Listening to Trans Sound

Abstract A deeply personal and theoretical exploration of trans sound, an expansive concept that spans gender, nation, language, and music, this essay links trans sound not only to music by trans people but also to modes of listening and orientation that are trans—meaning across, beyond, or through gender, language, and nation. The piece also unpacks the Orientalist reception of Ottoman music in Europe, where the “singing Turk” represented hypermasculine alterity, and contrasts it with Bülent Ersoy’s reappropriation of Ottoman classical music. The essay transitions into a discussion of trans dissonance, anchored in Sandy Stone’s response to trans exclusion within feminist music communities (notably the Olivia Records controversy). Stone’s concept of “posttransexual dissonance” refers to the refusal to resolve or erase the complexities and contradictions of trans identity. Drawing from acoustics, the essay defines dissonance as an “enhancement of the audible”—a metaphor for the visibility and audibility of trans presence. Finally, the article questions how trans sound is audited, suggesting that traditional listening practices may miss its nuances.