When the Recorded Soundscape Roars and Rumbles — Exploring wind noise, hidden frequencies, and the collaborative work of the microphone, ears, and moving air
Text, images, audio: Anne Tarvainen In the cultural study of sounds, field recordings are not intended to produce a high-fidelity auditory replica of the original environment. Instead, they serve as research memos—reminders of the places and situations encountered in the field. Weeks or months later, listening back to the recordings can vividly transport the researcher […]
Local Jukeboxes and International Media Conglomerates
Text: Heikki Uimonen; Picture: Rowe Service Manual In the 1970s, Nauvo had one licensed venue where you could enjoy a few drinks with friends and spend the evening out. As in many other small Finnish municipalities, it was a bar located in a local service station. What made Nauvo special was that, if you lived […]
Ethnography on Mediation: Musica Mobilis and Sonic Effect
Text: Heikki Uimonen The SOMECO research team organised a soundscape workshop at Nauvo Library on 4 June. We were well rehearsed and prepared to present the project to the audience in Swedish and Finnish, and to play recordings of previous studies carried out 25 years ago. Above all we were also very much looking forward […]
On the Move: Secular and Sacred Tourism
Text: Heikki Uimonen My field notes from the first listening walks on 3 June on the south side of Nauvo main street read as follows: “A lawnmower, a garbage truck and a concrete truck – clearly morning commuter traffic, just after 7 am. Jackdaws and pigeons. As the walk continues, the traffic noise diminishes considerably. […]
Why I stopped my sound diary on the 3rd day
Text, picture & sound: juL McOISANS The sound diary is one of the protocols we use in this village survey with local school children. Like any good student, I started mine on the first day of arriving in Lesconil, noting the first and last sounds I heard during the day, as well as the most […]
Valley Soundscapes Near and Far
Text: Heikki Uimonen A hiking trail from Cembra to Lago Santo is accompanied by the sound of a stream running through the nearby gorge. Before reaching the woods above the village, the hiker is greeted by the sound of the revving engines of mopeds, which can be heard clearly from the valley and for miles […]
How Not to Be Seen: Digital Ethnography and Visibility
Text: Heikki Uimonen ‘The camera is a tool for idlers, who use a machine to do their seeing for them. To draw oneself, to trace the lines, handle the volumes, organise the surface… all this means first to look, and then to observe and finally perhaps to discover…’ (Le Corbusier in Kortan 1997/2005, 28). Le Corbusier’s […]
Visiting the Folklore Archives
Meri Kytö Last week, we visited the Acoustic Environments in Change project archive at the Folklore Archives (Tampere University, Finland). Helmi Järviluoma, who led the 2000 project, came to our aid to make sure everything was in the right place. For me (Meri) and Heikki, the material was familiar, but for Anne and Kaj, there […]
Someco website is now up and running!
If you are interested in soundscapes, don’t miss this opportunity to follow us! In the spring of 2025, the Someco research team will be documenting European villages and sharing their thoughts, images and soundscapes on this website. We are following in the footsteps of previous projects Five Village Soundscape (1975) and Acoustic Environments in Change […]