Deadlines for Blog Assignments

Blog 2: "What I hear"  (Soundwalk)
Due: Nov. 6 by the end of Lab.

Blog 3: MOMI Trip
Due: Nov. 13 by the end of Lab. 

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"What I hear"

Part 1. The Soundwalk
Spend an hour doing a “soundwalk” around a particular neighborhood in NYC.
“Soundwalk” is a term invented by R. Murray Shafer, a musician and professor at Simon Fraser University. Shafer noticed in working with his music students that most of them couldn't remember even five sounds they had heard earlier that day. He created the soundwalk, a kind of walking meditation, as an “ear cleaning exercise,” a way to increase sonic awareness.

In An Introduction to Acoustic Ecology, Kendall Wrightson writes, “In order to listen we must stop, or at least slow down – physically and psychologically. We need to try to be human beings, instead of “human doings.” So – during your sound walk, do not answer your phone, text, browse, read or do anything but be, and listen.
The goal of this exercise is to “open your ears”... New York offers a rich sound environment. Close your eyes and listen.

Part 2. The Blog
What is the texture of the sound? What are the specific instruments in the city symphony? What sounds are clues to a specific neighborhood? A different time of day? What are sounds that are unique or meaningful to you? Just unexpected?

Some of Shafer's terminology might be useful to you in writing about your experience on the soundwalk:

Keynotes: background sounds 
Sound Signals: foreground sounds that attract attention, often intentionally.. 
Soundmarks: sounds particularly regarded by a community or its visitors (analogous tovisual “landmarks.”)