““This is a portrait of your city. Listen to it closely. Perhaps you have never really listened before.
It is a fascinating and exasperating concert of sounds. Listen...””
The Sounds of Culture is a project that asks us to pause and reflect on the “concert of sounds” that surrounds us. Most of us pay little attention to these concerts as they play out every day around us.
When we think of a landscape, we tend to think of visual elements. The word “soundscape” was first used by R. Murray Schafer in the 1960s to describe how our environment is also composed of acoustic elements. These might be natural sounds, like birds or streams, or noises generated by human activity: aircraft, bells, playgrounds, a call to prayer…
The Sounds of Culture is a participatory project where we ask you to capture an acoustic (and visual) moment in time, reflect on its significance, and share it with the world.
We invite you to listen to our gallery, and to contribute your own entry. If you’d like to participate, please send your short audio recording (1 to 5 minutes), a photograph taken where and when the recording was made, and a short reflection on what you captured. Email submissions to: jonathan.shaw@smu.ca
Would you like to make a recording in Uganda? Finland? Japan?
The Studio’s Global Learning and Intercultural Support office can show you how! Visit our website to learn about exciting study abroad options available for Saint Mary’s students.
