Taking inspiration from the fields of sonic journalism, acoustic ecology and soundscape composition, I have created a sound piece that explores the intrusion of urban noise on green spaces in London. The work consists of five sections, each representing a different green space. I allow the unedited recording to play before manipulating the sound in different ways each time. The raw playback of the location recording is intended to immerse the listener in the space, the recordings capture and represent a space and time. I have treated each section as a ‘sonic image’, each of them playing in succession, like looking at photographs in a photobook . Initially presenting the image, then ‘zooming in’ on the ‘intruder sound’. This zoom has been achieved by using a variety of effects and techniques including EQs and filters, Echos, pitch shifters, reverbs, stereo imaging and resampling. In this shift I was aiming to take the listeners attention, and focus it on the urban, in attempts to raise awareness of the presence of noise pollution in the city overall, and in its green spaces. Reflecting on my work, I think I could have achieved a more accurate final piece by recording individual sounds and layering them with the environmental recordings, however, this would not have remained true to the environment. I think I have succeeded in achieving an interesting and thought provoking sound piece but there is of course room for improvement, both in representing the nuances of the topic and perhaps suggesting ways in which the problem can be abetted.
This week I have been experimenting with sound manipulation techniques and effects to manipulate my field recordings. Each section of the piece uses a different means of focusing on a particular sound element. The final sections I have decided on are as follows.
-The first recording from Nunhead Cemetery focuses on the planes overhead. I zoned in on the frequencies of the engine and looped the sound, effecting it with distortion and and further EQ to create a rhythmic drone.
-The second section is based on the recording from postman’s park. I decided to zoom into the sound of a passing car. Using a similar technique to the jet engine, I focused on the specific frequencies of the car, and created a drone using distortion, reverb and delay.
-The third section is based on Sterry Street courtyard. Focusing again on the skies, selecting a helicopter to zoom in on. Eqing the frequencies I wanted and using a sample and pitch delay to widen the stereo image, creating a rhythmic pattern with sound of the helicopters blades whirring.
-In the recording from St. Leonard’s Chruch yard, I decided to focus on the beeping of a pedestrian crossing. Using an array of different filters and eqs, I zoned in on the beep and looped the sound. I used multiple methods of resampling to manipulate the pitch length of the recording.
-The final section of the piece is from Finsbury Square. To zoom in on the sound of the electric box, I found the frequencies at which it was the hum was the strongestn boosting each to create multiple tones that come together as a chord.
This morning I visited Nunhead cemetery to capture the early morning birdsong. I positioned myself deep into the trees to escape the hum. However, as the birds sing, the roars of jet engines flying through the sky attack the natural soundscape. I find that there is quite an irony in that when there is no/minimal urban noise coming from ground level, and we are able to focus on the sounds of the birds above, jet engines blanket the sound.
Keynote sounds – Trees rustling
Sound Signals – Bird song, Jet Engines from planes.
Lo-fi/Hi-fi – Hi-fi
Burgess Park
I chose a secluded and quite space, hidden in shrubbery in burgess park. Surrounded by trees and bushes, the spot was well hidden from the urban sounds. However, within the gentle rustling of the trees, the sounds of jet engines fell on my head. It seemed to be a constant, with one plane disappearing, and other emerging right after.
Keynote sounds – Bushes and trees rustling, quiet distant chatter.
Today I explored the parks and green spaces of central London. Tech wise, I was using a Zoom H6 to take stereo recordings. My intentions today were to capture the sounds of each space, as true as possible. I did not position myself in any way to try and exasperate the urban sounds. As mentioned in previous blog posts, I wish to capture a ‘sonic image’ of each green space, to then be presented in its raw form before being manipulated.
Saint Leanord’s Church Yard.
This space was relatively busy, with small groups of people dotted around, the recording is sprinkled with faint, distant chatter. There are a few large trees in the space, I can faintly hear their leaves rustle in the wind. The hum of the city is quite strong, with the sound of traffic and construction being the most noticeable elements in the recording.
Keynote sounds – City hum, traffic, music from cars, distant conversation, trees rustling.
Sound Signals – Train screech (two points), at times the traffic becomes more than keynote.
Hi-fi/Lo-fi – Lo-fi
Finsbury Square.
This space was quite quiet in terms of people, there was one small group to my right. The space is a square, centred by large buildings surrounding each of its sides. The sound of an electric box provides a humming drone through the whole recording. The main feature of this recording is the pigeons. I left the recorder on the ground and allowed the pigeons to surround it. The result is an immersive stereo image of the sounds of pigeons close up.
Keynote sounds – Electric Box purring, some traffic noise throughout, distant conversation
Sound Signals- Close up of pigeons.
Hi-fi/Lo-fi – Lo-fi
Barbican Estate
I recorded the sounds of the large private courtyard in the Barbican. This was the most peaceful recording of the day I feel. The hum of the city is present, though it seems to blend with the washing of the trees in the wind. From the right, birdsong can be heard throughout the recording. I think its worth noting that this is the only recording of a space that is not accessible to the public. It is also designed as a space that actively attempts to mitigate the city noise, and this is apparent in the recordings.
Keynote sounds – Trees washing in the wind, city hum seems to be in the same register.
Sound Signals – Birdsong to the right
Hi-fi/Lo-fi – Hi-fi
Postman’s Park
This park was a pretty little space, though it seemed to be forgotten about by the city of London gardeners. The space offered little escape from traffic noise, with alarms and big impacts being heard throughout. The heavy, overgrown greenery in the space provides a meditative swaying in the wind. I stayed her for around twenty minutes, returning a few hours later in attempts to capture a recording with less chatter from people across the way, however at no point could I achieve this.
Keynote sounds – Trees washing in the wind, quite distant chatter, traffic rumble, sirens
Sound Signals – Tires screeching and alarms ringing.
Lo-fi/Hi-fi – Hi-fi
Sterry Street Courtyard
In this space, which is located right near London Bridge. The noise of the city was incredibly overpowering. There was a constant ring and flutter of a helicopter overhead, coupled with the sound of an alarm somewhere in the vicinity.
Peter Cusack explains ‘sonic-journalism’ as “journalism of and for the ear – the sound equivalent of photo journalism. Sound, whether based on speech or not, gives information about places and events that perhaps differ to visual images.
Cusack highlights the importance of field recordings, in both their use as a factual work, and source material for creative manipulation.
Cusack explains the power field recording has to portray more than factual information, shining in their ability to portray a sense of spatiality, atmosphere and timing.
By recording the soundscape of urban parks, I am effectively capturing a sonic imagine of space and time. These images, like they would be in a photobook, are examined one after the other. Each recording is a sonic image of that park, looked at naked, in its totality, before it is examined on a deeper level by ‘zooming into the sound’.
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.
Through sound, I would like to draw attention the ever-present issue of noise pollution in London. Through researching the works of acoustic ecologists such as Hildegard Westerkamp and Andra McCartney.
In Westerkamp’s “Kit Beach Soundwalk”, she guides the listener through the composition. Through the means of narration, she is able to shift the listeners perspective and guide them into their own subjective analysis. However, I do not wish to use narration in my audio work, instead I am opting for a complete re-shift in focus, to the undesirable sounds while in a park, through the means of sound manipulation.
-“In densely packed urban environments, narrow streets amplified sound. Mechanical noises contributed to and in some cases dominated, the sounds of nature.”
-“Unlike earlier periods, soundscapes were now so varied as to defy the traditional experience of sound”
-“Foreground sonic events, especially those having symbolic meaning, are more apparent when they appear against a background of relative silence.”
-“Industrial sounds become so dominant that they become the sonic background rather than isolated foreground sonic events.”Today, urban noise as the ‘backdrop’ is the norm, with the natural sounds of a space becoming the foreground effects.
-The authors argue that through the rise of industrial noise, ‘public acoustic arenas’ which serve the role of facilitating social cohesion, shrank as noise overpowered them. The shrinking of this ‘acoustic arena’ is exactly the issue I am choosing to emphasise in this piece. Through the composition and manipulation of field recordings, I wish to portray the City Park as a space in which natural sounds are trapped. Caged and suppressed by the noise pollution of the city. These urban green spaces are fighting the same battle to escape its sonic oppressor as the people who live their lives in the city.
Parks play a crucial role in urban life. Examples of the benefits of green urban spaces include; increased biodiversity and air quality improvement, provide a public space that promotes cultural and social cohesion, as well as physical and mental health benefits. Urban parks offer city dwellers a natural environment that provides respite from the city, allowing relaxation and mental rejuvenation. Sound plays a key role in this, as the natural sounds of birdsong, rustling trees, flowing water etc. have been shown reduce stress and provide a sonic escape from the noise polluted urban environment. However, a 2018 study by Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) shows that around a third of London’s parks are severely impacted by traffic noise, meaning 50-100% of the park is affected by traffic noise louder than 55db. This is clearly problematic. While reading a study from a group of architects in Korea, I discovered that “congruence between sound and visual images influence the perception of environmental quality in urban green space;”
Because of this, I think parks in the centre of London would be the optimal location for my field recordings as this environment can easily show the contrasts of the natural and urban, providing material to expose the invasion of ever-present urban noise.
-What is a sound walk? – Anytime one chooses to consciously listen to a space as they move through it.
-A soundwalk is fruitful place for interactions between people for environmental awareness.
-When we think of listening, its in terms of gathering information of our surroundings, or musical listening. However, when leading a sound walk, Andra McCartney practices ‘Historical Listening’ and ‘Ecological Listening’.
– The framing and context is important. Location, Location, Location.
– The possibilities of understanding a place becomes deeper, as walks can be repeated.
-While recording, McCartney writes sound journals, records audio and captures still photography.
-McCartney speaks on focusing on one location, creating a meditative piece that ‘stay very slowly in one place’
-Soundwalks create possibilities for dialogue, therefore opening up discussion around the environment.
