Fritz Schlüter

Dissertation on “‘Atmos’. Practical knowledge in atmospheric sound design” (Faculty of Design, University of the Arts Berlin, supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ariane Jeßulat and Prof. Dr. Kathrin Peters)

Terms such as ‘ambience’, ‘room tone’ and ‘atmosphere’ have long been commonplace in the professional jargon of radio and film production. All three terms imply that forms of sonic ambience are readily available and easy to manage—virtually at the touch of a button. Indeed, the use of ambient sounds in today’s media practice has become a matter of course. Historically, however, ‘ambience’ was considered to be a technical problem (‘background noise’), a ‘new’ phenomenon and a previously unknown aesthetic ‘object’. To date, ambience and atmosphere have been marked by a certain lack of precision—in both the phenomenological and conceptual sense. In the course of my dissertation, I will address this lack of precision and pay particular attention to the handling of ambiance and atmos in practice. In order for practitioners to obtain, process and disseminate atmos, it is necessary for them to have a whole set of technical, creative, artistic skills. These skills involve a type of knowledge which can largely be characterised as implicit or incorporated. However, for practitioners themselves, actual explication or verbalisation are not mandatory at all, as (experiential) knowledge can be effectively acquired and passed on in a purely procedural manner, that is, through practice. This project therefore aims to describe some of the routines, strategies and (bodily) techniques involved in the process of sound and media production and education. My ultimate goal in this dissertation is to examine ambience as a specific acoustic element in order to determine and define precisely what function it performs and how exactly it carries out this role.

Research focus

Sound studies, media studies, participatory art, ethnography, sensory anthropology

Fritz Schlüter studied European Ethnology (M.A.) and Library and Information Science (M.A.) at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. From 2014-2017, he was research assistant at European Media Studies, University of Potsdam and University of Applied Sciences Potsdam (cooperative course of study), teaching projects between theory, aesthetics and practice in sound. Subsequently, he worked for Prof. Dr. Heiko Christians, Institute for Arts and Media, University of Potsdam, and for Univ.-Prof. Dr. med. Martin Heinze, Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB). From 2019-2021 he was a member of the DFG Research Training Group “Knowledge in the Arts” at Berlin University of the Arts with a PhD project on the history and the aesthetics of ambient sound. From 2021 to 2024 he was research assistant at the Film University Babelsberg KONRAD WOLF/ University of Potsdam and academic coordinator of the ZeM. In June 2024, he submitted his dissertation thesis on “‘Atmos’. Practical knowledge in atmospheric sound design” at the faculty of design, University of the Arts Berlin (supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ariane Jeßulat and Prof. Dr. Kathrin Peters).

Publications

“Listening”. In: K. Busch, B. Gronau, K. Peters (eds.): An den Rändern des Wissens. Über künstlerische Epistemologien. Bielefeld 2023, S.312–314.

“Challenging politics of listening in the clinic. Ethnographic experiences with a participatory music project in a psychiatric context”. Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing (8) 2022.

Podcast “Listening/Zuhören”. wissenderkuenste.de (10), 2021.

„Audio Paper ‚Background Noise. Eine auditive Ethnographie des Stadtteils Wedding, Berlin‘“, in: K. Bauer, A. Graf (Hg.): Raumbilder – Raumklänge. Zur Aushandlung von Räumen in audiovisuellen Medien. Münster 2019, S. 85–97.

„Soundwalks. Ein methodologischer Kommentar“, in Kuckuck(2) 2017, S. 18–20.

„A soundscape remodelled. Nauener Platz in Berlin-Wedding“, in: P. Cusack (Hg.): Berlin Sonic Places. A Brief Guide. Hofheim am Taunus 2017, S. 82–84.

„‚Sound Culture‘, ‚Acoustemology‘ oder ‚Klanganthropologie‘? Sound Studies und sinnliche Ethnographie“, in: L. M. Arantes, E. Rieger (Hg.): Ethnographien der Sinne. Wahrnehmung und Methode in empirisch-kulturwissenschaftlichen Forschungen. Bielefeld 2014, S. 57–74.

„Akustische Territorien, akustisches Regime. Feldforschung in den Klanglandschaften der Großstadt“, in: S. Gaidolfi et al. (Hg.): Metropolen. Politik – Kultur – Imagination. Würzburg 2013, S. 61–98.

„Berlin 2012 – Zehn Field Recordings“, in: G. Paul, R. Schock (Hg.): Der Sound des Jahrhunderts. Ein akustisches Portrait des 20. und beginnenden 21. Jahrhunderts. Bonn, Berlin 2013.

„Mapping the drone. Sonic agents in urban soundscapes“, in: P. Gibas, K. Pauknerová, M. Stella (Hg.): Non-humans in Social Science. Animals, Spaces, Things. Cerveny Kostelec, S. 117–136.

„Sensing the Street. Eine sinnliche Ethnographie der Großstadt“, mit Maria Elisabeth Hiebsch und Judith Willkomm in: S. Geschke (Hg.): Straße als kultureller Aktionsraum. Interdisziplinäre Betrachtungen des Straßenraumes an der Schnittstelle zwischen Theorie und Praxis. Wiesbaden 2009, S. 31–57.

Talks

Einführung in die Methode der sonischen Ethnografie. Summer School ethnografischer Film: „Zwischen Kommen und Gehen. Urbane Räume der Begegnung“, Institut für Kulturanthropologie/ Europäische Ethnologie, Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, 2023.

Beredte Stille. Zum Gebrauch der „Atmo“ in der Praxis der Tongestaltung [Podcast]. Annual conference of the AG Auditive Medienkulturen & Sound Studies in the Gesellschaft für Medienwissenschaft (GfM), Lüneburg, 2021.

Silences. Contribution to the podcast series of the Oxford-Berlin Creative Collaborations, Oxford University und Berlin University of the Arts, with K. McLoughlin, A. Jeßulat et al., 2021.

Beyond Therapy. Ethnographic Experiences with a Collaborative Music Project in a Psychiatric Context. Music, Sound and Wellbeing Symposium, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, 2019.

Comment on Ignacio Farías (Humboldt Universität zu Berlin): “European Noise: Reflections on the Politics of Comparison in Science and Technology Studies”. Research colloquium, Centre Marc Bloch, Berlin, 2018.

Sonic Ethnographies. Cultural Anthropology of Sound. Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung”, BEAM and KlangDenken | Sonic Thinking research groups, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, 2016.

Soundscapes. Akustische Lebensqualität. Lecture series, winter semester 2014/15, University of Augsburg/ Bayerisches Landesamt für Umwelt (LfU), Augsburg, 2015.

Walking in the City. Hidden Sounds and Mobile Places. Lecture performance for KOSMOS Summer University “Modern Walking. Innovative Urban Mobility”, Cluster of Excellence “Image Knowledge Gestaltung”, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2013.