Goose Fayre
In
urban environments we often prefer to glace or glimpse at our
surroundings rather than gaze. However, our ears cannot discriminate
what sounds to hear and which sounds to ignore. As Tonkiss and Connor
argue, soundscapes therefore give us a more complete and sustained
understanding of our everyday environment than the visual.
The
identity of a city is defined by its whoever lives or visits there. The
urban visual and sonic environment is shaped by the daily activities of
the people in it, but also forms an identity which attracts people to/
repels them from the city.
We
chose three sounds that are specific to the soundscape of the city. The
three sounds identify with Nottingham in different ways: Goose Fayre
and Market Square fountains contribute to the 'aural postcard' of the
city and are more specific to Nottingham itself, whereas the noise of
charity collectors represents a sound which is useful when considering
our relationship to the sonic environments of city centres.
Charity Collectors
For Tonkiss, we actively seek to dullen our senses when in an urban
environment, as "not listening in the city makes spaces smaller, tamer,
more predictable." This may explain why for many, the sound of the
charity collector is considered noise rather than sound. The sound of
the charity collector interrupts the private soundscapes we adopt in
order to avoid distraction.
Our
gut reaction to avoid the source of the noise perhaps represents fear
of objectification, of seeing ourselves as just another pawn in the
commercial world.
Fountains, Market Square
The fountains in Market Square are central to Nottingham and can be
viewed as sonic souvenirs of the city. The sounds of children shouting
and playing in the fountains demonstrates how the merging of a fixed
sound in a fixed place in a city with the fluid and mobile sounds of
people can help form the identity of the city as a whole. It presents
the collective identity of the Nottingham residents as perhaps less
inhibited than in certain other cities.
