School Soundscapes
13 February 2010
I recently worked with pupils from Newark Orchard and Grove Schools using mono, stereo and binaural recordings, using a standard dynamic microphone, in-ear microphones and hydrophones to produce three soundscapes, as part of the ‘School’s Out’ exhibition at Rufford Art Gallery.
Pupils were asked to explore the journeys they make while at school and to make a list of the sounds that they encountered along the way. Each journey was documented through a hand drawn map, which was then followed by a group of pupils. During the journey, pupils made notes of what they could see and hear, whilst others narrated live into the ear of Winston (the dummy head, who wore the in- ear microphones).
The group made a list of all the sounds they could hear including footsteps, squeaky gates, children in class rooms, kids playing football in the playground, planes and trains and the sound of lunch being prepared. Some pupils wanted to include a narration into the soundscapes that explored the notion of giving an inanimate and silent object (found in and around the school) a voice. The narration explores what the object would say to pupils- for example, the pupils felt that a lonely cold bench in the school playground would say “Do you mind? You’ve left me out in the cold and now your sat on me!”
All of the audio recordings were then edited together to produce three different soundscapes positioned within the ‘Schools Out’ installation and played through speakers.
Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council
Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council
Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council
Photo by Jo Wheeler, on behalf of Nottingham County Council
Schools Out Exhibition details: Running between 2 February and 14 March, ‘Schools Out’ showcases the creative ideas of young people from seven Nottinghamshire schools. Through working with artists and architects they have been able to realize a new vision for their future school.
Building Schools for the Future is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The programme will rethink, rebuild, remodel every state secondary school in England to create inspirational learning environments designed for the whole community.
This exhibition showcases the creative ideas of young people at seven Nottinghamshire schools working with artists and architects to realize a new vision for their future school.
Children’s School Journeys approx 5 mins
What did you hear at school today? approx 1.30 mins
Toilet Talk approx 1.30 mins
Only the soundscape ‘Children’s School Journey’s’ was recorded using in- ear microphones so should be listened to via stereo headphones. The other soundscapes were recorded using a variety of microphones, therefore it is not essential to use stereo headphones for playback.
Psychogeography
6 February 2010
Psychogeography is the study of the effects of geographical settings, consciously managed or not, acting directly on the mood and behaviour of the individual. Psychogeography research is carried through non- scientific methods such as derive, aimless drifting through the city, trying to record the emotions given by a particular place; and mental mapping, the production of mood- based maps.
“The sudden change of ambiance in a street within the space of a few meters; the evident division of a city into zones of distinct psychic atmospheres; the path of least resistance which is automatically followed in aimless strolls (and which has no relation to the physical contour of the ground); the appealing or repelling character of certain places – all this seems to be neglected.” Guy Debord, ‘ Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography
Commuting to Nottingham from Leicester has given me the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of my surroundings, to look at my walk to work as an adventure. Navigating through the city, exploring different routes, finding short cuts, finding dead ends and occasionally getting lost. Unfortunately I wasn’t organised enough to make a record of every journey I made to work and at the time I wasn’t thinking about it as an activity that could be used to produce a piece of artwork.
During my walks to work I did recognise other commuters and residents taking their dogs out for a early morning walk, I didn’t really get to know any of them too well, nothing more than a polite hello or nod of the head. From time to time I did follow a few people for part of my walk and tried to walk in time with their footsteps. Following people made me feel safe particularly when I was walking home at the end of work with no one else around. I would watch how they manoeuvred past cyclists coming towards them, avoided puddles and bird poo on the pavement. I would walk behind, concentrating on the sound of their footsteps, their breathing, their music. When the weather turned icy, I would let other commuters lead the way so I could follow their path, concentrating on re-tracing their footsteps, hoping I wouldn’t slip on the ice.
Commute
6 February 2010
For a while now, I have been thinking about what I will do when my job comes to comes to an end on March 31st. For a split second I panicked and thought about re-applying for my job or securing another job to start on 1st April. Like many practitioners, I work full time (in the creative sector) and try to squeeze my practice around work, so being made redundant was probably the perfect opportunity for me to focus on what I really want to do… I don’t have a clear idea what this is yet but I have lots of little ideas that are slowly coming together to form what I hope will be a year long research and development project.
I’ve started to think about how the change of routine and structure that my current job brings, will effect my usual working week. Im going to miss walking through the park, past the canal and over the bridge to Leicester train station. Arriving into Nottingham, looking to my right, over the bridge and seeing ‘D’ happily sat feeding the birds or taking a swig from a Fosters can. Walking quickly, almost jogging across the city, listening to a song I’ve heard over and over through my itouch, trying to beat the traffic lights, so I can make my way to the office without stopping. Racing through the Broadmarsh Centre and being hit by the smell of a horrendous burger and hot dog vendor, a man selling pots of sweetcorn and the sickly sweet smell of gigantic brightly coloured confectionary, guaranteed to make your eyes water and raise your blood sugar level to an alarming rate. I will even miss grabbing my lunch from Boots and being greeted by the lady with the red hair and cheery eyes, and talking to her about the day so far, weekend plans and that my hair has changed colour (again) for the amount of time it takes for her to put my lunch through the till.
There are many things that I will miss, but nothing can beat the feeling that I have now- a mixture of excitement for all the possibilities that will come with having time to investigate areas of my practice that I have only briefly examined so far… and the fear of not doing anything constructive with my time, the fear of having too much time and too many things to think about and being indecisive.
East Midlands trains, Leicester to Nottingham, about £140 per month
