I have become interested lately in how individually we prioritize our senses in daily life and however one ’ s sensory priorities may be organized through individual life experience , each sense tells an entirely different story .
The nature of the stories told to us by our senses relies solely on an important element of personal interpretation and in this way life speaks to us all in different ways .
LISTENING TO WHERE YOU ARE by Isaac J Smith
I have become interested lately in how individually we prioritize our senses in daily life and however one ’ s sensory priorities may be organized through individual life experience , each sense tells an entirely different story .
The nature of the stories told to us by our senses relies solely on an important element of personal interpretation and in this way life speaks to us all in different ways .
The Score Magazine
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The human ear tells each of us stories of the most remarkable nature . Each story reflecting an extraordinary odyssey that only sound can know . The voyage in which sound takes from the ear drum through the ossicles of the middle ear and the labyrinthine interior of the cochlear to find transformation from vibration to electrical impulses via the hair cells manipulated by the movement of fluid surrounding the basilar membrane embodies the language of life in a phenomenal process prior to that of any imposed order of semantic abstraction , habitual response or aesthetic preference .
Learning to listen creatively enables the body to learn and be subsumed in sensations of a more spontaneous nature , to learn in states in which sensory information is reorganized and new pathways for understanding are forged .
Sri Lanka , the country in which I have been residing and teaching for the past five years provides a naturally rich sonic environment in which to engage with . Often I would venture with friends to areas of the country new to me solely to listen to what was there . In doing this I observed many interesting processes in which I habitually organize sonic information and in this state of awareness I was able to teach myself new ways to perceive what seemed to be familiar or uninteresting sonic events . In doing so I also learnt to understand every impulse as a new event and in turn understand that life as an experience is somewhat organized by how it is chosen to be perceived .
Having arrived in Delhi a month ago to undertake the position of Bass faculty at GMI , I have had plenty of opportunity to observe the sonic landscape of this immense city .
From all of the subtle sounds of this city that have reached my ear so far , one sound in particular dominates the audible canvas of this immense metropolis - the car horn .
It seems this particular component of the automobile serves a completely different function for communication in this part of the world and in turn requires different perceptions in order to allow my daily commute to be of a little less cause for anxiety and ill feeling .
I have devised a list of my top five favourite ways in which to creatively listen to a barrage of horning cars and help create new stories for your ears to tell .
1 . From my apartment window , when perceived in the right way , the sonic barrage appears as a perfect orchestration of entirely stochastic events . The beauty of this evokes for me at least , a smile upon the nature of the ways in which we choose to communicate as a species .
2 . Whilst commuting in dense traffic , learning to relax , enjoy and stay alert in situations of intense sonic stimulation proves a good exercise to practice . ( This will also come in handy at your next soundcheck )
3 . I always try to remember that the individual communicating inside a motor vehicle via the horn is communicating to another inside a motor vehicle . Often a driver does not know how loud the horn actually appears externally to another . ( In this , I am reminded to be in every moment , aware of how I am communicating musically to another ; I may appear louder to another in the ensemble than to myself and vice versa )
4 . In a creative stretch I can also choose to perceive the incoming auditory stimulus of a car horn in forms of positive affirmations of single or double syllable sentiments such as , ‘ Love !’, ‘ Beau-ty !’, ‘ Joyful !’. This is very useful and I would highly recommend this creative approach .
5 . Learning to be patient and considerate in circumstances of sonic overstimulation is by far for me , the best outcome in learning to receive the world around me as a personally creative , absorbing and spontaneous process . ‘ Value judgments are destructive to our proper business , which is curiosity and awareness .’ – John Cage