The first episode of the podcast series «Modes of Listening & Sound Practices» explores the modes of listening that sound researcher Carla J. Maier and rapper Manmeet Kaur adopted on their sound walks through Berlin. Together with the city’s architectures they unfold a unique sonic narrative.

This episode is a co-produced interaction of Manmeet Kaur (rapper, beatmaker) and Carla J. Maier (researcher in sound cultures and auditory research practices). In their words, reasoning with inner-city rhythms is a manifestation of listening experiences that they shared while doing a number of sound walks in the city of Berlin between March and November, 2020. Throughout these documented adventures, they engaged with the city through listening and recording, and had conversations based on that. They explored how interacting with the city’s materialities and sonic adaptability amplifies it’s sonic fictional thinking.

This podcast progresses through three different localities, each emphasizing a particular sonic engagement with the urban environment. The first locality is a response to the «concavity of sounds contained in objects» by performing upon public sculptures to later compose out of. The second locality takes the listener to their listening in transit and panning impulsive realities of motion. The third locality is a refractive and emotional engagement with a monument of historical injustice.

The sonic material consists of recordings that were taken during sound walks, using field recorders and a contact microphone, as well as additional recordings and samples. The intro features some of the sounds the listener will encounter during the audio piece and includes a short verbal intro for the episode. The three parts take the listener on a journey through the city, in which the listener experiences the different localities through a close listening to each locality’s specific sonic materialities and unfolding sonic fictions, which never simply reveals an actual place, but rather is constructed by Maier and Kaur’s perceptual respondings and sonic imaginations. This also includes poetic and musical expressions which were inspired by their listening interventions and further conversations that were continued during the editing process of the audio piece, such as the rap part which concludes the episode.

A podcast by Carla J. Maier featuring Manmeet Kaur in collaboration with Norient
Location Berlin, March to November 2020
Conceptual direction by Carla J. Maier
Musical direction by Manmeet Kaur
Field recordings and vocals performed by Carla J. Maier and Manmeet Kaur
Mix and Master Toma Sound Factory