A Soundscape of Tappan Square:
An Investigation of How Humans and Time Interact With Sound
By Oliver Kwapis, Olivia Roak, and Sanam Tiffany
An Investigation of How Humans and Time Interact With Sound
By Oliver Kwapis, Olivia Roak, and Sanam Tiffany
We thought that using the center of town would represent an interesting blend of naturally-occurring, non-anthropocentric noises with sounds created by many different kinds of people, both from the school and the town. In our attempt to create a good balance between these two elements of sound, we choose to record in four specific, different places in Tappan, taking one recording at daytime (around 4 pm) and another at night (around 10pm).
These four spots represent different levels of human influence and interference: the large bushes near the gazebo (primarily bug-related noises), one of the tree swings (good number of animal noises and elements of nature with some talking and creaking from humans on swing), the center crossing of Tappan (where human noises become the most dominant, primarily featuring bikes, conversation, walking, running, and other human activity), and finally culminating at the street corner of Tappan on the corner of College St and Main (where human noises drown any natural noises).
Because Tappan Square is not a naturally occurring, 'wild' park, but one built by and for humans, there is an immediate anthropocentric influence that must be acknowledged. Though animals and natural forces have reclaimed parts of Tappan, evident in some recordings where human sound is practically completely unhearable, it is still important to understand that these 'natural' sounds still bear the influence of human life due especially to their proximity to one another. As we travel through these recordings, the listener can hear where the natural world gets closer to the human world; bugs become less audible and natural forces like wind or weather become less hearable the closer a person gets to the center of Tappan, where foot traffic is strong, or on the street corner, where cars and businesses can be heard.
Location 1: Bushes by the Gazebo Location 2: Center of Tappan
We began our recording in the space we felt most truly represented a biophony in Tappan: the bushes by the gazebo. A biophony is the series of biological non-human sounds that make up an environment. These recordings consist almost solely of bugs like crickets and cicadas as they hide in the foliage. Though our recording of the bushes by Tappan certainly show the influence of the natural world on this space, it is important to consider how these sounds may be different were the environment slightly altered; perhaps crickets and bugs in the Arb make louder or more songlike noises due to their lowered contact with the human world. Their response to this environment is considered a biophony, and the sounds they make as a result of their surroundings, whether in the wild or surrounded by humans, showcases the health of their ecosystem.
Our recordings in the center of the Square were intended to show the diversity of the environment we chose, as well as the shift towards the anthrophonic sounds of Tappan (including whistling, humming, and different elements of conversation noise). What we mean by this is that this element of our soundscape lives between a biophony and anthrophony, but does not fully accommodate either. The sounds of crickets, cicadas and other non-human biological noises are still faintly heard, but the overall focus is shifted towards the more abrasive humanoid noises of Tappan. Bikes, foot traffic, and conversations are heard much more frequently and at higher amplitudes. Birds and planes mingle in the sky and we can hear the human interaction with the soundscape dulling the biophonic noises of the area.
Location 3: Tree Swing Location 4: Southeast Corner
The tree swing across the swing from Cox represents the very subtle shift between the focus on biophonic noises to more anthrophonic noises. This is also one of the only recordings were geophonic sound can be heard in the form of the swing creaking against the tree. Because the tree features a swinging chair, we can begin to hear the distinct human influences on this landscape; talking, coughing, laughing, whispering, and cars begin to become more apparent in the soundscape of Tappan.
Lastly, we included recordings from the edge of Tappan Square, at the corner of College St and Main St. This was by far the most human-centric of the noise recordings, including the busy noises of cars, bikes, skateboards, sidewalk notifications, conversation, store noise, and even bees in the bushes. Though there are a couple sounds from non-human creatures, like bugs buzzing in flowers, this recording represents our impact on this soundscape. It is by far the major anthrophony of our recording sessions, meaning that it focuses pretty much entirely on human-made sounds.
The listener can hear that in areas with more anthrophonic sound traffic, the biophony of the environment fades to the background. It is important to understand that this is relevant to our project because these recordings can be used as a brief investigation of the influences of human noise on an environment. Likewise, nighttime recordings highlight biophonic noises more as human traffic is not as present or frequent at 10 pm as it is at 4 pm.Our recordings prove that in areas with the most human interaction, naturally occurring and biological noises are pushed to the background of our attention.
In the following spectrographs, recordings are arranged to play their daytime recording (4pm) first, following by their nighttime recording (10pm) second. The purple line distinguishes the difference between day/4pm and night/10pm recordings.
Location 1: Bushes by the Gazebo:
Location 2: Center of Tappan
Location 4: Corner of Tappan and College/Main:
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