Volunteer in silence research part.1

Today I volunteered a research project of Natuur en Mulieu Federatie Utrecht. In this Provence of the Netherlands there are several so called ‘Silence Area’s’ These nature reserves are open to the public. NMU wanted to know up to what level silence is respected in these area’s. Because of my interest in natural silence I was more than willing to participate in this project. For my recordings I regularly visit this kind of places which are more near to my home. From my own experience I know that silence in these forests are an illusion. This because your are allowed to enter some of them by car. Planes are flying over and of course the visitors to these places, and especially the dogs, are far from quiet.

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How does your audience listen to your material?

I took the liberty to post a small conversation I initiated on the Phonography Yahoo group a week ago. This because I would like to save the information that was given by some of the contributors. The first comments on this article are reactions of contributors of this list. If they do not want their info been posted here please let me know and I’ll leave it out.

Lately I did a lot of testing to get better / more realistic sounding recording. At this moment, to my opinion, the Jecklin disc method gives me the most satisfying results. BUT the difference in stereo image (in comparrison to my mid/side set) is most noticeable when using headphones. So my question to you all is. What do you think your audience is using for listening to your material? Do you anticipate on this?
My idea would be that more and more people are most of the time using mp3-players to listen to music/sound. Does someone know if there has been done some research on this?

Soundscape Support Team

I recently joined this Ning network which has been created by Katherine Krausse. It could become a very informative place to get insights. So if you don’t have too much social profiles to maintain create one now.

Enliven the dialogue about the sounds of the natural world – especially important within the digital age.

Join in and become part of the growing global community of people who listen to – and appreciate – the fragile, remaining ‘creature chorus’ that forms the increasingly rare ‘Voice of the Natural World’. From birders to biologists, amateur naturalists to professional bioacousticians, nature recordists, musicians, and those who simply love to listen to BIOPHONY of nature, we WELCOME you to participate in the conversation. Your efforts to help advance the understanding and appreciation of natural soundscapes helps keep them vital — and valued — for today and tomorrow.

The Soundscape Support Team is dedicated to helping preserve, protect, and promote natural soundcapes for science, art, and outreach.

Growing Up With Shanghai

“Growing Up With Shanghai” is a series of soundwalks with young Shanghainese who were born and raised during the rapid modernization of their city in the 1980s and 1990s. These recordings capture not only their most intimate memories of the locations where they grew up, but also the progress and growth Shanghai has undergone in the past 30 years. The current sounds of Shanghai can be heard behind the dialog and also serve as an audio document for future generations of Shanghainese. All dialogue is in Shanghainese or in their local dialect.

In 1978, China began its road to reform. Today we can see its tremendous result- and this is only the beginning. The ‘soundwalkers’ in this project were born between 1978 and 1985 in the Municipality of Shanghai. As Shanghai matured during these reforms, so did they in their own lives. ‘Hidden’ within their memories, they reveal small and indirect references to how these locations looked and felt. The city of Shanghai is alive and changes and grows just like any living thing- becoming stronger, more intelligent, and more beautiful.

Like sound itself, this project can be experienced and interpreted on many levels. On the surface it may just be a field recording of street sounds in another language, it could be everything I mention here, or something totally different. Whatever you get from these recordings, transcripts, and photos is exclusive only to you and your imagination. I hope that it makes Shanghai less intimidating and familiar to you and that if you do come, you try to experience a more intimate side of Shanghai by following one of these on your own.

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Sonic Acts XIII – Acoustic Spaces

Saturday feb 27 2010, 20:00 – 00:00 (doors 19:30), Paradiso Amsterdam

Visitors enter a dark space and are confronted with recordings of thunderstorms and the sound of airplanes taking off, fragmented urban sound structures, singing deserts, and underwater or underground recordings. This more than four-hour-long programme is devoted to various approaches to soundscape composition and features works produced by several generations of composers and musicians – from acoustic ecology to extreme field recordings. The spatial aspects of sound are showcased in the compositions, and space is made audible by means of spatial speaker arrangements and multi-channel sound.
Featuring:  Alo Allik, Annea Lockwood, Barry Truax, BJ Nilsen, Éric La Casa, Gilles Aubry, Hildegard Westerkamp, Jacob Kirkegaard, Ji Youn Kang, Olivier Messiaen, Yolande Harris

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Chris Watson Touch Radio

Chris Watson journeys to the South Pole for the forthcoming David Attenborough series “The Frozen Planet” (BBC, 2011). Here he reports back with his experiences…

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The Sound of Insects

“THE SOUND OF INSECTS – Record Of A Mummy” is not a film adaptation of literature, but rather the cinematic rapprochement of a fictional text.

X’s dramatic monologue is not addressed to anyone in particular. It is neither descriptive nor retrospective, but deals entirely with the moment. There is no lamentation, no self-pity, no sentimentality. On the contrary, a subliminal self-irony even emerges at times. The text is unobtrusive; it suggests no morals and refrains from measuring value, thereby rendering its impact very direct.

X’s lack of origin and history, his anonymity is analogous to the general alienation of the human being in a global world; the interchangeability of the negligible “characteristics” of his personality corresponds with the attitude towards life in an out-and-out materialistic society. He only becomes a vital, tangible individual – for himself as well – with his extraordinary capacity for suffering and the monstrous masochism of his act. Suicide by self-imposed starvation is an extremely intimate way to die, X wrote in his diary, because one is preoccupied with oneself for such a long time.

Ultimately, the nameless man’s manner of dying also constitutes the most radical form of renouncement: a total retreat from the hustle and bustle in an achievement-oriented society, the unmitigated refusal to consume, to partake in the haste of this life.
The underlying criticism of today’s materialism is palpable. Shimada clearly demands that one take a stance on the unique potential of life. The absence of any comment on the part of the author offers no solace or reconciliation whatsoever, leaving instead the answers to such vexing questions entirely to the viewer.

Therein lies the profound provocation of this story for me; it arouses not only compassion, but above all the need to object – without moralising – and to affirm the value of one’s own personhood as well.

Climate Neutral Network

As of today Fieldcore is a participant of the United Nations Climate Neutral Network. More info about the goals of the Network can be found here

Listen to Africa

Please check out this traveling site of Huw Williams and Rebecca Sumner. Who are undertaking a 2 year bike journey through Africa. Blogging and collecting some very nice audiomaterial:

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The Listen to Africa expedition is a two year journey by bicycle to record some of the sounds of Africa – from oral histories and music to soundscapes and wildlife; recording and publishing sound seems an appropriate way to communicate from a continent that has so much to say and is so rarely heard outside of its own borders.

While we have no fixed ideas about the subject matter, the Listen to Africa website will inevitably reflect the interests of the team: human rights and humanitarian welfare, wildlife and environmental protection, music and citizen journalism. We are also keen to work with African people and groups along the way, especially in local and community radio, podcasting and blogging. If you work in these areas, and if you’re interested in working with us, we’d love to hear from you.

Would We Listen to Nature if Our Lives Depended on It?

by Derrick Jensen, from Common Dreams