This is a list of links to online content (audio, pictures, text, “media”) documenting and commenting on the sonic environment during Spring 2020.
As there is a huge amount of content scattered in the web, this is not in any way close to being exhaustive but a resource and a memo you can use. Also as you can clearly see, the list reflects my place in the world (I live in Finland), my research interests, language skills and search engine algorithm bias.
If there is something you’d like to see on the list, please write a comment below.
Thank you for all who contributed to the list, much appreciated!
Corona sound map projects
- Radio Aporee Project Corona
https://aporee.org/maps/work/projects.php?project=corona - Cities and memory: #StayHomeSounds
https://citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds/ - Covid-19 Sound Map by Pete Stollery: https://earth.google.com/web/@31.61265225,32.75149559,8133.66958234a,25017742.90688754d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=MicKJQojCiExN0MwN3o5Y1JIOV8ycjRXOE5IYmlYSkt0cDVFMHBCcl86AwoBMA [Chrome browser needed]
- Sound Outside Map: Listening to the world at Covid-19 Time
https://www.soundesign.info/2020/03/28/the-sound-outside/ - Locus Sonus, real time audio streaming
http://locusonus.org/soundmap - Muuttuvat suomalaiset äänimaisemat Listening Map: Poikkeuksellinen kevät 2020: http://kartta.aanimaisemat.fi/projects
- Locate your sound, Italian Covid-19 sound map: https://locateyoursound.com/paesaggi-sonori-italiani-covid19
(see also related essay: https://ilmanifesto.it/covid-19-il-ritmo-del-silenzio/) - Several recordings (Grenoble) and soundwalks (Turin) on Cartophonies during confinement (search year 2020):
https://www.cartophonies.fr/ - Sound recordings from Fukushima and Sendai, Japan, by Koji Nagahata: https://www.sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp/~nagahata/covid-sp/index-e.html
- Freesound Audio Database, with the search word “covid”:
https://freesound.org/search/?q=covid - Based on the list collated by Society for Ethnomusicology members of hundreds of corona themes songs around the world, Elise Heinisch has made a very accessible map: https://padlet.com/eliseheinisch/a_global_coronavirus_playlist (Because of “national education system she has had to filter certain songs which could be viewed as religious, political, or otherwise controversial”, so it now contains 139 songs from the list. The list keeps growing substantially.)
- Lisbon sound postcards in times of Covid-19, a tourist city without tourists: http://www.soundsoftourism.pt/soundpostcards-in-times-of-covid-19-confinement/
Articles or blog posts about “change in soundscape” or similar
- The quiet life, article on The Monthly:
https://www.themonthly.com.au/…/nicola-redhouse/quiet-life - Article on Toronto Star:
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/04/18/in-these-disquieting-covid-19-time-hushed-cities-are-making-a-loud-impression-on-our-ears.html - Scientific Sonification – The Sound of Corona, essay by Holger Schulze:
http://passiveaggressive.dk/scientific-sonification-the-sound-of-corona/ - Less seismic vibration on Earth (YLE, in Finnish, references Nature journal):
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11295684 - Birds sing louder (Iltalehti, in Finnish, references Reuters):
https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/70a94312-3615-48a4-a33d-ccef6de2100e - Reduced marine noise (The Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/27/silence-is-golden-for-whales-as-lockdown-reduces-ocean-noise-coronavirus - Essay on Istanbul, by Burcu Yasin:
https://terrabayt.com/expat-life/the-soundscape-of-covid-19-in-istanbul/ - Essay on various places, by Matt Mikkelsen
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/changing-sound-of-cities - The bagpipes at Lauttasaari, Helsinki (in Finnish):
https://www.lauttasaari.fi/suurenmoinen-sakkipillinainen-esiin-soitan-kannustukseksi-ja-valittamisen-osoitukseksi/ - Silent Helsinki (YLE, in Finnish):
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11259414 - Silent Kuopio (YLE, in Finnish):
https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11313383 - Not so silent Helsinki (HS, in Finnish, mentions the legendary Corona Bar):
https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/art-2000006449033.html - Silent day care centers (MTV, in Finnish):
https://www.mtv.fi/sarja/kevennys-10-4-2020-33001002004/korona-on-hiljentanyt-paivakodit-ja-paasiaisaskartelu-on-jaanyt-vahaiselle-aleksin-paivakotitadit-askartelivat-ikkunaan-lasten-paasiaisvisan-1243021 - Silence retreats by Tampere parishes are cancelled between March-May (in Finnish):
https://tampereenseurakunnat.fi/tutki_uskoa/retriittielamaa/retriittikalenteri - Music for corona generation (in Dutch):
https://www.thisisourhouse.nl/features/muziek-voor-een-corona-generatie/ - Seismograf article compilation on sounds of 2020, essays collected through a writing competition (Lyden af 2020, in Danish): https://seismograf.org/fokus/lyden-af-2020
- A collection of written experiences with the sonic environment during lockdown (in English and Dutch): https://urbansoundlab.nl/listening-to-the-city-in-times-of-corona/ (see also the related open call: https://soundtrackcity.net/open-call-how-do-you-experience-a-quieter-city/
- A blog by field recordist Arnoud Traa in Amsterdam: https://deauditievedienst.tumblr.com/ (tags #corona recordings and #coronarecordings)
Silence in pictures: empty cities photo reportages
- Istanbul (Sabah, in Turkish): https://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/yasam/istanbulda-korona-sessizligi/13
- Istanbul (Milliyet, in Turkish): https://www.milliyet.com.tr/galeri/corona-virus-sessizligi-istanbulu-hic-boyle-gormediniz-6173749/1
- London (Financial Times): https://www.ft.com/content/e2b314aa-69d2-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3
- Segovia (El Norte de Castilla, in Spanish): https://www.elnortedecastilla.es/segovia/estridente-silencio-ciudad-20200405121429-nt.html
- Paris (Le Point, in French): https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/en-images-coronavirus-paris-ville-morte-17-03-2020-2367562_23.php
Social media videos / streams of sounding out, playing, singing that have caught my attention
- How I’m Handling Online Teaching (Original Screaming Teacher Video)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy_y9yOrgxk - HUS (Helsinki University Hospital) doctors choir (in Finnish):
https://www.nly.fi/pida-huolta/ - Saturday evening music by Lauttasaari church, Piia Maunula on baroque oboe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHJndfPdUA0
- The Lahti Symphony Orchestra: Sibelius: Finlandia op 26
https://youtu.be/Sh1L-8T5hu0 - Virtuaalikuoro (Virtual Choir project, in Finnish)
https://www.facebook.com/virtuaalikuoro/ - Vaskivuoren lukion kuoro (Vaskivuori High School virtual choir, in Finnish):
https://www.vantaa.fi/uutisia/101/0/150216 and
https://youtu.be/OrThp_wFI7k - Covid-19 parody songs FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2717954571809688/
- Darude Sandstorm on your balcony (in Finnish), FB group with videos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/669917093758944/
- Video from early March with a hazmat dancer and people cheering in Spain: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=521289605463875&id=361430174733
- Balcony scene from Germany, a commentary on balcony singing: https://mobile.twitter.com/MusicIsPeople/status/1239500328862695425 (Searching social media platforms with “balcony singing” provides lots of videos.)
- Spectral Electric: Pandemic Response Division album
https://spectralelectric.bandcamp.com/album/pandemic-response-division - Alex Ross essay on pianist Igor Levit’s home concerts:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/igor-levit-is-like-no-other-pianist
Research projects or surveys about the same subject
- Year of Sound 2020 response to Covid-19:
https://sound2020.org/news/soundscape-under-covid-19-and-wiki-for-sound/ - Silent Cities: A participatory monitoring programme of an exceptional modification of urban soundscapes:
https://renoir.hypotheses.org/files/2020/03/Silent·Cities-Project.pdf - Survey by Paola Moscoso:
https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/RQ69GXZ - The Hellenic Society for Acoustic Ecology’s International Survey: https://forms.gle/tHd4WZ3EgKXx7smz7
- The Collegium Hungaricum Berlin Open Call for making a collective soundscape compositions:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2489926544601566/ - Invitation for sound contributions for Live Release, open call:
https://livereleaseconvergence.tumblr.com/
Sound art works on the subject
- A radiophonic sound work “Poikkeusaika” by Taina Riikonen on life in quarantine: https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-50513054
- “Poikkeustila” soundscape work by Mikko Haapoja under the project The routes of Helsinki (Helsingin reitit): http://mikkohaapoja.net/helsinginreitit/poikkeustila.htm
