Musical Pornography: Soundscape Recording

Bathroom Music
Musical Pornography
Soundscape Recording

This is a term that I first heard a friend use to who came to a U of T Symphonic Band concert. In particular, he used musical pornography to describe Karel Husa’s “Music for Prague 1968.” Of course, since musical judgement is largely a case of taste, cultural capital, and general musical knowledge, it is subjective, but Husa’s music is known for dissonance, atonality, and arrangements that can sometimes sound vulgar. In one instance in “Music for Prague 1968” one snare drum begins, and then others are allowed to join to play a crescendo roll that starts at ppp and ends when “the sound is almost unbearable.” This music is programmatic, but in any case, these extremities are certainly aurally vulgar, and deafeningly loud. Ultimately though, aural vulgarity can parallel vulgar experiences of human history and other means of perception.

I wanted to explore this idea of musical pornography as aural vulgarity through a soundscape recording. We often associate soundscapes with sounds that we are aware of on a daily basis, and because of our urban upbringing and enculturation, we therefore most commonly associate soundscapes with city sounds – trains, streetcars, etc. – the noises of commercialism and development. I chose to record a series of sounds with which everyone is intimately familiar. After all, going to the bathroom is an inescapable element of the human condition.

So, I positioned myself with the ever so handy M-audio Microtrack 2496 recorder in the men’s washroom in the Lower Basement, hiding in a stall. If you visited this washroom on Thursday April 12 between 12 and 1, chances are I recorded you. Initially, I was frustrated with the time that was passing and the lack of business the washroom was receiving. As such, fairly extensive editing of the original recorded material has taken place. Silence is very much apart of the bathroom soundscape – and certainly one of my favourites, but I wanted this recorded material to have musical merit. The other editing challenge was separating natural sounds from “forced” sounds. Due to this lack of business, I began calling friends and inviting them to the washroom. So some came and very obediently made some noise for my recording. But other delinquent friends came and shouted, or sang songs. Some appear on the final edited version for humour’s sake, and others I have scrapped.

The use of reverb magnifies the overall sonic presence of the recording. It makes the recording sound “big” and if you listen to it on headphones, try to imagine yourself in the space hearing these sounds. I have left gaps of silence to mimic the self-reflection time that bathroom visits allow.

http://www.willderness.ca/bathroom2.mp3