The process of active listening involves someone paying greater attention to their auditory environment than they normally would. Sound, like any other stimuli can be phased out by our minds. Active listening causes us to pay closer attention to the details we may normally not acknowledge. The experience is deep and also hard to maintain, as the act of “listening” may involve focusing on one thing. I found in my experience that it was hard to take in an entire environment; it was easier to focus on one sound at a time in my environment. I went to various places in the Wilson building and picked up sounds I normally ignore. There were many droning, long noises (such as the air conditioner, fans, the hum of a vending machine, the fan of a CPU) that overlapped to create white noise. There were also footsteps, metal clangs and door slams that were rare, but added variety to the sound environment.
We were then to create our own sound environment using the sounds we experienced. I initially took a more musical approach, using a drum loop and atmospheric noise to emulate the mood I felt in the sound environment. The metal clangs again add variety to the composition. I also added noises directly from the environment (door slam, footsteps, etc.) I felt that combining the noises with rhythmic and tonal compliments helped create a better mood and atmosphere to the piece. The rhythmic and tonal qualities draw the listener in because they are familiar, the noises tell the actual story.
We were then to create our own sound environment using the sounds we experienced. I initially took a more musical approach, using a drum loop and atmospheric noise to emulate the mood I felt in the sound environment. The metal clangs again add variety to the composition. I also added noises directly from the environment (door slam, footsteps, etc.) I felt that combining the noises with rhythmic and tonal compliments helped create a better mood and atmosphere to the piece. The rhythmic and tonal qualities draw the listener in because they are familiar, the noises tell the actual story.
I agree completely when you say Active Listening requires us to pay closer attention to our environment. We really don't know how much is actually going on until we pay attention to the finer details. I also have to say that your demo in class was my favorite. The spacial atmosphere it emitted was awesome.
ReplyDeleteI liked your approach to the assignment by adding musical tones to your atmosphere sounds added a lot more of a mood then all the others. By choosing the musical tones makes the piece more then just a room it makes it more of a story. I think you took it to the next level right away.
ReplyDeleteI found your first musical sound environment quite interesting. I totally wasn't expecting it and it made me think differently about how you might make a soundscape. I usually take a much more straightforward approach to things like this, but yours was very abstract. I like that. I envy your soundscape, ha. Also, I found it quite easy to pick out many different sounds in an environment. You had to go through each one specifically, but it seemed easy to me.
ReplyDeleteIt was laid back and trance like at first and then became uneasy and off putting because of the constant star and the blocked face as it went on.
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