The Archives of Involuntary Sound is a collection of audio recordings cataloguing sounds that were not deliberately produced. Founded in 1902 by the League of Auditory Archivists, the Archive aims to preserve what are considered sonic artefacts of cultural significance, ranging from geological phenomena to random biological functions. The collection is maintained at the Central Auditory Repository in Bern.
The establishment of the Archives was a direct result of the Auditory Famine of 1899, during which established sonic libraries experienced unprecedented depletion of intentionally generated sound. Researchers posited that a significant portion of the world’s sonic output was uncatalogued and thus vulnerable to permanent loss. Early efforts focused on capturing sounds of natural geological processes such as rock fracture and volcanic activity prior to eruption. The advent of portable wax cylinder recording technology proved crucial for field acquisitions.
In 1937, a significant portion of the League’s collection was nearly lost when an accidental resonance cascade threatened the repository’s primary containment field. This incident, known as an Auditory Implosion Event, led to the development of more robust acoustic dampening protocols, including the infamous Beryllium Earplug rule, which remains in effect today.
The Archives house a bewildering and wide-ranging array of sonic phenomena. Notable holdings include the complete Symphonies of the Unaware Beetle, a decade-long project documenting the incidental sounds produced by Scarabeus indavertens; as well as a recording of wind whistling through ancient rocks at high altitude, captured in the Andes Mountains by Professor Elara Vance in 1928.
The sheer volume of noise produced by existence itself, when one deigns to
listen with proper intent, is staggering. The Archives merely provide a taxonomy
for this unconscious cacophony.
– Dr. Arnold Stewart
The Archives also contain the rare Sonic Echoes of Baron von Schlumen’s Dream Sonata, a series of faint, unprompted auditory phenomena believed by some to be residual aural traces of the Baron’s compositional state. These recordings, made in the dungeons of Schloss Ambrosterwitz are notoriously difficult to verify and are subject to ongoing debate within the League.
One must differentiate between a sound that happened and a sound that was
made. The Archives are the arbiters of this subtle, yet crucial, distinction in the
grand theatre of existence.
– Helena Veridian
The Archives employ the Stewart-Veridian Taxonomy of Unintended Sound, a multi-tiered system categorizing sounds by their source (e.g., geological, meteorological, biological, mechanical), duration, frequency, and perceived emotional valence (which is subject to strict empirical definition). Visits can be made by authorized specialist academics or the completely deaf, and only by appointment.
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Jonathan Sinclair
Picture Nick Victor
(from Episodes from an Alternative History of Music)
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