Ottawa, Nov 18, 2018, 11:29 pm (graph action; from Pauline’s Sonic Meditations document)

Action notes: I begin by listening to the sound of the generalized hum of this space. I hear the steps upstairs; the water in the pipes as someone….? Washes hands? Grabs a glass of water? Switching to pitch as a mode of attention puts the sounds in relation to each other: the hum is a kind of “middle” pitch; the knocks on the floor upstairs (a kid with a super-ball? that is what it sounds like — the pah-pah-pah-pah-pah of the flurried noise) are a kind of “low” register; the creaks of the footsteps are “high” like a cymbal, and intermittent. For the “listen louder/ listen softer” instruction I ranked the subtle and not so subtle sounds around me (which count as loud? which as soft?). I also tried to listen more intensely (louder) and gently (softer), as if I could force my ears to listen MORE or less. I ended the “sonic meditation” by listening for the rhythms in the sounds: most interestingly, the generalized hum has a fluttering wave to it that I didn’t hear in it before.

Action constraints: I am feeling a little unwell these days, so the act of listening also becomes an act of being attentive to my body as a sensing body that is uncomfortable. Otherwise, this action was constraint-free, as it gave space for lots of variation and attention to the kinds of sounds that surround me, just as they are.

 

 

bodydiscomfortElectricitysound textures