Part of my approach to music and audio as a composer involves comprehending the importance of sounds from everyday life. I have made it a habit to record these sounds and experiment with them in different ways. The first approach stems from conducting soundwalks at home and, whenever possible, through my travels. I initially became acquainted with the soundwalk as a concept after virtually attending the biennial CCM Music Theory and Musicology Society Symposium (Cincinnati, OH) from March 4-5, 2022. The concept, coined by Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer (1933-2021) seeks to encourage active listening and participation within natural and manmade environments. My first attempt at creating a soundwalk occurred in my backyard as an exercise for the symposium. While wandering around the area and writing copious notes concerning what I had heard, I noticed almost immediately that the sounds from my backyard at that time clearly illustrated conflicting moments and served as a social commentary on the dangers of noise pollution. Natural sounds heard from within the space competed with more aggressive external contemporary noises produced by humans outside of the backyard in the suburbs.
I have since conducted more soundwalks in the past several months across different areas of the United States in places like South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Sometimes, though, it helps me to return to my backyard to try and record more sounds. The beauty of recording audio outside in a raw, unedited format lies in the indeterminate approach. One will not always hear the same sounds twice. I recorded over sixteen minutes of audio from my backyard the day after the symposium on March 6, 2022 and was able to detect multiple invasive noises like cars, airplanes, and other machinery clashing with the natural sounds of birds and wind. I am currently in the process of compiling another soundwalk recorded in the same place earlier today.
I have since conducted more soundwalks in the past several months across different areas of the United States in places like South Carolina and Pennsylvania. Sometimes, though, it helps me to return to my backyard to try and record more sounds. The beauty of recording audio outside in a raw, unedited format lies in the indeterminate approach. One will not always hear the same sounds twice. I recorded over sixteen minutes of audio from my backyard the day after the symposium on March 6, 2022 and was able to detect multiple invasive noises like cars, airplanes, and other machinery clashing with the natural sounds of birds and wind. I am currently in the process of compiling another soundwalk recorded in the same place earlier today.
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