User:Anita!/thesisoutline

Introduction

Sound connects. Sound creates friction. Sound frees from control. Sound passes through. Sound is not tangible but exists so powerfully in space. It identifies places so strongly but is not usually thought of, or used to describe one, other than ‘noisy’ or ‘silent’. When thinking about what you hear when you are in public space, it is quite rare for a sound to be noticed if it fits into the expected range of common, 'boring' and mundane.

In this essay, I want to provide the reader with methods, exercises, experiments and listening techniques, and issue an invitation to listen, truly listen, and not just hear. In 'Deep Listening' Pauline Oliveros highlights the difference between listening and hearing. Listening requires attention, whereas hearing is simply the perception of sound waves received by the human ear. Oliveros highlights how she observed musicians were not listening, but hearing their own performances, creating a "disconnection from the environment". I notice that this is also the case when in public space. Whether you might be sitting, walking or cycling, all the sound around you is something that just falls into the background, to which not much attention is payed.

We will explore the urban landscape with no visual aid, noticing new imaginary sonic paths and composing new ones ourselves.

Do you listen or do you hear?

In this chapter, I will look into what listening and soundwalking means to me, in a very personal way, to then open into other listening and soundwalking practices like 'Deep Listening' (Pauline Oliveros), 'LISTEN' (Max Neuhaus), 'Inaudible Cities' (Jacek Smolicki) and more. I also plan to outline why listening to the city soundscape in particular is so important, to invite the reader to notice sounds that scream, as well as sounds hiding in little nooks and crannies, diving into the subjectivity of listening.

Time for listening

This chapter will contain methods, exercises and experiments made through the development of the text, to help in listening carefully. It will 'activate' the research explored in the first chapter by showing how I will implement some of the examples into my own listening practice, as well as illustrate and propose exercises (that I will also carry out) for the reader to perform. I would like to include some space for city soundscape composition for the reader in the text, as a sort of guided soundwalk. To me, this chapter is the heart of the thesis as it advances methods for listening in public space and invites to implement them.

Caught Sounds

Observations on the sounds encountered during the research period (stemming from the 'Time for listening' chapter). I would like to include samples of sounds in the text, both in an auditory and written capacity. I would also like to issue an invitation for the reader to write down their observations inside of the body of this chapter as well. A reflection on the small differences and changes noticed, depending on the listening session, for example, does the exercise being performed affect what i hear?

References

Deep Listening A Composer's Sound Practice, Pauline Oliveros

Walking, Listening and Soundmaking, Elena Biserna

Walking from scores, Elena Biserna

LISTEN, Max Neuhaus

Inaudible Cities, Jacek Smolicki

Listening: A Research Method in Art & Design, edited by Alice Twemlow

Basta Now: women, trans & non-binary in experimental music, Fanny Chiarello

Smooth City, Renè Boer

The rest is noise, Alex Ross

Scratch Music, Cornelius Cardew