Listening to everyday sounds - Marcel Cobussen

“I will speak of two projects I’m working on: The first one is an e-pub on everyday sounds and sonic materialism, comprising of a collection of brief texts, soundfiles, and photos, and the second one consists of reports on the potential sonic improvement of seven public spaces in the city center of Rotterdam. Almost inevitably, these projects start to form, inform, and transform one another. I will present some rather simple topics: how do “we” (“humans” as “non-professional listeners”) listen or experience everyday sounds? How can “we” discover the unfamiliar within these familiar sounds? And how can “our” listening to everyday sounds lead – if necessary or desired – to certain interventions that might “improve” the sonic quality of “our” environment.“ Marcel Cobussen Full Professor of Auditory Culture and Music Philosophy at Leiden University (the Netherlands) and the Orpheus Institute in Ghent (Belgium). He studied jazz piano at the Conservatory of Rotterdam and Art and C