Soundscape: Tribute to John Cage

4'33" A John Cage Centennial Panama (4:37) This video from Panama is a tribute to John Cage's 100th Birthday and is performed on the street. Although it is most often "heard" in a concert hall, Cage may have appreciated the soundscape in which this work is performed.   4′33″ (pronounced "Four minutes, thirty-three seconds") is a three-movement composition. It was composed in 1952 for any instrument (or combination of instruments), and the score instructs the performer not to play the instrument during the entire duration of the piece throughout the three movements. The piece purports to consist of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, although it is commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence. Click2Read more about this composition. Source: YouTube

Soundscape Composition: In The City

In The City (1:55) Shots of Leicester City on a dreary day in September to which a soundscape composition by Bill Newsinger  has been created. Leicester is a city in the East Midlands of England along the River Soar. It is the largest city in the region. According to the 2011 census Leicester had the largest proportion of people aged 19-and-under in the East  Midlands with 27 per cent. Today, the city has a large ethnic minority population mainly from South East Asia. 

Soundscape Composition: Train Delay

Train Delay (1:23) A sontage of rail related soundscape recordings by Ann McDougall of Canada. Source: YouTube

Soundscape Installation: Are You Listening Leeds?

Are You Listening Leeds? (39:42) This is a public soundscape project based in an empty shop unit in Leeds Shopping Plaza in the city centre. It took place on 12th June 2010, with an accompanying window installation running until 29th July 2010.

The idea for the project came about as the result of a discussion about the sounds of city life, whether sounds were afforded the same aesthetic status as visual culture, and how sounds were used and heard in a city.  The project involved devising a 24-hour soundscape of the city reduced to 24 minutes, recording in 24 different locations. This was then combined with simultaneously projected 24-hour timelapse of the Leeds skyline, equating with the time of the sounds, to emphasise the multitude of changing sounds in one city. Source: Vimeo

Soundscape: Hoi An Vietnam

The following videos present soundscape experiences by visitors to Hoi An Vietnam. Hoi An has a pedestrian-friendly Old Town area closed to cars. The city is an exceptionally well-preserved example of a South-East Asian trading port dating from the 15th to the 19th century. Its buildings and its street plan reflect the influences, both indigenous and foreign, that have combined to produce this unique UNESCO heritage site. Hoi An is located on the South Central Coast of Vietnam along the South China Sea and is home to approximately 120,000 inhabitants. 

Quiet Streets of Hoi An (1:02) A night time stroll down a street in the historic district reflects a time past without cars and shops open to the passing of pedestrians.

Hoi An (8:16) This video presents a daylight view of the historic district and then moves out into the surrounding area. The contrast between the soundscape of night and day is an interesting exploration.

Source: YouTube

Soundscape Composition: Great Plains Tornado

Tornado Watch On The Plains (3:10) In this audiovisual presentation the composer explores his childhood and life in the midwest. Growing up in Illinois, warm spring/summer weather and tornado sirens frequently went hand-in-hand. What better soundscape to recreate?

Every "completed" sound in this is a conglomeration of numerous independent sound sources. The footsteps are a good example: they consist of a solid boom for the actual foot's landing, a crunchy gravel sound when the foot hits the ground, and the swishing of reeds and tall grass with each step taken, amongst many others. This project was mixed using Protools 6.

Soundscape Composition: Get It Away

Get It Away (2:46) Composer David Byrne stayed in A Room for London, a one-bedroom installation above the River Thames, from 17 - 19 February 2012. During this residency, he created this soundscape-based composition. He notes, "I brought along some field recording gear to use. I went out during the day and recorded sounds that I thought might be useful and evocative. It turned out that most of the sounds - even the church organ in Southwark Cathedral - seemed to converge around a common rhythm (London's tempo is 122.86 beats per minute). It's a bit too good to be true - that every large city should have its own rhythm, but here it is. I let the sounds dictate the groove, the tempo, and then I simply played along.

Sound sources:

Strawberry seller: Borough Market
Train: Southwark
Woman Evangelist: Spitalfields Market
Organ: Southwark Cathedral
Jackhammer: near Waterloo
Footsteps: mine, embankment
Thames waves: near Surrey water

Soundwalk: With Guy de Bievre and Alper Turkkan

Soundwalk: This walk was held as part of the Human Cities Brussels-Instanbul focus during Istanbul Design Week 2010 at the Old Galata Bridge in 2010. It was lead by musicians Guy de Bievre and Alper Turkkan. This international 2-day event included lectures, breakout sessions and workshops for architects, urban planners, sociologists, designers, artists and representatives of the civil society (associations and NGO’s involved in urban culture, creativity and intercultural dialogue) from Turkey and various European countries. Source: Vimeo