audio culture assessment 2

My Echoes Walk attempts to detail the significance of nature's timbre in this busy city life by providing a personal anecdote of recently moving from the Central Coast to the middle of Sydney, where the surrounding soundscape contradicts each other. I attempt to convey the merit of consuming a different sound environment so close to the city with the example of my local park, Redfern Park. I also capture the importance of Redfern Park in terms of its historical magnitude and the connotation it holds to the people of Redfern.

Picking my echoes walk location as Redfern Park carried the creative aim of firstly finding a nonlinear area. In Redfern Park, multiple points of entry and pathways give a sense of non-linearity. Additionally, the park's theme makes it so you don't have to walk in a straight line, and it's up to you to traverse and enjoy the space.

In my intro, I implemented sounds that would be most common to those who live in and work in Sydney or any city in general, such as waiting at the lights of a crossing and train announcements, trying to create a point of similarity with the average Sydney resident. With sounds that they would hear on the daily.

In Part A, I tried to achieve the use of park ambience and softer sounds that were easy on the ear; in an attempt to set the tone and background of the project, I applied a soft midi keyboard playing a simple chord progression to layer it on the back to create depth and interest, which is played throughout the majority of the piece. I add in my narration to describe the park's visuals and atmosphere so that the listener could invoke and relate to its characterisation.

Through figurative language such as 'mature fig trees' and 'welcomed me with a gush of wind,' the listener could sympathise with those who previously visited the park, and it allows me to segway the listener's curiosity to the history of the park, which is what I cover in part B. To my narration then compares the coast to the city it ultimately foreshadows the focal point of the message it is trying to give in that by living in a somewhat opposite soundscape, you gain an appreciation for the other

Part B tells the story of the park and its historical value to the people of Redfern and Aboriginal culture. Such as telling the coming of the first Aboriginal AFL team and former prime minister Paul Keating's apology speech. Its epicenter as aboriginal activism gives the Echoes listener intel and justifies a reason to listen while traversing the area. Listening to a tour guide through headphones immerses the listener and informs them of information. It continues with the park atmosphere ambience, and chatter to give a comfortable homely feeling. Then adding footsteps to give a sense of progression within the story and to represent the passing of time and the history of the park

Part C and the outro use more city sounds, such as street atmosphere, train announcements, and chatter in shops and alleyways, with narration that recounts my past three months since moving to the city and its experiences that made me miss the soundscape of a quieter, peaceful area. Redfern Park acts as a sanctuary of mind that fulfills Sydney's missing nature and serene soundscape, marking its importance in my local sphere.

My creative aim attempts to show the difference between city life's soundscape and the central coast. The sound materials consisted of 'city sounds' that could be heard daily in Sydney, which I collected by covering my daily life, such as commuting to university and hanging out with friends. From this, naturally collected sounds that describe the urbanism sound felt in Sydney. Additionally, for the more idyllic lifestyle, its acoustemology was contained in more peaceful quiet areas such as Redfern Park and parts of the coast. Its composition and layering was done through multiple layers of atmos sound that add depth to the Echoes walk; I layered a midi of a simple four-chord pattern and an intro and outro music to keep the audio not monotonous.