Rough Soundscape
Proposal
For my soundscape project, I want to try and express the enigmatic and amorphous space of Elsworth avenue. Late at night the bars pulse with energy and music, bar-goers stalk the streets between venues. During the week and in the late evening, a chorus of crickets gently fills the air. The street also has a distinct bourgeois feel with fashionable shops and overpriced cafes, attracting very different crowds at night and during the day. Cars constantly move through the street, sometimes honking, sometimes squeaking their brakes, and often blaring music. Voices from passers by form a verse to the soundtrack of this diverse street. Capturing and expressing the constantly changing aspect of this street will be challenging.
Cricket noises will be present sparingly and quietly so as not to aggravate the listener. To emphasize the dull noise character of the street I will incorporate recorded conversations distorted or softened such that the content of what is being said cannot be heard. The biggest challenge in achieving this will be creating alternate sound effects such that no noise is repeated in a 90's soundboard fashion. I want the songscape to feel organic, yet simultaneously composed. A constant theme in my work is the interaction between human constructions and creeping growth, and Elsworth Ave is a great space to explore this. Ivy creeps up the brick up walls, while crickets and people mingle late at night in messes of noise to attract mates.
Revised Proposal
To further develop this piece, I will reduce the overlap of some of my sounds, particularly the crickets. I will shape the sound of the cricket track to both eliminate the monotony of the drone, but to also call attention to the other sounds present. I will also remove problematic sounds that distract fromt he overall cohesion of the piece and confuse sound levels.
This is a distinctly transitive public space. The chill of October keeps people indoors, and they move quickly between watering holes. Headlights pause, and then speed away. The wind gently tosses loose banners and papers. From the rooftop, it's a scene of cold windswept loneliness with the occassional car passing or conversation leaking out from a bar interrupting
Link to final soundscape