Experimenting with Soundscape Walks
Here is the outcome of my first Soundscape Walk through the Meadows. My method was to walk very slowly to try and differentiate and absorb as many different sounds as possible. When I heard a sound, I started to draw a figure which represented that sound, and I made a mental note of how long I could hear the sound for, and noticed how the sound changed the further away it got. I tried to incorporate that in my drawings by adding soundwaves around the symbols, increasing the length, amount and thickness to represent the tendency of the sound. For example, with the bird noises, they were a main consistent sound on my walk, so the waves are more spread out, however smaller as the sounds were gentler than, for example, the ambulance which had a more piercing and attention grabbing sound.
I used a slightly different method for my next sound walk. Before starting my journey, I planned my route and drew a brief sketch of the journey I would take, starting from my accommodation, past the library, through the meadows and back through cowgate. I felt this variety of areas would provide different types of sounds, and also things such as class and gender would be able to be heard through the sounds. When I heard a sound, I made marks on my page which reflected the volume and rhythm and labelled them. When I made my way from my accommodation to the library, the majority of sounds I heard was transport related, for example a bike or car, however when I got into the student area I began to overhear conversations, and I managed to jot down some snippets I that heard. The type of language that was used and the topics that were being discussed represented the idea that you can hear class, as these students, including myself, have the privilege to attend this university, therefore these sounds wouldn’t be common to hear in other areas where people don’t have the same opportunities. I could also hear gender and culture through sounds, represented by certain types of language used, different languages and different tones of voice.
Leave a Reply