A Meditative Soundwalk Through Oberlin

The goal of this soundwalk is to help you reduce your stresses and anxieties through a meditative walk around campus. Incorporating the meditative technique of mindful listening, the sounds you hear act as an anchor to the present moment. By turning our attention to the outside world we can then realize that the anxiety, which seems to be eating us up inside, is only but a passing thought, not something that defines us.

I've posted the link to a SoundCloud playlist below. Each track is meant to be done consecutively, however, if you find yourself short on time I would recommend listening to either the "Peters Meditation" or  "AJLC Meditation". 

https://soundcloud.com/user-711942353/sets/a-meditative-soundwalk-through-oberlin

Daniel Nerenhausen and Robert Curtis

2 October 2016

Jennifer Fraser

ETHN 212

Urban Soundscape: An Analysis of Concentrated Anthrophonic Sound

When my partner and roommate Rob and I began brainstorming the possible directions of our soundscape study, it was quickly evident that of the three subcategories in which we place sound (biophonic, geophonic, anthrophonic), anthrophonic sound (sound resultant from human activity) interested us the most. On the larger timeline of Earth’s history, anthrophonic sound, particularly in its new mechanized iteration, is a relatively new concept, and the only category of sound with constantly changing composition and (generally increasing) intensity.

 To best analyze anthrophonic sounds, Rob and I decided to record where human sounds are most concentrated and able to emanate into the surrounding environment, urban centers. Initially, we attempted to capture a soundscape of Erieview Plaza, a park in downtown Cleveland we determined would provide an accurate profile of urban sound. 

After recording for two hours of audio in the park, we found, upon listening, that the sonic makeup of the recording was impossible to determine due to the omnipresent combination of construction and traffic noise creating a constant din. This discovery only served to pique our interest in anthrophonic sound. How accustomed and skilled at filtering noise have our urban brains become that keynote sounds as loud as those in Erieview Park go unnoticed by us? Scaling back slightly, Rob and I eventually settled on recording a more accessible downtown less on the extreme of the sonic scale, Oberlin. Due to the large number of foot-bound students, Oberlin has a disproportionately busy “downtown”, in terms of businesses and foot traffic, which aided our analysis by mimicking the sound level of a larger urban center. Our work centered on two recordings taken from the trees on the sidewalk in front of the New Union Center for the Arts on South Main between 12 and 2 AM on Wednesday September 28, and the following day between 12 and 2 PM

The daytime recording was much what we expected, with electromechanical sound from cars, motorcycles, and construction equipment constantly present (the common keynote sound of an urban soundscape). The positioning of our recording device behind a bench on the sidewalk was intentional, as urban sidewalks and sitting areas exist as a sort of sonic microcosm of non- mediated, vocal interactions and a blurring of traditional indoor/private and outdoor/public boundaries. Because of the passing nature of people on sidewalks, “sidewalk talk” can consist of conversations one might normally avoid in a more traditional public arena (ie. restaurants, parks, and common spaces). This allowed us to pick up snippets of some interesting and personal conversations, and even a whole conversation of a professor on the adjacent bench (albeit in a slightly intrusive manner). The one section of recording we hear said British professor telling someone close to them how they plan to “go for it” and take a job at Lewis and Clark University, an institution he describes as similar to Oberlin.

https://soundcloud.com/danielnerenhausen/day1?in=danielnerenhausen/sets/hot-ethno-tracks

It is interesting to observe how, similar to how some offices have started playing “ambient chatter” to induce conversation and collaboration, the constant presence of anthrophonic noise, rather than being distracting or annoying, can actually be comforting to and sought out by urbanites.

The soundscape we recorded at night had a distinctly different feel and sonic texture than the daytime recording. Notably, the presence of rain represented about the only geophonic sound captured in either recording, while also having the effect of reducing the amount of traffic, both car and human, thus reducing overall noise. What was most interesting, however, is how my perception of the soundscape subtly differed from the reality of the recording. Biking up to the place of recording, I remember noting that South Main felt eerie, as it was silent and absent of almost any noise. Although so expected they almost aren't registered by our brains, I made a conscious note of the keynote sounds: crickets and rain on the leaves. But upon listening to the recording it was evident that at night too, anthrophonic noises are evident, and the silence I perceived was not as total as my mind led me to believe. While the biophonic and geophonic sounds of crickets and rain drops were the loudest, the sum of anthrophonic noises in the surrounding area combined to for a constant background noise, with electromechanical and physiological sounds sporadically overpowering all of these previously mentioned sounds. (https://soundcloud.com/danielnerenhausen/night1?in=danielnerenhausen/sets/hot-ethno-tracks)

As our recordings and observations, both in Cleveland and Oberlin, demonstrated in a small scale, admittedly unscientific manner, noise filtration is a powerful tactic employed by our brains, and can distract from the effects these noises may have. Despite its power to overwhelm even the loudest biophonic, and geophonic sounds, most studies and activism in regard to unwanted anthrophonic sound (often used interchangeably with “noise pollution) have focused on the physiological effects it has, whilst ignoring the equally important psychological ones. As Atkinson puts it, “like a form of sonic false consciousness, we remain peculiarly detached and desensitised to the auditory life and possibilities of the city” (Atkinson 1915). Anthrophonic noise, because of its volume, type, frequency, location, or complete lack thereof, can have profound effects on individual patterns of social association, physical movement, interaction, creativity, and emotions. For hearing impaired people, these constant noises that our brains and urban planners often disregard can “have profound effects on the leisure patterns of the (hearing impaired) population, particularly for the three-quarters of respondents who felt the volume of music and background noise affected their ability to communicate in social spaces” (Atkinson 1914-1915). Similarly, there remains little comprehension of connection between the intensity, nature, and social sources of sound, and the resultant effects on the combined consciousness of affected communities. As Schafer notes, keynote sounds “outline the character of people living there,” and a new mapping of this less solid, but no less affecting, aspect of the urban condition could be both useful and important.

(spectrogram of daytime recording)

Works Cited

Atkinson, Rowland. "Ecology of Sound: The Sonic Order of Urban Space." Urban Studies 44.10 (2007): 1905-917. Web.

Soundscape in Time at the AJLC Pond

by Annie Goodridge and Paulus van Horne

        The pond by the AJLC building is a striking representative of Oberlin campus' intricately crafted and controlled natural features. Our group's study aims to investigate the difference in soundscape between two locations beside the pond (position 1 and position 2) at two times of day (around 11 AM and 11PM). We hope to determine by direct comparison in what ways location and time of day affect the soundscape around the pond by the AJLC. 

        The locations (see figure 4 for map) were chosen also because direction of the microphones (our audio recorder has a stereo X/Y microphone pattern) created a unique spatialized listening experience. Listening to the first recording, the listener will mostly hear cars in the left ear since the left microphone was facing the street while the right microphone faced the pond. Similarly, in the second recording, the listener will hear pedestrians move from the right ear to the left ear as they walked from one side of the microphone to another (this was not planned, a happy coincidence). The authors hope that a listener will hear how location, time of day, and activity of the person recording affect the soundscape of the AJLC pond. Additional thought should also be given to how parameters outside the scope of this study (season, longer time scale, weather) might have equally strong impacts on soundscape perception.

        The first recording we took was located at position 1 on the map (Figure 4), the stone wall next to the AJLC pond. The recorder has two microphones, one of which was facing the street (left ear) and the other, the pond (right ear). The listener is thus “facing” towards the building, looking across its façade from east to west. The length of the recording was 25 minutes, but two minutes have been chosen as exemplary of the soundscape of this location at approximately 10:36 AM on a Wednesday.

        The keynotes of the ~3 minutes selected for your listening are the rain, which (when listening closely) can be heard throughout, and the relentless crickets. Likewise, another keynote is the sound of rain as it hits the umbrella that was held directly above the recorder. Each keynote belongs to its own sonic category: the rain, geophony; the crickets, biophony; and the rain on the umbrella, anthrophony. Both the rain and the crickets were the sole members of their respective sonic categories during the first recording. The anthrophony was the most diverse in all of the recordings in terms of what-made-what-sound. Most of the anthrophony could be labeled as belonging to the subcategory “electromechanical sounds.” The periodic sound of cars passing by, the sound of the police sirens in the distance, and the sound of Annie’s phone buzzing twice rapidly at the end of the recording are examples of this category of electromechanical sounds. Aside from the repetitive breathing that begins approximately 1 minute into the recording, all other anthrophonic sounds heard in the first recording are labeled as “incidental.” For instance, the sound of Annie opening their umbrella, the sound of Annie moving their keys, and the sound of workers unloading a truck nearby each fall under this category of incidental sounds.

        The second recording was taken at position 2 on the map (Figure 5), on a bench at the northeast corner of the AJLC. The microphones were facing east (left ear – towards Talcott) and west (right ear – towards AJLC back entrance). The listener is thus “facing” towards the pond from the north with a path 5 feet in front of the recorder and tall grass just beyond that. The length of the recording was 20 minutes, and 3 minutes have been chosen as exemplary of the soundscape of this location at approximately 10:50 AM on a Wednesday.

        The keynotes of the ~3 minutes selected for your listening are, again, the rain, and the crickets. Again, there are no other geophonic or biophonic sounds. And again, the main sounds heard in the 3-minute snippet are anthrophonic. Here, because the bench is some 40 feet further from the street than the stone wall, the sound of cars passing, though it happens often, is more faint. The most common anthrophonic sound in the second recording is the sound of students talking to each other (later in the recording, yelling as they exit the building). About halfway through the recording, the listener hears two students walk west to east (from the right ear to the left ear) away from the AJLC past the recorder. Incidental sounds include the sound of people’s shoes as they traverse the grass, and the sound of a person’s bike chain as they unlock their bike after class.

        The third recording was made back at location 1 but in the late evening (at 10:45PM) shortly after a light rain storm. As in the first recording, the crickets are a constant presence in the recording. The recordist is distinctly present in this recording, and can be heard eating nachos fairly close to the microphone. The surrounding soundscape has a muted quality when compared to the early recording (Recording #1). The soundscape is also significantly less varied, consisting of crickets, eating, occasional passersby and a single car in the duration of the thirty minute raw recording. The excerpt below attempts to provide a representative sample of the larger recording. 

        The fourth recording was taken at location 2 in the late evening (around 11:15PM) shortly after a light rain storm. Cicadas, once again, dominate the soundscape which is peppered with the muttering voices of drunk students passing by the bench at location 2. The recordist's presence can again be felt in this recording, near the end when they rustle a plastic bag. The bag seems much louder than the rest of the soundscape to the proximity of the sound to the recording device.

        

        Our duo has concluded the following about the AJLC pond based on our soundscape (time) study:

• Time has little to no effect on the volume of cicadas around the pond.
• Time does have significant impact on human voices passing by the pond
• specifically, the later recordings exhibit a much more muted and/or muttering quality to the voices in contrast to the chatty students in between classes featured in the midday recordings.
• Anthrophony (in the form of car traffic) is a strong presence in the AJLC pond soundscape due to the pond's proximity to a semi-busy road.
• These sounds more frequent during midday (relative to late night) for fairly obvious reasons. 

        Although this falls outside the scope of this study, this author noticed a striking difference in soundscape around the pond relative to that of last year, namely in the absence of frog mating calls. In years past, this throaty chorus has been the keynote sound of the environment. This school year, no such chorus can be heard. The authors believe this may be due to the season (going on winter time) and/or the noticeable drop in water level and overgrowth of vegetation at this time relative to previous years. This observation, more than those gathered over the few days of recording, is of the greatest significance to our class. As  Bernie Krause describes in his numerous soundscape studies, a change in environment was accompanied by a correlated change in soundscape.

        Since part of this conclusion relies on lived experience over years (not weeks or even months) at this pond, the authors conclude that a soundscape study as a research tool is highly susceptible to changes in variables such as time scale (days/weeks vs. months/years) as well as microphone placement (as evidenced by eating sounds in Recording #3) and, of course, prior knowledge (lived experience) of the recording location.

Figure 1: Location 1 for recording, stone wall by AJLC pond - Photo taken by Annie Goodridge

Figure 2: Location 2 for recording, wooden bench by AJLC pond - Photo taken by Annie Goodridge

Figure 3. Location 1 for recording, taken at the time of the second recording - Photo taken by Paulus van Horne

Figure 4: Location 2 for recording, taken at the time of the second recording - Photo taken by Paulus van Horne

Figure 5: Map of recording area, with locations marked in red (not to scale)- Illustrated by Annie Goodridge

To hear the recordings, please visit the soundcloud link here.

See below for sonographs of the audio recordings:

Sonograph corresponding to Recording no. 1 and Figure 1.

Sonograph corresponding to Recording no. 2 and Figure 2.

Sonograph corresponding to Recording no. 3 and Figure 3.

Sonograph corresponding to Recording no. 4 and Figure 4.

Soundscape Study

Cory Burris and Opal Perron-Feller

     On the first day of soundscape study, the time of day is in the midafternoon. The recording starts midway into the hourly bell sequence from Finney Chapel. Immediately afterwards, there are other sounds which signify the time of day in the recording. Mainly there are insects heard throughout the recording along with a few birdsongs every so often. They are probably not cicadas, but they could not be crickets since they do not sound in the afternoon. There are also sounds of cars and pedestrians passing by. The sounds presented in this study more likely dictate what time of day the recording was produced.

            The location of the recording was held on Vine and South Professor streets. The most consistent sound on this recording is the biophonic sounds of insects which speak on their own in a natural environment. A biophonic sound is a noise made by a living mammal. The location is close to more natural and geophonic environments. A geophonic location consists of natural life, such as trees, mountains, and bodies of water. The sound would therefore not be present throughout all of Oberlin since it is not an entirely geophonic site. The evidence of biophonic sounds suggests the recording may have been recorded in a particular season. These sounds are generally present in every season except the winter, when virtually no biophonic sounds can be heard due to the winter’s extreme environment.

A young Maple Tree. Looking east down Vine Street

A mature Redbud tree kept the area shaded and housed
many birds and insects.

A small beetle

  

Kade Hall, on the western side of South Professor

Lichen growing on the trunk of the Redbud tree

Oberlin generally does not contain a traffic environment similar to a bustling tourist attraction, due to its small size. The anthrophonic sounds of automobiles are therefore present. Anthrophonic sounds are noises made and arranged by humans. They will usually increase in volume as they approach the recording, pass it by at the climax of its volume, and decrease its sound as it moves away. Mainly, only the sound of engines can be heard as the machine maneuvers. Occasionally, however, there are some other human–produced and organized sounds directly from the car, such as commercials and music tracks. The automobiles generally do not disrupt the environment or change the overall atmosphere or the recording. This is because they move around to wherever their destination is located.

            Least frequently, however, there is the sound of pedestrians walking, communicating, giving directions and maneuvering through other means without a motor. At one point, there is a sound of a beep as an individual slides his or her college identification card into the reader to gain access to a college–owned building. This sound is more spread out in the recording, since every aforementioned sound will take place before another human sound is heard. This is another example of anthrophonic sound, since it is nothing a biophonic individual could sound, nor would any geophonic objects be able to do.

            Mainly, there are no geophonic sounds which are audible in the recording. The recording was probably produced under a clear sky without any celestial objects falling on the earth. If there is any wind, it is not audible, which is surprising since there are effects which imitate the sound. There is no rain, thunder, flowing water, cracking of ice, crackling fire or crunching of leaves. The recording overall is dictated through the sounds of biophony and anthrophony.

            A few days later, another soundscape study was conducted in the morning, a different time of day. In the first recording, the cicadas were sounding throughout the recording from start to finish unceasingly. On the second day, however, there were no endless sounds. The most common sound was the singing of different birds. The noises lasted for only a fraction of a second, yet their frequency was the most distributed. During this time of day, there were more automobiles heard in the recording. The soundscape was recorded at a time of day when parents would take their children to school, most commonly through an automobile. The most frequent sound was from ordinary automobiles from their recognizable engine sound. The most interesting sound from these automobiles is one that comes from a bus. The bus will stop, followed by some conversion, supposedly between the driver and another pedestrian. The bus then departs towards its destination. There may also have been larger vehicles or motorcycles present due to their larger dynamic and pitch lengths. There are also pairs of college students conversing with each other, since it is also the time where they leave to attend their first academic classes.

            From the conducted study, a few unique observations were noted. From the same geographical location, the same noises might have been produced in the same time frame on different days, depending on the season. The noise level may also vary depending on the time of day and the routine which is utilized in a given area. The soundscape proved that the mornings seemed to have more anthrophic sounds because there are more automobiles in motion, whereas the afternoon had more biophonic sounds.

            The soundscape studies that have been recorded have presented a number of unique sounds and timbres which could be heard from different times of the day. They allow the listener to enjoy multiple geographical locations and environments in their natural habitats and view themselves in the same area. It is how individuals can gain a better understanding of an undisturbed society, wherever and whenever it may occur.

Spectrogram

           

https://soundcloud.com/opal-perron-feller/ethnomusicology-212-clip