In Situ Listening: Soundscape, Site and Transphonia Marcus Leadley Goldsmiths, University of London PhD Sonic Arts 2015 I hereby declare that the work in this thesis and the works presented in the accompanying portfolio are my own. I am responsible for the majority of photographic images used herein and I therefore own and control copyrights. Where necessary, permissions have been acquired, and credits assigned. Signed, Marcus Leadley © 2015 2 Abstract This enquiry represents an exploration of environmental sound and artistic practice from the perspectives of in situ listening and transphonia. The initial term, in situ listening, has been coined by the author in order to constellate a group of intellectual trajectories and artists’ practices that engage with recorded sound and share a common theme: that the listening context, the relationship between mediated sound and site, is an integral part of the engagement process. Heikki Uimonen (2005, p.63) defines transphonia as the, “mechanical, electroacoustical or digital recording, reproduction and relocating of sounds.” The term applies to sound that is relocated from one location to another, or sound that is recorded at a site and then mixed with the sound of the prevailing environment. The experience of the latter, which is a key concern for this thesis, may be encountered during the field recording process when one ‘listens back’ to recordings while on site or during the presentation of site-specific sound art work. Twelve sound installations, each based on field recordings, were produced in order to progress the investigation. Installations were created using a personally devised approach that was rigorous, informed, and iterative. Each installation explored a different environment. These installations, and their related environmental studies, form the core content of this enquiry. In the first part of this thesis the installations are used to explore observations of transphonic audio content in relation to a number of subjective, surprising and intangible phenomena: disorientation, uncanny sensations or even the awareness of coincidence. These observations are supported and contextualised in relation to a wide range of historic and contemporary sources. Works in the second part of the thesis are used to motivate a meditation on the relationship between soundscape, site and time, which was proposed by the initial phase of the research. 3 Contents page Abstract 3 Introduction 6 Programme of work 12 Listening: a preamble 13 1. Methodology 16 1.1 Introduction 16 1.2 Related methodologies 23 1.2.1 Soundscape studies 23 1.2.2 Acoustic communication/acoustic ecology 25 1.2.3 Centre de recherche sur l'espace sonore et l'environnement urbain (CRESSON) 27 1.2.4 Communication studies/ethnography 29 1.2.5 Landscape architecture 31 1.2.6 Acoustics 31 1.2.7 Art and design methodologies 32 1.2.8 Sound art 34 1.3 Methodology – overview 38 1.3.1 Methods 40 1.3.1.1 Site investigation through listening 40 1.3.1.2 Walking 40 1.3.1.3 Field recording 41 1.3.1.4 Field notes and sound diaries 41 1.3.1.5 Soundscape composition and installation 43 1.3.1.6 Questionnaires 44 1.3.1.7 Recorded interviews, comments and transcripts 44 2. Practice Review 46 2.1 Udo Noll: Radio Aporee: Miniatures for Mobiles 46 2.2 Peter Cusack: Aporee Berlin projects 48 2.3 Janet Cardiff and the ‘cinematic’ soundwalk 50 2.4 Jan Schacher and Marcus Maeder: Davos Soundscape 51 2.5 Michiel Huijsman: Soundtrackcity 53 2.6 Dallas Simpson: Canalsation II (2007) 54 3. Listening and the Field 57 3.1 Listening in the field 57 3.2 Field recording 59 3.3 Schizophonia and transphonia 62 4. Installation Development 66 4.1 Max/MSP patch for headphone installation 70 4 5. Engagement, Emotion and Experience 76 5.1 Sound, Sight, Space and Play, De Montfort University, Leicester (June 2010) 77 5.2 Whitstable Biennale, Kent (June 2010) 83 5.3 Space: the Real and the Abstract, University of Wolverhampton (July 2010) 91 5.4 Sounding Out 5, Bournemouth University (September 2010) 93 5.5 SPR Phonography Colloquium, Goldsmiths, University of London (July 2011) 99 5.6 WFAE 2011: Crossing Listening Paths, Corfu, Greece (October 2011) 105 5.7 Personal observations and participant feedback considered 112 5.7.1 Sound and sequence identification 112 5.7.2 Environmental sound, hearing and listening 114 5.7.3 Soundscape and mood 117 5.7.4 Repetition and rhythm 119 5.7.5 Disorientation 122 5.7.6 Transphonia and the uncanny 124 5.7.7 Coincidence 130 5.7.7.1 John Cage and William Burroughs: chance, contingency and coincidence 135 5.7.8 Coincidence and synchronicity 138 6. Site and Time 142 6.1 AudioLab 11.1 Language of Place, West Bay, Dorset (March 2011) 142 6.2 Ceramic House, Brighton (May 2011) 147 6.3 AudioLab 12.1 Language of Place, The Kingcombe Centre, Dorset (March 2012) 151 6.4 Whitstable Biennale, Kent (August 2012) 157 6.5 Symposium on Acoustic Ecology, University of Kent (November 2013) 160 6.6 Reconciling practice and theory 163 6.6.1 Soundscape and landscape 163 6.6.2 Soundscape, site and installation 165 6.6.3 Place and space 169 6.6.4 Time 172 Conclusion 180 Bibliography 190 Appendix A – Other works 210 Appendix B – Programme notes for portfolio of work 214 Appendix B – Portfolio of works: data and sound files (on USB flash drive) 5 Introduction At a fundamental level this enquiry explores the relationship between the listener, environmental sound and place. It is about engagement and the experience of arriving somewhere new and unfamiliar and the processes by which this newness is assimilated and gradually becomes part of a more generalised, personal frame of reference. Moving forward from this primary experience I turn to consider the consequences of the phonographic act: the sensual, emotional and intellectual implications of separating sound from source through electro-acoustic processes. In order to focus this enquiry I adopt two primary perspectives: • In situ listening: this is a term I have coined in order to bring together a group of intellectual trajectories, artists, practices and outputs that share a common theme: that the listening context, the relationship between mediated sound and site, is an integral part of the engagement process. My term should not be confused with listening in situ, a concept that John Drever (see 2007 and 2009) often references in relation to his contemplation of soundwalking practice. • Transphonia: Heikki Uimonen (2005, p. 63) defines transphonia as the, “mechanical, electroacoustical or digital recording, reproduction and relocating of sounds.” The term applies to sound that is relocated from one location to another to augment or mask quotidian sound or sound that is recorded on site and then mixed with the sound of the actual environment. Transphonic sound is ubiquitous in the 21st century, it is an aspect of everyday life and may be encountered in an intense form when listening back to field recordings while still on location or during the presentation of site-specific sound art work. Both these situations are key concerns for this thesis. Please note I have deliberately chosen to use the term transphonia to refer to the process of separating sound from source rather than Murray Schafer’s term schizophonia (1969, p. 43). The former is contemporary, politically neutral and process oriented whereas the latter, modelled on the term schizophrenia, exists in relation to an underlying set of value judgements framed by the World Soundscape Project’s (WSP) anti noise pollution agenda of the 1970s and by Schafer’s personal assessment of soundscape ‘quality’ at the time. I debate the relative merits of these two terms more thoroughly in section 3.3 of this thesis. 6 I believe that this configuration of perspectives and themes represents an original trajectory that allows me to theorise a body of literature and practice in new ways. In the process, I believe I am able to claim a modest contribution to knowledge. Within the framework of a practice as research enquiry I have also conducted a significant amount of original research, in particular the development of a highly personalised approach to site- specific sound installation. This gives the enquiry its particular and distinctive character. This work is extensively documented in chapter 5 and 6 of this thesis. Again, I propose that this body of work be considered as part of my contribution to knowledge. A further contribution to knowledge is made in relation to methodological development; the bespoke schema designed for my enquiry is situated in relation to an extensive review of methodologies from related disciplines. The development and use of participant questionnaires, comment sheets and informal interviews and the inclusion of material drawn from field notes and sound diaries is conducted in relation to a review of autoethnographic method. Making and reflecting on these resources has become my own coherent form of evidence regarding my contribution, and many extracts are incorporated into this thesis. The methodology for this enquiry is also rigorously underpinned through reference to contemporary debates concerning the nature of practice based, practice led and practice as research enquiries. Many of the resources mobilised at this point, including those by writers such as Donald Schön, Robin Nelson, Carole Gray, Michael Polanyi, Linda Candy, Michael Biggs and Carolyn Ellis are drawn from the general epistemological canon of contemporary art and design research. These materials are not widely assimilated by soundscape researchers and composers, especially those functioning within the context of a university music department. Hence, I believe I am making a contribution to the overall field of enquiry. Finally, with regard to contribution to knowledge, I would suggest that both my thesis and my empirical findings are placed in relation to the wider theoretical context such as the consideration of the uncanny proposed by Ernst Jentsch and Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung’s concept of synchronicity, the Lacanian extimité and John Cage’s consideration of memory, taste and assumption.