I need to put together a plan to visualise everything I’ve researched up to this point. The connections are forming in my brain and there are so many more things I’m curious to explore, but without a solid plan, I feel as if I’m flailing a little more than I need to. I intend to do this next, however, in the meantime, I’ve been following a strand of articles and journals that started with my introduction to Westerkamp’s Microphone Ears.
Composed soundscapes, by nature, are a ‘schizophonic’ listening experience, in that it “is characterized by the fact that the sound source always originates in another place than where it is heard and often produces a mood or atmosphere that is out of context of the listener’s physical location,” as defined by Murray Schafer. These intermingling soundscapes, urban and rural, acoustic and electro-acoustic, grown out of the acousmatic music tradition, might cause disorientation regarding one’s sense of place. Though Westerkamp believes that mindful soundscape composition can create ‘conscious’ listening as opposed to lulling us into comfort.
But what exactly is a soundscape composition? I find it loosely defined, like audio papers. I’ve been asking myself how much abstraction I am able to incorporate into a composed soundscape, that still allows the materiality of my original field recordings to speak for themselves in creating an ecological awareness within my audience? I don’t particularly want to use environmental sound in a purely descriptive sense. I believe the creative interplay between myself and my surroundings can offer more of my personal aesthetic. After all, anyone can create an overview in a straightforward fashion, meant only to transmit what has been learnt. I feel that we have more to gain from learning through one another’s affections, as long as their is a reflexive element involved when creating.
In the definitive Handbook for Acoustic Ecology (1999), ‘soundscape’ is defined as:
An environment of sound (or sonic environment) with emphasis on the way it is perceived and understood by an individual, or by a society. It thus depends on the relation- ship between the individual and any such environment. The term may refer to actual environments or to abstract con- structions such as musical compositions and tape montages, particularly when considered as an artificial environment.
(Truax)
An ethnography of sorts, in that they both are embodied practices which both rely on sensuous ways of knowing. Soundscape composition as acoustemology seems right? Letting the listener remain somewhat aware of the source material seems key, from what I’ve gathered. J.L Drever, in his article ‘Soundscape composition: the convergence of ethnography and acousmatic music‘ describes the reflexive process as having “an ongoing conversation about experience while simultaneously living in the moment. By extension, the reflexive ethnographer does not simply report ‘facts’ or ‘truths’ but actively constructs interpretations of his or her experiences in the field and then questions how those interpretations came about (p.23).” By this rule of thumb there then should be a balance between the developing of my personal aestheticism, proficiency, intuition and preference with the original materiality of my environment.
Soundscape composition continuously calls for a high level of awareness. In this sense, it is a mode very compatible with the audio paper.
Are there ethics associated with soundscape composition? Westerkamp seems to believe so, dubbing all soundscape composers as inherent acoustic ecologists, with a duty to raise awareness through active engagement with our soundscape. Turning the schizophonic listening experience into one that can bring comfort and even a strengthened identity, instead of displacement and uprootedness.
“In the end, of course, no matter where the sound sources come from, the composition created from environmental sounds will be experienced as an entirely new place and situation within an entirely new context, depending on where it is heard. What really matters is whether the sonic language of the piece speaks meaning- fully to composer and audience alike and whether its presentation is conducted with conscious attention towards an ecologically balanced acoustic environment”
(Westerkamp, p.56)
In everything I’ve researched up till this point, I’ve noticed something quite profound. The interaction between the real and the abstract, the processed and unprocessed, the composer and environment, the self and the other. Everything appears to me as relational. Within this web of interrelations, is there a united collective? A hive mind of subjectivities?
Bibliography
Levack Drever, J. (2002) ‘Soundscape composition: the convergence of ethnography and acousmatic music’, Organised Sound, 7(1), pp. 21–27. doi:10.1017/S1355771802001048.
Truax, B. 1999 (Handbook for Acoustic Ecology) Vancouver: Cambridge Street Publishing.
Westerkamp, H. (1999) ‘Soundscape before 2000′, Amsterdam
Westerkamp, H. (2002) ‘Linking soundscape composition and acoustic ecology’, Organised Sound, 7(1), pp. 51–56. doi:10.1017/S1355771802001085.