Vancouver Soundscape

* originally posted on February 7, 2007

How about a visit to Vancouver. One of my dreams in life is to someday visit this city in person. It looks like a lovely place, at least on television and in books.

World Soundscape Project - The Vancouver Soundscape 1973

Combining the gentlest of the urban projects, a 1973 survey of Vancouver's soundscape, with the most stylistically varied, a 1996 reprise of the project, this two disc set is a great place to begin tuning your ears toward human soundscapes. The first disc, recorded and released during acoustic ecology's birth in British Columbia, is a loving portrait of city soundmarks. Each track focuses on a certain element of the city's voice: the harbor ambience, the music of horns and whistles, park sounds, etc.; there is no chaos or sense of overwhelm here, but rather a celebration of the sonic beauties and comforts found in daily city sounds. Perhaps this disc is a relic of bygone days, when even cities were a bit more hospitable to our ears and souls. (Earth Ear)


Tracklisting:

1. Ocean Sounds {6:16}

2. Squamish Narrative {5:56}

3. Entrance to the Harbour {7:19}

4. Harbour Ambience {6:38}

5. The Music of Horns and Whistles {3:20}

6. Vancouver Soundmarks {3:58}

7. Homo Ludens - Vancouverites at Play {5:15}

8. The Music of Various City Quarters {8:20}

9. New Year's Eve in Vancouver Harbour {8:32}

10. On Acoustic Design {20:26}

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There was a problem with the file of the track "Squamish Narrative" when this was last available. The file is now fixed as the proper full-length track is now available. This is for those who already downloaded the album and had the defective file.




various artists compilation - Soundscape Vancouver 1996

The second disc includes works by five varied soundscape composers, and reflects both the changes in the actual soundscape of the city, and the expansion of artistic and technological approaches to interpreting the soundscape. The pieces are far more impressionistic, and represent matured interpretations, rather than documentaries, of the city and its ambience. Pieces include a shortened version of an audio documentary on blindness by Darren Copeland, a poetic search for 'the hidden tune' by Sabine Breitsameter, a dreamscape of reflection and concern from Hans Ulrich Werner, a brief immersion into the soundings of horns, bells, and whistles from Barry Truax, and a heavily edited, subtly arranged sequence of city voices by Claude Schryer. Both discs are complemented by lectures that introduce key ideas and reflections about acoustic ecology; the first, a talk by movement leader R. Murray Schafer, the second a comparison of the soundscapes of these two eras by Hildegard Westerkamp and Barry Truax. This set is an ideal place to begin your explorations of the artistic, humanistic, and activist roots of acoustic ecology. (Earth Ear)

Tracklisting:

1. [no artist credited] - Harbour Ambience {4:11}

2. Darren Copeland - Recharting the Senses {8:03}

3. Sabine Breitsameter - The Hidden Tune {14:27}

4. Hans Ulrich Werner - Vanscape Motion {17:17}

5. Barry Truax - Pacific Fanfare {3:07}

6. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Eagle {1:49}

7. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Fire {3:57}

8. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: DroneSong {1:26}

9. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Noise {1:30}

10. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Walk {0:41}

11. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Industry {2:10}

12. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Horn {2:08}

13. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Beans {2:43}

14. Claude Schryer - Vancouver Soundscape Revisited: Blowin' {1:35}

15. Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp - The Changing Soundscape {11:55}

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