Sounding City

SoundEffects - An Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience

Book review of Brandon LaBelle, Acoustic Territories. Sound Culture and Everyday Life.

More than half of the world’s population already live in cities and this is expected to reach 75 percent by 2050. In the developed world the effect of the growth of cities has often only been considered late in the day. This paper sets out future development scenarios for cities and urban areas, in developed and developing countries, and looks at the potential impact on soundscape. An evolving toolkit for city design is discussed. Proposals are made for greater protection of humans, wildlife and tranquil areas and for the preservation of important “sound-marks” that identify a place.

Logos (Lithuania), 2019

For several of the latest decades, the “sensory turn” in humanities and social sciences has marked a new stage in rethinking the roles of non-visual media (sounds, smells) and perception modes (auditory, tactile, olfactory). The present article pays special attention to the consideration of urban sound discourses that have formed within sound studies. Systematization of the existing literature shows several important themes describing sound in the city. These themes include: sound as the marker of identity, memory, power, socio-economic relations, etc. A complex coverage of discourses about urban sound permits broadening its comprehension limits.

2018

This guide has been written by the Recomposing the City research group (www.recomposingthecity.org). Based in Belfast and Oxford, our mission is to bring together artists, architects, planners and others in investigating the relationship of sound to urban environments. We support new design and research projects, and we seek to improve the understanding of sound by those who make decisions about cities. Our aim is not merely to reduce unwanted noise in urban areas. Rather, we support creating urban spaces in which sound is considered an essential part of placemaking. Key to our vision of the sound-considered city is the innovative work carried out by sound artists. In some cases sound artists have been tasked specifically with improving urban areas. In other cases their work has had unforeseen positive impact on cities. Our research shows how artists and designers can effectively 'recompose' the city through sound art. We have written The Sound-Considered City for people who make decisions about cities: planners, architects, politicians, policymakers, developers, community groups and beyond. We hope that The Sound-Considered City will inspire you to rethink how sound can play a role in creating your ideal city.

1969

of the second experiment consisted of three sensorially differentiated types: blindfolded, deafened, and normal seeing and hearing persons. These were taken simultaneously on the same trip and the procedures were similar to those of the first experiment. In general, the hypotheses are confirmed, but it is determined from both the analysis and the experiments that the sequence was lacking in most qualities considered desirable on the basis of the hypotheses, and sound settings lacked informativeness, uniqueness, and diversity, and the visible form was not well-correlated with the sonic form. The sonic environment, as well as the non-visual environment in general, is concluded to be an important area for new design work because of its apparently important effects on visual perception and because it may be an economical way of increasing persons? delight and acceptance of the city without massive and costly redevelopment of the visible form. The elements which are considered to have the most potential for sonic design on the basis of the analysis and experiments are the large open spaces, signs and other communications, the sequence network, and small and responsive spaces.

Soundeffects an Interdisciplinary Journal of Sound and Sound Experience, 2013

Within recent years, there has been a renewed focus on sound in urban environments. From sound installations in public space to sound festivals in alternative settings, we find a common interest in sound art relating to the urban environment. Artworks or interventions presented in such contexts share the characteristics of site specificity. However, this article will consider the artwork in a broader context by re-examining how sound installations relate to the urban environment. For that purpose, this article brings together ecology terms from acoustic ecology of the sound theories of the 1970s while developing them into recent definitions of ecology in urban studies. Finally, we unfold our framing of urban sound ecologies with three case analyses: a sound intervention in Berlin, a symphony for wind instruments in Copenhagen and a video walk in a former railway station in Kassel. The article concludes that the ways in which recent sound installations work with urban ecologies vary. While two of the examples blend into the urban environment, the other transfers the concert format and its mode of listening to urban space. Last, and in accordance with recent soundscape research, we point to how artists working with new information and media technologies create inventive ways of inserting sound and image into urban environments.

utas.edu.au

Ludmiljö, hälse och stadsbyggnad. Ljudmiljöcentrum skriftserie 9., 2011

This article discusses political aspects of urban environmental sound. In discussions around " Gang i København " – an initiative aimed to boost the creative industries in Copenhagen – the author identify two prominent discourses regarding urban sound: environmental concern for noise as pollution and ideals of lively cities embracing events, concerts and night life. Arguing for a deconstruction of environmentalist claims for a quieter and more natural urban soundscape, the article introduces Jean-François Augoyards concept of dynamic and metabolic urban sound space and outlines a field for inquiries into acoustic territoriality whereby urban places and spaces are marked and shaped through everyday practices.

2019

This workshop is the result of a practice-based research, which explored several interrelated elements: first the theory of Psychogeography, applied to the creative representation of urban environments from a multilayered approach and from an emotional and psychological perspective; second, the exploration of sound and acoustic theory, as research tools and artistic possibilities, directed towards the analysis of public space, its documentation and understanding in relation to processes of identity, intangible patrimony and storytelling. And finally, an experimentation and technical research related to audio postproduction, real-time data processing and interactivity. This exploration lead altogether to the design of a persuasive experience that sought to communicate the research outcomes to a broader audience by means of an experimental performance and sound installation presented initially in several cities in the north of Europe.