Gunther Anders The Acoustic Stereoscope
Gunther Anders The Acoustic Stereoscope
Gunther Anders The Acoustic Stereoscope
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THE ACOUSTIC STEREOSCOPE
When the two radios flankyou, the two music-imagesbecome one; their
mergingproduces the effectof spatial fullness;now you are actually in
music. The difference between-the"old" and the "new" look is far more
than a quantitativeor coloristicone; it is ratherthe difference
that exists
betweena paintingand a workof sculpture;or betweenjust seeinga river
fromoutside and being carriedby it.
Now, it is surprisingto observe that the feelingof "being in" is not
the only space-effect producedby the two-setarrangement;all the other
spatial characteristicsof music assume a bafflinglyarticulated profile,
too. Ordinarily,radio transmissionsirritateus by gluingtogetherindivi-
dual voices of the orchestra;oftentheyproducethe effectof being strung
togetherto formone single "sound-cable." This distortionimmediately
ceases whenyou hear throughthe "stereoscope."Aftera certainwhileyou
will even fall preyto the strangeillusionthat certaininstrumentsare being
played in (or even by) apparatus A, while others"obviously" emanate
fromapparatus B.
This illusionis most strikingwhen you listento a "concerto"whichis
supposedto conveythe "spatial" impressionof "confrontation"(of a solo-
ist confrontedby the orchestra,e.g., Beethoven,piano-concertoin g, 2nd
movement).Now the soloistis not onlyheard as playing"in frontof" the
(background-)orchestra,but one of theradios seemsto becomethesoloist,
while the otherjust accompanies.In short,while the individual set does
not convey more than the depthless,image-like"draft" or "check" on
music, the two-radioarrangementprovides us with the music itselfin-
cludingall its inherentspace-attributes.2
2 Anothertrickis almostas strikingalthoughit is even moreprimitivethat our
two-setarrangement. Againthe effectcan be producedforthe ears as well as forthe
eyes. Whenyou walk througha streetwithone eye firmly closed,you will not have
theimpressionofa flatimageoftheworld,althoughtheonepictureperceivedby the
oneeyedoes notenjoytheopportunity ofmergingwitha secondone and thusgaining
"depth." We are, however,so deeply accustomedto, or ratherpreparedfor,living
and movingin three-dimensional space that it requiresa ratherdifficult effortnot
to see ourworldas three-dimensional: as a matteroffact,an actual act ofabstraction
is requiredto see the worldas a mural-likeplane. Onlyif and whentwoidentical
imagesare presented to thetwoeyes (as withphotos,movingpictures,etc.) does the
impressionofflatnessarise.Paradoxicalas it maysound,on the strengthofthisfact
wecan producea stereoscopic pictureofa photoora movingpicturebylookingat it with
butone eye.The effectis moststrikingwhenyou excludefromthe horizonof vision
everything thatdoes notbelongto thepictureyou wishto "stereoscopize,"in short,
whenyou look througha hole made by yourfingersor cut in a sheetofpaper. Now,
theanalogouseffect can be producedin theacousticsphere.By listeningto yourradio
musicwithbut one ear, whilethe otheris blockedas tightlyas possible,you will be
deceivedin a similarway; the effectof depth will be far moreobvious than ordi-
narily.However,the two-setarrangement is moreconvincingand satisfactory.
242 PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH