TRAINS - Prolegomenon to A Soundscape Ecology

I have been a lover of trains for as long as I can remember. I happened to have lived more or less next to train tracks for most of my life and so for whatever reason, I decided that I would be fascinated by trains. Really, I have to admit, it's the sounds they make.

Today I was noticing the effects that trains have on the immediate environs. The vibrations are so intense, a large - and long - cargo train passing by has a really extensive effect on the immediate ecoscape around it.

For one, you can notice how the bird life has had to adapt to the passing of trains. I have to say that trains do not pass all that often here, but you do get one every hour or so, give or take, if you include passenger trains. It's interesting though to see how birds have adapted to the passenger trains in late afternoon and early evening. At least that's what I was studying earlier today.

This is after all a Prolegomenon TOWARDS an eventual full-blown soundscape ecology of the regions that I have lived in, of this place I call home, in Quebec, Canada, in the so-called Greater Montreal Region. I wanted to start it off talking about trains mainly because I was doing some Soundwalking today and made some fine recordings that I am happy to have in my personal archive. Secondly, though, I really have always been mesmerized by the sound of passing trains and lived my life around the train tracks between Montreal and the South Shore, so that's another reason I wanted to start with trains.

All I will add for now is that it's really arduous work, the soundscaping. It's not a technical problem any more of actually making the recordings, in fact I've ceased being obsessed with sound quality. I do it mainly for collecting so many pointers, audio references. I know I can make the professional quality recordings any time I want. When I go soundwalking it's for another purpose. These are philosophical walks, what I like to call speculative "random walks". They are voyages deep into my environs, studying every last sound with meticulous care, systematically cataloguing the sounds and sonic experiences of my everyday life and the ambient world around me.

In any case, you will be surprised by the scale and scope of my undertaking, going on 20 years working with environments, sounds, technology. It is unique in the world and is slowly being unveiled day after day. I'm good for the next 40 years with the reference materials that I have put together. I hope you are thirsty to hear what I've been up to. As always, thanks for dropping in.


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