I've started working on this project with different approach and I expected slightly different
result. I was going out to record nature, hoping for long undisturbed by human noise tracks that would give a base to my compositions. At the end, I admit that it was way more difficult to achieve that, than I expected. I can probably agree that it's impossible to record pure natural soundscape being in a zone of the towns and cities.
esult. I was going out to record nature, hoping for long undisturbed by human noise tracks that would give a base to my compositions. At the end, I admit that it was way more difficult to achieve that, than I expected. I can probably agree that it's impossible to record pure natural soundscape being in a zone of the towns and cities.
My first recording was taken in Hampstead Heath, London on the late, rainy Sunday morning. Expecting not too many people at that moment, I decided to go to the park. You hear no people, just beautiful natural sounds: rain, birds, conversation of crows, and... planes. I couldn't even record 30 seconds of pure nature because there was a machine flying some thousands feet above me and still making enough noise to disturb the beautiful soundscape. On the recording, you can notice how two birds were struggling to communicate with each other, while the plain was flying by.
I've decided to go to my hometown to record again. I'm from a small city in Poland that has a beautiful forest, natural reserve and a landscape park. Also, it is not as popular destination as London. When I recall this places in my memory, I see a peaceful and quiet environment.
So, I was standing in the forest and I was amazed by the silence and the fact that I was able to hear the smallest movement, cracking of the trees, even my breath. But then I listened back to the recordings and I heard all this unnecessary noise, that my mind just took as something normal and I wasn’t aware of in that moment.
After that experiences, I decided that I want noise pollution to be present in my pieces, to widen awareness about it. The things that I've noticed during the recordings are just a tiny bit of a huge problem that we and nature face everyday in almost every part of the world. Birds have to change their songs, migrate or change the time of the activity to be heard, animals are in danger of not hearing their predators approaching. All that because our machines.
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