2014 World Listening Day – “Listen To You!”

This year’s theme for World Listening Day is “Listen To You!” Some questions to consider: How do you make yourself heard by others ? How do you listen and what do you hear when you want to be unseen? How might the sounds you produce adapt to your nearby environment? What might a “listening ethic” be? How might such an ethic apply particularly to understanding the relationship between humans and other living creatures?

You are invited to participate in the 2014 World Listening Day an annual glocal event held on July 18. The purposes of World Listening Day are to:

This year’s theme for World Listening Day is “Listen To You!” Some questions to consider:

  • How do you make yourself heard by others ?
  • How do you listen and what do you hear when you want to be unseen?
  • How might the sounds you produce adapt to your nearby environment?
  • What might a “listening ethic” be?
  • How might such an ethic apply particularly to understanding the relationship between humans and other living creatures?

World Listening Day is co-organized by the World Listening Project (WLP) and the Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology (MSAE). July 18 was chosen because it is the birthday of Canadian writer, educator, philosopher, visual artist, and composer R. Murray Schafer. His effort leading the World Soundscape Project and his seminal book, The Tuning of the World inspired global interest in a new field of research and practice known as Acoustic Ecology.

WLP and MSAE invite you to participate in the 2014 World Listening Day on Friday, July 18, and through the week of July 14th-20th. Some suggestions on how you can participate and organize may be:

  • A soundwalk or a listening party with people who make, listen, and discuss field recordings.
  • A performance event that explores your soundscape and how we can listen to our soundscape, or sonic environment.
  • A private / solitary way, by listening attentively to your soundscape.
  • An educational event that relates to acoustic ecology, field recordings, or a similar topic.
  • Contact local groups participating in World Listening Day and get involved.

Participation in the past four World Listening Days exceeded our expectations. In this fifth year we anticipate even greater activity and interest. Please join in the 2014 World Listening Day activities by emailing worldlistening@gmail.com about your plans. Please be sure to include “World Listening Day” in the subject line or download the 2014 World Listening Day participation form here. Thanks!

68 Comments

  1. […] the previous years, WLD will be celebrated on the week of July 18th and this year Sonic Terrain is receiving works again, aiming to build a […]

  2. […] the previous years, WLD will be celebrated on the week of July 18th and this year Sonic Terrain is receiving works again, aiming to build a […]

  3. Invisible Places | Sounding Cities opens on July 18th, World Listening Day in Viseu, Portugal. Keynote speeches by Jean-Paul Thibaud, Brandon LaBelle, and Salomé Voegelin explore an integrated, holistic approach to concerns of urban planning, architecture, and sound as a public art form. Francisco López is its featured artist, providing a performance and masterclass. Invisible Places is made possible through the support of the Mayor of Viseu – Câmara Municipal de Viseu and the annual Jardins Efémeros (Ephemeral Gardens) arts festival. This 3-day symposium is endorsed by the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology.

  4. Invisible Places | Sounding Cities opens on July 18th, World Listening Day in Viseu, Portugal. Keynote speeches by Jean-Paul Thibaud, Brandon LaBelle, and Salomé Voegelin explore an integrated, holistic approach to concerns of urban planning, architecture, and sound as a public art form. Francisco López is its featured artist, providing a performance and masterclass. Invisible Places is made possible through the support of the Mayor of Viseu – Câmara Municipal de Viseu and the annual Jardins Efémeros (Ephemeral Gardens) arts festival. This 3-day symposium is endorsed by the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology.

  5. […] This entry was posted in Broadcasts, Events, Field Recordings, Membership, Publications, Sound Installation, Sound Walks, soundscape preservation, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, World Listening Day and tagged acoustic, Acoustic Ecology, acoustic environment, awareness,education, environment, global, listening, Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, National Park Service, performances, phonography, public, R Murray Schafer, science, sound map,soundscape, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, World Listening Day, World Listening Project. Bookmark the permalink. […]

  6. […] This entry was posted in Broadcasts, Events, Field Recordings, Membership, Publications, Sound Installation, Sound Walks, soundscape preservation, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, World Listening Day and tagged acoustic, Acoustic Ecology, acoustic environment, awareness,education, environment, global, listening, Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology, National Park Service, performances, phonography, public, R Murray Schafer, science, sound map,soundscape, World Forum for Acoustic Ecology, World Listening Day, World Listening Project. Bookmark the permalink. […]

  7. […] than a week now until World Listening Day (Friday 18 July) and I’ve been testing various […]

  8. […] than a week now until World Listening Day (Friday 18 July) and I’ve been testing various […]

  9. July 1 – August 31, ACRETV Artist-Made Tele-Vision http://www.acretv.org Presents “These Streams”, a two month thematic show of streaming and durational works. My contribution to this exhibition is a series of extended duration field recordings, with programs changing weekly.

    Paul Dickinson, Select Recordings
    9:15 PM – 8:00 AM
    July 14-21, Episode 3: “80 Truckloads of Sand.”

    In recognition of World Listening Day, I share seven recordings from Cedar Lake, in the town of Union, in Waupaca County, Wisconsin. I have been spending the occasional weekend there since the early 1980s.

    In choosing locations to record, I prefer remote locations with a minimum of anthropogenic (human-generated) sounds. Areas with farms, roads, and heavy flight paths are generally ignored in favor of so-called ‘pristine’ wilderness areas. Cedar Lake is surrounded by a mix of full-time and vacation residences, and the surrounding area includes farms, light industry, and wilderness areas. County and state highways are close by. The wildlife soundscape is punctuated by tractors, lawnmowers, and the occasional souped-up pickup truck or jake-braking diesel. All but one of the recordings are unprocessed, in order to emphasize that this is not exactly a ‘pristine’ listening environment, but it is still possible to enjoy listening to the wilder members of this community do what they do. There is an aural give-and-take between the wild, the recreational, and the agricultural. No one sphere dominates the soundscape- but that will soon change.

    My choice of Cedar Lake as a location to listen to for World Listening Day was a deliberate one- the town of Union recently approved a sand mine permit that will have 80 trucks per day, 24/7, rolling down roads less than 5 miles away from where these recordings were made. Actual mining will take place up to 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The mine will be sited across a county road from Tellock’s Hill Woods State Natural Area “an old-growth northern mesic forest on the north-facing slope of a drumlin.” -Wisconsin DNR website. High-level, low frequency sounds generated by the mine and the trucks carrying away its product will radiate in all directions, for several miles. This will not only affect the quality of life for the human residents of the town, but the wildlife as well. Going forward, the soundscape of the town of Union, Wisconsin will be permanently altered.

    Listener’s note: The lawnmower at the beginning of the program is the loudest sound you will hear. You will want to adjust your playback volume accordingly.

  10. July 1 – August 31, ACRETV Artist-Made Tele-Vision http://www.acretv.org Presents “These Streams”, a two month thematic show of streaming and durational works. My contribution to this exhibition is a series of extended duration field recordings, with programs changing weekly.

    Paul Dickinson, Select Recordings
    9:15 PM – 8:00 AM
    July 14-21, Episode 3: “80 Truckloads of Sand.”

    In recognition of World Listening Day, I share seven recordings from Cedar Lake, in the town of Union, in Waupaca County, Wisconsin. I have been spending the occasional weekend there since the early 1980s.

    In choosing locations to record, I prefer remote locations with a minimum of anthropogenic (human-generated) sounds. Areas with farms, roads, and heavy flight paths are generally ignored in favor of so-called ‘pristine’ wilderness areas. Cedar Lake is surrounded by a mix of full-time and vacation residences, and the surrounding area includes farms, light industry, and wilderness areas. County and state highways are close by. The wildlife soundscape is punctuated by tractors, lawnmowers, and the occasional souped-up pickup truck or jake-braking diesel. All but one of the recordings are unprocessed, in order to emphasize that this is not exactly a ‘pristine’ listening environment, but it is still possible to enjoy listening to the wilder members of this community do what they do. There is an aural give-and-take between the wild, the recreational, and the agricultural. No one sphere dominates the soundscape- but that will soon change.

    My choice of Cedar Lake as a location to listen to for World Listening Day was a deliberate one- the town of Union recently approved a sand mine permit that will have 80 trucks per day, 24/7, rolling down roads less than 5 miles away from where these recordings were made. Actual mining will take place up to 16 hours a day, Monday through Friday. The mine will be sited across a county road from Tellock’s Hill Woods State Natural Area “an old-growth northern mesic forest on the north-facing slope of a drumlin.” -Wisconsin DNR website. High-level, low frequency sounds generated by the mine and the trucks carrying away its product will radiate in all directions, for several miles. This will not only affect the quality of life for the human residents of the town, but the wildlife as well. Going forward, the soundscape of the town of Union, Wisconsin will be permanently altered.

    Listener’s note: The lawnmower at the beginning of the program is the loudest sound you will hear. You will want to adjust your playback volume accordingly.

  11. […] propuesta ha sido coorganizada por el colectivo World Listening Project (WLP) Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology  (MSAE ). El proyecto es una invitación […]

  12. […] propuesta ha sido coorganizada por el colectivo World Listening Project (WLP) Midwest Society for Acoustic Ecology  (MSAE ). El proyecto es una invitación […]

  13. In honor of World Listening Day 2014, we’ll be posting a clip on our Facebook page featuring the work of soundscape technician Davyd Betchkal at Denali National Park. The footage in the clip was captured last April for our upcoming feature film In Pursuit of Silence.

  14. In honor of World Listening Day 2014, we’ll be posting a clip on our Facebook page featuring the work of soundscape technician Davyd Betchkal at Denali National Park. The footage in the clip was captured last April for our upcoming feature film In Pursuit of Silence.

  15. […] Life has been difficult for some seabird species in some places around Iceland. Puffin colony with around 3 million birds has almost disappeared within few years from Vestmannaeyjar island south of Iceland. Change in the ecosystem is probably the main reason for this dramatically changes. But it is not only Puffins; many seagull species have also difficulties to survive. These gulls are in big flocks where ever scraps can be found. We have also several stories about them hunting BQ from hot outdoor grills. Last week I was in Garðabær, south Reykjavik region, when I noticed some different behaviors of the birds around me. I went there with my gear later that day if there was something to record. I was lucky. Just when I arrived, hundreds of Arctic Tern and Black-Headed Gull was catching something on a manmade beach. Tide was getting lower so it was something trapped in a pool on the beach. I am still not sure what it was, but probably was it Pollock juveniles. Some minutes after I started recording a flock of Lesser Black Backed Gull arrive with lot of noise until some photographer came too close and they all flew away (at 13 min). Other birds like Great Black Backed Gull, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Eider, Raven and even Great Northern Diver was around, or not far away. This recording is my contribution to World listening day 2014. […]

  16. […] Life has been difficult for some seabird species in some places around Iceland. Puffin colony with around 3 million birds has almost disappeared within few years from Vestmannaeyjar island south of Iceland. Change in the ecosystem is probably the main reason for this dramatically changes. But it is not only Puffins; many seagull species have also difficulties to survive. These gulls are in big flocks where ever scraps can be found. We have also several stories about them hunting BQ from hot outdoor grills. Last week I was in Garðabær, south Reykjavik region, when I noticed some different behaviors of the birds around me. I went there with my gear later that day if there was something to record. I was lucky. Just when I arrived, hundreds of Arctic Tern and Black-Headed Gull was catching something on a manmade beach. Tide was getting lower so it was something trapped in a pool on the beach. I am still not sure what it was, but probably was it Pollock juveniles. Some minutes after I started recording a flock of Lesser Black Backed Gull arrive with lot of noise until some photographer came too close and they all flew away (at 13 min). Other birds like Great Black Backed Gull, Eurasian Oystercatcher, Common Eider, Raven and even Great Northern Diver was around, or not far away. This recording is my contribution to World listening day 2014. […]

Leave a Reply to World Listening Day 2014 – Zach PoffCancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.