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Forums für Klanglandschaft Number 5, August-September 1997 ISSN 1422-3201 Table of Content
WFAE Network and Soundscape Associations Goldsmith's Work Let us be short with an endless issue. At the congress in Royaumont the question of what "acoustic ecology" means was raised once again. Some consider this type of discussion to be too general to ever lead to a fruitful conclusion; they think that only an act of voluntary, arbitrary, or even dictatorial definition can end it. Others think that the soundscape studies community must suffer through this kind of discussion; that, even if it is costly in terms of time and energy, it will in the end reveal an essence by distillation: a definition that would form a sound basis for all future activities. At any rate, the work to which the Royaumont meeting gave an imperative impulse that has to be likened to the intricate work of a goldsmith rather than to a bodybuilder's performance. This newsletter is part of an ongoing effort to tie together the loose ends of the WFAE network into functioning circuits, with the hope that it will give time back to all involved people for their personal artistic or scientific work. The editors WFAE Network and Soundscape Associations Statement from the Interim Board of Directors Rainer Boesch (France), composer and musician; Darren Copeland (Canada), composer, president of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community (CEC); Nigel Frayne (Australia), acoustic designer and educator; Thomas Gerwin (Germany), composer, musicologist, music archive director); Henrik Karlsson (Sweden), musicologist, research secretary at the Royal Swedish Academy of Music; John Levack Drever (United Kingdom), doctoral student at Dartington College, England; Claude Schryer (Canada), composer, president of the Canadian Association for Sound Ecology (CASE); Keiko Torigoe (Japan), vice-president of the Soundscape Association of Japan (JSA); Justin Winkler (Switzerland), geographer, archive director, president of the Forum für Klanglandschaft (FKL). On Sunday, August 4, 1997 an assembly of 22 individuals attending the International Congress on Acoustic Ecology, organised by the Collectif Environnement Sonore (CES) nominated we nine individuals as the Interim Board of Directors to administrate the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE) until the June, 1998 conference in Stockholm. Our objectives are threefold:
Reported by Claude Schryer, August 6, 1997 The International Yearbook of Soundscape Studies The International Yearbook of Soundscape Studies (IYSS) is aiming at creating an interdisciplinary forum for publishing new research in soundscape studies. It is planned that for the first years of its existence IYSS editorship would rotate around the world. The first Yearbook is dedicated to the 'North' and edited by R. Murray Schafer (Canada), Helmi Järviluoma (Finland), Keiko Torigoe (Japan) and Ola Stockfelt (Sweden). It is produced by the Department of Folk Tradition, Tampere, Finland (in co-operation with the Royal Swedish Academy of Music). It shall be ready in summer 1998, when the Stockholm conference on acoustic ecology will be held. The following IYSS (1999) will be published by Japanese soundscape scholars about specific aspects of Asian soundscapes; a call for papers is to be expected in winter 1997-98. The subsequent edition (2000) is planned to be released by German-Italian editors; its topic will be about temporal aspects of the sonic environment and a call for papers can be expected during 1998. All contributions will have to be submitted in English and to be in accordance with the editors' specifications. People interested in editing the next issues can contact any of the current editors, especially Helmi Järviluoma, Ethnomusicology, University of Tampere, P.O. Box 607, 33101 Tampere, Finland; eMail kpheja@uta.fi, fax +358 3 2157 081. Looking Forward Frankenstein Symphony - A Call for Works In 1996, veteran electroacoustic artist Francis Dhomont composed (or re-composed) a "Frankensteinesque" meta-collage (to be released in the fall of 1997) of some of his favourite acousmatic compositions for the US based Sombient label, produced by Asphodel. Enchanted by the results and the concert, producer Naut Humon, asked me if I would like to create a Frankenstein Symphony with some of my favourite environmental and ecologically-inspired electroacoustic compositions. I have accepted the challenge and am presently "listening" for material. Though I already have a short list of pieces, I would like to discover new works so as to make my Symphony as interesting, diversified and "ear stretching" as possible. I am listening for all kinds of ecologically inspired audio art (acousmatic, installation, radio art, sound poetry, industrial/techno, etc.) and in particular works which integrate environmental sound using elements of transformation and evocation. I will mold the material into a 70 minute electroacoustic composition by editing and mixing fragments and sections of selected pieces. All selected artists will be credited on the CD and will receive complimentary copies of the CD as well as a small royalty. If you have material you would like to propose please contact me and/or send me a DAT (at 44.1k) or a CD of the piece(s). Please be sure that you own the copyright of the piece before submitting it. For budgetary reasons, submitted materials cannot be returned. However, follow up correspondence (and dialogue!) will be sent to all those who submit material and a contract will be signed with all the artists who have a work selected in the Symphony. I will begin to compose the piece during the fall 1997 through to the spring of 1998, so please get in touch as soon as possible. Thank you in advance for your collaboration. I look forward to your contributions and to hear what kind of "creature" comes out of this process. Claude Schryer 4859, Jeanne-Mance Montreal QC Canada H2V 4J6; tel (514) 277-5021, fax (514) 987-1862, eMail cschryer@web.net ; for more information visit also http://www.music.mcgill.ca/sat/rep/r-artistes/Schryer-C.html ; or http://interact.uoregon.edu/MediaLit/FC/WFAEIndpages/Schryer Zeitumfeld - Dintorni temporali Museion Museum für Moderne Kunst / Museo d'Arte Moderna, Bozen / Bolzano, 10. Juni - 31. Oktober 1997. Una "installazione concettuale di Albert Mayr che abbraccia vari modi di configurazione dell 'arte contemporanea ed ha lo scopo e la funzione di ampliare l'esperineza estetica individuale. A conceptual "installation" by Albert Mayr in the museum's park which is based in various modes on procedures of contemporary art. It aims at improving the capability of individual aesthetical perception. All Ears - a Symposium on Listening Hessischer Rundfunk (hr) is organizing an international and interdisciplinary symposium on the subject of listening in Kassel. From 24 to 27 September 1997, "All ears - a symposium on listening", sponsored by the culture station hr2, will include, in addition to talks, an artistic evening programme and four workshops running in parallel. For four days around thirty renowned experts from the domains of academic research, the media, art, pop culture, economics and politics will investigate the question of what conditions mould and influence the skill of listening in our society and how it can be encouraged. The symposium's patron is the Bundestag President, Rita Süssmuth. Invited speakers include the sociologist Peter Gross, the media artist Anthony Moore, the time economist Karl-Heinz Geissler, the English pop musician Scanner and the media educationalist Sylvia Näger. The artist and writer John Berger will open the symposium in the Bali-Kino with a "lecture performance". Accompanying workshops in the hr Studios, including one with women composers Pauline Oliveros and Hildegard Westerkamp, will convey practical listening experiences. Around three hundred visitors from all around the world will have the opportunity to debate the working results of the contributors. With this symposium Hessischer Rundfunk intends to launch a broad, interdisciplinary debate on the subject and to promote in general the willingness and ability to listen. Lectures, results of the debates and reports on the workshops will be broadcast on hr2. Wednesday September 24: Eröffnung - Opening, with key lecture by Klaus Berg, director of hr, keynote lecture-performance by and with John Berger. Debate chaired by Gerhard Maletzke, with Christian Doelker and others. Thursday September 25: Voraussetzungen des Zuhörens - Prerequisites for listening, with Christian G. Allesch, Hans-Peter Reinecke, Karl-Heinz Geissler, Peter Kiefer, Anthony Moore. Debate chaired by Hermann Bausinger, with Ekkehard Oehmichen, Hans-Peter Reinecke, and other contributors. Friday September 26: Zuhören und Gesellschaft - Listening and society, with Peter Gross, Justin Winkler, Holger Schenk, Detlev Ipsen, Astrid Wehrle. Debate chaired by Hermann Glaser, with Claudia Baumhöver, Manfred Lucas, Scanner, Hildegard Westerkamp. Saturday September 28: Perspektiven, Horizonte - Perspectives of listening, with Barry Truax, Claudia Schmölders, Ute Bechdolf, Sylvia Näger. Debate chaired by Uwe Kammann, with Karl Karst, Volker Bernius and other contributors. Conclusions by Sabine Breitsameter. Wednesday to Saturday: Workshops Deep listening with Pauline Oliveros; Stille und Schall with Hildegard Westerkamp; Hörspaziergänge durch die Alltagswelt with Justin Winkler; Zuhören fürs Radio with Helge Heynold. Sound Ambience Zuhörbar by Andres Bosshard with evening events. Saturday-Sunday: Sounddreamnight, live-ambient composition by Andres Bosshard. Advance registration has been limited to September 1st. For further information contact: Symposium Ganz Ohr, hr, Bertramstr. 8, D - 60322 Frankfurt/M., tel. +49 155-4038 and -4039, fax +49 155-4067, eMail sbreitsameter@hr-online.de, internet www.hr-online.de Multimediale 5 October 24 - November 11, 1997, Centre for Art and Media Karlsruhe (ZKM) October 18/19, Inauguration of the new ZKM in the Hallenbau. The ZKM encompasses several departments: ZKM / Media Museum, with interactive, "hands-on" installations that solicit spectator participation. An "Acoustic World Atlas" invites visitors to compose and experiment with soundscapes derived from all corners of the globe; an "Interactive Art Gallery" brings together pioneering works and current output of the field of media art. The "Salon Digital" takes up its activities as a forum for discussion and virtual museum both locally and on the global network. ZKM / Media Library offers more than 10'000 contemporary music titles, a comprehensive collection of the major positions in video art, and literature in the field of contemporary art, architecture, theater and design. On the occasion of the Multimediale 5, the ZKM / Institute for Visual Media will open its production facilities in the new building. At the occasion of the opening of the Multimediale 5 on Saturday, 18 October 1997 will take place a global teleconference "ZKM plays host to Goethe and the world", a 24-hour project conducted jointly with Goethe Institutes all around the world and delivering multimedia commentaries on the human image on the Net. On Sunday, 19 October is held a discussion "End of the century - end of optimism?". On the following weekends numerous discussions, lectures, concerts and presentations take place. For detailed program and ticket sale contact: ZKM, Lorenzstr. 19, D - Karlsruhe, Tel. +49 721 920379-1, Fax -2, eMail vorverkauf@zkm.de Acoustic World Atlas Thomas Gerwin's call for participation in our last Newsletter was successful: his interactive sound installation Acoustic World Atlas will be premiered on October 18, 1997 at ZKM / Centre for the Arts and Media in Karlsruhe, Germany. (see also Multimediale 5). A study for the "sounds of the world" will be first performed on this new musical instrument. The Acoustic World Atlas will then be accessible to the public as a permanent installation in ZKM's Media Museum. Wattenmeer Suite Choreographed The first performance of the newly designed dance version of Wattenmeer-Suite by Thomas Gerwin will be on October 22, 1997 at the "Stadeum" in Stade, Germany. A trilateral conference of the environment ministers from the Netherlands, Denmark and Germany will be held to discuss issued of the "Natural Park Waddensea", accompanied by an exhibition designed by Klaus Wonneberger and the concert event. The "Wattenmeer-Suite will be performed by "Ensemble Aventure" Freiburg, "Ensemble Intercontemporaine", Stuttgart, choreographed by Ursel Fischer-Bernlöhr and the composer. A Healthy Sound Environment Bernard Delage has been asked by the World Health Organization to write an article on the topic "A healthy sound environment". To complete his knowledge on the topic, informations on people, companies, action groups, local authorities etc. having
Contact: Bernard Delage, Acoustics Consultant, 53 rue de Belleville, 75019 Paris, France; fax +33 1 42 034850. Sonification Workshop - Call for Position Papers Call for position papers for an NSF-sponsored workshop on sonification to be held in Palo Alto, California, Sunday, November 2, 1997, the day before ICAD '97. At the request of the National Science Foundation, the International Community for Auditory Display, conveners of the International Conference on Auditory Display, is organizing a one day workshop on sonification. The purpose of the workshop is to assess the status of the field and produce recommendations to the NSF regarding the development of a research agenda. For the purposes of this workshop, sonification is defined as auditory representation of data. Sonification research includes aspects of human perception and cognition, sound synthesis and audio signal processing, and music and sound design, as well as a host of related disciplines and applications such as computer science, process control and assistive technologies for the disabled. Relatively little research has been conducted in auditory representation of data and, with a few real time exceptions such as geiger counters or pulse oxymeters, no sonification solutions have been widely used. Please submit a position paper of 500 words. This paper should present what you consider to be the key issue(s) facing sonification research, why these concerns are important, and possibly your current thoughts as to how to approach the issues. Please include within the paper a brief bio and description of current sonification research or current research of relevance to sonification. In selecting participants consideration will be given to experience, disciplinary and institutional diversity, demonstrated consideration of relevant issues, the ability to present quality scientific work, and other criteria. Participation by young researchers is encouraged. A range of participants with varying experience and backgrounds will support informative discussions as well as provide opportunities to influence new researchers in this field. Email your submission (no attachments, please) to Gregory Kramer, workshop Chair, at kramer@listen.com no later than September 2, 1997. This workshop is an adjunct to the International Conference on Auditory Display, ICAD '97, to be held at Xerox PARC November 3-5, 1997 in Palo Alto, California. Another workshop will be held on the same day entitled "Audio on the www". That workshop will be sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. Elizabeth Mynatt is the General Chair of ICAD '97, James Ballas is the Technical Chair. For further information: ICAD Web site at http://www.santafe.edu/~icad; Gregory Kramer Clarity/Santa Fe Institute 310 NW Brynwood Lane, Portland, OR 97229503-292-8550; fax: 503-292-4982; eMail kramer@listen.com First International Multidisciplinary Conference on Acoustical Violence The First International Multidisciplinary Conference on Acoustical Violence will take place in Rosario, Argentina, on October 2 and 3, 1997 at the "Centro Cultural Bernardino Rivadavia", San Martin 1080, 2000 Rosario. They are organized by the ASOLOFAL (Asociacion de Logopedia, Foniatria y Audiologia del Litoral), sponsored by the FUNPREVI (Fundacion para la Prevencion de la Violencia). The slogan of the Conference is "Towards a healthy sound environment", and the general objective is to get a multidisciplinary approach to a sort of violence generally not acknowledged as such, as well as to bring together different prevention criteria. Topics to be covered include: a) Labor acoustical violence causes and effects, prevention, noise and vibration control, labor risk act, simulation and dissimulation. b) Urban acoustical violence in and from transport, acoustical Violence at public shows, acoustic advertissement. c) Social Acoustical Violence at home, schools, amusement, hospitals. Papers shall be submitted in complete version by September 15, and may cover any of the aforementioned topics, as well as any other directly related to the Conference. Three panels, each on one of the main topics, will be held gathering experts from several disciplines (medicine, phonoaudiology, psychology, architecture, law, engineering). Finally, there will be four lectures on General Violence, Acoustical Violence's otologic and non-otologic effects, Urban noise and Noise Regulations. Note: the panels and lectures will be spanish-spoken, but I think it is possible to arrange to have a translation service. Registration fee is $40. For further information: ASOLOFAL, Bv. Oroño 1187 Dpto 1ro "I", 2000 Rosario, Argentina; fax to +54-41-213246 (please anounce a fax to Gladys Maresca); eMail fmiyara@unrctu.edu.ar. Preliminary Announcement and First Call for Proposals: Soundscapes voor 2000 We are looking forward to the first week of september 1999, during the Gaudeamus Musicweek, to be produced by Netherlands Programme Service (NPS) in co-operation with the Gaudeamus Foundation, the Ysbreker and the CEM Studio in Amsterdam. We are looking forward to the festival "Soundscapes voor 2000". This festival ambiguously named (before 2000 and for 2000 and beyond) shall be presenting and discussing exhibitions, conferences and concerts concerning the soundscape-repertory as a musical style of the last decade. Of course it should include the new developed sound library with "vanished sounds" which go back to lost cultures. NPS is going to commission compositions and projects which lead the way to the future, all being premiered during the festival. Thoughts have been given to subjects like "changing perception fo the environment" as well as themes like "soundscapes and the computer world in the 21st century", "virtual sound realities", "sound and internet" or "the satellite-connection and the change of sound and space". NPS is specifically looking for people creating soundscapes, who are direct or indirect links to the present development (children for example!) or intend to create in the nearby future. Not only musicians and composers, but also architects, designers and child development psychologists are asked to take part. A CD edition of "Soundscapes voor 2000" will be released by that time. Anyone interested in participating in the festival can contact: Contact: Michael Fahres and Piet Hein van de Poel, NPS, P.O. Box 29160, 1202 MJ Hilversum, The Netherlands; tel. +31 35 677-2172 and -2158, fax +31 35 677 4072. In der ersten Woche September 1999 veranstaltet das Netherlands Programme Service (NPS) während der Gaudeamus Musikwoche in Zusammenarbeit mit der Stiftung Gaudeamus, dem Konzertzentrum Ysbreker und dem CEM Studio das Festival "Soundscapes voor 2000". In diesem Festival mit dem doppeldeutigen Namen vor der Jahrtausendwende, und für das Jahr 2000 und danach, soll zum einen in Ausstellungen, Konferenzen und Konzerten das Klanglandschafts-Repertoire diskutiert und präsentiert werden, das in den letzten Jahren diesen Musikstil geprägt hat. Dazu gehört eine neu entwickelte Klangbibliothek der "Verschwundenen Klänge", die auf verloren gegangene akustische Kulturen hinweisen soll. Zum anderen sollen zukunftsweisende Projekte, die speziell auf diesen Anlass hin ausgeschrieben werden und die die NPS mit verschiedenen Kompositionsaufträgen honorieren wird, während des Festivals in Premiere gehen. Wir denken hierbei an die sich verändernde Wahrnehmung der Umwelt und an Themen wie "Klanglandschaften und die Computerwelt im 21. Jahrhundert" oder "Der Satellitenanschluss und der veränderte Klang im Raum". In diesem besonderen Zusammenhang sollen Soundscapes von jenen Personen kreiert werden, die die neuen Entwicklungen selbst direkt oder indirekt eingeleitet haben oder prägen werden (z.B. Kinder). Die Verbindung nicht nur mit Musikschaffenden, sondern auch Architekten, Designern oder Entwicklungspsychologen wird somit aktiv angeregt. Eine speziell für "Soundscapes voor 2000" von der NPS produzierte CD rundet das gesamte Vorhaben ab. Contact: Michael Fahres, Piet Hein van de Poel, nps, P.O. Box 6, 1200 AA Hilversum, The Netherlands; tel. +31 35 677 2172, fax +31 35 677 4072. Turn of the Millennium Soundday Project: First Call for Participation What is the soundscape of the last day of the present millennium and of the first day of the next millennium like? The New Soundscape Newsletter (NSN) proposes the Turn of the Millennium Soundday Project (TMSP). The project consists in coordinated sound documentaries of the soundscapes of the two days which form the turn of the millennium: December 31, 1999, and January 1, 2000. It will involve people from around the globe in order to represent very different places that are situated up to 24 hours apart from each other. The intention is not to record all 48 hours around the turn of the millennium but to achieve sampled recordings of up to 6 hours net., ranging from pure environmental takes to documentaries from participant observation. Written testimony of observation is also welcome. Minimum technical co-ordination standards will be settled until the end of 1998. NSN welcomes everyone who wants to participate and contribute with his/her means to express his/her specific ideas. Note that this call for proposals is for everyone, not only for recording specialists. First ideas have already submitted and will be reported in the newsletter and on the WFAE homepage. TMSP will find a preparation platform at the Amsterdam festival 1999. The collected material will be archived in order to be used as a basis for broadcast documentaries, scientific, artistic and educational evaluation. If you are inclined to participate or to submit a specific idea, or simply want to ask questions, write to: The New Soundscape Newsletter, TMS Project, c.p. 319, 2013 Colombier, Switzerland; fax +41 32 841 4654; eMail 101570.1274@compuserve.com Looking Back Green Book of the European Commission - Future Noise Pollution Policies In January 1997 the Secretary General of the International Association Against Noise (AICB) forwarded a substantial letter to Prudencio Perera, Chairman of the European Commission, concerning the Green Book of the European Union's noise policy. It contains a series of recommendations for future action of the EC. The original letter, in German, has been translated into English by Hans Schmid of Right to Quiet in Vancouver B.C., Canada. Contact: Dr.iur. Willy Aecherli, AICB, Hirschenplatz 7, 6004 Luzern, Switzerland; tel. +41 41 410 -3013, fax -9093. People. Steve Heimbecker is an audio artist, specializing in electro-acoustics, nstallation and sculpture, studying fine arts at the Alberta College of Art in the late 1970's. In 1987 his giant wind chime Nirvana was exhibited in Toronto during The Music Gallery's national exhibition Soundscape. Since 1994 he has been experimenting with his process called Word Music, a computer midi sequencing system which transcribes text language into musical language. Contact: 16 Bowbank Crescent N.W., Calgary, Alberta T3B 2E1 Canada; tel/fax (403) 288 6874. Hints and Reviews Ulkántu Mapú I am pleased to inform you that, being both the author and director of the project Ulkántu Mapú, I would like it to represent the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology in Argentine. This is my own artistic and musical project whose proposal is harmonizing music with natural sounds, along with some ingenious and novel ideas. As you can imagine, such harmonization is not the only goal of this project. The close attention devoted to the natural sound treatment enables us to relate this artistic purpose to the relationship that human beings have with the present "sonorous environment". A wide variety of proposals will be put forward from the proposed series of concerts. Ulkántu Mapú's proposals: - Aiming at an acoustically healthy environment. - Arousing social conscience, especially in big cities, for human beings to reach a pleasant and acceptable sound level again. - Preserving the still virgin and undamaged natural relics. - Aboriginal groups participating in experiences with natural sounds. - Recognizing the endangered species by means of their sounds in order to contribute to their preservation. Very important national and international institutions have been interested in these proposals. Thus, the Ulkántu Mapú has been sponsored by UNESCO. Besides, it was proclaimed of cultural, educational and environmental interest by the Argentine Senate, the Canadian Embassy in Argentine, C&M Cites, the Indigenous Association in Argentine, the University of Buenos Aires, "Tequel Mapú", a "mapuche centre. Hugo Dionisio, Buenos Aires Contact: Hugo Dionisio, Saenz Valiente 36°ree; D, Capital Federal (1408), Argentina; tel. +54 1 643-0378, fax +54 1 658 6856. SoundScapeDesign Hans Ulrich Werners neues Buch SoundScapeDesign - KlangWelten HörZeichen mit Compact Disc wird in diesen Tagen ausgeliefert. In neun Kapitel sind die Leitplanken-Texte von H.U. Werner gegliedert: Soundscapes - Akustikdesign - Landschaft Hören - Urban soundscapes - Music soundscapes - Radio soundscapes - Tv Soundscapes - Film soundscapes - Virtureal soundscapes - und Infos. Mit Inserts in Deutsch und Englisch von Volker Bernius, Claudius Brüse, Christian Colmorgen, Gary Ferrington, Golo Föllmer, Thomas Gerwin, Martin Hömberg, Detlev Ipsen, Uwe Krämer, Bodo Lensch, Eric Leonardsen, Francisco Lopez, Emmanuelle Loubet, Pawn Mallozzi, Albert Mayr, Jim Metzner, René van Peer, Klaus Ploch, Michael und Joachim Rüsenberg, Markus und Michael Rust, Klaus-Peter Sattler, Henning Schmitz, Claude Schryer, Ralf Thier, Uli Tobinsky, Martin Töpler, Johannes Wallmann, Ursula Weck, Georg Weckwerth, Hildegard Westerkamp, Klaus Wittig. Eine metason Produktion, Akroama 1997. ISBN 3-9520335-2-9. 504 Seiten + CD. ca. DEM 60. Vorbestellung bei: Akroama, Hammerstr. 14, CH - 4058 Basel. Soundscape Vancouver CD We announce a double-CD and booklet: the CD production is the final stage in a larger project called Soundscape Vancouver '96. It includes (i) excerpts from The Vancouver Soundscape records, produced in 1973 by the World Soundscape Project, including Vancouver's signals and soundmarks, natural and urban ambiences, and an illustrated talk by R. Murray Schafer on Acoustic Design; (ii) a short documentary comparing recordings of soundscapes in the City between 1973 and 1993 narrated by Hildegard Westerkamp and Barry Truax; (iii) five soundscape compositions about Vancouver using the new digital recordings from the 1990s, created by Darren Copeland, Claude Schryer, Sabine Breitsameter, Hans-Ulrich Werner and Barry Truax. Postpaid Can$ 34 / US$ 25. Order: Cambridge Street Publishing, 4346 Cambridge Street, Burnaby B.C., Canada V5C 1H4; fax +1 604 299-3864; http://www.sfu.ca/truax Learning To Listen: Children's Books That Guide The Way (Part I) Do you remember the special sounds of childhood? Perhaps in your mind's ear, you've recalled the sound of sleet against the window, birds singing in the tree above your favorite playground swing, or the echo of kids laughing in a vacant urban lot. Memories from the soundscape of youth often come to us at the most unexpected times stimulated by a gust of wind, rain on the roof, a distant voice, or the rustle of leaves. The acoustic environment in which we grow up can leave a lifetime impression on us. Sometimes these impressions are positive and others are not, unfortunately. I always conduct a sound memory inventory in my university course on audio recording. Most students recall the pleasurable sound of the ocean, or the quiet of nature as acoustic memories from their childhood. One student, who seemed to be quite bitter, wrote about her aural memories of an abusive father and mother. So powerful were these sound remembrances that they continued to influence her life today. Though most everyone has the ability to hear, few know how to effectively listen. Our ears are always open to sound events. Even while we sleep. But we need to learn to give meaning to the sounds we hear. Childhood is a time for discovery and learning. It's especially a good time to learn effective listening skills. Listening, when taught in school, is usually included in a unit on listening comprehension. Little effort is made to teach children about listening to the sounds beyond those of speech communication. There are so many natural and human made sounds that have potential meaning for us if learn to listen. The beeping of a backing truck signals caution. The ringing of a church bell calls the faithful to worship. There are whispering sounds such as the wind blowing across dried grasses. There are sounds which annoy us with their loudness, rhythm, or constant excess. All these sounds are part of the acoustic fabric of daily life. Learning effective listening skills is something educators and parents can facilitate for children and youth. The following books encourage exploration and understanding of the soundscape. The list is in two parts. The first suggests books for children. The second is for parents, teachers, and youth who would like more information about the soundscape and how to develop listening skills. Books for Children Showers, Paul. The Listening Walk. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1992 The key to a successful listening walk is to avoid talking to others and to open one's ears to the world of sound. In this book, illustrated by Aliki Brandenberg, a young girl takes a listening walk with her father and her dog Major. The setting is urban and the soundscape is rich in sounds. Some sounds are not pleasant at all, such as the sound of cars, construction, and other human noise activities. Others, such as the tapping of Major's toenails on the side walk, a sprinkler, and birds in the park are enriching. The book concludes by asking the reader to close the book, close their eyes and just listen. There are always sounds to hear. Morris, Winifred. Just Listen. New York: Atheneum, 1990 Tara is an urban child surrounded by the constant sounds of the city. Only when she goes to visit her Grandmother does she experience the unique silence of the country. Her grandmother always takes her out for a long walk to listen to the natural world. Grandma frequently whisper to Tara, " Now what do you hear?" One day Tara's grandmother asks her to listen very carefully. When she does listen she hears a very special sound - the unique sound of self. Her grandmother encourages her to always remember that sound as it is her's and no one else's. Brown, Margaret Wise. The Noisy Book. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993 Muffin, a very little dog, one day gets a cinder in his eye. The veterinarian puts a bandage around Muffin's eyes and he can no longer see. His ears now become his guide to the world around him. It is an acoustical world of often confusing sounds. When Muffin finally arrives home he hears a sound he cannot identify. It is both familiar and yet strange. He cannot determine what it is. Readers are asked to guess what it is Muffin might be hearing and the answer is finally revealed at the end of the story. Beech, Linda. The Magic School Bus, In The Haunted Museum: A Book About Sound. New York: Scholastic, 1995 Ms. Frizzle's music class sets out to perform a concert at a "Sound Museum". Along the way the Magic School Bus has a flat tire and the students find themselves in what looks like a haunted house. They explore the house hearing many sounds only to learn that they are in the Sound Museum itself. There are doors that lead to a jungle full of exotic sounds, another door leads to a mountain landscape where echo's can be made. The children learn much about new sounds and how sounds are made. The next day the class performs its concert and Carlos, who had been chided for his invented instrument that makes only strange sounds, learns that the instrument will only play properly if he modifies it so it can vibrate the way it is supposed to. Stafford, William. The Animal That Drank Up Sound. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers, 1992 This story, illustrated by Debra Frasier, tells the tale of an animal that needed sound. It moves slowly and silently from high on the mountain to the valley below. One day the animal finally drinks up all the sounds of a wonderful green summer. It takes " the croak of toads, and all the little, shiny noise grass blades make." It is of course winter that has come as the snowy white animal that brings a special quiet to the land. Calaora, Lorraine, Karcovski-Bagen, Christopher. Noisy and Quiet. Grosset and Dunalp, Inc., 1977 In this book of opposites children learn about quiet and noise. It is a book designed for parents and children to use together. A mother and father can, for example, help a child understand the difference between the quiet of a desolate beech and one beaming with activity. The book encourages an awareness of sound in a variety of urban and rural environments. The inside title page is especially effective with a family of rabbits nibbling at the grass along an airport runway with a roaring jet lifting off in the background. There are activities at the end of the book which children can do to learn about the making of sound and quiet. Gary Ferrington G.F. is Senior Instructor in media literacy and technology at the University of Oregon's College of Education. He is currently a member of the WFAE restructuring committee and serves as the webmaster for the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. (To be continued with "Books for Teachers, Parents, and Adolescents" in newsletter #6) Acoustic Speleophony and Prehistorical Soundscapes In an article published in the yearbook 1995 of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Höhle und Karst Grabenstetten (pp. 180-196) speleologist Günter Stolze writes about his investigations in cave acoustics. He reports that in the eighties several scientists discovered that caves are not a "world of silence", but that they are filled with noises, sounds and chords. These acoustic phenomena are created by the presence of man, but they are so minute that they cannot be perceived by average hearing. Stolze contends that this speleo-soundscape has been of a use for prehistoric man. Continuing the work of physician Charles Lichtenthaeler he has measured six well-known caves: Lascaux (France), Dionysos (I-Syracusa), Marabar (Bihar, India), Postojna (Adelsberg, Slowenia), Smeralda (I-Amalfi), Campanet & Arta & Drach (E-Mallorca), Nerja (E-Andalusia), Millau (F-Vallat-Nègre), Verdes (E-Lanzarote). He designs future speleoacoustics which are a basis for ecological investigations in a dialogical relationship between man and cave, as a contribution to acoustic ethology and a new perspective on the evolution of listening. Contact: Günter Stolze, Ludwigsallee 67, D - 52062 Aachen Listening Diaries Corrigendum: The title of Hildegard Westerkamps' contribution in our newsletter #4 was Soundwalk from Home, (not Soundwalk from House). We apologize for misprinting. On A Clear Day I Can Hear Forever I live in a city. Not a big city, but one large enough to have an array of traffic and human made sounds that can irritate one if allowed. There are still quiet mornings. But the fact is that the quantity and quality of this time has diminished over the years as the city has grown. Sometime around 3 AM and continuing for several hours more, the soundscape beyond my closed windows settles into a momentary period of quietude, broken occasionally by a passing auto. This is a safe time. A time when one can open the windows and let the inside and outside become a single acoustic space. It is daylight at this time in the Summer. The birds have already started to vocalize and this quickly becomes a morning chorus. I've never made the time to identify each species, but I nevertheless enjoy their collective voices. This brief period of relative peacefulness is broken with the gruff arrival of the morning garbage truck. It's hydraulic drive lifts a heavy dumpster up and over it's cab. With a screaming assist from the truck's engine all of the collective waste crashes into the truck's gaping hold. Another two minutes of whining sounds and the dumpster settles back to the earth with a distinctive thud on pavement. The truck departs. But the solitude has changed. The sound of tire friction against pavement increases as commuters begin their weekday driving rituals. An occasional siren marks and emergency somewhere in the city. Gradually, the songfest of morning birds fades and is lost in the human sound of the cityscape. I am not one that is totally displeased with the sounds of my city. In many ways the sounds generated by cars on wet streets, or human voices from the sidewalk ten floors below provides a connectedness between myself and an active living world. In fact residing in a high rise apartment provides me with an opportunity to listen to the city in a way that might otherwise be impossible to do. Here above the trees and having no other tall buildings around is a space through which distant sounds easily travel. As I write this article, I hear the horn of a Southern Pacific locomotive some three miles away. The sound of the railroad is such a dominate feature of this city that I've actually learned the engineer's code for approaching a grade crossing, pulling into and out of the depot, and when one train meets and passes an other. I know, from listening, the length of a train, its progress through the city and whether it is carrying passengers or freight. Interestingly enough I've also learned the acoustic schedule of the many airline flights to and from Denver and Salt Lake City. The 6:10 AM flight is always prompt in leaving providing there are no delays in it's planned flight to Colorado. Often, given the stillness of morning, I can hear it's engines deep thundering roar for ten to fifteen minutes after it passes overhead flying East over the distant Cascade mountain range. On a cloudy day the sound is amplified and appears more foreboding as it passes. Come late evening the planes return like birds returning to roost until the light of morning again calls them to take flight. One by one their distant sound is heard and their landing pattern takes them high above my apartment. It's Sunday and though the commuter traffic this morning is not as intense as it will be tomorrow, it nevertheless forms an ambient background against which any other sound needs to make itself heard. St. Mary's church is one such soundmark. It's original bronze bell brings a soft mellow sound to the ear. It's resonance is not as strong as I imagine it once was in calling the faithful to worship. But it can still be heard within the Parish it serves. On the other hand, the bigger and recently refurbished carillon of the Presbyterian church rings clear even against the ambiance of it's worshipers leaving by car for home or Sunday brunch. This soundmark rises above the city in a tall bell tower allowing the ringing to waft across the city. When not calling its members to church the carillon chimes out the hour in increments of time from early morning until 10 PM when a city ordinance restricts sound making until the next day. It's tolling now tells me that as I write it is a quarter past the hour. The sound of the wind is one which is always present in my city. There is a prevailing flow of air from the Northwest which blows most every day. It often brings storms from the coast some sixty miles away. In summer it cools the air heated by the pavement of streets and sidewalks. It also bends the trees and rustles the leaves causing a pleasing, restful sound. The wind also plays with our tall building which is a definite obstacle in it's path through the city. It squeals and whistles as it blows through opened doors and down hallways or finds its way through unsealed windows. This is especially chilling to hear in the winter while the snow falls outside. Though I can hear and enjoy the sound of children playing in the distant park, the sound of a crow flying past my window, people chatting over coffee at the market a block away, or skateboarders and bicyclist passing by, it is the absences of these sounds in winter that impresses me the most. When the snow falls and the traffic stops the city becomes strangely quiet. It's in these brief periods of time that I can hear the very distant Willamette river flowing on its journey to the Pacific. It is a time when I think I can hear forever. Gary Ferrington, Eugene (Oregon) Right and wrong listening? I am relaxing during a pause in the work in television where I work as sound engineer, sitting near an open door of the studio itself; the door outside, where there is a green space, with some ruined buildings of industrial archeology. On my right, the video technician, relaxing himself too, is sleeping on his chair, snoring from time to time. On my left, a big bird is singing his call from the top of one of the ruined buildings. I am listening, in this nice stereophonic way, two evocative, "natural" sounds, that are very different from the usual, "perfect" sounds I am used to hear in the studio. I mean that these two sounds are not passing through any kind of media chain, that is the "right" way to work in a television studio: from another perspective, in this moment the television studio is "working" in a "wrong" way. The problem is less in terms of quality, that is very subjective, but rather in terms of communication: the working in the wrong way of the studio is, really, the less possible filtered from the mass media way of listening. What is the "right" way of listening? To what kind of listening are we used? And now the big bird has flown away and three smaller birds sit on the same building, in silence. Luca Miti, Saxa Rubra (Italy) July 6, 1997 Bourges - At Night It's 11 p.m. I am walking from the GMEB studio near the old centre of town to my residence. As I cross the square I pass a bar with music. A car passes me. Then silence, except for my footsteps. A jet passes overhead. After the jet rumble, again my footsteps alone in the quiet soundscape. Later another car. I pass a small bar spilling out the sounds of voices and music. Nobody pays any attention to me. I'm left alone and feel totally safe, alone as woman at this hour in this town. I turn into a residential street and hear a group of people talking quietly. Someone locks a metal gate somewhere. A car passes. I am surprised that I feel so safe and I know that it has to do with the silence. My ears can hear my footsteps and any other sound and its location is immediately identifiable. No sound hides behind another, no dangers are lurking behind masking sounds. When I pass an apartment building I hear the first continuous hum on this walk, air conditioning. I tread more carefully now: some quieter, approaching sound may be hiding behind this soundwall. I realize I have not heard any air conditioning exhausts in this town. Even on my walks through the centre of town I hear nothing of the sort. There I pass only old stone buildings that reflect the sounds of my footsteps and the voices of the few people I meet. This silence is not muted like the snowy silence in Vancouver last Christmas. This silence is alive and vibrant in these cobblestoned, plantless streets. Vancouver hums like a factory on late summer evenings, as all the highrises keep churning their bad air and the traffic never really dies down. I don't usually walk alone through this city's streets at night. Bourges' keynote sound at night is a deep quiet. This town is truly sleeping at night, even at the end of this century. The quiet keeps all other sounds that do not occur quiet: no one needs to be loud, as the quietest voices or footsteps are audible. Only cars, mopeds, and airplanes can't help tearing through the quiet. But there are not enough of these to change the basic sense of stillness that hovers over this town at this hour. Hildegard Westerkamp, June 1997 Miscellaneous Und - horch der Zeiger hat gewacht! Muttenz, Sonntagmorgen, 11 Uhr: die Kirchgemeindeversammlung ist ungewöhnlich gut besucht. Gründe dafür sind unter anderem im Trakandum 10 zu finden: "Die Kirchenglocken und die Nachtruhe". Ein Hotel, das sich unmittelbar neben der Dorf-kirche St. Arbogast befindet, hatte ein Gesuch gestellt, nach dem das nächtliche Schlagen der Uhrzeit (Viertelstundenschlag) einzustellen sowie auf das Einläuten des Tages (6 Uhr) zu verzichten sei. Die Kirchenpflege empfahl daraufhin einen Kompromiss-vorschlag: der Viertel-, Halb- und Dreiviertel-Stundenschlag sollte zwischen 24 Uhr und 6 Uhr ausfallen. Das Schlagen zur vollen Stunde wie auch das Tageseinläuten sollte beibehalten werden.Beim Traktandum 10 angelangt, entfaltet sich eine rege Diskussion, die sich zunächst um die Frage der Kompetenz dreht. Beim Schlagen der Uhrzeit handelt es sich nämlich nicht um kirchliches, sondern um bürgerliches Geläut. Folglich kann die Kirchgemeindeversammlung nicht darüber befinden, weil dadurch alle Nichtmitglieder der evangelisch-reformierten Kirchgemeinde von der Entscheidung ausgeschlossen wären. Verantwortlich für das bürgerliche Geläut wäre demnach die Einwohnergemeinde. Obwohl diese Frage nicht vollständig geklärt werden kann, kommt man überein, das Traktandum nicht zu streichen.Grundsätzlich ist man sich einig, dass die Funktion der "Zeitglocke" heute keine Bedeutung mehr hat. Jeder verfügt über seine eigene Uhr. Das mahnende Geläut geht sowieso meist in der Hektik und im Krach des Tages unter. Ausserdem, wer hat heute denn noch Zeit und Musse, die Schläge zu zählen?
Wie sank die Sonne glüh und schwer, Der Titel des Traktandums zeigt an: In der Ruhe der Nacht wird hörbar, was der Tag verschluckt. Selbst leise Klänge durchdringen die Stille und wirken im Raum der Dunkelheit verstärkt.
Noch ist nicht alles Leben eingenickt,
Betäubend gleitet Fliederhauch Es ist verständlich, dass Hotelgäste, die es nicht gewohnt sind, direkt neben einem Glockenturm zu nächtigen, den Stundenschlag als schlafstörend zu empfinden. Aber rechtfertigt dies die Abschaffung einer jahrhundertealten Tradition? Muttenz ist bekannt für seine denkmalschützerischen Bemühungen im Rahmen der Dorfkernerhaltung. Strenge Auflagen für das Erscheinungsbild bei Bauvorhaben zeugen davon. Ist nicht das Glockengeläut als Denkmal der dörflichen Klanglandschaft genauso schützenswert? Dieser Aspekt wird nicht diskutiert.
O wunderliches Schlummerwachen, bist
Wie mir das Blut im Hirne zuckt! Das Argument des Standortnachteils wird geführt. Die Konkurrenz für das Hotel nimmt zu, und es ist anzunehmen, dass sich in Zukunft der eine oder andere Gast für ein Hotel an einer ruhigeren Lage entscheiden wird. Zu dieser Erklärung stellte ein Redner fest, dass die romanische Kirche mit ihrem Geläut schon lange vor dem Hotel an diesem Ort gestanden hatte. Als das Hotel in den 60er Jahren gebaut wurde, galten die Glocken anscheinend noch nicht als Störfaktor. Dem Hotel wurde vorgeworfen, die Kirche genüge ihm zwar als Kulisse für Werbeprospekte, aber ihr Klang sei unerwünscht.
War das ein Geisterlaut? So schwach und leicht Doch nicht nur für Hotelgäste, auch für einige Anwohner kann der nächtliche Stundenschlag zur Tortur ausarten. Dann nämlich, wenn trotz Müdigkeit kein Schlaf gefunden werden kann, und das nervöse Wälzen von einer Seite auf die andere nur vom Glockenschlag unterbrochen wird, der ankündigt: schon wieder ist eine Viertelstunde vergangen.
Jetzt möcht ich schlafen, schlafen gleich, Andere empfinden diesen Klang als beruhigend, weil er die nächtliche Stille und das anhaltende Dunkel unterteilt und anzeigt: auch diese Nacht wird ein Ende haben.
Und - horch, des Hahnes erster Schrei! - Die stark emotional getönten Voten für ein Beibehalten des jetzigen Zustandes nehmen zu. Das Geläut wird sogar als Heimat bezeichnet. Ein Vorschlag, beim Glockenturm Jalousien anzubringen, um das Läuten der Glocken etwas zu dämpfen, hat keine Chancen. Schliesslich schreitet man zur Abstimmung, bei der das Gesuch des Hotels, wie auch der Kompromissvorschlag der Kirchenpflege mit 49 zu 36 Stimmen abgelehnt wird.Wenn ich nachts am offenen Fenster stehe und dem Stundenschlag lausche, bin ich froh über den getroffenen Entscheid. Aber ich überlege mir auch, ob mir das Geläut wirklich fehlen würde, wenn es nicht mehr da wäre. Der Abriss eines Gebäudes sticht ins Auge. Sind unsere Ohren verschwundenen Klängen gegenüber ebenso aufmerksam?
Und wieder gellt des Hahnes Schrei,
Da flammts im Osten auf, - o Morgenglut!
Mirjam Jauslin, Muttenz, Muttenz (Schweiz) Impressum
The New Soundscape Newsletter
The New Soundscape Newsletter
Editor's Address
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology online services
Production: Justin Winkler (coordinating editor), Claudia Pellegrini, Mirjam Jauslin (editorial advisors), Beat Gugger, Benjamin Pfäffli (layout), Urs Notari (administration). The production of this edition of The New Soundscape Newsletter was made possible through membership fees and/or donations. Deadline for Number 6: November 15, 1997
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