An excerpt from Gianmarco Del Re’s Ukrainian Field Notes examines the sonic dimensions of drone warfare over Kyiv, tracing how military aircraft have become acoustic weapons that produce fear and trauma through their distinctive sounds. Del Re contextualizes this within a longer history of sound’s role in warfare and modernity, referencing Luigi Russolo’s L’arte dei rumori and Steve Goodman’s theorization of the militarized audiosphere. The piece documents how Ukrainians have developed folk names for drones based on their acoustic signatures and describes how residents navigate danger by interpreting sound patterns alone. It notes cultural responses including the Shahed Overture performed by a Kyiv youth orchestra, demonstrating how warfare enters musical consciousness. The work engages with sound studies, acoustic ecology, and the intersection of militarization with everyday life, positioning drone sounds as contemporary extensions of industrial noise’s aesthetic and political significance.
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