Exploring Balance and Focus in Acoustic Ecology
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Publication
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Publication Year
2011
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Abstract
Keynote Presentation at Crossing Listening Paths, International Conference on Acoustic Ecology, Corfu, Greece, October 3 – 7, 2011
Published in Volume 11 of Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology, https://www.wfae.net/journal.html
Listen to the recorded version of this keynote here: https://www.wfae.net/soundscapeaudiohelyer-809985.html
The world at this time is in quite a bit of turmoil - environmentally, politically, socially, economically. Our conference hosts live in the middle of one right now that – I imagine - must have created some extraordinary challenges in their conference preparations. Despite it they kept going, following their passions and interests, working hard and against all odds. That’s why we are all able to gather for this event now. Please let’s acknowledge this and thank them warmly and loudly with a big round of applause.
Applause expresses how an audience feels about a performance or presentation. Is it a supportive sound, enthusiastic, bored, happy, moved, angry, or indifferent? Applause also gives us feedback about the room acoustics: how reverberant or sound absorbent it is; how the space distributes the frequencies, whether the space transmits all frequencies equally, or whether it emphasizes certain parts of the spectrum more than others, and so on.
I had a spectacular applause experience a few years ago when I visited the ancient amphitheatre of Herodeion, built at the base of the Acropolis in Athens. I had gone because I was curious about its acoustics. By chance a concert of Greek folk music was on that evening. The theatre holds 5000 people and was packed that night. Quite apart from the enthusiastic expression in the 5000 claps, the acoustics of this amphitheatre gave the applause a powerful brilliance and transparency. As a result my ears were drawn right inside this sound, into the whole massive texture, while seemingly hearing each little grain, each clap. I found my ears actively moving inside this entire acoustic space, inspired by its clear quality, crisscrossing through the full sound spectrum, and investigating the multiple ever-changing rhythms among the many little clapping grains. Similar to how one can listen to flowing water...
Published in Volume 11 of Soundscape: The Journal of Acoustic Ecology, https://www.wfae.net/journal.html
Listen to the recorded version of this keynote here: https://www.wfae.net/soundscapeaudiohelyer-809985.html
The world at this time is in quite a bit of turmoil - environmentally, politically, socially, economically. Our conference hosts live in the middle of one right now that – I imagine - must have created some extraordinary challenges in their conference preparations. Despite it they kept going, following their passions and interests, working hard and against all odds. That’s why we are all able to gather for this event now. Please let’s acknowledge this and thank them warmly and loudly with a big round of applause.
Applause expresses how an audience feels about a performance or presentation. Is it a supportive sound, enthusiastic, bored, happy, moved, angry, or indifferent? Applause also gives us feedback about the room acoustics: how reverberant or sound absorbent it is; how the space distributes the frequencies, whether the space transmits all frequencies equally, or whether it emphasizes certain parts of the spectrum more than others, and so on.
I had a spectacular applause experience a few years ago when I visited the ancient amphitheatre of Herodeion, built at the base of the Acropolis in Athens. I had gone because I was curious about its acoustics. By chance a concert of Greek folk music was on that evening. The theatre holds 5000 people and was packed that night. Quite apart from the enthusiastic expression in the 5000 claps, the acoustics of this amphitheatre gave the applause a powerful brilliance and transparency. As a result my ears were drawn right inside this sound, into the whole massive texture, while seemingly hearing each little grain, each clap. I found my ears actively moving inside this entire acoustic space, inspired by its clear quality, crisscrossing through the full sound spectrum, and investigating the multiple ever-changing rhythms among the many little clapping grains. Similar to how one can listen to flowing water...
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