A Philosophy of Ambient Sound 

This chapter introduces a basic distinction between environmental and surrounding sound. Ambient effects of surroundability and centralization not only entail a basic environmental dimension of sound. They also involve an aesthetic shift from environmental to surrounding sound. On this basis, I explore how sonic objectivity—the morpho-material quality of a sonic event that it emerges and unfolds independently of a guiding subjective intentionality—can be distinguished as a basic onto-aesthetic feature of environmental sound. But in order to unfold its unobtrusive surroundability and ambient effects of centralization and being-in, before environmental sound can turn into surrounding sound, it must furthermore reduce the presence of confronting objects and isolated figures and transform the objective sonic environment into an objectless, a-figurative continuum. 

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-1755-6_3