I am currently in the process of reading Ocean of Sound by David Toop, a book about the world of ambient sound and its correlation between space and imaginary worlds. In this book Toop explores the origins of ambient sound, focusing in key artistic aesthetics that molded the practice. Interviewing important icons of the canon such as Brian Eno and Apex Twin, Toop redefines ambiguities of the practice with a contemporary view of the arts.

For the moment I have just read a couple of chapters of the book but I have read a couple of things that are relevant to my audio paper concept and that I am planning to take into consideration when developing it. First Toop explains the power of sound to tint a space. He explains this with an analogy of smells and perfumes, to represent the nature of tones and frequencies. Then he touched on some practices of room coloring such as the elevator music company Muzak, referencing to the early commercial usages of the practice (this is also important because my paper will focus in the non-non-comercial). Finally he presented key terms of ambient music, coined by Brian Eno: “Ambient music is intended to induce calm and a space to think” “Ambient music must be able to accommodate many levels of listening attention without forcing one in particular: it must be as ignorable as it is interesting”. Even-though that quote refers to music, it also applies to any form of ambient sound, for example field recording.

As my audio paper is focusing in the element of calmness, I will maintain in my mind the idea outlined by Eno in the paragraph above. When interviewing the individuals in consideration I will ask them about their relationship with ambience, and I’ll see if their response connects somehow to the ideology of Eno.

In Search of Peace – is my working title for the sound studies and aural cultures assessment, that will take place in the form of an audio paper. My paper will investigate the relationship between sound and calmness, in the context of a modern cosmopolitan society. I will focus in the DIY sound practices instead of the collectives or industries.

Abstract: Due to the increase of stress and chaos inside big cities, the individual is constantly searching for sources of calmness and peace. Sound has always played an important role on the ecology of a place and it’s a key element in determining what moods can a place cause. Different sound practices have been created with the purpose of using sound as a relaxing medium. Artists such as Pauline Oliveros and Brian Eno have explored such mediums in their works, it can be seen across Eno’s ambient music and Oliveros Deep Listening texts. I’m interested in the non artistic and non commercial sound practices that seek the state of calmness. Practices that common people create unconsciously and unintentionally, that are independent from any canon or medium. These practices can include walks in the park or group meditations, anything that is independently created. I will interview these sound practitioners, discovering their approach to sound and their methodology behind their practices.

My objective is to create an ethnographic paper, where I don’t discuss any argument and don’t come up with any conclusions, but instead present my findings and observations as close as possible to the nature of the phenomena.

Alexandra Baixinho and Tine Bloom: Mountain Meets Urban Waterfront, an experimental audio paper. This essay seeks to analyze the experiment of joining to different field recordings matched together in a sonic composition. It explores the sonic relationship between a field recording done in a Norwegian mountain and a field recording done in the industrial zone of Copenhagen. This essay first explains in detail the procedures and methodology of the experiment, highlighting the most important elements of the material recorded. Then it analyses its interactions trying to come up with a conclusion.

The audio paper is quite interesting because it mixes the dialogue and field recordings. I would argue that national identity is one of the most important themes of the audio paper. The paper present the sound ecologies of two Scandinavian countries that are culturally very similar, then it contrast the elements of each sound ecology with the purpose of separating the two identities. It emphasizes the uniqueness of each country.

The audio paper conclusion is very ambiguous and open ended. It vaguely agrees in the successful consolidation of the two field recordings together, but doesn’t give a final statement like an experiment would do The listener has the opportunity to make its own conclusion with the information it has been given, the composers don’t tilt the balance to any side of the argument. This means that the paper has an ethnographic nature.

I really enjoyed listening to this audio paper, I had never heard anything of the sort and I got lost by it’s narrative. It had an artistic approach to it instead of being academically orientated. This made the listening experience more pleasurable.

Nichol’s 6 modes of documentary is a frame work theory of the different sub-genres of documentary making. Originally this theory was specifically created for film documentary but the modes can be adapted for argumentative sound studies, and other written essays sound art works. I will take in consideration this theory when analyzing different documentaries and when creating my audio essay assessment, the modes are of great use when doing the assessment because of its performative value.

Poetic Documentary- Arriving to the point of the documentary through rhythm, tone, or spatial juxtaposition to evoke an association with the audience. e.g Soviet Montage Theory.

Expository Documentary- Builds a specific argument or point of view for the audience. A common technique is using an obnipresent narrative voice, dictating the evidence.

Observational Documentary- Capturing the point of interest without disturbing the subject with purpose of getting raw true material.

Participatory Documentary- Subject participate directly with the creator of the documentary. Normally it is in an interview mode.

Reflexive Documentary- Relationship of the creator with the audience. Giving a deeper intake in the experience of the creator of the documentary.

Performative Documentary- Emphasize truth as relative, the audience have the decision to which point of view to take.