mobility extends mainly from the 1970s, culminating in the Walkman, and imposes individualization and intimate listening through the mandatory use of headphones. At the same time, it is specified that the established stages regarding mobility, individualization, and multimedia listening are always permeable and involve the coexistence of different complementary possibilities. And, finally, it is noted that current listening is situated in a progressive trend toward individualization and the enhancement of intimate listening, with the eardrum as a barrier, unit, and limit of modality.