Experimental sound editing as an enabler of acoustic and phonetic elements of perception in field recordings

Abstract

This project aims to find hidden values of sound recorded material in a particular place through the creation of mechanical and random sound collages as a method to help in understanding a socio-cultural context that is rapidly changing. The sounds of the neighbourhood of Riobom, located in the eastern part of the city of Porto is the subject of study. This place has been the focus of sound recording sessions conducted by Radio Manobras in the scope of a funded project with an artistic, ethnographic and music composition approach. This research study has two major purposes. Firstly, to deny the original semantic meaning of field recordings and interviews through a set of editing strategies, methods and techniques that may potentially provide alternative impressions, such as the phonetic and rhythmic values of voices and other sound sources. Secondly, to understand how can the applied methodology potentially enrich an ethnographic project that has as purpose to understand the socio-cultural framework of a place. In the state of the art, after a first comprehension about the history of sound ethnography, the concept of soundscape and the importance of mapping and sound archives as well as an analysis on the evolution of the different avant-garde approaches to sound material is presented. This analysis informed the empirical work and its methodology, which is explained and described step by step. A set of patterns were noted in the analysis of the outcomes, pointing out a potential research path to follow in future work, which can explore the connection between artistic avant-garde approaches to sound and ethnographic research projects.