Sound Studies

The interdisciplinary core are Sound Studies explores media cultural studies perspectives on sound, music and auditory media cultures. It deals with digital processes of production, distribution and reception of sound in and through audio media. In doing so, it reflects theoretical discourses on techno-cultural change. At the same time, the core area enables an approach to (media) cultural studies, its history, its methods and objects informed by sound—working with sound, thinking about it and “thinking through” sound. Since the founding of the department ((audio)) Aesthetic Strategies in 1997, from which the core area Sound Studies emerged, it does so through the interlocking of theory and practice. Since 2010, Sound Studies has been part of the Institute for Culture and Aesthetics of Digital Media (ICAM).

Sound Studies is represented in the Music and Auditory Culture specialization area of the Cultural Studies major and in the Digital Media/Cultural Informatics minor of the Leuphana Bachelor's degree course.

Our research and teaching activities focus on sound-aesthetic practices and their construction in terms of media and technology culture. On the one hand, various experimental and established methods of interaction with (especially digital) sound technologies play an essential role. These are examined in their historical, cultural and medial constitution, but also questioned about their critical potential. On the other hand, the way in which sound itself conveys knowledge, establishes orders of power, structures space and time, in short: how it can be experienced as a cultural practice, is also elementary for an understanding of sound studies that includes feminist, intersectional, anti-racist and postcolonial perspectives on the agenda.

Are you working on your own music projects and in need of a suitable room? Are you looking for equipment like microphones, a piano, synthesizer or digital audio workstation (DAW)? Would you like to record a podcast but do not have the right set up?

The AudioLab can be found in Building 11 and is open to students who want to get creative with sound. The equipment ranges from a microphone and SSL preamp, 2 Nord synthesizers, an electric piano, DAWs such as Ableton Live and Reaper as well as analog effects to a fully-fledged podcast setup.

If you are interested, send us an e-mail and we will make an appointment for a studio introduction. We will show you how to use the equipment properly and how to schedule a time slot for the room.