I am a social science scholar with a focus on methodology and a special interest in reception and use of audio, sound and music in media and communication. I conduct mixed-methods research in this area. My current research project is on genesis and meaning of audio media repertoires used for everyday music listening. Address: Audio Communication Group (Sekr. EN-8)
Institute for Language and Communication
Technische Universität Berlin
Einsteinufer 17c
10587 Berlin
Germany
Approaching current vinyl enthusiasm in late modernity, we postulate four mechanisms as possible ... more Approaching current vinyl enthusiasm in late modernity, we postulate four mechanisms as possible explanations and test them by conducting a social experiment with 31 music listeners. Half of them were to play the vinyl version of a current music album; the rest were given the CD. Without participants' knowledge, the headphone sound was manipulated, effectively resulting in a between-subjects design with 'sound' and 'sensory appeal' as independent variables and 'emotional arousal' and 'nostalgia' as dependents. Additionally, participants' birth year was implemented as a covariate. Obtained results confirm the distinctive sound of the Vinyl as well as its sensory appeal to be both aesthetically more exciting for nowadays' listeners compared to a CD. Furthermore, we demonstrate feelings of technostalgia to be 'embodied' since they only appear with 'valid' material media of one's own past. In contrast, generational aura attributions emerge when handling 'obsolete' audio media one has not been socialized with.
When listening to music in everyday life, the playback technologies employed and acoustic listeni... more When listening to music in everyday life, the playback technologies employed and acoustic listening room
Every single “playback” of a piece of music is a unique “performance”, insofar as the media techn... more Every single “playback” of a piece of music is a unique “performance”, insofar as the media technology employed and the listening room conditions alter the morphology of the resulting ambient sound field at our ears. As demonstrated in numerous experiments by technical acoustics, these differences are at least noticeable. But do they really matter for the experience and enjoyment of music? And how do quality expectations towards certain technologies come into play? We initially focused on “spatiality” as a distinguishing technical parameter of audio technologies that might lead to a modified affective physiognomy of music. 306 subjects listened to the same four pieces of different genres. The original audio material had been manipulated by means of dynamic binaural synthesis technology into three differently spatialized versions: “headphones”, “loudspeakers”, and “concert hall”. Each subject experienced only one of them and had to rate the perceived emotional expression after each p...
Approaching current vinyl enthusiasm in late modernity, we postulate four mechanisms as possible ... more Approaching current vinyl enthusiasm in late modernity, we postulate four mechanisms as possible explanations and test them by conducting a social experiment with 31 music listeners. Half of them were to play the vinyl version of a current music album; the rest were given the CD. Without participants' knowledge, the headphone sound was manipulated, effectively resulting in a between-subjects design with 'sound' and 'sensory appeal' as independent variables and 'emotional arousal' and 'nostalgia' as dependents. Additionally, participants' birth year was implemented as a covariate. Obtained results confirm the distinctive sound of the Vinyl as well as its sensory appeal to be both aesthetically more exciting for nowadays' listeners compared to a CD. Furthermore, we demonstrate feelings of technostalgia to be 'embodied' since they only appear with 'valid' material media of one's own past. In contrast, generational aura attributions emerge when handling 'obsolete' audio media one has not been socialized with.
When listening to music in everyday life, the playback technologies employed and acoustic listeni... more When listening to music in everyday life, the playback technologies employed and acoustic listening room
Every single “playback” of a piece of music is a unique “performance”, insofar as the media techn... more Every single “playback” of a piece of music is a unique “performance”, insofar as the media technology employed and the listening room conditions alter the morphology of the resulting ambient sound field at our ears. As demonstrated in numerous experiments by technical acoustics, these differences are at least noticeable. But do they really matter for the experience and enjoyment of music? And how do quality expectations towards certain technologies come into play? We initially focused on “spatiality” as a distinguishing technical parameter of audio technologies that might lead to a modified affective physiognomy of music. 306 subjects listened to the same four pieces of different genres. The original audio material had been manipulated by means of dynamic binaural synthesis technology into three differently spatialized versions: “headphones”, “loudspeakers”, and “concert hall”. Each subject experienced only one of them and had to rate the perceived emotional expression after each p...
As part of the feature “Fade in/Fade out – Remixing Culture”, Media Scholar Steffen Lepa was inte... more As part of the feature “Fade in/Fade out – Remixing Culture”, Media Scholar Steffen Lepa was interviewed by Berlin Radio station “Kulturwelle“. The reason was an article he published together with Malte Pelleter in 2007, which dealt with aesthetic strategies of sampling in Hip Hop.
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