Southside Soundwalk

Southside Soundwalk

Southside Soundwalk is a 58:00 soundwalk composed of field recordings collected while walking along the South Bank of the River Thames in London, England. It provides a listening experience of the urban life in this vibrant, international city.

Metadata

Object: Audio
Format: MPEG audio
Bit Rate: 320 kbs
Sample Rate: 44,100 kHz
Duration: 58:00
Created: 2022
Creator: John F. Barber
Original/Edited Files Available: Yes
Rights and Status: All rights reserved. Available for broadcast, installation, exhibition, and/or publication with permission.
Image: Martian rock outcropping "Private Joseph Field" photographed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, 2 Oct. 2016.

Exhibitions

Framework framework:afield #829
Juried broadcast, international
Framework Radio
Põlgaste, Estonia
22-29 January 2023
Curated by international sound, performance, and radio artist Patrick McGinley (aka murmer).

Framework Radio focuses on field recording of sonic sources and their use in compositions. Featuring juried work by international sound artists, Framework Radio's goal is to present not only the extremely diverse sound environments of our world, but also the extremely diverse work that is being produced by the artists who choose to use these environments as their sonic sources. The research and creative question behind Framework Radio programming asks, "Is field recording a style or genre, or rather an uncontrollable and undefinable tool as any, that may be interpreted, manipulated, and appropriated by anyone with a microphone and idea?" Works produced in response to this question are the answer, the definition, not vice versa. Based in Põlgaste, Põlva County, in southeast Estonia, Framework Radio began broadcasting in June 2002 on Resonance 104.4 FM in London. Episodes are now broadcast on radio stations around the world.

Background

I have created several episodes for Framework Radio, an international showcase of field recording, phonography, and sound hunting, curated by international sound, performance, and radio artist Patrick McGinley (aka murmer).
#829 Southside Soundwalk, 22-29 January 2023
#808 Dawn Birds, Light Traffic, Melodic Machines, 3-9 July 2022
#738 COVID Dreamscapes, 13-19 December 2020
#711 Coho Crossing, 26 April - 2 May 2020
#658 Rainstorm Reveries, 21-27 October 2018
#623 In Progress, 17 December 2017 - 13 January 2018
#583 Transect: London, 29 January 2016 - 4 February 2017
#542 Water, Waves, Dreams, 31 January - 6 February 2016
#433 Between Sleep and Dreams, 9-15 September 2013
#405 Ambient Pulsations, 6 February - 6 March 2013
#389 Tell Me A Story about Meditation, 23-30 September 2012
#386 Meditation, 2-8 September 2012
#381 Contact, 12-14 July 2012

Artist Statement

There are many definitions for soundscapes. At the heart of each is the idea of "sounds that might be heard at a particular place." This gives the field recordist and/or sound artist large latitude. Including creating collages of sounds heard in different places at different times.

Soundscapes then not only provide ways of understanding places through their sounds, but prompt listeners to explore new ways of understanding those places through listening. Specificly, soundscapes like Southside Soundwalk offer two opportunities for listeners. First, such soundscapes foreground the aural world. They push one to listen to and contemplate the sounds that might be heard. Second, soundscapes can help listeners engage with unique features and affordances of the sonic environment. To cultivate ways of hearing places.