Why Space Matters to an Understanding of Sound

Reflections on the spatiality of audition are crucial in order to tackle issues on the different philosophical inquiries which relate to sound and auditory perception. The objective of this paper is to describe the roles that the awareness of spatial information we acquire through audition play when dealing with issues that have to do with the metaphysics of sound, the segregation of auditory streams which constitute the auditory landscape, and the experience of some musical compositions. As for the metaphysics of sound, reflections about the location of sound are helpful since by saying where sounds are, we can say what sounds may possibly be, in the sense that knowing where sounds are can help understanding what they are. Then, as a useful means to individuate sounds, spatial cues help segregate the chaotic auditory field into distinct sound streams which correspond to the material objects which can be taken to be their sources. This happens because spatial cues are among the cues that affect sound streams segregation when streams evolve sequentially and when we are in front of cases of sound masking. As a last point, space employed with an aesthetic intent in musical practice and musical composition influences us as in the different aesthetic experiences we undergo when listening to music. My aim is to make explicit the role of space in audition and underlie its possible uses without exhausting all its possible applications and defending a particular view. Space plays a resolutely role when tackling the issues discussed in this paper, that is, what sound is, how we individuate it and distinguish one sound from another, and the nature of our aesthetic experience when listening to specific musical compositions.