Anne-Marie Houy Shaver
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Behind the Scenes

5/12/2018

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Some of us from the Acoustic Ecology Lab at ASU had the chance to attend the Arid Lands Research Symposium in Scottsdale. Along with a poster presentation by our group, we also set up a soundwalk to occur during lunch one of the days. Unfortunately, I got sick and wasn’t able to lead the walk (shout-out to Hunter, who did an amazing job leading and facilitating discussion), but I did get to experience the sounds of the Scottsdale Community College campus as I planned the route. The campus wasn’t overwhelming in size, but there was HUGE diversity in the sonic experiences. I suppose this post is a “behind the scenes” of planning a soundwalk in that I’ll share the types of spaces or things one might consider when mapping out a walk.

The heat was a consideration in planning this walk (#Arizona), so any place with shade was an automatic draw. But the material providing the shade differed (awnings, buildings, canopies, trees, etc.), which meant the sound bounced off those surfaces in different ways. The material of a space and how it’s arranged around you are big factors in how sound moves. Using a bell to define those spaces can also be helpful on a soundwalk.

Another thing to contemplate is the surface that will be walked on. For this walk, I progressed from carpet, to cement sidewalks, to gravel, to grass, to a wooden bridge, to cement steps, and back to carpet. Each material reacts differently to being walked on, which can make one more aware of the sounds they personally make, and walking in a group creates a different experience as well.

Consistent sounds that punctuate a space are another thing to take into account. For example, building generators contribute to the overall sound of a space, sometimes quite noticeably, oftentimes humming at different pitches from another one nearby. Fountains (or any type of running water) are one of my favorite sounds to discover and highlight on a walk. It’s especially fun for me when two different examples from similar sound sources can be juxtaposed. In this specific case, the water running under a bridge was posited against a low-set fountain made from sleek marble-like materials. Collections of plants can also bring about wildlife noises, such as buzzing insects, scurrying lizards, or birdsongs.

Basically, the materials of a space are of great importance in relation to sound. This could be what a structure is made of, what shape it is (sharp corners or rounded edges), the flooring material, and the type of person or thing passing through the space. You may be surprised to discover how sonically rich even small spaces are.

Picture
May 5, 2018
8:05 - 8:40am
80s/90s, Sunny

Until next time!

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Desert(ed) Campus

5/11/2018

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This week was our last campus walk for the semester. The weather was actually really pleasant (especially considering it’s May in Arizona). It was also finals week, which made for a semi-deserted and unpopulated campus.
 
The lack of people meant delicate sounds became more apparent. The most striking to me was the soft swishing as birds walked through grass. I don’t think it’s ever been quiet enough on campus for me to hear that.
 
Our “destination” was a pedestrian bridge that crosses over a busy road.
Rumbles. Vibrations. Low.
Feeling like you’re being hit hard by sound as the cars pass underneath the bridge.
 
On the way back to the music building, I would close my eyes for a few seconds at a time to try and follow Hunter just with sound.
 
Reflecting back on the semester, I can see the progress made in my own listening. In the final few weeks, I finally started to feel that I was able to fully commit to listening (rather than watching). Part of this came from the realization that directing my gaze to the ground a few feet in front of me is less distracting than looking straight ahead.
 
I think this also shows that listening is a skill that can be developed and strengthened and deserves its own regular practice. These soundwalks continually surprised me with how calming and meditative they were and how great they are at encouraging feelings of community. Hopefully you too can experience this, either by taking a soundwalk on your own or by joining a group walk.

Picture
May 2, 2018
5:40 - 6:15pm
80s, sunny
 
Until next time!

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Stones and Water

5/10/2018

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Hunter led us on a great walk around campus this week. The sounds gradually grew in volume to a climax of generators/AC units humming, and our return to the music building acted as a decrescendo. In our discussion following the walk, one person commented on how the flow could be interpreted as musical in its form.
 
Following the walk, Luna (a music therapy student) led us through an improvisation to conclude our time. We each chose rocks of various sizes and took them to a fountain in the education building.

Picture
Our haul
To begin, we each organized our “set” of stones from smallest to largest. We then took turns dropping stones into the fountain one-by-one, starting with the largest rocks first. This helped get us accustomed to the sounds (and pitches!) of our “instruments.” After all the rocks were in the fountain, we fished them out and talked about the sounds. Luna led us through a few more exercises, framing each one in a slightly different way – taking turns each dropping a rock, each of us dropping one rock all together, all of us dropping a stone from different corners of the fountain, etc. We even unintentionally built a major triad at one point!

We ended our session with a few free improvisations. Rhythm and timing became a more prominent player at this point, resulting in some very cool moments. The consistent running water of the fountain became more noticeable to me as well.
 
A huge part of this experience was handling the rocks, feeling the weight, size, and texture of each one. For me, this tangible aspect helped increase my awareness of the sounds the stones made as they hit the water. I’m sure setting the rock into motion in order to make a sound also contributed.
 
We reflected that this exercise bounced back and forth, at times feeling like creating music and at other times being more playful in nature. And both were great! I highly recommend dropping stones into water either by yourself or with a friend. It was relaxing yet engaging all at once. Plus, the “found object” nature of the stones as instruments may promote openness to other nontraditional music possibilities.
 
(And don’t worry, we removed all rocks from the fountain and returned them to their original location.)
 
Wednesday, April 25, 2018
5:45 - 6:15pm
Sunny
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"Rock" Music

5/9/2018

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Our walk this week implemented a new feature. Using a resonant bell, I was able to signal where the group would stop, and the sound of the bell also defined the different spaces sonically. The type of structure we were in or the kind of materials around us would make the bell sound reverberate in various ways.
 
We started by the fountain. Regular pulsations.
 
Down a sidewalk parallel to the road, to a building with a large awning and pillars.
Ding.
The bell bounces off the building and its overhang. Chirping birds are hidden in the trees. Nearby, someone is talking on phone. The voice and birds blend at some points, their shapes and tessituras similar enough to combine easily.
 
We move to a more populated area of campus, more conversations, more skateboards.
Under a small lattice – ding.
Skateboards create regular rhythms as they move over the grooves in the sidewalk. Then it sounds like one skateboard is stuck on a loop, the sound continuing but not moving through the space. I can’t aurally identify the source, so I have to look for it.
 
It’s a plastic bag stuck in a window on the top floor of the building under renovations. The wind is making it flutter, making a sound very similar to the skateboards multiple stories below it. The sound cuts through the entire open area.
 
Polyrhythms between actual skateboards. More layering because of the plastic bag.
 
Walking back to the music building, birds sing in interlocking rhythms.
 
One more ding – in an outside corridor with open sides.
 
We ended our time together with an improvisation led by music therapy student Luna Sun. She had chosen Christian Wolff’s piece “Stones” for us to perform.
Picture
There is a huge area next to the music building that’s full of various sized rocks, so we “set up” there.
 
At first, it seemed like we were just individually exploring the sounds of the rocks around us. But we did hit a groove as a group, responding to stylistic changes from others. We grew to all be forte at one point, and we abruptly stopped together following the high point. And that was a wrap!
 
April 18, 2018
5:45 – 6:30pm
 
Until next time!
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