I started this project with no initial thoughts or ideas on where it could take me, I thought I would start with the soundwalk around the university campus. As I began walking, I didn’t find myself forcing a particular route or direction, instead I walked slow and let my ears do the guiding.
Below are a mixture of audio recordings I took on two soundwalks this past week. When listening back to them, I noticed I had captured a diverse set of sounds within close proximity of one another, from transport and mechanical sounds, to other more human or nature sounds. The recordings I found myself intrigued by and kept listening to again, were those that were more complex with multiple overlapping sounds. The first recoding below was made while I was sitting in the middle of the Meadows. As you listen, you can hear the sound of music, laughter, chatter, sizzling of barbecues and dogs running, as well as subtle blowing of wind, and in the distance, the hum of the industrial city buzz.
Below are some other audio recordings collected from my sound walks:
- Skaters, Bristo Square
- Builders shovelling grit, Candlemaker Row
- Overheard conversation outside Omni Cinema, Leith Street
- Sizzling Bibimbap in Dai Pai, Nicolson Street
- Overheard conversations, Forrest Road
- Spanish tour guide, George IV Bridge
- Approaching motorbike, Greater Grassmarket
- Centre of West Meadows
- Siren and skateboarder, Buccleuch Street
This led me think about the different layers of sound captured within one audio recording, and then I thought about how we interpret sound within a city. For example, do some of the everyday sounds we come across get drowned out or overlooked regularly. This also raised some questions about the hidden and the obvious sounds of a city. What sounds do we gravitate towards, that are pleasing to the ear e.g, music, laughter, ice cream van chimes, excited voices and cheering, and which sounds do we keep as background noise or deem inconvenient or unattractive and therefore avoid or walk away from. There are also the sounds that raise alarm or concern, such as a child’s scream, sirens, aggressive shouting, sounds of physical violence or breaking glass. All these sounds will evoke different sensations and feelings for each individual and causes us to have unique experiences within the city and interpret our surroundings differently.
Artists Research
In my previous projects, I had looked at artists that incorporated audio and sound into their artwork, however for this project I wanted to find artists that used sound as there main practice and showcased the effect that predominaetly audio based art or sound technique alone can have on audiences.
I looked first at the work of John Kannenberg, a multimedia artist who looks at the sonic geography of museums and archives and is the director and curator of the museum of portable sound. The first project I was particularly intrigued by was his ‘Museum Sound Maps’, where he created detailed sound maps of different rooms and floors of several museums and institutions across the world, including the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, The Art Institute of Chicago, British Library, Tate Modern, and the Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum.
“My maps are meant to be experienced as pure audio, as the results of a process of personal artistic cartography, instead of an online archive of sounds attached to visual maps. As my sound mapping practice has evolved, I have allowed myself to become more of an audible presence or character within the maps, performing my own auditory relationship with each museum space. “
https://www.johnkannenberg.com/home/2016/12/19/sound-maps-of-museums
Another project I was inspired by was his ‘Museum listening sketches.’ As part of his research he did a series of sonic observation sketches within museums, that captured the visual representation of the audios he heard.
“In the course of my research into the sonic experience of museums, I am developing a lexicon of symbols that combine with intuitive mark making to document my sonic observations. This practice not only records listening data but also serves as an ear training exercise. The drawings are made by selecting a spot within a museum, selecting a duration for the drawing, closing my eyes, and drawing symbols the represent the sounds I hear in relative position to myself. This lexicon of symbols is in the process of evolving, and each drawing is a balance between planning and improvisation. “
https://www.johnkannenberg.com/home/2016/12/19/museum-listening-sketches
Another artist I explored was Alicia Jane Turner, a composer, performance artist and violinist.
“Her practice focuses on the vulnerability and intimacy of sound and live music performance, using compositions and visceral, immersive sound design to ask questions about physicality, mental health, identity and healing and explore the relationship between the internal and external body.”
One of her projects ‘Take Another Little Piece of My Heart’ uses the sounds of our surroundings and the artists heartbeat to create one-to-one performances connecting the sounds of the city with oneself.
“Take Another Little Piece of My Heart is a 5-minute, one-to-one performance that intimately explores our awareness of the sounds that surround us in public spaces and city landscapes, and how we negotiate our connection with ourselves within them. In this performance Alicia and each participant sit together listening to the sound of her heartbeat and the ambient surroundings. Through this, Alicia asks us to consider how by taking a brief moment to actively listen to our internal and external sonic landscapes, we can find ways of grounding ourselves whilst navigating life in busy urban cities.”
https://www.aliciajaneturner.co.uk/take-another-little-piece-of-my-heart
Moving forward I would like to create some of my own listening sketches of spaces around me, inspired by John Kannenberg’s sketches, and see what new ideas come to mind as I explore the soundscape more.
