The Winter Sound Project

The Winter Sound Project is an interactive, community based soundscape project. Everyone and anyone is free to participate.This project aims to catalogue the sounds of Winter from all around the world. Everyone is invited to record a sound-clip (or video) of a sound from the environment that instills something in them. It can be anything at all –  jingling bells, carol singing, the hustle and bustle of December shopping, the sound of snow falling (!), a beach party in Australia…. anything! Then email it to me along with the location of the sound –  if you could accompany the clip with a photo and one or two sentences describing it that would be great.

All sounds will be collated and presented via an interactive soundscape map of the world! For more info check out The Winter Sound Project on Facebook!

3 Simple Steps to Participate

1. Take an audio recording (or video) capturing a few seconds of a sound that you would like to submit.

2. Write a sentence or two describing the sound and when & where it was recorded. Take a photo to help set the scene as well.

3. Send the clips to thewintersoundproject@gmail.com

Info: Environmental Noise

Noise is probably the chief product, and authenticating sign, of civilization. However in recent years it has become a problem that many consider to be out of control. It has the single largest detrimental impact on quality of life in an urban environment; for example noise complaints are the number one quality of life issue for New York City residents. Despite this, environmental noise has also been described as a ‘forgotten pollutant’ and is now considered to be one of the few environmental problems that is actually getting worse. The World Health Organization recently estimated that at least 1 million healthy life years are lost every year from traffic related noise in Western Europe, while the European Commission estimated that the social costs of noise from road and rail across the EU were approximately €40 billion a year. However proactive legislation, and increased awareness of noise in urban planning, is driving change. This project is another simple step along the path to raising awareness of noise.

Info: Soundscapes

Despite it’s problems – noise is a fact of life and adds to the buzz of a vibrant city – Imagine a city centre with no noise….  Oftentimes, discussions of environmental  noise overemphasise the negative aspects of the sound environment. On the flip side – we are all aware of sounds in our environment that induce positive feelings. In this context, recent research around the sonic dimension of the landscape has started to receive attention. Such research is often referred to within the concept of ‘soundscape’ – a term coined by R. Murray Schafer. Essentially soundscapes describe perceptions of the acoustic environment in landscape settings.