Lecture: Dr. Sarah May - Reverence and a Noise Experiment at Silbury Hill

Dr. Sarah May, research archeologist with English Heritage, discusses her research about the acoustic dimension of Silbury Hill  and the relationship between sound making and listening throughout the adjacent soundscape. Silbury Hill is a prehistoric artificial chalk mound near Avebury in the English county of Wiltshire. This lecture was given at the Acoustics and Music of British Prehistory Research Network symposium at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University, June 19, 2006. Clic2Read more about Silbury Hill 

Video 

Part 1 (9:44) 

Part 2 (9:51) 

Part 3 (5:44) 

Phonograper: Bernie Krause - Field Recording Sequoia

Sounds of Nature (2:24) Mr. Krause is a bioacoustician who left the studio for natural sound. Krause discusses his experience in the soundscape and the enrichment of life it can provide. Krause travels the world trying to record the soundscapes that are disappearing as people encroach upon nature. Source: Inspiration and Spirit on YouTube

Research: Measuring Your Personal Noise Exposure

Noise Tube (2:46) "Noise pollution is a serious problem in many cities. NoiseTube is a research project about a new participative approach for monitoring noise pollution involving the general public. Our goal is to extend the current usage of mobile phones by turning them into noise sensors enabling each citizen to measure his own exposure in his everyday environment. Furthermore each user could also participate to the creation of a collective map of noise pollution by sharing automatically his geolocalized measures with the community."

"By installing our free application on your GPS equipped phone, you will be able to measure the level of noise in dB(A) (with a precision a bit lower than a sound level meter), and contribute to the collective noise mapping by annotating it (tagging, subjective level of annoyance) and sending this geolocalized information automatically to the NoiseTube server by internet (GPRS).  Click2Learn more about NoiseTube. 

Source: YouTube

Soundscape Installation: White Sound: An Urban Seascape

White Sound: An Urban Seascape (11:41)  In this installation by Bill Fontana, a live audio feed of the Dorset shoreline played out of speakers mounted onto the facade of Wellcome Collection (London) with film footage of the beach screened throughout the three week exhibit. 

"Sounds of crashing waves envelope the building and the surrounding public to create an entirely new acoustic architecture that challenges our sense of place and dissolves the physical sensation of being in the city within an experience of the tidal rhythms of the sea." Source: Wellcome Collection

Soundscape: New York City Sonic Contrasts

NYC Soundscape (4:12) This is an audio exploration of New York City's different sonic atmospheres that weaves together  loud and quiet environments giving a theoretical experience of the city. This is an exploratory analysis of the different city sounds and images and how these experiences can be juxtaposed. Source: YouTube

Research: Positive Soundscape - Manchester

Positive Soundscape. (13:03) A commissioned research study for the University of Salford into "Positive Soundscape". The objective is to support the institution's initiative on how to reinterpret the sounscape of the (external) environment, particularly in towns and cities. This involves discovering peoples' attitudes to sound. For example different bird-song, laughter, aircraft engine noise: in various locations such as a city street, public park, or suburban garden. Researcher: Martin Percox, Architect, for University of Salford Department of Acoustics. Source: YouTube

Interview: Joel Chadabe on Ear To The Earth

Ear to Earth (4:31)  A short interview with Joel Chadabe, composer, founder Ear to the Earth, President of EMF (Electronic Music Foundation). Chadabe discusses the importance of listening the soundscape and how the Ear to The Earth organization encourages exploration of the acoustic-environment. Source: YouTube

Lecture: Andrea Polli - Sonification

"Andrea Polli is a digital media artist living in New Mexico. Her work addresses issues related to science and technology in contemporary society. She is interested in global systems, the real time interconnectivity of these systems, and the effect of these systems on individuals."

"She currently works in collaboration with atmospheric scientists to develop systems for understanding storm and climate through sound (called sonification). Recent projects include: a spatialized sonification of highly detailed models of storms that devastated the New York area; a series of sonifications of climate in Central Park; and a real-time multi-channel sonification and visualization of weather in the Arctic. She has exhibited, performed, and lectured nationally and internationally and recently spent seven weeks in Antarctica on a National Science Foundation funded project 90degreessouth.org."

Videos:

Scientist and Artists (34:17) Andrea Polli presents examples of artists working closely with scientists to make research on the environment approachable by the public. She addresses her own efforts in this area. Source: Vimeo

Scaling the Sonic Terrain (55:23)  Andrea Polli discusses her interest in raising environmental awareness through signification. This lecture was a part of the Sound+Science Symposium at UCAL in March 2009. Source: Vimeo