Marconi believed sounds never die but only fade beyond perception

Evidence

As Bryars points out in his sleevenotes, Marconi had conceived of telegraphy as a spectral science. He ‘became convinced that sounds once generated never die, they simply become fainter and fainter until we no longer perceive them. Marconi’s hope was to develop sufficiently sensitive equipment, extraordinarily powerful and selective filters I suppose, to pick up and hear these past sounds. Ultimately, he hoped to be able hear Christ delivering the Sermon on the Mount.’ — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life, 335

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Vinyl crackle in music marks audiovisual distance from a lost tactile materiality — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 332; Imagined amplification allows a heard sound to persist after it stops — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 332; Marconi conceived wireless telegraphy as a spectral science for hearing past voices — Mark Fisher, Ghosts of My Life: Writings on…, 335

Broader Connections

• Imagined amplification allows a heard sound to persist after it stops #expands (0.85) — Pauline Oliveros, Deep Listening, 332