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CHAPEL ON THE BLUFF
By Andrew Taylor
Chapel, South Side (Andrew): Image
One day when I was standing here looking at the chapel admiring its beauty and grandeur, I kept hearing the highway in the background. At first I considered this sound to be a bit of a nuisance. I wanted to experience a peaceful atmosphere with relatively few and quiet and sounds. But, instead, it was a raucous atmosphere with a constant drone. This also led me to the conclusion that the sound of the road was creating a disparity between its own sound and the appearance of the chapel. In other words, what I was looking at did not match what I was hearing.
But as I continued listening, I noticed that the constant rumble and rhythm of the road actually had a rather pleasant and calming effect. It was soothing like an ocean: always moving, never ceasing, and yet never quite the same.
To explore the contrast between the chapel and the flowing traffic around it, I created a soundscape composition. A soundscape composition is a piece of music that encourages listeners to contemplate a space, evoking associations, memories, and imagination. My composition depicts the changing sonic environment of the bluff while the chapel remains constant. I recorded a segment of ambient highway sound from my perch on the bluff to incorporate into my composition.
Chapel, South Side (Andrew): Text
Chapel, South Side (Andrew): HTML Embed
Can ambient road noise be considered beautiful?
Absolutely!
Definitely not!
I have a different idea...
Please share your thoughts below.
Chapel, South Side (Andrew): HTML Embed
​While observing the bluff and the chapel, I could imagine a song that embodied the chapel. This song was Benedictus by Thomas Bergersen and it became the sound-object of the chapel itself. A sound-object is a sonic cue or other audio device used to represent something visual. In this case, the choral piece Benedictus represents the chapel and the activities within continuing through the years while the campus and the bluff change around it.
In order to apply the historical aspect and change over time, I studied the history of this location and discovered that where most of the highways are today there used to be railroads, specifically the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. After having discovered this, I searched for the sounds of trains, specifically steam engines, that would have been traveling these exact tracks in the late 18 and early 1900s and incorporated them into this composition.
This composition begins with a train whistle signifying the beginning of the piece and the completed construction of the chapel. Then immediately afterwards Benedictus begins and remains constant throughout the work in the same way the chapel has remained constant since its completion. At the same time, a train can be heard beginning to move, starting its forward progress and never looking back. A few other trains can be heard passing by at 0:56 and 1:19 adding a unique rhythmic background to the choral music. But as the years go by, the trains fade away and the highway and its traffic take their place as can be heard from 1:10 to 1:36. A new sound and rhythm now rules until it all fades away peacefully.
My soundscape composition explores the concept of a lo-fi soundscape. This term was coined by musician and environmentalist Murray Schafer in his book The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Lo-fi refers to an environment in which there are a lot of sounds, typically loud, which cannot easily be distinguished from one another. He contrasts this with the hi-fi soundscape which is the exact opposite: few sounds that are typically quieter and easily distinguishable. Schafer aptly describes the lo-fi soundscape as being typical of the industrial revolution and its associated technologies, and the hi-fi soundscape as being more typical of nature. However, he also describes the lo-fi soundscape as undesirable and something we should strive to get rid of, but that is an idea I wish for you to challenge. Do both hi-fi and lo-fi sonic environments have their own unique and beautiful qualities?
Schafer, Raymond Murray. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester, VT, VT: Destiny Books, 1994.
Chapel, South Side (Andrew): Text
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