Soundwalk Assigment
FILM/MEDIA 160 • Fall 2017
Thakur/Lucas
Blog Assignment 2: “What I Hear” Note: This exercise has 2 parts.
Part 1. The Soundwalk
Spend an hour doing a “Soundwalk” around a particular neighborhood in NYC.
“Soundwalk” is a term invented by R. Murray Schafer, a musician and professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Schafer noticed in working with his music students that most of them, when asked, couldn't remember even five sounds they had heard earlier that day. He created the soundwalk, a kind of walking meditation, as an “ear cleaning exercise,” a way to increase sonic awareness.
In An Introduction to Acoustic Ecology, Kendall Wrightson writes, “In order to listen we must stop, or at least slow down – physically and psychologically. We need to try to be human beings, instead of “human doings.” So – during your sound walk, do not answer your phone, text, browse, read or do anything but be, and listen.
The goal of this exercise is to “open your ears.” New York offers a rich sound environment. Close your eyes and listen.
Part 2: The Blog
What is the texture of the sound? What are the specific instruments in the city symphony? What sounds are clues to a specific neighborhood? A specific time of day? What are sounds that are unique or meaningful to you? Expected or unexpected?
Some of Shafer's terminology might be useful to you in writing about your experience on the soundwalk:
Blog Assignment 2: “What I Hear” Note: This exercise has 2 parts.
Part 1. The Soundwalk
Spend an hour doing a “Soundwalk” around a particular neighborhood in NYC.
“Soundwalk” is a term invented by R. Murray Schafer, a musician and professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Schafer noticed in working with his music students that most of them, when asked, couldn't remember even five sounds they had heard earlier that day. He created the soundwalk, a kind of walking meditation, as an “ear cleaning exercise,” a way to increase sonic awareness.
In An Introduction to Acoustic Ecology, Kendall Wrightson writes, “In order to listen we must stop, or at least slow down – physically and psychologically. We need to try to be human beings, instead of “human doings.” So – during your sound walk, do not answer your phone, text, browse, read or do anything but be, and listen.
The goal of this exercise is to “open your ears.” New York offers a rich sound environment. Close your eyes and listen.
Part 2: The Blog
What is the texture of the sound? What are the specific instruments in the city symphony? What sounds are clues to a specific neighborhood? A specific time of day? What are sounds that are unique or meaningful to you? Expected or unexpected?
Some of Shafer's terminology might be useful to you in writing about your experience on the soundwalk:
-
Keynotes: background sounds
-
Sound Signals: foreground sounds intended to attract attention.
-
Soundmarks: sounds particularly regarded by a community or its
visitors (analogous to visual “landmarks”)
250 words. Due in Lab 7.
For more on R. Murray Schafer and his work, take a look at his World Soundscape Project:
http://www.sfu.ca/~truax/wsp.html
This site also has links to the Handbook of Acoustic Ecology
Comments
Post a Comment