John Kannenberg – Medium

John Kannenberg

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

The Discovery of Pulsars

On this day in 1967, Jocelyn Bell Burnell discovered pulsars using radio wave data collected by the Interplanetary Scintillation Array, a…

Nov 28, 2022

The Discovery of Pulsars

Nov 28, 2022

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Stone Age Phonograph Technologies as Depicted in The Flintstones

The classic tortoise shell platter and bird beak stylus (no amplifying horn)

Nov 26, 2022

Stone Age Phonograph Technologies as Depicted in The Flintstones

Nov 26, 2022

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Joseph Cornell’s ‘Museum’ (1949)

One of Joseph Cornell’s many box constructions, 1949’s ‘Museum’ is a conceptual museum of sounds. The museum box contains a series of small…

Nov 23, 2022

A small wooden box with its lid open. Inside the lid is a label that simply says “MUSEUM”. Inside the box are a number of small cylinders which look to be made out of either thing wood or cardboard. On the shelf outside the box, several similar cylinders are open with their contents viewable, featuring small objects like paper clips, string, etc.

Nov 23, 2022

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

The World’s First (Successful) Talking Doll

She may not have been the first, but Mattel’s Chatty Cathy™ (originally produced from 1959–1965) was the world’s first successful talking…

Jul 19, 2022

The original Chatty Cathy doll (1960): a white girl with blonde hair, blue eyes, and freckles.

Jul 19, 2022

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Museums: Start Speaking Up

We know museums aren’t neutral — so why are they so afraid to have an opinion?

Jun 3, 2020

Museums: Start Speaking Up

Jun 3, 2020

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

On Non-Musical Sounds

Why is it so difficult for experimental musicians and sound artists to accept the fact there are non-musical sounds?

May 13, 2020

On Non-Musical Sounds

May 13, 2020

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Critiquing the Political Utilisation of the Anechoic Chamber

In September 2019, the Museum of Portable Sound published a meme to cheekily aid students in creating titles for a Sound Studies thesis…

May 8, 2020

Critiquing the Political Utilisation of the Anechoic Chamber

May 8, 2020

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Questionable Science, Questionable Logic, Questionable Morals: London Transport’s 1988 Attempt to…

Could the engines of tube trains on London’s Underground have been adapted to erase any recorded material brought on board? Maybe not, but…

Apr 22, 2020

Questionable Science, Questionable Logic, Questionable Morals: London Transport’s 1988 Attempt to…

Apr 22, 2020

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

The Freudian History of the Firearm Silencer

In one of the most poetically Freudian bits of sound-related history possible, the inventor of the firearm silencer (Hiram Percy Maxim…

Dec 5, 2019

Sir Hiram Maxim, 1840–1916, Hiram Percy Maxim, 1869–1936, Daniel Craig as James Bond.

Dec 5, 2019

John Kannenberg
in
Sound Beyond Music

Benjamin Franklin’s Phonetic Alphabet (1768)

United States ‘founding father’ Benjamin Franklin, a keen writer and inventor, not only wanted political independence from Great Britain —…

Oct 18, 2019

Benjamin Franklin’s Phonetic Alphabet (1768)

Oct 18, 2019

John Kannenberg

John Kannenberg

art, sound, museums, philosophy, design, archaeology, geek culture. http://JohnKannenberg.com / http://museumofportablesound.com

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