A Major Second

Originally published on Substack .

· Fragment

#perception #sound #listening #everyday life #phenomenology
Abstract monochrome close-up of frost patterns on glass, with dark shadowed forms on the left and pale, feather-like striations sweeping across the image.

I hear a sound, which drags me away. It is high-pitched, sustained. I hear another. It enumerates a major second. The lower sound comes in and out. Whilst it is in, it vibrates and shakes. It decorates the first.

The window is open. Construction is taking place nearby. A passing bus sends me a whistle. I hear it—instantly—as a ringtone I know well. I don’t hear a bus-whistle and tell myself it sounds like that ringtone.

The imaginary is primary in my perception. The sound is something that it is not. It becomes the thing that it is only when I draw back from it (back to my senses!). This drawing back is where thought catches.

***

But what is this imaginary and why did it come to be constituted in this way? When did a ringtone become a counterfeit bus or a major second a proxy for two tones?

The bus pulls away.

Perhaps I should tell you that the difference was so many hertz. I shut the window—a triangle of hinges and handle.

© N.G.Brown, 2026

📬 If you enjoyed this, subscribe to my Substack for more reflections on art and creativity: Sign up on Substack.