MUS310H1

Music & Noise in Cities

Cities are noisy, musical places, brimming with wanted and unwanted sounds. Musical genres and scenes emerge from the crucible of cities. In cities, people compete for and coexist in sonic space. This course takes students through ethnographic and sociological case studies of major musical genres and the cities they come from. Examining cultural policy, urban soundscapes, and local laws, policies, and customs regarding sound in public space, we also examine how city-dwellers contend with and profit from their dense urban sonic environments. Exploring the Greater Toronto Area’s diverse musical life is a key feature of this course.