Life

Hey, Hear That?

'Soundwalks' retune the deafness of the urban ear.

By Cecelia Greyson, 2 May 2006, TheTyee.ca

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Imagine urban centre at rush hour: there's the din of traffic, construction noise, a plane taking off and a garbage truck reversing. Now imagine taking a wordless walk by the trees and buildings in your neighbourhood.

Hildegard Westerkamp, a local composer and musician, is one of many artists who encourage developing a new relationship with the industrial and natural sounds around us. A pioneer in the field of acoustic ecology since the 1970s, Westerkamp has been leading "soundwalks" at international festivals and conferences for many years. Last month, Vancouver New Music presented two free soundwalks led by Westerkamp and other artists, providing an opportunity for participants to listen more intently to the unique sounds of their community. The events highlighted people's interest in developing a new relationship with urban sound.

According to the City's 2005 "SoundSmart" brochure, noise is an "inescapable part" of living in the Lower Mainland. And most residents would agree that the constant hum of traffic, airplanes and industry is an inevitable by-product of a rapidly growing population. But while local laws can regulate and restrict construction, vehicle and household noise somewhat, many individuals feel overwhelmed by the noisy intrusions into their lives and can do little other than strapping on different sounds in the form of an iPod or installing double-glazed windows in their homes to escape the stressful urban jungle. But many people want a new approach.

Listening

Similar to walking meditation, soundwalks are silent, slow journeys. "The simplest form of a soundwalk is when you decide to go on a walk and you do nothing but listen," says Westerkamp, speaking from her home in Vancouver. "And basically it's a decision that you make. You make up your mind that you're going to listen."

By focusing attention specifically on sounds in the external environment, Westerkamp argues that listening becomes a conscious act. "What happens in a soundwalk is that your other senses get heightened as well," she says. "And so, on some level, the soundwalk is almost an excuse to be in a heightened state of awareness."

As a musician, Westerkamp calls soundwalks "compositions" consisting of an eclectic, unpredictable mix of everyday sounds, where car engines, footsteps, and bird song are all part of the experience. But is one type of sound more pleasing to the ear than another? "No way," says Westerkamp. "It's not that simple to say that natural sounds are good and urban sounds are bad," she says. "Once we open our ears to the environment, there's information in there that we're not just aware of."

Sound activism

Originally developed in the early 1970s by R. Murray Schafer, Westerkamp and others at SFU's School of Communication, soundwalks are now a popular component of many international music and art events. But the techniques used in soundwalks were originally designed to spark discussions about landscape, community and the environment. Opposed to the proposed second runway at Vancouver Airport and increasing noise pollution in the Lower Mainland, Westerkamp and her colleagues invited city councillors and members of the GVRD to participate in soundwalks in the 1970s in order to discuss environmental issues and the need for stronger noise by-laws. "At the time, I was a bit of an anti-noise activist," recalls Westerkamp. "So, to me, it was all a kind of an activist tool."

Today, Westerkamp admits that she's still concerned about the audible noise level residents of Vancouver are exposed to on a daily basis. "On clear nights, the city has a roar," she states. "Density in Vancouver has increased, traffic has increased and that is audible everywhere...We don't know what quiet is until all the electricity is shut off and the traffic stops." In particular, Westerkamp critiques the audible air-conditioning systems in large high-rises "The amount of noise that comes out of buildings like that is enormous," she says.

In Westerkamp's opinion, these rising noise levels are not merely an annoyance. "The danger in urban cities is that our ears are numbed, because so much is presented to them all the time," she notes. But while it may be impossible for us to ignore the sounds we hear on a daily basis, Westerkamp hopes that participating in a soundwalk may help us approach our city in a new way. "Whether it's in Vancouver or anywhere in the world - being on a soundwalk puts you into the moment in a way that is always renewing and re-reenergizing," she says.

Cecilia Greyson is a freelance writer based in Vancouver. [Tyee]

12 Comments:

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  • Stump

    6 years ago

    Comments on "Hey, Hear That?"

    Interesting article. I always feel a bit sorry for all those people with Ipod buds in the ears, passing up the serendipitous rhythms and melodies of our soundscapes for pre-recorded, pre-arranged music. Esp. this time of year, with the birds singing, etc. I also wonder how they don't get hit by cars more often, as they walk along oblivious to everything madly scrolling and selecting every few minutes (or so it appears).

    A slightly off-topic aside:
    I was playing Brian Eno's "Thursday Afternoon" (an early ambient album for those who aren't familiar) the other day and my four year old daughter asked with the seriousness only a child can muster: "Dad, is this music?"

  • Gerhardius

    6 years ago

    I often listen to enviromental sounds when I am walking in an area with heavy traffic or other noises.

  • Right to Bear

    6 years ago

    Thanks Cecilia Greyson. What an awesome article...!

    I too listen to nature sounds living in a downtown big ass city. At this time in my life, I do not have the woods in my back yard, but in a way, through listening, I have kinda found the "woods". Coyotes, magpies, crows, squirrels, and sparrowhawks all exist right in the city. Man, their communications, and interactions create a strangely intense and beautiful little community...Cool.

    Peace.

    RTB

  • BC Mary

    6 years ago

    R. Murray Shaefer? Don't get me started. I registered for one of his classes at S.F.U. which was listed as a study in music appreciation. Ha. No experience necessary. No music, is more like it.

    First he asked us to sing a capela using the phone book listings as our libretto. Mercifully, I evaded that. Then he sent us out into the Quad., to listen -- just like Cecilia Greyson says -- with a view to making these extraneous noises into music.

    I did sit down for a minute (I loved the SFU Quad), thought about what a bloody ridiculous errand it was, then kept on walking never ever to return to Our Murray Shafer.

    Don't get me started; but Cripes, if you want sound effects, go ahead, bang a few things together. If you want to record environmental noises, go ahead, record them until you're blue in the face. But don't tell me that using a lovely oboe to imitate an ugly car horn or a muscular tuba to do a lousy imitation of thunder, trucks, or farts is something fit to be called creative, let alone "music."

    Last I heard of Our Murray S., he had an orchestra strung out around a lake somewhere, trying to innovate some weird new sound effects. Don't get me started. I think the man hates music and is trying to embarrass it to death.

  • starchild

    6 years ago

    Well, well. It's about time somewhat started talking about noise pollution. It's been getting steadily worse as people get steadily deafer and don't notice it any more. The real turning point I think was the radial tire and things just got worse from there.

    So, does this maybe mean people will start thinking about what's coming about of those ubiquitous microwave ovens, and cell phones and wireless networks??? Ok, so maybe I'm a dreamer. Until one day people start dropping like flies from all kinds of unknown body problems, and they will wonder why. But it won't be any big secret for those who strip away the propaganda of the technology promoters.

    Rant, rant, rant....

  • Stump

    6 years ago

    BC Mary:

    Is it OK by you when symphonies utilize timpani to mimic cannons, or is the 1812 Overture also 'not music'?

  • pjr

    6 years ago

    As a newly signed-up commentor I think I'm allowed one rant.
    So here it is.

    I live in one of the most beautiful places in BC or in Canada for that matter. I moved from Ottawa about a decade ago (crap I'm old...when you measure time in decades your old) and will never go back.

    After getting my mobility back with a new hip last year, I have been walking around my city.
    There are still places here in 'tourist town' where you can hear nature, or even at times silence. Wow!

    I actually heard the squeaking of groups of black ducks the other night on one of my jaunts. Their wings squeak when they fly over. I was amazed. I heard the sound of the tide coming in. The friggin tide! I'm from Ottawa originally, who knew from tides?

    Even the occasional turdball, genitally challenged car boom box moron doesn't bother me as I listen to the waves come in. Or the stupidly loud motorcycle (see genitally challenged above) driver (not the small ones and not the well tuned quiet ones but the hogs)
    who roar by making their "statement."

    I've seen eagles and herons and seals, oh my! I've smelled the sea, and of course tasted it when I first landed here....it's salty! Again.. Who knew?

    I wish I had been born here.

    Now the so-called liberals (lower case intentional) are rewarding big bidness and it's going away. The harpers federally (they are not conservatives...they belong to that creep/neocon/war-monger/bush-lover are leading the charge.

    I value small sounds a trillion times more than corporate profits.

    Oh...I'm appending my first statement about rants...I think it may be one per now and then.

  • BC Mary

    6 years ago

    Stumper: you silly bugger, you know perfectly well that the 1812 isn't made up entirely of canons firing. Nor is there any symphony made up entirely of cymbals and tympany. Now, for punishment, you get to inform us of an Our Murray Shafer symphony which you listen to regularly, for the pure joy of it.

    By the way, I know a good story about Charles Dutoit whose Montreal Symphony Orchestra canon fired unexpectedly behind him, on stage, in Los Angeles, one time ... but I'm not going to tellya.

  • BC Mary

    6 years ago

    pjr: You've heard Nature's pure song and it spoke to your heart. What a lovely statement you wrote. I hope you come back often to this thread.

    This (rant warning!) is what has always disturbed me about R. Murray Shafer's work. He tries to make the musical instruments into ducks, into eagles and herons and seals, and I think "How dare he?!"

    Humans have songs too. Sweet sounds, thrilling sounds, challenging sounds, songs which can break our hearts or march us off to war: enough to keep any musician happy for all of her/his decades.

  • Stump

    6 years ago

    Haven't heard Mr. Schafer's work, but I have enjoyed the works by others in the same vein. You may not like it, but I fail to see how your taste is the final arbiter or what's music.

    If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, then music is in the ear of the listener.

    It may not be music to you, but it's one woman's opinion. Who are you to decide what's music to me?

    Are a starling's vocalizations still bird music when they imitate man-made sounds?

    regards.

  • Stump

    6 years ago

    Would a drum circle be music?

    Trying to figure out what your parameters are here. Define music BC Mary. I think it's a pretty tough thing to do if you have an open mind towards the unconventional.

  • Stump

    6 years ago

    "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

    I guess George had some chutzpah yeah?

    :-)

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