Documentary: Touch the Sound

Touch The Sound (1:39) This feature documentary by Thomas Riedelsheimer follows Evelyn Glennie, a profoundly deaf musician, in her efforts to find new ways of making sound. "It's a spacious, hauntingly meditative film that thankfully does not dwell on the implications of Glennie's deafness; rather, it admires her achievements and interprets them for new listeners and delightfully shatters the way we think about sound."

The starting point for Evelyn's journey is the sounds and rhythms that surround us in everyday life. And from there, the path delves deeper - sculpting the nature of sound itself, discovering its genesis and how the universe depends upon it.

Accompanying Evelyn on her journey is filmmaker Thomas Reiedelsheimer - winner of the 2001 German cinematography prize, the Golden Gate Award Grand Prize in San Francisco (2002), the Grand Prix Montreal (2002) and two German Film Prizes (best Camera, Best Documentary) in 2003. Video source: Hulu.

For more about Evelyn Glennie, view Lecture Evelyn Glennie: How To listen  (32:12) 

Lecture: Mini Series On Ocean Acoustics

The ocean covers most of the earth's surface and is geologically diverse and biologically alive with a variety of life. In the darkness of the deep sea most ocean animals use sound for calling, sensing, navigating, locating prey, and avoiding being prey. Sound making is critical to under ocean survival.

This is a series of mini-lectures on bio-acoustics produced by Ocean Conservation Research - a non-profit organization that is developing understanding and seeking solutions to the growing problem of human generated noise pollution in the ocean.

There are currently four short videos in this series hosted by Michael Stocker:

Introduction to OCR's Mini-Series  (1:21) 

Sea of Sounds (2:47)

How Fish Hear (4:56)

Human Generated Noise in the Ocean (3:25)

Michael Stocker is an acoustician and naturalist by trade and a musician by avocation, he has written and spoken about ocean bio-acoustics since 1992, presenting in national and regional hearings, national and international television, radio and news publications, and museums, schools and universities. His understanding of both physics and biology has proven invaluable in court testimony and legal briefs, defending the environment against the dangers of human generated noise in the sea. Source: Ocean Conservation Research.

Noise Issues: The Future of Noise

Noise (7:53) This CBS program segment hosted by Mo Rocca looks at the future of noise. Where science fiction foresees the future soundscape as an oasis of quiet, the reality today, this video suggests, is one in which the world is becoming noisier.  

At one time, humans depended on the sense of hearing for survival, but with the coming of the industrial age and the growing domination of the soundscape by noise people began to avoid attentive listening. 

Sound artist Bruce Odland notes that noise is the result of wasted energy and that quiet machines are more efficient. However, quiet machines are an acoustic problem for some - such as the electric car that it can be upon one unexpectedly because of its quietness. Source: CBS News. The Tomorrow Show with Mo Rocca and featuring sound artists Bruce Odland and Sam Auinger.

Soundwalk: Ciudad de Lugo (City of Lugo)

Ciudad de Lugo   (10:12). The Spanish city of Lugo's soundscape is explored in this soundwalk down its dark streets at 21:30 on Saturday, April 17th, 2010.

Soundscape: Guanajuato City of Light and Sound

Paisaje Sonoro de Guanajuato  (3:02) Francisco Garcia Ledesma documents  a night before the day of the Virgen de Guadalupe (December 11, 2009, 23:00 hours). In this soundscape one hears the drums and cornets played by participating church members in this Catholic festival.  Video by Rodrigo Garcia Moran Source: YouTube

Research: Acoustic Communication - Humans and Dogs

Can humans recognize barking signals (4:06) This PBS video segment examines the question as to if humans can understand the sounds dogs make as if those sounds are a form of language. Ádám Miklosi, Head of the Department of Ethology at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary,  is examining this concept. Given that animal communication is so much a part of the soundscape, this short work is included in this collection. Source KCET Los Angeles.

Project: Blindfold - Sound Navigation

Blindfold (2:37) This is a virtual and interactive sound installation by Jens Fische in which the user can experience the situation of a blind person navigating through a soundscape. Source: Vimeo 

Soundscape Composition: Sonic Sidewalk

Sonic Sidewalk (10:19) This video documents a Softday Mobile Philharmonic project in which participants used low-cost equipment and shareware/open source tools to first record sounds and then use those sounds to create cell phone ring tones. These tones were then combined in a public improvised sidewalk performance of their soundscape composition at Frenchs Cafe on Catherine Street in Limerick City (Ireland) on Saturday May 8th, 2010. Source: YouTube