Soundscape
‘Wherever we are, what we hear is mostly noise. When we ignore it, it disturbs us. When we listen to it, we find it fascinating.’ John Cage
When was the last time you listened, with all your focused attention, to the vast range of sound around you? When did you last spend the time during your journey to work or school focusing on the unique and ever-changing sonic environment? Have you recently examined the precise timbre of the rain striking the kitchen window? What was the last sound you heard? Was it close by or far away? Was it moving or was it still? Was it richly coloured or was it a dull sound? Can that sound be described? Does it make sense to attempt to put that sound into words? Can you produce a drawing or a diagram of that sound? Can it be represented with a taste, a smell, texture or a feel?
Our sonic landscape is something that perhaps most of us take for granted. Sonic Postcards encourages pupils to engage with the everyday sounds around them and use those sounds as a source of inspiration and creativity. The art of mapping environmental sound is not a new one, nor is delivering sound-based education work. Sonic Postcards recognises and is inspired by the work of sound education pioneers such as R. Murray Schafer in Canada and Robin McGinley in Sweden for example, and it builds on Sonic Arts Network’s own experience of delivering education projects in schools over the last two decades. However, what makes Sonic Postcards unique is the way it maps the rich tapestry of our sonic landscape on a large scale, and emphasises connections between creative learning and listening in the classroom.
Listening is an invaluable transferable skill which pupils develop throughout their education but listening all too often takes a back seat. Our visually dominated world constantly encourages us to use our eyes over our ears so Sonic Postcards is an attempt to readdress that balance and give people an opportunity to fine-tune their listening skills and open their ears.
Sonic Arts Network is an organisation which actively encourages people to engage with sound in new ways. Sonic Postcards beautifully encapsulates this mission.
Many organisations throughout the world are dedicated to bringing people’s attention to our sonic environment. Below are a list of links to organisations with similar aims to Sonic Arts Network or are currently carrying out soundscape studies with a view to improving our sonic environment or measuring the impact of sound on our health.
Useful Soundscape Websites
Wikipedia entry on Soundscape
The World Soundscape Project
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology
Acoustic Ecology Institute
Acoustic Environments in Change
Phonography
Sound Transit
British Library Sound Archive
GLA Noise Strategy
