Il Suono della Trasformazione Eva Geist, Key Clef, Mai Mai Mai, Neel, Panoram

When R. Murray Schafer published “The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World” in 1977, establishing the theoretical foundations of acoustic ecology, he introduced concepts and methodologies that continue to influence our understanding of contemporary urban transformations. Sound research has gradually expanded its scope, from landscape documentation to critical reflection on processes of urban change. The passage of time since Schafer’s pioneering work has allowed us to see how his insights have evolved and diversified. In the 1970s, the focus was on cataloguing and preserving soundscapes threatened by industrialisation; today, acoustic ecology faces more complex phenomena: digital hyperconnectivity, the rapid pace of urban transformations, and the need to envisage sustainable futures for ever-expanding metropolises. In 1993, the World Forum for Acoustic Ecology was established, bringing together an international, multidisciplinary community dedicated to studying the social, cultural, and ecological aspects of sonic environments. In 2014, the discipline was further formalised as an independent academic field with the foundation of the International Society of Ecoacoustics in Paris, marking the move from pioneering efforts to scientific maturity. Collaborative projects such as Cities and Memory – an online platform hosting over 7,000 sounds from 130 countries that enables artists worldwide to reinterpret field recordings through original compositions – have democratised urban sound documentation, creating global research and creative networks. This collaborative model demonstrates how digital technology can significantly broaden the possibilities for sharing and reinterpreting sound material, overcoming the geographical and disciplinary limitations faced by research in the 1970s. Modern research has expanded Schafer’s perspective, adopting interdisciplinary approaches that consider not only the influence of soundscapes on humans but also on other living organisms and the reciprocal interactions among different sounds within an environment.
As noted by the Urban Soundscapes of the World database, which contains roughly 130 high-quality audiovisual recordings of cities worldwide, “soundscapes are location-specific and change over time,” reflecting “natural processes and human activities.” The contemporary approach has also developed a greater political and social awareness. Whereas Schafer often regarded pre-industrial soundscapes with nostalgia, viewing modern sounds as forms of “acoustic pollution”, current studies recognise the need to work with and through the sounds of modernity, transforming them into creative resources rather than simply seeing them as disturbances to be fought. This shift signifies a broader change: from museological preservation of the past to active engagement with the present.
Urban environments today present unprecedented challenges for acoustic ecology research. Twenty-first-century cities are characterised by increasingly complex layers of sound, where traditional sounds coexist with new forms of technological noise, from wireless connectivity to automated surveillance. The COVID-19 pandemic also demonstrated how swiftly urban soundscapes can change: studies carried out during lockdowns recorded significant acoustic transformations in cities worldwide, with reduced traffic enabling the rediscovery of sounds previously masked by human-made noise.

The legacy of the World Soundscape Project
The World Soundscape Project, established by Schafer at Simon Fraser University in 1973, marks a pivotal moment in the development of acoustic ecology studies. The first study produced by the WSP, titled “The Vancouver Soundscape”, created a methodological model that influenced generations of researchers. As Hildegard Westerkamp, a founding member of the project, testified: “I came out of that lecture literally with my ears popped open and they have never closed again since then.” Schafer’s approach introduced concepts still relevant today: keynote sounds (prevalent yet often overlooked background sounds, such as traffic), soundmarks (distinctive sounds of a particular community), and the tripartite division among geophony (natural sounds of the Earth), biophony (sounds of living beings), and anthropophony (human-generated sounds). The WSP methodology was grounded in field recordings, acoustic analysis, and a strong pedagogical component. Schafer contended that “the soundscape of the world is changing” and that humanity was beginning to inhabit a world with an acoustic environment radically different from any previously experienced. His fundamental insight was that sound was not merely a physical phenomenon to be measured in decibels but a vital element of the cultural and social identity of a place.

The method of field recording as a critical tool
Il Suono della Trasformazione aligns with this methodological tradition, using field recording as a tool to reflect on urban transformation processes. Each of the five artists – Neel, Eva Geist, Mai Mai Mai, Key Clef, and Panoram – has adopted a specific approach to Rome’s construction sites, contributing to a diverse understanding of the city in flux. The methodological approach echoes the soundwalking practices theorised by Schafer and developed by artists like Hildegard Westerkamp. Soundwalking, as both an artistic and scientific practice, encourages audiences to explore sonic environments through movement, creating hybrid spatio-temporal experiences that serve as contexts for emerging social and cultural activities.
In recent years, the spread of mobile audio technologies has led to various “walking-with-sound” projects across artistic practices, tourism, and education. Contemporary field recording has gone beyond simple ethnomusicological or naturalistic documentation. As researcher Anne-Sophie Mongeau notes in her studies on urban recordings: “When going out recording in the city, one quickly realises how noisy it can get, and how homogeneous it can sometimes feel in terms of soundscape.” The challenge, therefore, is to find a perspective that can communicate the “sonic personality” of a place, using the recordist’s subjectivity as an interpretive tool. This development has led to viewing the act of recording itself as a creative and critical act. Microphone placement, timing, location choices, and which sounds to include or exclude from the final montage: every technical decision becomes an aesthetic and political statement about what it means to “listen to” a city in transformation.
Il Suono della Trasformazione applies this methodological awareness to urban construction sites, recognising them not only as places of noise generation but also as spaces for creating new acoustic possibilities. Construction sites thus become temporary sound laboratories, where standard hierarchies between “desirable” and “undesirable” sounds are suspended in favour of an open exploration of the expressive potential of urban noise.

Electronic manipulation as predictive language
An intriguing aspect of this project is its use of electronic manipulation not only to document the present but also to “imagine future sounds through electronic manipulation, contemplating how the city might evolve acoustically.” This speculative element fits within a research strand that combines documentation with critical imagination. The employment of electronic technologies in transforming recorded material raises complex methodological questions. While traditional field recording aimed for a certain “transparency” in capturing environmental sounds, the modern electroacoustic approach recognises that every recording and manipulation process is inherently an interpretive act. As Greek composer Stelios Giannoulakis notes: “The act of recording always imposes additional parameters onto the captured sound, from the selection of place and time to the choice of microphones and focus, to the conceptual framing of these choices.”
Electronic manipulation thereby becomes a tool to make this interpretive subjectivity explicit, transforming it into a creative resource. Within the context of Il Suono della Trasformazione, electronic processing techniques serve not only to “beautify” or “clean” recorded sounds but also to explore their latent potentials, uncovering information that might not be immediately perceptible through direct listening. The decision to integrate “technology and human elements, depicting a future where cities develop ‘adaptable soundscapes’” aligns the project with recent debates on smart cities and sustainable urban planning. The concept of adaptable soundscapes – blending technology with the environment and merging mechanical and human sounds into a new urban aesthetic – addresses contemporary challenges of metropolitan living.
This perspective echoes recent research on the benefits of sound installations in urban public spaces. Empirical studies have shown how targeted sound interventions can markedly enhance perceptions of urban environments, fostering feelings of calm and pleasantness, reducing perceived loudness, and creating new ways to experience public space. Electronic manipulation, in this context, is not merely a compositional tool but a form of urban design via sound.

The contribution to contemporary sound art
In the realm of contemporary sound art, collaborative projects such as Cities and Memory have demonstrated the effectiveness of the collaborative model: each location features two sounds – initially the field recording of that place and time as it is, followed by a reimagined composition derived from that recording. Il Suono della Trasformazione promotes a conceptually similar but more targeted approach, focusing on urban transformation processes as a privileged subject of enquiry. The project investigates this tension between documentation and imagination, using construction sites as symbolic locations of urban change. Again, as Stelios Giannoulakis observes in his study on urban soundscapes: “I do not exactly record the urban soundscape. I record within it, creatively capturing found sound in the field.” Il Suono della Trasformazione develops in this direction, interpreting the sounds of the city as material for exploring potential sonic futures.

Towards new “sound cartographies“
Il Suono della Trasformazione aligns with a renewed interest in urban sound mapping practices. Recent research has demonstrated how sound installations can significantly enhance perceptions of urban public spaces, fostering feelings of calm and pleasantness, reducing perceived loudness, and in some cases, generating a sensation of “being elsewhere.” This project fits into this context, contributing to reflecting on how sound can serve as a sensitive indicator of social, economic, and technological shifts occurring in modern cities. The project aims to be both a “descriptive and predictive tool” for urban transformation, contemplating the potential to reframe the “noise” of construction sites not as disturbance but as raw material for imagining new urban aesthetics. This initiative offers an intriguing contribution to contemporary studies of acoustic ecology, illustrating how field recording methodologies can extend from mere documentation to practices of critical imagination concerning urban futures, engaging with the ongoing transformations in contemporary metropolises.

Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Schafer, R. Murray. The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World. Rochester: Destiny Books, 1977.
World Soundscape Project. The Vancouver Soundscape. R. Murray Schafer (ed.). Vancouver: ARC Publications, 1974.
Truax, Barry (ed.). Handbook for Acoustic Ecology. Vancouver: World Soundscape Project, Simon Fraser University, 1978.

Contemporary Studies:
Giannoulakis, Stelios. “Noise Poetics – Composing with Urban Soundscapes.” Personal Website, 2020. https://steliosgiannoulakis.wordpress.com/2020/10/10/noise-poetics-composing-with-urban-soundscapes/
Mongeau, Anne-Sophie. “5 Useful Tips for Creative Urban Field Recording.” A Sound Effect, 2017. https://www.asoundeffect.com/urban-field-recording/
Urban Soundscapes of the World. Database of urban audiovisual recordings. https://urban-soundscapes.org/recordings/

Projects and Platforms:
Cities and Memory. Global collaborative sound mapping project. https://citiesandmemory.com/
World Forum for Acoustic Ecology. International organization founded in 1993. https://www.wfae.net/

Academic Research:
Agosto Foundation. “Acoustic Ecology.” Archive of acoustic ecology research. https://agosto-foundation.org/mediateka/acoustic-ecology
Earth.fm. “What is soundscape? Definition and examples,” 2024. https://earth.fm/glossary/what-is-soundscape-definition-and-examples/
Phantom Power. “Remembering R. Murray Schafer Pt.1: Soundscape, Acoustic Ecology, and the Tuning of the World,” 2021. https://phantompod.org/ep-29-r-murray-schafer-1933-2021-pt-1/

Studies on Urban Sound Installations:
“Shaping city soundscapes: In situ comparison of four sound installations in an urban public space.” ScienceDirect, 2024. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204624001725

R. Murray Schafer – The Soundscape: Our Sonic Environment and the Tuning of the World (1977)
The founding text of acoustic ecology. Schafer introduces fundamental concepts like keynote sounds, soundmarks, and the tripartition between geophony, biophony, and anthropophony.

Available online:
Introduction excerpt – CalArts
Complete PDF – Monoskop
Internet Archive
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Barry Truax (ed.) – Handbook for Acoustic Ecology (1978)
Comprehensive glossary and methodological guide developed by the World Soundscape Project, essential for understanding the terminology and approaches of acoustic ecology.

Reference: Vancouver: World Soundscape Project, Simon Fraser University
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Hildegard Westerkamp – Soundwalking (1974, revised 2001)
The definitive essay on soundwalking methodology by one of the pioneers of the practice. Originally published in Sound Heritage, this text has been highly influential in sound studies and urban research.

Available online:
Complete essay – Westerkamp’s official site
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Anne-Sophie Mongeau – 5 Useful Tips for Creative Urban Field Recording (2017)
Contemporary practical guide to urban field recording, addressing the challenges of capturing the “sonic personality” of cities.

Available online:
A Sound Effect
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Steve Goodman – Sonic Warfare: Sound, Affect, and the Ecology of Fear (2009)
Explores the political dimensions of sound, from military sonic weapons to the affective power of music culture. Essential for understanding sound as a form of power and control.

Available online:
Scribd
Internet Archive
MIT Press excerpts
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Stelios Giannoulakis – Noise Poetics: Composing with Urban Soundscapes (2020)
Contemporary perspective on urban sound composition and the creative potential of noise.

Available online:
Author’s website
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Urban Soundscapes of the World Database
Academic database containing high-quality audiovisual recordings of urban environments worldwide, with standardized measurement protocols.
Available online here: https://urban-soundscapes.org/
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Shaping city soundscapes: In situ comparison of four sound installations in an urban public space (2024)
Recent empirical study on the effects of sound installations on urban space perception.
Available online here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169204624001725

Note: this bibliography focuses on texts and resources that are freely available online, making them accessible for further research and exploration. All links were verified as of 2025.

Cities and Memory
Global collaborative sound mapping project with over 7,000 sounds from 130 countries, demonstrating contemporary approaches to field recording and reinterpretation.
Website: https://citiesandmemory.com/
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World Forum for Acoustic Ecology (WFAE)
An international organisation founded in 1993, bringing together researchers and practitioners in acoustic ecology.
Website: https://www.wfae.net/
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Agosto Foundation – Acoustic Ecology Archive
Comprehensive collection of research and resources on acoustic ecology.
Website: https://agosto-foundation.org/mediateka/acoustic-ecology
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Earth.fm – Soundscape Education
Contemporary educational resources on soundscape concepts and definitions.
Website: https://earth.fm/glossary/what-is-soundscape-definition-and-examples/
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Phantom Power – Podcast Archive
In-depth audio documentaries on sound culture, including a tribute to R. Murray Schafer.
Website: https://phantompod.org/ep-29-r-murray-schafer-1933-2021-pt-1/

In these two episodes of Clan acustico, Raffaele Costantino explores the sonic identity of contemporary urban environments, examining how cities develop their unique acoustic signatures and what these sounds reveal about modern life. The investigation begins in Rome, where construction sites and urban transformation create new soundscapes daily, featuring exclusive insights from artists Neel and Eva Geist on their work for ‘Il Suono della Trasformazione’. The journey then extends to Riyadh, where field recordings capture a city shaped by extreme climate conditions and rapid modernisation. From the collective choreography of pilgrims at Mecca to the omnipresent hum of air conditioning systems that enable urban life in the desert, the podcast documents how technology reshapes our acoustic environments. A listening journey through two very different cities and their sounds.

Listen to Clan acustico on Spotify: PART 1 and PART 2