In the Face of Noise Pollution

Quotation

«Even in the face of the noise pollution that has been taking over the city, the birds have found a way to continue singing…»

This quote is excerpted from the notes to «The City at Dawn», a sound piece by Pale Blue Dotter and beatnyk as a part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Delhi», curated and edited by Suvani Suri.

Project Assistance: Geetanjali Kalta
Graphics/Visual Design: Upendra Vaddadi, Neelansh Mittra
Audio Production: Abhishek Mathur
Video Production: Ammar

Biography

Pale Blue Dotter thrives at the intersection of music and art. Interweaving melody, spoken word, and field recordings with movement-based listening, she interprets philosophical concepts as sound pieces, live performances, and installations. Follow her on Instagram, Spotify, SoundCloud, or on her Website.

Biography

beatnyk is an inert engineer, sporadic musician, and electronic sound artist residing in Delhi, whose work and interest lie in exploring the natural interplay of non-human sound and human noise in a landscape through generative patches and coded algorithms. Follow him on Instagram, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, or Linktree.

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Pale Blue Dotter and beatnyk: «The City at Dawn» (Norient)

Published on September 29, 2023

Last updated on September 29, 2023

Topic

Nature

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Special

Norient City Sounds: Delhi

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The City at Dawn

Sound Piece

by Pale Blue Dotter,

beatnyk

As a part of a longitudinal inquiry into soundscape ecologies, Pale Blue Dotter (Surbhi) and beatnyk (Padmanabhan) set out to record dawn choruses in different parts of Delhi, weaving the soundscapes into a composition that reveals a city of contradictions just as it wakes up.

Delhi is a city of contrasts – on the one hand, the city is getting denser with highrises that touch the sky, and on the other people are being evicted from their homes in a major demolition drive in preparation for the G20 summit. The river flows through the city, cutting it into two halves; however, water still remains a scarce commodity in many of the residential parts. In some neighborhoods, overhead tanks are overflowing with water, whereas in others, the residents are compelled to trek for kilometers to fetch water for basic needs.

Gradual urbanization of Delhi’s landscape over the last 30 years, giving us a glimpse of the sounds that remain and those that are lost (credits: beatnyk, Google Earth).

Fascinated by the ever-increasing anthropocentric demands and contradictory narratives that exist in the city, we (Pale Blue Dotter and beatnyk) wanted to embark on a journey to shed light on these contrasts with our trusty field recorders. Even in the face of the noise pollution that has been taking over the city, the birds have found a way to continue singing, thus showcasing one of the most stark contrasts of the city – the coexistence of anthropogenic and biophonic sounds.

The dawn chorus is the outbreak of birdsong at the start of a new day. We began our exploration by listening to the dawn and this coexistence that comes to life every day. Through visiting a range of sites that included areas under urban development, as well as the few remaining natural landscapes within the city, various perspectives began to appear around the way the city sounds at dawn at each location. After several listening sessions, we set out to record dawn choruses at every location and identify patterns that materialized as the soundscape that was eventually stitched together.

«City at Dawn» soundscape mapped and timestamped over the landscape of New Delhi (credits: beatnyk, Google Earth).

During the course of listening to and creating the soundscape, we noticed the myriad ways of coexistence that inform the daily lives of human and more-than-human species. From the birds that score the dawn, to the river that keeps time and the technology that defies it, all forms of existence begin the cycle together and sustain peacefully. There seems to be magic in the symphony of life that awakens the city every day and the dawn chorus zeroes in on this sphere of existence that accounts for all living forms, not just humans.

Voice-Over Credits

01:04. The Indian Express: «Delhi MCD Elections: Taps Of Posh Vasant Kunj Area Run Dry» (YouTube)

07:32. Phone recording of excerpts from «All India Radio Morning News, June 10, 2023» (YouTube)

13:58. Al Jazeera English: «Devotion suffocates India’s sacred Yamuna river» (YouTube)

18:40. Nirantar Trust X The Third Eye: «Paani Ki Katar» (YouTube)

This sound piece is part of the virtual exhibition «Norient City Sounds: Delhi», curated and edited by Suvani Suri.

Project Assistance: Geetanjali Kalta
Graphics/Visual Design: Upendra Vaddadi, Neelansh Mittra
Audio Production: Abhishek Mathur
Video Production: Ammar

Biography

Pale Blue Dotter thrives at the intersection of music and art. Interweaving melody, spoken word, and field recordings with movement-based listening, she interprets philosophical concepts as sound pieces, live performances, and installations. Follow her on Instagram, Spotify, SoundCloud, or on her Website.

Biography

beatnyk is an inert engineer, sporadic musician, and electronic sound artist residing in Delhi, whose work and interest lie in exploring the natural interplay of non-human sound and human noise in a landscape through generative patches and coded algorithms. Follow him on Instagram, SoundCloud, Bandcamp, or Linktree.

Published on September 29, 2023

Last updated on February 21, 2024

Topics

City

Nature

Soundscape

All Topics

Specials

Norient City Sounds: Delhi

When the Sound Listens Back

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