Assignment 2 - Hero Haas

This 4-minute locative audio project takes the listener on an immersive journey through Earlwood, following a cat named Cudi’s walk home. This chosen idea allows the representation of a generally mysterious phenomenon, a cat’s walk. How often do we know what our cats get up to on their daily walks? Where do they go? What do they do? This project attempts to answer these questions. As the cat is quite a quiet animal, the project focuses more on the atmospheric sounds of the location rather than the sounds of a cat. To enhance the listening experience and allow the idea of walking beside a cat, the narration guides you through the walk, suggesting directions and providing descriptive audio of the things Cudi experiences through his walk. The walk travels through the lovely walk along Cooks River, capturing the atmospheric audio of the location such as the gentle sounds of the river’s water and the sounds of people strolling around. From sitting along the river and recording the natural events and sounds that occurred, I chose the highlights of the recordings and curated an authentic collection of audio capturing the footsteps and conversations of people walking by. After turning off the river you and Cudi will venture onto the streets of suburbian Earlwood. The serenity of the location can be deceiving as you and Cudi will encounter a variety of complications, from a scary dog to crossing the road, things that seem small to us as humans but are colossal to tiny cats. This exaggeration of everyday encounters allows a representation of the world through a cat’s point of view, hence the project focuses on emphasising environmental sounds rather than totally the sounds of Cudi himself. Credits: Narration performed by: Olcay Ozcelik Additional sound effects by: Bea Hernandez

In my production I attempted to capture as many real and accurate sounds as possible with almost all sounds being recorded at the river. This was to provide an authenticity to the walk that could not be replicated. Of course, there were limitations as parts of the soundscape have faded into history. However, I believe this approached has layered an element of depth otherwise inaccessible. The Cooks River has undergone many transformations in its history, from pristine wetland to polluted canal. Having lived nearby my whole life I have seen rapid changes in my lifetime. From a smelly, derelict, polluted river with a rotting bridge and constantly flooding soccer grounds to a re-vitalised place for young family’s having picnics and, for going on runs, with the smell being somewhat more bearable now. One might even see a row boat in the water on occasion. It has had in a sense been three different places. The Native wetland, The hotbed of industrial activity and most recently, the local park and soccer ground. In a soundscape filled with heavy machinery and factories it may have been hard for the sounds of birdsong to cut through. Even now there is the constant hum of traffic and planes. However, there has always been the sounds of birds. In a sense this is what defines the soundscape of the Cooks River more so than the sounds that inhibit it. To people the picture of a place in their mind may be determined visually, however what shapes the memory equally if not more so is the soundscape of the area. Loud, busy soundscapes provide an impression of vibrancy and life, where as quiet, uncluttered soundscapes provide a sense a peace and tranquillity. As you walk through the experience allow yourself to be transported through space and time. Imagine hearing the soundscape before human interference, pretend you’re a factory worker in the 19th century or even place yourself at a family picnic as people laugh and play.

The #mycooksriver hunt begins the first phase of a generative open-ended project and the making of physical and virtual mementos and memories. Use the echoes as location guides for hunting your treasures. The Echoes tell sonic stories, sometimes through voices, sometimes through sounds asking you to open your ears and reflect on their messages. // This project is proudly brought to you by the Cooks River Changemakers. Many thanks to the Cooks River Alliance for facilitation and support.

An immersive soundscape designed for listening while riding the train between Redfern and Carlton. Make sure that your volume is set so that you can still engage with the world around you while you are on your journey. Listen for shimmering drones, the hissing of trains, and whispers beckoning from outside the tracks... Thanks to the James Eric Bird Collection of Steam Trains of NSW for being a free archive of steam train recordings available under Creative Commons, Gail Priest for being a mentor figure throughout the process of creating this work, and Shopfront to making the development of this work possible through the 2022 ArtsLab season. P.S: As this soundscape uses real-time location data, there may be points along the track (such as long tunnel sections) where location data does not function properly and the journey's audio does not play back. If this happens, you can manually play the echoes by selecting them within the app.

Walking around the creek

This project takes place at beachside Cronulla, specifically at North Cronulla beach. The idea behind this project was to highlight to the listener the soothing and tranquil properties that the beach offers as well as how it acts as a retreat from everyday mundanity. My idea was to have the listener start in a small one-way street where they would park their car. This leads to the listener opening and closing their car door as the rest of the sounds trickle in, they walk a short distance through an open carpark to a hill where a footpath/bike path leads down to the sand and water. This is where PART A ends and Part B begins. Part B entails sounds of waves in the background with footsteps walking along the footpath. These footsteps have a very crunchy rhythm due to the sand covering the footpath, but it fully immerses the listener in the sounds of the surrounding environment. PART C features a small segment of dialogue “Its peaceful here… One can escape this world…Even for a brief while”. This small amount of dialogue is all that is needed to convey to the listener the tranquil properties that the area offers as well as the original ideas behind this sound walking project. PART D is the final portion of the project and features prominent wave sounds and more footsteps as the listener moves further along the walking trail. A slight incline at the end brings us to Dunningham park where there are large pine and palm trees that are home to many birds both native and non-native. To close out the project the peaceful song of birds calling to each other high up in the pines seemed a fitting end to a tranquil soundwalk. Enjoy…

Assessment 2

Surrounded by a bustling city environment and flowing traffic from all directions Victoria Park can appear to some as a central location for noise pollution and heavy foot traffic. However, through a collation of the many sounds other than that of the urban soundscape that entraps the park, its centrality in supporting the student life of the surrounding universities can be seen. As you walk from the University of Technology Sydney the relentless sound of traffic tapers off as students walk down to the pond as a place of solace and peace. Muddied footsteps and flowing water highlight how whilst the city has been engulfed in one of its wettest seasons, the park and its purpose as an escape for students still thrive. The sounds of gardeners and birds chirping almost hint at a persistent effort to preserve that environment by nature and those who look to uphold its natural beauty. As one walks deeper into the park towards the University of Sydney, the presence of student life, even during quiet study periods, can be heard with compilations of laughter, banter, and conversation. Above that, Victoria Park acts as a cornerstone for student activism and protest, as it offers an open and inclusive space for students to celebrate and protest their beliefs and the change they want to see in their universities. Walking towards Parramatta Road and the gates of the University of Sydney, a student picket can be heard all around the edges of the university as students chant in unison in the hopes of enacting institutional change. It shows the symbolism of the park as a basis point for the future generation of leaders to go about building their campaign for better education, quality of life standards, such as wages, and environmental action. The creative aim of this walk is to represent how through audio, we can illustrate the need for spaces such as Victoria Park for students and young activists to safely and effectively advocate and protest for the change they want to see in their societies. Often through video, these protests are able to be displayed to show the scale and size of these movements, however, through sound, this project points out how in a large environment and soundscape such as Victoria Park, sound can be just as effective as visual aids to illustrate the impact these student movements are making in Sydney. The sound material utilized in the project was collated in between the areas of Broadway (University of Technology Sydney) and the gates of the University of Sydney in Victoria Park. A Rode NTG-3 shotgun microphone was used with a Zoom H6 recorder to capture all content and various mixing techniques were utilized to optimize the audio quality. Subtractive equalizing was used to clean all audio material of resonant frequencies which worsen the listening experience for users, and dynamic processing in the form of a compressor was used for various sound sources in order to control transients and dynamic peaks which cause an un-balance in the mix of the project. Additive equalizing was also used to balance low and high frequencies between foreground and background sounds, with shelf and peak filters allowing for the high frequencies of voices to be heard better in the mix above traffic noise from background sound sources. Further dynamic processing was used on the master channel in the form of a limiter with a ceiling of -1db in order to achieve the loudness requirements for this project. The ‘YouLean’ loudness meter was used to help measure short term and integrated loudness and analyze the mix of foreground and background sounds in order to achieve the target foreground loudness of -16LUFS.

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.