Me: I have two questions about the hierarchy of sound in relation to space. I found your presentation pretty interesting when it comes to articulation and signal of sound. Maybe this is because I have been an orchestra member like Verdy too. The case is like when we read the sheet music for our instrument, if there are scattered notes while the main melody of the orchestra is slow and romantic, we will spontaneously play them lightly as a supplement for the song. This inspired me to think of the first question: Do different patterns of the urban sounds imply a hierarchy between spaces, for example, the circulation variance? Secondly, from a macro perspective, is urban sound more like a composer or a conductor of space in your opinion?
Obed: For the first question, I think you have mentioned a great point since the orchestra is highly disciplined. You will understand when to increase or decrease the volume of your melody. However, this order cannot be found in the urban area. Therefore, it is the circulation or special/ urgent events to define the dynamic of space. In other words, the emergence of sounds implies the existence of events and their hierarchy. At the same time, the quality of sound implies the configuration of space as well as the transition of your experience. Therefore, we have spent quite a lot of time to present this kind of hierarchy.
Verdi: I think the hierarchy you mentioned is highly relevant to signal of sound. The signal of sound is mostly artificial, for example, the sound of the traffic light. They are designed to stay on top of the sound with ordinary ambiance. The reason why we can notice them easily is that they perform their function well. One prominent contrast of those urban sound can be found between weekdays’ and weekends’ recordings in Central. On weekdays, there are many office ladies. While during weekends, the domestic workers seem to have occupied certain terrains like tunnels. Oh! And by the way, your second question is…?
Me: I would like to know if the urban sounds seem more like a composer or a conductor of space to you. I mean sound sort of like a context to consider before constructing an architecture. A case in point is the song recorded near CD store implying a certain activity/culture nearby. However, to some extent, the emergence of such a phenomenon is long predetermined after buildings of certain functions appeared, and then the sound starts to affect the overall ambiance.
Obed: It is hard to regard sound as a composer or conductor. Like what you have mentioned, it is part of the context, which is also a result of the arrangement of urban fabrics. The point is that we can utilize sound as a perspective to view the composer, which means the architecture or the space. This is what we wished to explore in our project. So I think the sound is neither the composer or the conductor.
Verdi: Yes I think so… or sound is sometimes a composer, sometimes a conductor…
Obed: I think it is neither of them…
Verdi: Alright..haha
Me: Oh I see! thanks a lot!
Wong Mei Ting, Valerie
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