World Listening Day

“Listening Across Boundaries”

Today, July 18, is World Listening Day. It is hosted every year by the World Listening Project, a nonprofit organization that is “devoted to understanding the world and its natural environment, societies, and cultures through the practice of listening and field recording.” 

The theme for 2022  is “Listening Across Boundaries”.  The purpose is to explore the role of listening across various branches of knowledge; how natural soundscapes do not recognize human-drawn boundaries; and seeming limitations or barriers to listening that can be overcome.

July 18 was chosen because it is the birthday of the composer R. Murray Schafer, one of the founders of the Acoustic Ecology movement.

Acoustic Ecology 

Radio Expeditions: photo by Cliff Hutson

This article in Physics Today is a good introduction to acoustic ecology, “a field that examines how animals, including humans, use information obtained from the environment [mediated through sound] in different aspects of their lives.”

Soundscapes

Headphones: photo by Cliff Hutson

A common definition of soundscape is the it is a mélange of musical and sometimes nonmusical sounds. However, wherever you are, you are surrounded by a soundscape. Very similar to how a landscape depicts a view of the land in front of you, a soundscape captures the audio of all the sounds around you. 

Soundscape ecology, of course, affects not only humans but also the other beings that live amongst us. A notable aspect of the shutdowns due to the COVID pandemic was that birds changed their tunes. 

Soundwalk

Soundwalk: photo by Cliff Hutson

One way that most of us might be able to observe World Listening day is to take a soundwalk - a walk with a focus on listening to the environment, no matter where we are.