Essay 2

Pauline Oliveros was an American composer as well as an important figure in developing experimental electronic art. With a mother and grandmother who both played the piano, Oliveros grew up surrounded by music and playing multiple instruments including accordion, tuba and French horn with the accordion being the most prominent. Oliveros has always been enamored with the physical relationship with sound from playing unconventional instruments in unconventional settings and conventional instruments in unconventional settings as well as how sound sprouts creativity in the human mind. Oliveros was very immersed in the concept of deep listening.  To understand what deep listening is, one must first differentiate from hearing and listening. As stated plainly by Oliveros (2003), "To hear is the physical means that enables perception. To listen is to give attention to what is perceived both acoustically and psychologically."(Listening section, para. 3) After separating the difference between listening and hearing, one must then figure out the meaning of deep. In the context of deep listening, deep is described more as expanding on the attention paid while listening. "Such expansion means that one is connected to the whole of the environment and beyond."Oliveros (2003, So what is Deep Listening? section para. 3) Some might consider deep listening as meditation, but yet there is a distinction between these two, deep listening is a form of meditation. While meditation is used to calm the mind and enhance the senses, deep listening is enhancing the attention paid to the sounds and silences around one's mind. It is used to expand consciousness of sounds all around and to focus in on one specific sound or collection of sounds. Deep listening is crucial are development as human beings because deep listening promotes compassion and understanding, two of the most important human traits. The level of awareness that is brought upon deep listening, helps life become its most valuable.