In this short piece, Andra McCartney plays a ten second clip of a streetcar turning, which she then manipulates by slowing the speed of the recording down. Through this manipulation, McCartney uses the sound as an instrument. Rather than considering the screech of the streetcar as “noise”, she deliberately draws attention to it, exploiting its aesthetic and textural qualities. 

Contemplating McCartney’s stylistic decision, I began to think of how I could incorporate this technique in my own work. In what ways can I draw attention to urban noise without the use of narration. Although the urban soundscape is already a juxtaposition to that of a natural setting, selecting a sound in a recording to manipulate, and shift perspective on could be a effective tool. Perhaps experimenting with the use of pitch, distortion and delays could be a useful way to emphasise the omnipresence of noise in the city’s soundscape.

Andra McCartney further explains the idea of manipulating recordings in ‘Marianopolis Lecture Series’, stating ‘there’s a lot of experimenting with sound, always my intention is to reveal something more about it. I don’t really want to change it into something else.’

“When you hear a bus breaking to a stop, what you’re hearing is the gesture of the driver.”

‘By stating the initial recording first, then transforming it, the listener has a better understanding of the process.’ I think this could prove effective in emphasising and drawing attention to a sound.

McCartney likens the speed changing, to an extreme close up in photography. I think this technique could be ideal in shifting the focus from the somewhat ‘natural ‘soundscape’, of a city park, to hone in on the invading sound of noise pollution. 

With this sonic urban piercing, I hope to represent the breaking of the serenity of a green space in a city. The urban park is designed to be a zone of escape, though it is a victim the sonic marauder, noise. However, I understand that through manipulating these unwanted sounds in order to draw attention to them, in accordance to Max Neuhaus philosophy of the urban sounds as ‘beautiful’ sounds, I am acknowledging the aesthetic potential of noise, perhaps questioning my definition within the context of the audio piece.