Creating a soundscape with three environmental sounds is very close to the ethics of a haiku. The minimalist poetry form can be used to express a fleeting moment in the simplest terms, yet still contains an element of the abiding memory of the event. It becomes a distillation of the archetype of the moment.
Using a Random Haiku Generator the following poetry is created…
1. a bit of paper
carried on the summer breeze
makes the children smile
2. hungry coyote
stops to enjoy the sunlight
imagining warmth
From the first example I would extract and find sources for the rustle of paper, the blowing of a light breeze and the laughter of children. This would create the audio representation of the haiku but would be perceived as a narrative, as if listening to the moment when the haiku was written.
With the second example it becomes more difficult to represent the moment using source sounds, the suns heat or warmth or the coyote’s hunger cannot be picked up with a microphone. It can be seen that simply documenting the moment as a recording is not enough.
The haiku also cannot simply list a set of aspects from the scene. It must be tailored so that only specific aspects are mentioned and by their harmony or contrast produce a meaning that is not explicit in the text.
Therefore, a haiku can be constructed to depict a certain moment and then three sounds that are extrapolated from that time can be used. The soundscape becomes an audible haiku-using very strict and simple rules, the three sounds can be combined and mixed. The choice of sounds, the ease of identifying them and their order elicit a response in the listener who must process them in terms of their own exformation. Forming their own pattern and conclusions as to meaning.
the alert feline
waits for the sound of plastic
to call her to eat
