The Sounds Around Us | Issue #6
Sound has been a big discussion in the Moab community lately—namely, the sound of UTV’s, or Utility Terrain Vehicles, which have been street legal in Utah since 2008. Without getting too deep into it, let’s just say that the sound is . . . annoying and ever-present, even in town. This situation got me thinking a lot about sound and emotion, and how different sounds affect our well-being and attachment to place.
In this issue of Placeful, I will be exploring the relationship between sound, emotion, and place from a personal and scientific perspective, and how we can cultivate a deeper connection with place through sound.
Sound & Emotion
Our sensory experience of the world is, in many ways, the foundation to our emotional experience. At a basic level, the words we use to verbally communicate can convey our emotions to others. But beyond words, humans can also express 24 uniquely identifiable emotions using just vocal bursts, or wordless sounds. (This weirdly fascinating map demonstrates our broad range of vocal bursts, for those interested.) Communicating our emotions to others, whether verbally or nonverbally, is integral to our humanity.
Music is another category of sound with deeply emotional ties. Anyone who has ever listened to music can recognize its sometimes inexplicably direct link to our emotional state.
Toby Lester, who was interviewed on an episode of This American Life back in 1999, made an interesting case for how the ambient noises of modern life can also affect our emotions. He talked about how the various appliances and bits of technology in his office were, when all humming at once, creating a major chord. Major chords are typically regarded as happy chords (think Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”). Now imagine if your A/C, fridge, and dishwasher together created a minor chord (associated with more negative emotions). Could ambient sounds in your home cause you to feel meloncholy?
An additional and especially pertinent category is natural sounds, which have the potential to solicit a wide range of emotional responses from us as well.
In times of stress, ambient natural sounds can have a calming effect, according to research completed at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. Many of us may intrinsically know this to be true, but this was the first time researchers had discovered the physiological mechanism that fosters this emotional response, stated below:
When listening to natural sounds, the brain connectivity reflected an outward-directed focus of attention; when listening to artificial sounds, the brain connectivity reflected an inward-directed focus of attention, similar to states observed in anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. There was also an increase in rest-digest nervous system activity (associated with relaxation of the body) when listening to natural compared with artificial sounds, and better performance in an external attentional monitoring task.
The calming effect of natural sounds had the strongest response in subjects whose baseline stress level was highest. In other words, the people who will receive the most benefit from listening to ocean waves crashing, birds singing, or the sound of raindrops, are actually the people who are the most stressed—which, let’s face it, is many of us in the middle of a global pandemic . . .
So what does sound, whether artificial, natural, or a combination, have to do with nurturing placefulness?
Sound & Place
Since this spring, my best friend and I have been communicating almost entirely through an app called Marco Polo, which is great because we can see each others’ faces, respond when we have time, and to be honest it is like a free version of talk therapy (which we’ve both admitted is a nice benefit).
One thing that I noticed though in one of her videos was the soundscape in the background—it was so different than mine! Since she is located in the South, there were birds chirping whom I was not used to hearing. It was really uplifting to me to hear unfamiliar birds chirping away at a farm in rural North Carolina, but for her, it was completely and utterly normal. And to be frank, compared to my recent soundscape of aggressive UTVs, I was a little jealous.
The birds and other sounds of the farm created the soundscape of her place, which is separate from the soundscape of Southeastern Utah, and different than the soundscapes of other human and ecological communities in the United States and across the globe. Until very recently, I had never thought about place this way, and for me it has opened up a new way of nurturing placefulness: being mindfully aware of the orchestra of sounds around me.
Each soundscape varies to a different degree depending on the unique ecological environment, people, structures, animals, textures, and even the kitchen appliances with which we share our homes. And each of the unique sounds that create a soundscape has the potential to mean something more to us on a personal level.
When I think about sounds specific to a place that illicet an emotional response in me, I think of the sound of a car approaching on the long, gravel driveway of my childhood, signifying that someone was coming home and my subsequent excitement at greeting them. This feeling is mirrored now by the sound of the gate shutting to the patio of my current apartment, meaning that my partner is home from a multi-day shift.
The anticipation of greeting someone is a specific emotion that I associate with certain sounds endemic to places I have lived. With that specificity in mind, imagine the possibilities for other sounds in our daily lives that, if we listen more mindfully, we can appreciate more fully, thus creating the opportunity for more meaningful connections to place.
Sound Mapping
One way that people document the relationships between sound and place, sometimes called acoustic ecology, is through the practice of sound mapping. A sound map can be a variety of different things, but generally it includes an audio or written recording of sounds experienced at a specific geographic place.
Below are three examples of sound maps that can be found online, with links and screenshots. I highly encourage you to explore these mediums and learn more about the soundscapes of other places, if only to more deeply appreciate the diversity of sounds in our world and feel more at home in with ones that are familiar to you.
I like this one because anyone can contribute a sound from around the world. For instance, here’s a screenshot of a sound sample from a suburb in Volgograd, Russia.
This sound map contains high quality nature sounds from all over the globe. Below is a screenshot of an entry for the Horned Screamer in Manu National Park, Peru, that was pretty wild. I had some issues with the playback on this, but there is a link in each entry to the specific audio file that you can click to open a new tab.
Yes, Instagram posts can also be considered a sound map, especially because they can be geotagged. Below is the post where I originally learned about sound maps from a local Moab outdoor education nonprofit! They also have a whole sound map activity plan, made especially with younger kids in mind.
Appreciating and protecting our unique acoustic environments
Our physiological responses to natural sounds should be considered when making decisions that affect our communities and wild spaces. Soundscapes, and our emotional connection to them, exemplify one factor among many that city designers, park managers, lawmakers, and others that hold the power to affect the soundscape of a place should consider when it comes to overall well-being of all living creatures in a community.
Each of us is privy to a different soundscape, a unique aural experience of the world depending on our place. Perhaps recognizing and appreciating the good, familiar sounds, like a babbling stream, a gravel driveway, or a friendly neighborhood Horned Screamer, can help us mitigate the emotional toll of less pleasant ones. So go forth and listen!
With love,
Emily
Writing Prompt: Bring a notebook and spend a few cell-phone free minutes in one of your favorite places, such as a bench outside your favorite coffee shop, on a beach, or in your backyard.
What sounds do you hear? What emotions do they stir up? What is familiar, and what is unfamiliar? Write about the soundscape around you with specificity.
A personal note…
First of all, thank you to everyone that has shared Placeful through email, social media, and word of mouth, and a warm welcome to all new subscribers <3
I have been traced as a contact, and as such, will be spending the next few days in quarantine!
If you would like to help me stave off boredom, feel free to leave me a friendly note about which issue of Placeful has been your favorite, or something else that you have been thinking about related to placefulness. And as always, general feedback is always appreciated!
You can find this issue and previous issues of Placeful at this link, and you can reach me by email at placeful.emily@gmail.com.