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Shhh… do you hear that? It’s the sound of World Listening Day approaching on July 18. World Listening Day is put on every year. We devoted to understanding the world and its natural environment, societies and cultures through the practice of listening and field recording. They explore acoustic ecology, a discipline that studies the relationship between humans and the natural world as mediated through sound. It falls on July 18 to honor the birthday of Raymond Murray Schafer, a Canadian composer and environmentalist who is seen as the founder of Acoustic Ecology Movement. World Listening Day was established in 2010. Be quiet down, open up your ears, and get ready to study soundscapes on World Listening Day.
Why We Love World Listening Day?
Have you stopped to think about how much of your day is consumed by words? If you’re saying them you’re reading them, listening to someone else’s, or even thinking them. World Listening Day gives us a reason to back away from words and hear the sounds between and around them.
Think of it this way: depending on where you live and how you move throughout your day, every person has a completely unique soundtrack that plays behind their daily routine. Car noise, wind in your ears, silverware hitting a plate, clicks from a keyboard, papers rustling… You’re so accustomed to these sounds that you probably don’t even think about the fact that you’re hearing them. But we bet you will now, huh?
How to Celebrate World Listening Day?
Pick a route, any route. Live near beach. Take a stroll along the ocean and listen to the waves. Or maybe you want to walk through the woods and hear what the wind sounds like going through the trees.
Use your phone to record a bunch of sounds from your environment, from a particular bird call to the sound of a truck driving down the street. Invite your family and friends over and see if they can identify each sound as you play them.
