I’ve sculpted the old script and research as it’s so similar. The only thing I’ve changed is to make it more about sound artists and less down to factual scientific information. Except when speaking about wellbeing. There are also a few topics I’m removing from this script that the previous one didn’t have. Another thing is the previous script was an essay that hadn’t been converted to a script. I’ve rehashed the information to this first rough script.
What Role Can A Sound Artist Have In Combatting Noise Pollution?
Noise pollution, An ever growing problem in our inner city lives.
Noise pollution is a global issue that was at first mainly associated with cities, has now spreading further amongst our more rural locations due to overpopulation and landmass being uninhabitable.
Since the development of cities and modern society noise pollution has been an issue. When we slowly evolved from small tribes to villages to towns and then mega cities, sound has always been an important part of human life. But now instead of sound giving us cues to our daily life. For example the cockerels waking us up. The sounds of predators warning us to take heed or the footsteps of someone approaching.
Instead sound has become a nuisance, and our ears an over stimulated sensory organ. This has in turn made it increasingly difficult to listen in our society and to pick apart what we really want to pay attention to.
Noise pollution has been heavily reported and studied. Scientists and doctors have reported on the damage it causes to our wellbeing and our physical bodies but that has been mainly ignored. Why you ask? We can only speculate, but this is a typical trend amongst things that we can’t instantly see with our eyes. Even when presented with data, politicians fail to act and change our experience with noise for the better.
So what is noise pollution?
Noise pollution in this audio document will be defined as dangerous or unwanted sounds, For example. As Greg Hainge says in his book Noise Matters.
“Many others, especially those belonging to the anti-noise lobby, qualify it as ‘any auditory sensation which is disagreeable or uncomfortable”.
Now this could be very much so interpreted in different ways but it really does constitute to the individual. Noise pollution could be a police car driving past and waking you up. Loud airplanes flying over your property. The busy streets with conversations taking presence over everything. Now although some scholars speak on how noise and modern noise pollution is a part of our new sonic landscapes. This doesn’t disprove the data on how noise pollution effects our bodies in harmful ways.
The World Heath Organisation report that there is a general agreement that exposure for more than 8 hours to sound levels in excess of 85 dB is potentially hazardous; to place this in context, 85 dB is roughly equivalent to the noise of heavy truck traffic on a busy road. A huge portion of people that live amongst main roads suffer this on the daily. If the effects of noise pollution were taken as seriously as the effects on our wellbeing then properties would be properly sound insulated.
Noise pollution is also the most major disturbance of sleep as well as cardiovascular disease. The strongest evidence for the cardiovascular effect of noise has been the study on blood pressure alongside occupational noise exposure. There are studies that show workers experiencing over 85dB for 8 hours a day have considerably higher blood pressure.
Now some of the worst cities for noise pollution are
Karachi, Pakistan. The capital of Pakistan is known to have a huge population of 15 million. No wonder it’s one of the largest noise polluters.
Mumbai, India, it’s said the noise levels in the streets of Mumbai have been recorded to go over 100dB. Way above levels of harming human hearing.
Cairo, Egypt, Actual deaths have been linked to noise pollution in this city.
So I decided to write and produce this audio paper after my experience with noise pollution when I arrived to live in London to study my Degree in Sound Arts. Before living in London I lived in a small city called Brighton by the seaside. Noise pollution was apparent but a very small amount in comparison. When moving to London I found difficulty in sleeping due to noise pollution from main roads near my bedroom as well traversing the city made me feel stressed and claustrophobic with the sounds of thousands of conversations happening simultaneously.
This was only more so enhanced by my increased attention to listening and passion with recording field recordings and being surprised when monitoring that what I thought was noise pollution free was not. This led me to research about the effects to give myself answers to my thoughts. As well as this through attending the visiting practitioners series hosted and curated by Annie Goh through Crisap I discovered sound artists using permanent sound installations to recycle and combat noise pollution. Alongside current climate change news and pressure on governments to switch to more eco friendly practices due to scientists studies showing we have five years to act before it’s too late. I felt this audio paper couldn’t come at a more greater time To speak to the sound arts cannon, to question and speculate on what role a sound artist can have in combating noise pollution. Wether It is in raising awareness or in other means.
So what is sound arts? Sound arts can be a very loose meaning and I felt Jono Gilmurray defined it better and as he preferred it, sound work.
An example of a sound artist currently combating noise pollution with his work is Sam Auringer. Sam is a sound artist that works with architects and city planners as well as doing public sound installations. He works with Bruce Odland on a project called O+A. Their work under this name spans predominantly around hearing perspective and they’re known for large public permanent sound installations that convert city noise pollution into harmonic noise. This is interesting because science and art are usually enemies, I think sound arts has potential for bridging a gap. O+As work shows that art can sometimes alongside science produce results that are more efficient than just one alone.
As the population increases every year and constant issues are ignored we ask our selves what are the options? Can sound artists play a role in combating noise pollution? I think so, wether it is through eco sound arts pieces that raise awareness to the problem as spoken by Jono Gilmurray in his audio paper documentary titled Ecoacoustics. Or with giant mega installations recycling noise pollution into harmonic sounds. I can’t say for sure but what I do know is there is room in the sound arts cannon to challenge the norms and attempt to use our creativity alongside science to find new ways to combat this inevitable future we all face.