Soundscape: Balance

Silent Chances

 

Singapore's soundscape, like most cities, is characterised by its high density; multiple layers of sound compete with one another to be heard by the listener as they pass through public spaces. 

 

 

In thinking about my approach to the compositions I asked myself this: In such a dense and intense sound environment would it be appropriate to introduce a continuous stream of new sounds? 

No: A better approach would be to utilise silence within the work, allowing space for the listener to experience the real soundscape that surrounds them. Between the Transforming and Contemplating zones, there is as much silence as there is composed audio:

 

In the above images, the gaps between waveforms denote a period of silence.

Many of the transitions between the short compositions and silence happen gradually, which will hopefully have the aural effect of an incremental slippage from the illusory to the real. The periods of silence were determined through simple chance operations using Max MSP:

Indeed, it is the real soundscape that I think we should wake up to. Hopefully the methods applied in this work will help stimulate the audience in to active listening to the acoustic environment.