A SOUNDWALK OF CUBAO, QUEZON CITY : AN ACOUSTIC SURVEY
BY ROBIN DANIEL Z. RIVERA
10 April 2003
SOCIOLOGY 282 - QUALITATIVE METHODS IN SOCIAL RESEARCH
DR. CLEMEN AQUINO
OBJECTIVES
The study shall attempt to develop a qualitative study of the acoustic nature of Cubao, Quezon City. This study will use sound recordings obtained by the researcher as the primary source of the study. It will focus on sounds in which some form of communication is achieved. This includes human communication such as vocal and body sounds, as well as non-human sounds that can be interpreted as having the ability to indicate specific events and conditions of the environment.
The diversity in the types of traffic and land use of this area is the main attraction to this researcher. And it is hypothesized that the diversity of the landscape and soundscape may provide valuable information about the different types of aural, social interaction that occurs in urban areas such as this in Quezon City.
PROFILE OF CUBAO, QUEZON CITY
Cubao is well known as a major commercial and trasnportation hub of the Quezon City area. Aurora Boulevard bisects the district and carries a variety of small to medium sized vehicles like automobiles, AUVs jeepneys and, to a lesser extent, heavy vehicles such as buses and trucks. It also carries the MRT 4 overhead light rail commuter train, which while the tracks had been completed along the Cubao area, it was not yet operational at this time. South of Aurora Boulevard, the Araneta Center has been the commercial hub of this area since the 1950's. The 35-hectare property is owned and developed by the Araneta family. It houses several commercial landmarks such as the Araneta Coliseum. The Center enjoyed much success from the 1960's to the 1970's. But competing commercial centers such as the Ayala center in Makati, and the Ortigas Center in San Juan/Pasig have overtaken it in popularity and stature. In 2001, the Quezon City government and the Araneta Center jointly started the Metro Centro Quezon City Development Plan, the first phase of which concentrates on restoring competitiveness to the Center by redeveloping the commercial and civil infrastructure.
To the north of Aurora Boulevard is a predominantly middle and lower class residential area. There are a variety of house structures ranging from single detached units, to apartments, to squatter shanties. This, and other residential areas in Cubao are targets of Phase 2 and 3 of the Metro Centro Quezon City Development Plan, which will involves the developement of intermediate, personal and neighborhood commercial facilities, redevelop the road network, and relocate squatters. Since 2001, the only noticeable development in this area is the repair of some roads in the system. The western boundary of both these areas is EDSA. Previously known as the C-3 Circumferential Road, Highway 54, and Epifanio De Los Santos Avenue, EDSA is a national road that literally splits Quezon City in two. EDSA carries an even wider variety of vehicular traffic, from automobiles, to buses, to the fully operational MRT3 overhead light rail commuter train.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
In the Philippines, relatively little attention has been given to the study of sound in the environment. Most acoustic surveys have been aimed at controlling the acoustic characteristics of building interiors. Environmental impact studies conducted for DENR environmental compliance typically pay more attention to projected land use and and air quality before, during, and after construction. Sound and noise levels are rarely measured, and projections are limited only to the changes occurring during construction. construction. An article of the Inquirer newspaper (Salazar, 2003), quotes a recent national study by the University of the Philippines College of Public Health that focused on occupational noise exposure. It cites permissible noise exposure levels set by the Department of Labor and Employment. But the framework and the standards for both the study and the guidelines seem to be based on studies and legislation formulated by western institutions such as the Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S.A. While the study is laudable, it is one of a very few of its kind in the Philippines. Partly because of the lack of research, media coverage pertaining to environmental and occupational noise such as this is few and far between. The dearth of environmental acoustic surveys (both quantitative and qualitative) in the Philippines has prompted this researcher to take action. This study is therefore important because it aims to stimulate the practice of conducting such surveys. The results may also be used as baseline data in exploring the relationship of the sound environment with social and cultural interaction.
RELATED LITERATURE
One of the main conceptual "schools" in the field of acoustic methods comes from the World Soundscape Project. Based in the Simon Fraiser University of Vancouver, Canada, the WSP aimed to document and codify "earwitness acounts" of sound environments around the world, and explore the theoretical understanding of listening and acoustic communication. Among its proponents are musicians R. Murray Schafer and Glenn Gould, and interdisciplinary professor Barry Truax.
One of the pivotal concepts of this school is the "soundscape". This refers to "an environment of sound (or sonic environment) with emphasis on the way it is perveived and understood by an individual or by a society" (Truax 1999). The WSP solidified the interdisciplinary framework of the study for the study of soundscapes by introducing such concepts as soundscape ecology, acoustic communication, and soundscape design.
Issues pertaining to acoustic research methods in the social sciences are also tangentially related to those of other non-text based methods such as those of photography, moving pictures, and multimedia. Rob Walker (in Bryman and Burgess 1999, p.279-301) and Paul Henley (in Bryman and Burgess, p. 302-322) decry the relative lack of development and utilization of visual methods (and multimedia) in qualitative research. Both imply that the use of visual data and presentations has been more associated with the physical sciences than in the social sciences. This is because the use of recording instruments such as cameras and sound recording equipment have been perceived as technological tools that are are more suited to the presentation of material data, than the "thinking" tools (such as text) that are the enlave of social scientists. This has been complimented by those in the humanities that have long developed and utilized frameworks and methods to analyze visual and acoustic works and data.
But while the social sciences have seemingly focused most of its energies on "forcing ideas into words" (Walker, p. 280), there are still those who have managed to develop methods and strategies that use visual images to account for societies and cultures that have become increasingly visually oriented.
Banks (2003) mentions four approaches to the use of visual data by social scientists: 1) visual records produced by the researcher, 2) visual records produced by those under study, 3) collaborative representations, and 4) and the examination of pre-existing visual representations.
METHOD
The study will make use of a "soundwalk". A soundwalk is defined as "A form of active participation in the soundscape. Though variations are many, the essential purpose of the soundwalk is to encourage the participant to listen discriminately, and moreover, to make critical judgements about the sounds heard and their contribution to the balance or imbalance of the sonic environment." (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Soundscape.html) This method that involves the researcher walking through a particular area and collecting various sounds that occur at different times of the day. The researcher then categorizes these sounds depending on the source and/or their nature. It must be stressed that the particular version of the soundwalk used in this study will be based primarily on the sound recording. While some data will rest on the researcher's sensory experiences during the soundwalk, the primary data set will come from the recording.
The recordings made use of a MiniDisc (MD) digital sound recorder (Sony MZ-R70), and a Roland DR-181 dynamic cardioid microphone. The recording were then copied, or “burned” to a writable Compact Disc (CD-R).
THE ROUTE
The route is subdivided into fifteen sections, the start of each is marked by a point on the above map. The points on the map also correspond to index marks on the CD. This will enable the researcher/listener to randomly access any section of the soundwalk route on the CD. The route is approximately three kilometers long. The soundwalk took forty-one minutes, and was done on 3 January 2003, from 11:42 am to 12:24 pm. The researcher was walking at approximately 4 kilometers per hour.
The route begins in (1) front of the east entrance to Rustan’s Superstore. It proceeds south to (2) the corner of Yale st. and Gen.McArthur st. The researcher crossed the street to the north side of Ali Mall 1, then proceeded to (3) the corner of Gen. McArthur and Timesquare streets. Walking along the front of the north side of SM Cubao, the researcher crossed the street again to the south side of Fiesta Carnival until approaching (4) Gen. McArthur corner Gen. Aguinaldo st. The route continues through to (5) the corner of Gen. McArthur and Gen. Araneta, and (6) the corner of Gen. McArthur and EDSA. Now heading north though EDSA, the route crosses (7) General Rojas, (8) Aurora Boulevard’s south-east corner, (9) Aurora Boulevard’s north-east corner, and (10) New York Avenue. Heading east on New York, the route turns south on Imperial street (11), and continues past Columbia street (12). At the end of Imperial st. the reasercher crossed Aurora boulevard and headed east (13). The route then turned south on Yale (14), crossed Gen. Malvar (15), and finally arrived back at the starting point in front of the east entrance to Rustan’s Superstore.
SUPPORTING IMAGES
The study will generate two main supporting visual materials. These are:
1. Surface map of the surveyed area - the map contains the surveyed area, taken from the 2000 edition of the “Metro Manila Street-Map” published by National Bookstore Inc.
2. Spectrogram of each CD track - a spectral graph, or spectrogram of each track on the cd will be created using COOLEDIT audio software. In the spectrogram used for this study, the y-axis represents audio frequencies, and the x-axis represents time. Silence is represented by darker colors (in this case, dark blue) and increasing loudness levels provokes brighter colors starting from purple, to red, to pink, to yellow, to white. The spectrograms will be presented together with the corresponding morphological discussion of each section of the route.
LIMITATIONS
One of the major limitations of the soundwalk is that the absolute loudness of the sound environment will not be measured. This requires another method known as Isobel mapping. Such mapping takes timed noise level measurements in specific points of the soundwalk, and computes the average noise level in each point. This lone researcher can not simultaneously operate the MD recorder and take readings because this needs two sets of devices, which cannot be operated by just one person. But since the focus of the study was biased towards the quality, types, and interactions of sound objects in the environment, this empirical method was dispensed with.
Another limitation is the microphone used. The Roland DR-181 is a typical dynamic cardioid microphone does not have a "flat" frequency response, and is less sensitive to extreme low and high frequencies than middle frequencies. Microphones capable of absolute uniform frequency response are extremely costly, bulky, and require external power sources that compromise portability. But since the frequency response of the average human ear is also not uniform, this microphone can still capture frequencies that the human ear is most sensitive to. The Roland microphone represents a reasonable compromise between cost and portability , with spectral uniformity.
Another main limitation has to do with listening to the recording. Practically all natural environments have their own ambient sounds. Therefore, to listen to the recording, the researcher must effectively shut out majority, if not all of the natural ambient sound in order to hear the recording properly. This researcher has taken the following strategies. First, the listening could only be done in a relatively closed environment, like a quiet room. Second, listening was conducted at a time of day when ambient sound is at a minimum, like late at night. Third, to further isolate the recorded sound, the researcher used a closed headset system composed of 1) “ear-bud” type earphones, and 2) a closed-type noise protection headset over the earphones. Fourth, because of the unnatural nature of the listening environment, the researcher had to be conscious of the detrimental effects of listening fatigue. Each listening session could either only be one continuous playback of the whole recording, or listening of individual sections without exceeding the point at which fatigue set in. The loudness level was also controlled so as not to induce fatigue or temporary deafness.
Despite these measures, this researcher has pinpointed some remaining sources of noise, namely 1) low level ambient sound that manages to leak into the researchers playback system, 2) system noise generated by the recording and playback devices, and 3) natural body sounds such as heartbeat, and “ringing” in the ears due to either listening fatigue or neural system hum. While these sounds may be masked by the recording, they remain a potential source of noise. But by identifying these, it is hoped that the researcher can relegate them into the background so as not to adversely affect the listening process.
DEFINITIONS - The study will make use of several technical terms. All terms are taken from the Handbook of Acoustic Ecology, 2nd edition. CD-ROM version 1.1.
ACOUSTIC HORIZON - “The farthest distance in every direction from which sounds may be heard. Incoming sounds from distant sources define the outer limits over which acoustic communication may normally occur, and thus help to define the perceived geographical relationships between communities.
SOUND SIGNALs from one community, for instance, may penetrate others. The importance of their signalling function usually diminishes, but they also act as a reminder of the various ways in which the separate communities are related. In some communities, a change in the perceived acoustic horizon, such as when a certain bell or other distant sound is particularly noticeable, has a predictable meaning as a weather forecast. Since the definition of an acoustic horizon depends on the perception of quiet sounds, it is highly susceptible to change by SOUND INTRUSIONs and other MASKing sounds. These reduce the distance of what can be heard, a characteristic shrinkage that runs parallel to that of the acoustic profile of sound signals with the rising AMBIENT NOISE of communities (see ACOUSTIC SPACE, LO-FI). Acoustic links between communities and parts of communities are now often replaced by ELECTROACOUSTIC and media links.” (Truax 1999,\Html Files\Acoustic_Horizon.html)
SOUND SIGNALs from one community, for instance, may penetrate others. The importance of their signalling function usually diminishes, but they also act as a reminder of the various ways in which the separate communities are related. In some communities, a change in the perceived acoustic horizon, such as when a certain bell or other distant sound is particularly noticeable, has a predictable meaning as a weather forecast. Since the definition of an acoustic horizon depends on the perception of quiet sounds, it is highly susceptible to change by SOUND INTRUSIONs and other MASKing sounds. These reduce the distance of what can be heard, a characteristic shrinkage that runs parallel to that of the acoustic profile of sound signals with the rising AMBIENT NOISE of communities (see ACOUSTIC SPACE, LO-FI). Acoustic links between communities and parts of communities are now often replaced by ELECTROACOUSTIC and media links.” (Truax 1999,\Html Files\Acoustic_Horizon.html)
AMBIENCE or AMBIANCE - “The background sound of an environment in relation to which all foreground sounds are heard, such as the 'SILENCE' of an empty room, conversation in a restaurant, or the stillness of a forest. Ambience is actually comprised of many small sounds, near and far, which generally are heard as a composite, not individually. Also called ambient noise.” (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Ambience.html)
KEYNOTES - “In SOUNDSCAPE studies, keynote sounds are those which are heard by a particular society continuously or frequently enough to form a background against which other sounds are perceived. Examples might be the sound of the sea for a maritime community or the sound of the internal combustion engine or HUMs in the modern city. Often keynote sounds are not consciously perceived, but they act as conditioning agents in the perception of other SOUND SlGNALs. They have accordingly been likened to the ground in the figure-ground relationship of visual perception. (Truax. 1999. \Html Files\Keynote.html)
MORPHOLOGY - The study of forms and structures. Originally employed in biology it was later (by 1869) employed in philology to refer to patterns of inflection and word formation. Applied to SOUNDSCAPE studies, it refers to changes in groups of sounds with similar forms or functions when considered historically or geographically. (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Morphology.html)
MASK OR MASKING - “The effect one sound has on another by making it harder or impossible to hear. Masking will also occur for a few milliseconds before and after the desired sound, these phenomena being termed forward and backward masking respectively.” (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Mask.html)
NOISE - “Etymologically the word can be traced back to Old French (noyse) and to 11th century Provençal (noysa, nosa, nausa), but its origin is uncertain. It has a variety of meanings and shadings of meaning, the most important of which are the following:
1. Unwanted sound: The Oxford English Dictionary contains references to noise as unwanted SOUND dating back as far as 1225.
2. Unmusical sound: The 19th century physicist Hermann von Helmholtz employed the term 'noise' to describe sound composed of non-PERIODIC vibrations (e.g. the rustling of leaves), by comparison with musical sounds, which consist of periodic vibrations. Noise is still used in this sense in expressions such as BROAD BAND NOISE, GAUSSIAN NOISE, NARROW BAND NOISE, RANDOM NOISE, RUSTLE NOISE or WHITE NOISE.
3. Any loud sound: In general usage today, noise often refers to particularly loud sounds. In this sense a noise abatement by-law prohibits certain loud sounds or establishes their permissible limits in DECIBELs. See: JET PAUSE, LOUDNESS, NOISE POLLUTION, SOUND INTRUSION, SOUND POLLUTION.
4. Disturbance in any COMMUNICATION system: In electronics and engineering, noise refers to any disturbances which do not represent part of the SIGNAL, such as static on a telephone or 'snow' on a television screen. See: BACKGROUND NOISE, SIGNAL-TO-NOISE RATIO. Compare: REDUNDANCY.
The most satisfactory definition of noise for general use is still 'unwanted sound'. This makes noise a subjective term: one person's music may be another's noise. But it also provides the opportunity for a society to come to a general agreement as to which sounds constitute unwanted intrusions.” (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Noise.html)
SOUNDMARK - “A term derived from 'landmark' used in SOUNDSCAPE studies to refer to a community sound which is unique, or possesses qualities which make it specially regarded or noticed by the people in that community. Soundmarks, therefore, are of cultural and historical significance and merit preservation and protection.” (Truax 1999. \Html Files\Soundmark.html)
SOUNDSCAPE - “An environment of SOUND (or sonic environment) with emphasis on the way it is perceived and understood by the individual, or by a society. It thus depends on the relationship between the individual and any such environment. The term may refer to actual environments, or to abstract constructions such as musical compositions and tape montages, particularly when considered as an artificial environment.” (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Soundscape.html)
TYPOLOGY- The classification of sounds according to form and function. For instance, sounds may be classified according to their origin (natural, human, man-made), their function in the SOUNDSCAPE (e.g., SOUND SIGNAL, KEYNOTE, SOUNDMARK), or their context (for instance, with speech sounds, the contexts of interview, story-telling, conversation, recitation, etc.). (Truax 1999, \Html Files\Typology.html)
FINDINGS
The findings will be divided into two main parts. The first, typological section, will classify and discuss the types of sounds in the recording according to forms and functions. The second, morphological section will discuss the relations of the various sounds, both within a specific area of the route, as well as from one area to the next.
TYPOLOGY
VOCAL COMMUNICATION
In most cases, human vocal sounds carry specific communicative purpose or intent. The recording, for example contains several instances of such communication. One type is short-range conversation. Because of the intimate nature of such communication, these sounds have a relatively short acoustic horizon. While the recording did manage to pick up quite a number of conversations, it was hard to make out exactly what people were actually saying. This could be because the recording, as well as the people conversing, were moving towards, then away from each other. There is therefore no way of determining the context of the conversation that had been happening over a long period of time. Also, keynote sounds tend to mask the some phonetic sounds, mostly consonants. Another observation about most of the conversations in the recording is that they come in brief sentences and phrases. In only a few cases were there recorded conversations spoken in a long stream.
On the other hand, another type of human communication are “broadcast” messages. Some examples of these are “barker” calls at jeepney and bus stops, and street vendor calls. These are quite different from interpersonal conversation. First, these broadcast messages are not aimed at specific persons, and must have a farther acoustic horizon. This creates a type of voice that can be described as more shrill and nasal than short-range conversation. This allows the sound to counteract the masking effects of keynote sounds. Such broadcast messages are delivered in either short bursts, or rhythmic patterns. This could be in order to create redundancy, and ensure comprehension. The ironic thing about broadcast messages is that sometimes, the performance associated with such messages sometimes become “stylized”. In order to call the attention of potential clients, the barker uses such a distinctive way of talking that the words become obscured. While the barker manages to call attention, it is not always clear what the content of the message is.
In between the two were long-range interpersonal communication. The type of voice used in these resembled broadcast messages. The exchange of such communication is usually short bursts of words and phrases like broadcast messages. This is most likely due to the fact that this mode is merely used to call the attention of the target receiver, and is finished once the individuals approach each other.
Each of these types of natural human vocal communication is subject to masking. Short-range conversation is the most prone to this effect. One can only speculate how many vocal sounds were masked in the recording. But the recording equipment does not selectively discriminate sounds like the human hearing system. So any masking would be caused by physical factors, and not psychological ones.
In addition to natural vocal sounds, there are amplified vocal sounds as well. These are present specially when keynote sounds are relatively loud. In most cases, the amplification adds not only loudness, but considerable distortion as well.
MECHANICAL, ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATION
There are a number of mechanical, electrical, and electronic sounds that could be considered communicative in nature. These usually stand out from keynote sounds, but are not fixed to any one position like sound marks.
One ubiquitous example is the automotive horn. In most cases, horns are used as devices to signal the coming of, or presence of a vehicle. This is important, specially for public utility vehicles, because it alerts potential commuters/customers to the availability of space. The loudest sound in the entire recording comes from a bus that blew its horn within a few meters of the microphone (see track 6, EDSA corner Gen. McArthur). It is hard to image how something that loud could escape anyone’s attention. There are an endless variety of horns. They vary in pitch, timbre, and in the number of simultaneous tones. One-tone and two-tone horns are the most common. There are also two types based on function. The first type is the electro-mechanical type that is similar in design to an audio speaker. These are usually high-pitched and have a relatively shrill timbre. The sound also comes on and off rather abruptly. The other type is the air-horn, which uses compressed air, and is similar in function to a musical wind instrument such as, literally, a horn or trumpet. The sound builds up and dies out more slowly than its electric counterpart, but has a richer and more brassy timbre. While this is usually associated with larger vehicles such as buses, some jeepneys have smaller versions of them.
Sirens are another device that are capable of rising above the keynote. For example, from track 5 to 7, the siren, or wang-wang from a police motorcycle or haggad can be heard almost continuously. Legally, sirens are reserved for vehicles belonging to either law enforcement entities, emergency ambulance services, or high government employees. These are used to alert others on the street to give way because of either an emergency situation, or the authority of the passenger. But on the street, this is not always true. There are sirens coming from vehicles that do not fit either of these categories. Such sirens are not as loud as the one from the haggad, but can still be called sirens because of the melodic nature of the sound. One example comes from jeepneys. The sound is more like whistling because they lack lower frequencies, and are not as robustly loud as “legitimate” sirens. But these, in addition to horns, are another signal to commuters of the arrival of a jeepney.
Finally, various forms of recorded music and voice can be heard throughout the route. One essential function, specially in the commercial areas, is to call public attention to commercial activity. For example, some stalls and vendors along the route were selling music recordings such as CDs, cassettes, and VCD’s. So the stores and vendors would play sample of the merchandise. In other cases, the merchandise was not music-related, so the function was akin to merely creating commotion in order to call attention. In other cases, music was played to provide some sort of entertainment. While this may be obvious for music being played in the residential area of the route, this may also account for why it occurs among stores and vendors selling non-music-related products.
SOUNDMARKS
Truax’s definition of soundmarks refer to sounds that are recognized to have some historical significance to the community, and stimulate some kind of preservation efforts. While this is not within the immediate scope of this study, the concept can be extended to include sounds in a relatively fixed geographic position, that provide functional signals to the community.
A prime example of this type of sound is the jeepney barker. These people are usually semi-permantently situated in major jeepney stops where there is a high level of human traffic. They are valuable to jeepney drivers because they stimulate and control the influx of passengers. They also control the timing of the deployment of jeepneys along route. They may also serve as message centers between drivers, and for the driver/operators association. They are so valued that each driver pays the barker a fee, either proportionate to the number of passengers that embark, or fixed by an association of drivers and operators in the route. They are also important to the passengers because they are guided to the correct jeepney without having to visually search for the route signs within otherwise elaborate artwork. They also provide instant information on the remaining number of available seating places in the jeepney. The relatively fixed location of the barker, and the rich set of information provided in an aural form qualifies this as a soundmark in busy urban streets.
Another possible soundmark, specially along EDSA is the sound of the MRT train. These trains are programmed to arrive at regular intervals, and could potentially provide information on the passage of time. They are also highly audible amidst the urban keynote, so it is difficult to miss their arrival.
MORPHOLOGY
TRACK 1: (Southbound From The Front Of The East Entrance To Rustan’s Superstore along Yale street.)
The track commences with the researcher’s identification of location, date and time. The most prominent feature of the track is the intermittent passing of motor vehicles. These are articulated both by engine noise, and horns. This street is a main jeepney route. The timbres of vehicles vary widely. Some engines sound smooth, like if one pronounced the sound “SHHHHHHHHHH......”. Other engines sound course, like a long Hispanic rolled “r” . There is even the unique sound of diesel engines at idle, which sound like a rhythmic “TAKATAKATAK....”. There are a few fixed pitch and melodic horns, and one short wang-wang siren. Most of the vehicles are moving. This is probably due to the absence of a jeepney stop. The “legitimate” jeepney stop is a few hundred meters away, in front of the east entrance of Ali Mall. Less conspicuous are a few instances of human conversations. These are partly masked by vehicular and the keynote sounds. The keynote sounds are present but not dominant, and seem to be quite distant. Finally, a slight reverberation can be heard. This is due to the fact that the sidewalk is covered on one side and the top of the building. So sound is bouncing off these hard surfaces.
TRACK 2: (Westbound from the corner of Yale st. and Gen.McArthur st. along the north side of AliMall 1.)
The main difference between this and the preceeding track is that there is relatively less discrete vehicular noises. This is because there is no jeepney route in the street. Engine and sounds are smoother, and there are less horn sounds. Human conversations are more audible, but the content is still not clear. Footsteps are occasionally audible. Like track 1, there is also a slight reverberation because the area is bounded by the overhanging roof and side walls of the building. The keynote sound is relatively similar to track 1.
TRACK 3: (the corner of Gen. McArthur and Timesquare streets. Walking along the front of the north side of SM Cubao, the researcher crossed the street again to the south side of Fiesta Carnival)
This section of the route is slightly different from the previous section. The Keynote sound is more audible. Human conversation is also slightly more audible. This is probably because there is a greater number of people walking in the area. There are also more discrete motor vehicle sounds. One unique and clear sound was a bell from what is normally associated with itinerant Ice Cream vendors. The area has less reverberation because there was now no roof on which sounds could reflect. This resulted in increased detail of the sounds, but diminished the overall loudness.
TRACK 4: (Westbound along Gen. McArthur from the corner of Gen. Aguinaldo st.)
This section had more discrete motor vehicle sounds and horns that the previous section. There was a similar amount, detail and loudness of human conversation. There was one feint and distant instance of recorded music. Reverberation is no longer detectable because the area could be described as a “free-field” with no surrounding hard boundaries except the pavement on the ground.
TRACK 5: (Westbound along Gen. McArthur from the corner of Gen. Araneta)
The track starts with motor vehicles accelerating and decelerating. But this becomes more intermittent along the route. There is a major transition from a free-field environment to an semi-enclosed one, as this is now the side of the dry goods palenke section of the Farmers market. Human conversation was unusually clear, and discrete words could be understood. There is a slight tinge of reverberation, but this does not affect the clarity of the words. There was also more instances of recorded music. Keynote sounds were the same as the previous section, but for the first time, the sound of the MRT train could be heard. Also audible towards the end of the track was a wang-wang siren coming from a police motorcycle.
TRACK 6: (Starting from he corner of Gen. McArthur, heading north along EDSA.)
This track features a sudden and startling transition. First, the keynote sound increases dramatically. In addition to previous mechanical sounds coming from light and medium sized vehicles, buses have become prominent. The sound spectra of buses are relatively lower, and horns are louder with more complex timbres. Recorded music now also has a tinge of distortion due to greater loudness. Vocal sounds are also different. Those that can cut through the complexity of keynote sounds are higher pitched and seem more nasal. Ampified vocal sounds also make their debut in this section. Whatever other vocal sounds are there seem to sink into the keynote sound given their lack of high frequency content and loudness. The motorcycle police siren, which began in the previous section, has now become dominant. The siren seems to moving intermittently, but still remains dominant. As it moves farther, more reverberation is observable. This is because the area is now enclosed by the overhanging ceiling of the bus stop of Farmers Plaza, and the MRT track structure.
TRACK 7: (Northbound along EDSA crossing General Rojas st.)
This section begins much like the previous section. But halfway through, there is a significant transition from an enclosed field to a slightly free-field. This is because the only reflective boundary that remains by the end is the MRT track structure. Heavy vehicles sounds now mix with lighter vehicles. Human voices also begin to re-emerge, be they natural or amplified. One dominant amplified voice was a jeepney barker for the Balibago-Santa Rosa-Luguna route.
TRACK 8:(South-east corner of EDSA and Aurora Boulevard.)
There is now also a clear mix of motor and horn sounds of heavy vehicles such as buses, and medium vehicles such as jeepneys. This track opens with bus conductors calling passengers for the Monumento route, and a jeepney barker calling out for the Sta.Lucia route. These vehicles alternate between acceleration and idling. Conversation disappears and long-range vocal communication dominates. The area is practically a free-field, and the little reverberant sounds that do exist seem to be coming from a distance.
TRACK 9: (North-east corner of EDSA and Aurora Boulevard.)
This long section carries subtle but significant transitions. The vehicular sounds begin with vigorous acceleration and deceleration, and/or stable cruising speed. But the calling of bus conductors and jeepney barkers are significantly less. Eventually, some short and long range conversations that can be heard above keynote sounds are revealed.
TRACK 10:(Eastbound on New York st.)
This track contains another major transition in overall ambience. Gone are the sounds of large vehicles from EDSA. The keynote is reduced drastically as one goes deeper into what is primarily a residential area. The dominant vehicular sound is not the tricycle. The basic sounds of these small-displacement, two-stroke motorcycle engines can be described as high-pitched, steady sputtering. Their brakes make an even higher- pitched squealing sound. There are only occasional jeeps, and light vehicles.
TRACK 11: (Southbound along Imperial St from New York to Columbia sts.)
Aside from the intermittent sounds of tricycles and light vehicles, this is probably the quietest section of the route. The keynote sound is at its lowest. One can now hear voice sounds clearly, in spite of the fact that most are emanating from inside houses. Sounds associated with domestic work also abound. There are occasional instances of long-range vocal communication, the clearest being those from children and dogs.
TRACK 12: (Southbound along Imperial St from Columbia st. to Aurora Blvd.)
This section features a gradual but definite transition from the keynote-free residential area to the keynote-rich commercial district. Jeepneys, some buses, short and long-range conversation reassert themselves from the middle of the route onwards. The structural environment also changes. Aurora Blvd is enclosed by the MRT 4 track structure, and multi-story commercial buildings along the north side of the street.
TRACK 13: (Eastbound along Aurora Blvd. to Yale st.)
The track opens with the sound of loud and distorted recorded music and voices. It continues with intermittent motorized vehicles and horns, short and long range human conversations, and a significant keynote sound. The environment is highly reverberant, owing to the many hard structural boundaries along Aurora Blvd.
TRACK 14: (South bound along Yale Street from Aurora Blvd to Gen. Malvar st.)
In this section, keynote sounds fades away slightly as one goes farther from Aurora Blvd. Reverberation also diminishes as the environment becomes a relatively free-field. There is one source of recorded music at the start which is relatively clear , with only slight distortion. Jeepneys become the dominant motorized vehicle sound since this is a main jeepney route.
TRACK 15: (South bound along Yale Street Gen. Malvar st. to the east entrance of Rustan’s Superstore)
Various short and long-range human conversation makes a final comeback at the start of this section. One can also hear human footsteps. Intermittent jeepney sounds remain, as does recorded music, albeit at lower loudness levels.
TRACK 16: (Return to starting point: The Front Of The East Entrance To Rustan’s Superstore along Yale street.)
In this final track, the researcher identifies the time of the completion of the sound walk.
CONCLUSIONS
The urban landscape is also referred to as a “concrete jungle” because of the dominance of pavement over soil. In a sense, the urban soundscape is similar. One might argue that urbanization has forces out not only the presence of nature, but the sounds as well. For example, it may be difficult to find birds in the middle of the Cubao MRT station, but if there are any at all there, it would be even more difficult to hear them. But urbanization is not a one-dimensional, homogeneous construct. This study shows that there are not only numerous audible components in an urban soundscape, but a number of combinations of these components, brought about by such variables as land use, architectural structures, human and vehicular traffic, commercial activity, and residency.
The study has also revealed how people have adapted to the soundscape in order to maintain the ability to communicate. Two main strategies are revealed here. What has become the more predictable strategy is to “fight fire with fire”, people using machines to rise above the noise produced by machines. Public address systems and other playback systems are used to stand out of a soundscape cluttered with the sound of motorized vehicles. While this strategy may work, problems may ensue. The uncontrolled escalation of mechanical and electronic sound leads to numbness and insensitivity, and in extreme cases rejection and avoidance. This true for amplified, recorded music. In some cases, loud music may attract the curious. But in time, the endless, distorted nature of the sound may result in repelling potential customers. In the start of the CD’s track 13, for example, the loud recorded music did not attract any onlookers, and even served as a deterrent to the few people passing through the store. The same is true for track 14 which featured a tent selling pirated CD and VCD discs. It attracted little attention, and people seemed to want to rush through the place because the music was too loud. The use of amplified music and sound may have become ubiquitous in commercial areas, but its effectivity in promoting sales, by itself, may be considered suspect . Amplified human communication is a different story altogether. Such form usually came in rhythmic but intermittent bursts, with rests in between. This allows the listener to intermittently recover from the high loudness, and resist rejection brought about by monotony. The amplified jeepney barker in track 7 contains just enough melodic, and rhythmic variety to prevent it from becoming unduly overbearing.
But long distance, vocal communication has provided a pleasant surprise. It is remarkable that this is still at all practised. The oppression of the predominantly mechanical keynote, and the lure of electronic amplification has not dimmed the use of, the need for, or the variety of vocal stylings by jeepney barkers and bus conductors (on track 8), and itinerant vendors. This seems to have become a thriving, distinct feature of the Philippine urban soundscape. This is a field that should warrant further research.
On the other end of Cubao, the soundscape of the residential area reveals a type of “openness”. The fact that domestic sounds can be heard clearly from the middle of the street implies a number of things. First, it means that the houses are acoustically transparent, with few barriers to control external sound going in, or internal sounds going out. Second, it could also mean that the houses are very close to the street. This would probably not be the case in more affluent neighborhoods where lots are larger, houses can be situated farther from the street, and structures posses more rigid, insulating walls.
Another major observation from the residential area is how the keynote gradually diminishes until the center of the area where it all but disappears. This is surprising considering the fact that the Araneta Center is only about one kilometer away. The acoustic horizon of the mechanically induced keynote would therefore seems rather small. This is ironic considering that the keynote by itself tends to reduce the acoustic horizon of all sounds within itself. But this is heartening because it proves that the urban soundscape does contain areas wherein relative quiet is possible, within a relatively short distance from commercial areas.
The soundscape of Cubao is unique in a number of ways. But it does provide possible clues for the soundscapes of other areas. Probably the most important generalization that can be drawn from this is that people have somehow managed to formulate a variety of viable forms of short and long range communication that can deal with the problems of the uncontrolled escalation of electro-mechanical noises. Whether these forms are instinctive or designed, they are thriving and are seemingly evolving. But it is difficult to speculate how long such forms can continue to sidestep the powers of technology. Efforts must be taken to contain, if not control noise levels in public space. Acoustic loudness levels and horizons may not be at their peak yet, but the nature of technological development may result in unimaginable levels in the future. One can only hope that development and re-development plans for places like Cubao take the soundscape into consideration, by encouraging the same rich variety of human communicative forms, but control the dangers brought along by uncontrolled technological escalation.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books and Articles
Berger, John. Ways Of Seeing. London, England: Penguin Books and The British Broadcasting Corporation, 1972.
Henley, Paul. "Film Making and Ethnographic Research". In Bryman and Burgess, Qualitative Research vol. 1. London, England: Sage Publications,. 1999.
Schafer, R. Murray. The New Soundscape. Ontario: Berandol Music Limited, 1969.
Truax, Barry. Acoustic Communication, 2nd edition. Westport, Connecticut: Ablex Publishing, 2001.
Walker, Rob. "Finding a Silent Voice for the Researcher: Using Photographs in Evaluation and Research". In Bryman and Burgess, Qualitative Research vol. 1.London, England: Sage Publications, 1999.
Electronic Documents:
Arceo-Dumlao, Tina. “Cubao area to be born again, says Quezon City officials”. www.inq7.com, 22 December 2001. (7 April 2003)
Truax, Barry. Handbook of Acoustic Ecology, 2nd edition. CD-ROM version 1.1. Cambridge Street Publishing, 1999.
Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Management Bureau. Balancing Business Environment: EIS Systems for Earth-Friendly Projects. CD-ROM. ProProjex Inc., Quezon City, Philippines, 1999.
Banks, Marcus. "Visual Research Methods". Sociology at Surrey, issue 11, (13 January 2003).
Salazar, Tessa R. “Noisy Workplace: A Problem No One Hears”. inq7.net, 19:05, 10 Jan 2003, .
Department of Environment and Natural Resources. DENR ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 2000-81, Series of 2000. "Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Philippine Clean Air Act of 1999."
_______. “Coliseum History” www.aranetacoliseum.com. (8 April 2003)
Maps
National Book Store Inc. and Heinrich Engeler. Metro Manila Street-Map. Philippines: National Book Store Inc., 2000.
