Canadian scientist amplifies acoustic ecology to the popular wavelength
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| Original member of the World Soundscape Project,
Barry Truax has helped bring sound sciences to the world stage. |
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Science of sound
Canadian scientist amplifies acoustic ecology to the popular wavelength
By Chris Mason
Words like “innovative” and “trend-setter” are often used to describe artists who cross musical genres. However, a composer who mixes
cannon fire with a string section may not be what immediately comes to mind.
But that’s exactly what Barry Truax, a professor at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver,
British Columbia, has done for more than 30 years by expressing natural sound as music. His
song “ Dominion” begins with cannon fire and segues into an orchestra of strings
and brass, only to be interrupted by a train sounding its horn before the piece continues.
That may be unconventional to some, but by mixing natural sounds with traditional music Truax,
and others like him, are contributing to a growing field of study called acoustic ecology.
It’s a discipline that analyzes how we interpret, and are affected by, natural and artificial
sounds around us. Some researchers in this field come from musical backgrounds, while others
work in social sciences or architecture. But they all share a love for natural sound and a
concern for the impact artificial sound is having on our ears.
A 12-piece orchestra, representing the 10 provinces and then
two territories, carries listeners through the song, along with the whistle of a CPR
train, which represents the railroad that first connected Canada over a century ago. |
“Dominion” takes listeners on an acoustic journey across Canada. The song begins
with the firing of the noon gun in St. John’s harbour in Newfoundland and continues westward,
recording sounds such as the Peace Tower bell in Ottawa and the O Canada Horn in Vancouver,
along the way. A 12-piece orchestra, representing the 10 provinces and then two territories,
carries listeners through the song, along with the whistle of a Canadian Pacific Railway train,
representing the railroad that first connected Canada over a century ago.
“It’s incredible that it has spawned
a world field of study.”
—Barry
Truax, professor and composer of “Dominion” |
“The piece is driven by the sound marks, which the live performers amplify,” says
Truax, a pioneer in the field. He was part of a team of scientists that first explored the
subject in the early 1970s.
“We were just a small group of 20-somethings around [Schafer] in the ‘70s,” Truax
says, referring to his predecessor at SFU, Murray Schafer, who first studied sound as noise
pollution in the late 1960s. But Schafer found a negative approach failed to spark a debate
about the noise, which was tied to exploding development in Vancouver. So he started fresh
and acoustic ecology was born (although the term itself did not appear until 1990).
Truax began composing music while studying physics and mathematics at Queen’s University
almost 40 years ago. But he didn’t link music to natural sound until he met Schafer.
The result was an award-winning series of soundscapes broadcast on CBC in 1974 that used
sound to tell a part of Canada’s history. That work was a precursor to Truax’s
1991 production of “ Dominion”, which has since formed the basis for a project
by the Canadian Music Centre.
Truax makes soundscapes using natural sounds. A soundscape is a two-dimensional project:
first, researchers collect raw natural sounds and use them to create soundscapes, or “sonic
environments.” Researchers then use those sounds to study how individuals and society
interact with, and are affected by, natural and artificial sounds. This approach forms the
basis for the industry — academically known as the study of systemic relationships
between humans and sonic environments.
“An architect that truly considered the acoustic ecology
of space would create healthier, more aesthetic work and living spaces.”
—Ellen
Waterman, professor |
Canadian work, such as “Dominion,” has received global attention. “It’s
incredible that it has spawned a world field of study,” Truax says.
World field indeed. The World Forum of Acoustic Ecology is celebrating its 12th anniversary,
with about 500 members worldwide sharing research.
“This was an international group just waiting to be formed,” Truax says. “It’s
extremely inter-disciplinary with people from all kinds of backgrounds.”
The organization has held conferences around the world, with its next meeting scheduled
for November 2006 in Hirosaki, Japan.
Acoustic ecology appears to be a discipline that has applications for many different fields.
Truax will travel to Toronto in June 2006 for a groundbreaking conference studying the link
between acoustic ecology and architecture, the architecture community never having held a
conference to study how acoustic ecology can help their work.
“An architect that truly considered the acoustic ecology of a space would create healthier,
more aesthetic work and living spaces,” says Ellen Waterman, a professor in the University
of Guelph’s School of Fine Art and Music. Waterman and Truax will be leading sessions
at the conference. “For anyone who works in an institution [office building, factory,
etc.], it’s clear that architects often fail to take the sound environment into account
when designing buildings,” Waterman says.
Research on these topics has been around for several decades, but with technological
advancements and the growing organization of acoustic ecologists into local, national and
international groups, their work is creeping into mainstream discourse. It’s in that
mainstream forum that an ideological appreciation for natural sound can be truly influential.
Documenting the increased influence acoustic ecology, formerly a little-known field of
study, is having on wider research brings to mind words such as “mainstream” and “influential” — now
those are the best words to describe research that is making a difference.
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