favouritesounds.org<\/a> they can be heard in conjunction with Google map or satellite images of the places where the recordings were made.<\/p>\nPeople continue to suggest their Berlin favourite sounds. Here is a short selection. The\u00a0reasons \u2018why\u2019 are in italics.<\/p>\n
The S-Bahn plus atmosphere (6am summer) at particular spot on Kopenhagener Stra\u00dfe.\u00a0(I like the specific sound of the Berlin S-Bahn with all its overtones \u2013 calming, sometimes changes\u00a0<\/em>internally like the sound of the sea \u2013 and the combination with the atmosphere at sunrise; footsteps, <\/em>birds singing, church bells.)<\/em><\/p>\nI like the sound of the clock in my kitchen. (Berlin is so quiet that I can hear it from my bedroom,\u00a0<\/em>that\u2019s why I like it \u2013 day or night, doesn\u2019t matter. It reminds me how silent Berlin can be. I\u00a0<\/em>come from a very loud country, Brazil, where silence is maybe impossible.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe sound of a very old bicycle on the street or pavement. It\u2019s quite \u2018tinny\u2019 and you think\u00a0the bike might fall apart. You can hear it at all times and it\u2019s immediately noticeable. It stops\u00a0you. Metal grinding, rattling, clinking. (It sounds like an old friend, not perfect, but dependable,\u00a0<\/em>but the bike itself is completely utilitarian \u2013 stripped of all flourishes. Its age is its glory, which it\u00a0<\/em>announces to the streets.)<\/em><\/p>\nWhen a house being renovated has large tarpaulins covering it, which blow in the wind.\u00a0The canvas has a stiff surface that crackles easily. The wind moves the surface in many different\u00a0ways. (I like wind in general, particularly storms when the canvas becomes an orchestra that\u00a0<\/em>blows through it. The Berlin street facades and rows of buildings are a wonderful concert hall for\u00a0<\/em>these sounds and for the possibilities offered to the wind.)<\/em><\/p>\nI like the sounds of Berlin streets in the morning but especially afternoon\/night (more in\u00a0summer), when I open my window and hear the sounds of the bars and restaurants where\u00a0musicians play on the streets and people are talking. (It\u2019s a really calm, intimate and homely\u00a0<\/em>atmosphere for me. It\u2019s somehow the sound of my childhood because I live there already for a\u00a0<\/em>long time (all my life) and every night when we go to sleep I listen to it. And when I grew up I\u00a0<\/em>took part in this nightlife. And in the morning I like the more silent sound \u2013 listening to the birds,\u00a0<\/em>getting up and going o the balcony, taking a breath. I like the whole atmosphere.)<\/em><\/p>\nI like the nightingale in the big yard of the kindergarten on the corner of Modersohnstra\u00dfe\/\u00a0Revalerstra\u00dfe. (It is a pleasure to hear the bird singing when I go out with my dog during the\u00a0<\/em>night when the city is peaceful.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe sound when the U-Bahn approaches and accelerates (glissando). (Because it sounds\u00a0<\/em>not unpleasant and is the sound of my daily routine, that is to say it frames the start and end\u00a0<\/em>of my day and because I like Berlin very much this seems very much part of Berlin\u2019s character.)<\/em><\/p>\nSaturday mornings at Wintersfeldt-Markt. (Where one can buy fruit and vegetables. The\u00a0<\/em>stallholders always shout the price, \u20182 bananas, 2 euros\u2019. Usually they are Turkish or from another\u00a0<\/em>country and I love how their German sounds. I also like that they speak very loud and always\u00a0<\/em>use the same sentences.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe playground across from my building on Saturday about 12.00pm (Stephanplatz \u2013 especially\u00a0<\/em>in the summer). (I can hear from it what the weather is like and the sound of children\u00a0<\/em>playing reminds me of my old place in Cologne.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe S-Bahn when it comes into the station. (When I return from travelling and the S-Bahn\u00a0<\/em>pulls into the station then I know that I\u2019m home.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe replies are very varied, from single focussed sounds to wide open atmospheres. They\u00a0cover all seasons, times of day and many different locations, both interior and exterior. Usually\u00a0the sounds mentioned are highly individual. However, despite the diversity they also have\u00a0aspects in common. Many can be grouped into broad categories corresponding to the familiar\u00a0structures of city life. The sounds of public transport, streets, people and communities, bells,\u00a0markets, green spaces and natural sounds are all such groups. Many similar categories can be\u00a0found too in other cities making comparisons fascinating. But there are also those that stand\u00a0out as unique to an individual city. The sounds of the Hinterh\u00f6fe (inner courtyards) is a group\u00a0particularly special to Berlin (see the Brief Guide entry for a fuller discussion). Tempelhofer\u00a0Feld is also exclusive to Berlin. Since its closure as an airport in 2008 Tempelhof has become\u00a0a vast open park within the city, very popular for sports, cycling, kite flying, arts events, dog\u00a0walking or just relaxing. Its sense of urban sonic space and distance is unmatched in cities\u00a0elsewhere (see the Two Sonic Landscapes section for a fuller discussion).<\/p>\n
Berlin\u2019s public transport \u2013 mostly the U- and S-Bahn (underground and overground railways)\u00a0\u2013 contributes the largest group of favourite sounds. The same is true in London. However,\u00a0within this group individual choices can be extremely varied; some people like the train\u00a0sounds themselves, others enjoy station atmospheres with echoing footsteps and voices. Yet\u00a0others prefer trains when heard at a distance or in combination with other sounds at personally\u00a0significant locations. The S-Bahn is also special in that it is regularly mentioned as Berlin\u2019s\u00a0most characteristic, and unique, sound. But this may not last. Sounds and soundscapes are\u00a0subject to constant change and the S-Bahn is no exception. Today the old familiar trains are\u00a0being replaced by new models that look similar, but which sound, sadly, less attractive to the\u00a0ear. Will this sonic change be reflected in future choices of Berlin favourite sounds?<\/p>\n
Many of the city\u2019s favourite sounds are associated with green spaces \u2013 bird song (springtime\u00a0nightingales and blackbirds especially), children playing, wind in leaves and the quiet\u00a0that is present. The social character of the city\u2019s street life, particularly on summer evenings,\u00a0heard in the sounds of people, cafes, conversation buzz, music, and rattling bicycles are also\u00a0regular favourites.<\/p>\n
People\u2019s replies often refer to much more than sound alone. Considerable details of the\u00a0non-sonic aspects of life are given \u2013 places, time, memories, emotions, and personal routines.\u00a0They all emphasise how closely aural perception is integrated into daily experience as a whole\u00a0and that all our senses and sensibilities are involved in interacting with the sound environment.\u00a0For me the interdependence of all our senses has significant implications for soundscape,\u00a0and indeed all, planning and design. Visual and other information influences how we hear, as much as hearing influences visual, and other, perceptions. The look of a street, square, park or neighbourhood affects how it is heard just as its soundscape will affect how it is seen and experienced.<\/p>\n
The project also emphasises the importance of variety within city soundscapes. Almost\u00a0nobody\u2019s favourite sound is exactly the same as anyone else\u2019s. Collectively we are aware of\u00a0and register the sonic details of everyday experience. This strongly suggests that successful\u00a0sound environments \u2013 ones generally appreciated and that feel welcoming \u2013 are those with a\u00a0good sonic diversity. There is something for almost everyone despite the wide range of individual\u00a0preferences. It supports the idea that enhancing sonic diversity and sonic detail should\u00a0be priorities when future soundscapes are being planned.<\/p>\n
This text is originally published in \u201eBerlin Sonic Places: A Brief guide\u201c, edited by: DAAD Artists-in-Berlin programm, Julia Gerlach and Peter Cusack, page 85-88. 2017.<\/em>
\nISBN: 978-3-95593-083-7<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat is your favourite sound of Berlin, and why?\u201d is the question at the heart of the Berlin\u00a0Favourite Sounds Project. It is simple to ask, but not so straightforward to answer. It is an\u00a0attempt to discover what we find positive about, and how we interact with, the sounds of the\u00a0cities and neighbourhoods where we live […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-unkategorisiert"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=200"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1457,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/200\/revisions\/1457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/clb-berlin.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}