Abstract
COVID-19 sound map
Three days after the first lockdown began in the UK, I put out a call via social media to ask for help capturing sounds which had changed as a result of governments’ actions around the world to curb the spread of the virus. It struck me that the extraordinary times in which we found ourselves would be worth documenting as far as the changing soundscape was concerned.
In recent years, I have become fascinated by how sound maps allow us to preserve non-permanent sounds, or ones that are about to disappear altogether – for example, capturing the soundscape of a location where a new road is about to be built. I believe this is the modern-day equivalent of what Canadian composer and researcher R Murray Schafer referred to back in the 1970s as “museums for disappearing sounds”. I wanted to preserve the temporary sounds of lockdown for the future, while, at the same time, encouraging people to really listen.
Three days after the first lockdown began in the UK, I put out a call via social media to ask for help capturing sounds which had changed as a result of governments’ actions around the world to curb the spread of the virus. It struck me that the extraordinary times in which we found ourselves would be worth documenting as far as the changing soundscape was concerned.
In recent years, I have become fascinated by how sound maps allow us to preserve non-permanent sounds, or ones that are about to disappear altogether – for example, capturing the soundscape of a location where a new road is about to be built. I believe this is the modern-day equivalent of what Canadian composer and researcher R Murray Schafer referred to back in the 1970s as “museums for disappearing sounds”. I wanted to preserve the temporary sounds of lockdown for the future, while, at the same time, encouraging people to really listen.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Media of output | Online |
| Publication status | Published - 2020 |