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this edition of framework:afield has been produced in vancouver, usa by john f. barber, and is entitled transect: london. for more information see http://www.radionouspace.org/john.
producer’s notes:
Transects is a sound art project investigating ways of sampling sounds along a path through a particular space or place. The desired end result is to promote immersive narrative collages of sounds that represent that place or space, all best experienced through listening.
My practice of creating transects draws on the features and affordances of soundscapes, soundwalks, and sound maps. Soundscapes are the multiple, overlapping, sounds one might hear at a particular location. Soundwalks promote listening to a soundscape by walking to sound sources. Sound maps plot sound sources at specific locations and promote listening to targeted sounds within a soundscape. Transects sample particular or characteristic sounds along a path through a space or place, which, when combined, provide a mix or collage of the soundscape. Learn more about soundscapes, soundwalks, and sound maps.
Transects are lines drawn across some area along which counts are made, generally of plant or animal life. I am indebted to Belfast sound artist Kate Carr for adapting transects to provide access to soundscapes.
In my practice, I use transects for recording interaction with soundscapes. But, rather than record everything, I sample sounds along the transect as ear witness to the site and journey. I use the transect to investigate sonic flows and mixing, changes in the soundscape, and to document particular or characteristic sounds, all with an ear to the narratives they may promote. The resulting sound collages are worthy of close listening.
[time / recording]
00:00 Charing Cross Station announcements
00:54 Fakto singing in Westminster underground entrance tunnel
02:12 New Gate rail station ambience
03:43 Goldsmiths University soundscape
03:56 Tiny Sounds performance, Goldsmiths University
07:43 Steelyard Passage sound installation, Southwark Bridge, Thames River
08:28 Trafalgar Tavern, Greenwich
09:17 Pageantry at Buckingham Palace
11:19 Hyde Park soundscape
11:43 Speakers’ Corner, Hyde Park
15:06 Abbey Road crossing soundscape
15:43 Prime Meridian, Greenwich, soundscape
16:33 London Underground toward and arriving at Victoria Station
18:03 Southbank soundwalk
24:00 Now Play This computer art exhibition, Somerset House
34:17 Concert, St. Martin’s in the Fields
36:15 Sunday morning machine noise outside hotel
37:04 Southbank soundwalk
37:40 Now Play This computer art exhibition, Somerset House
47:20 Violin tuning in the distance
47:36 Ubiquitous black helicopter
48:34 Horse Guard, Buckingham Palace
50:18 Millenium Bridge, underneath
54:22 Millenium Bridge, walking across, north to south and back, meeting Vera Chok, soon to be famous actress
54:22 Prime Meridian, Greenwich
56:48 Pub bell, last call
(nb: these timings do not include the framework introduction, so add 01:20 for exact locations.)