Conclusions:
Clearly, there are many approaches to listening. It has not my intention to judge them or tell you how you should be listening (although admittedly I have tried to bring attention to the aesthetic approach to things). My main goal has been to describe the palette of possibilities and then let you choose among them or at least identify and understand your natural approach to listening. Of course, if you like the concept of “Deep Listening,” you might choose to explore in all directions, tasting each and learning to move at will between the different listening domains.
Attempting to make sense of the various approaches, I have constructed a “Deep Listening Diagram” that involves four quadrants (see below). The top represents an analytical, objective approach to listening, while the bottom represents an artistic, subjective emphasis. The right side represents a focus on specific sound objects in one’s environment (such as one bird singing or some other particular source of a sound), while the left side indicates a focus on the entire soundscape, the complete mix arriving at one’s ears. “Deep Listening” challenges the listener to navigate among all four quadrants.
Study my diagram for awhile; perhaps it will help you make sense of it all: