Community Soundscape Project

Be part of a community art project at the Garden! Contribute your own field recording using the exercise below to guide you. Then join BBG artist in residence Kamala Sankaram to listen to these recordings and create a soundscape of the community around the Garden. Free with Garden admission.

Recordings may be submitted until Sunday, August 13.

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Soundscape Field Recording

Focus your attention on the sounds around you. As you listen, ask yourself the following questions:

• Are the sounds natural? Are they mechanical?
• Do you hear interesting rhythms?
• Do any of the sounds make melodies?
• What is the highest sound you hear? What is the lowest?
• What is the quietest sound you hear? What is the loudest?
• What is the most distant sound?

Now that you have gotten to know the sounds around you, make a field recording. Get closer to the source of the sound to make it louder in the recording. Move around your space to change the direction of your listening. Choose the sounds that represent where you are in this present moment.

Field Recording Example

This is the refrigerator in my hotel room. I recorded it with the voice recorder app on my iPhone. This is the sound that is most present in the soundscape I’m in right now.

Upload a Sound File

Upload your recording for the Community Soundscape Project.

Deadline: Sunday, August 13.