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Dimensions of Sound: The Western Perspective

The Seminar on Dhvani provided an international platform for the East and the West to discuss and feel the pulses of Sound. One of the Western participants Dr. Andre Bosshard – a scholar-musician, shared his thoughts in an exclusive interview with Dr. Gautam Chatterjee.

A.B.: I can narrate to you a nice happening which was experienced by me last summer in Canada. I travelled to Alert Bay – a special Island in the North. I reached there at night so I could not see anything around and finally I camped. I was about to sleep. Then suddenly I started hearing something and my ears were as clear as my eyes. I could hear the sound of water and a boat rowing away. I could visualise the whole surrounding. When I woke up in the morning I could see everything I heard the last night. This is my experience, how I could see through my ears which happened twice or thrice in my lifetime.

G.C.: Will you tell us something about Alert Bay vis-à-vis the creative listening?

A.B.: Alert Bay is a muddy Island populated with indigenous people. This is a sacred place and that is why people call it Kwia Kotlut. Because of this very special nature I always want to be there…. (Here) I have clear ears and I am very aware and very enchanted with the place where I am. So I think listening for me is being very present in the place. Experiencing the sound and enjoying the sound is something like swimming in sound.

G.C.: Now coming to Dhvani Seminar where people from different schools of studies are airing their views and you are gathering sound, tell us something about your latest discoveries?

A.B.: Latest Discovery! I think I am very much reinforced, and we can only learn more when we share our knowledge. I was always attracted to the depth of knowledge of India. I always felt in the East there is something that attracted me like a magnet. I had some image of Indian musicians who have very deep knowledge about the human being … vibrations of different emotions and the bridge between the physical world and the spiritual world. Though I never knew exactly what is going on (here in India) but for me it was a vision of being a musician who is able to go to a site, like going to a village. Then I knew little from the stories how the musician normally first tune his instruments, may be for hours you know, this idea wa always in my head. And now I have learnt to do it myself. When I so do, first tune my instrument and may be for one day to tune all the sound around me the Indian musician knows about different levels of souls and spirits and he is capable of what I am unfortunately not, giving every person a gift, be it formal or he is a just an intellectual to give each pleasure at the same time. This is for me a musical concept which is very interesting, and when I am not only here at the seminar I am listening to and windows are open though I cannot understand everything … it is too much. But I, for the first time, would get direct reference to the dream I had always in my mind.

G.C.: So here you are listening and mixing the experience of East and West!

A.B.: I think we have to gain from the Global knowledge which we have inherited. I am like a nomad going around and just listening. I am curious and I am trying to be open to everything, equal to anything. If it is possible – I do not know – that’s my starting point.

G.C.: Now let us come to the elements of sound. As you have said elsewhere that sound’s loudness is not interesting and there is something interesting in the movement of sound through space. But sound is a movement, depends mostly on the perceiver! Do you find any difference in the oriental world in the context of perceiving by common man or musician? I mean is there any other dimension of perceiving and is there any difference between the oriental and the occidental world?

A.B.: Yes! I think so, and let me put it like this. I have been in Japan for one month and toured there. So I have gathered some Asian perception in general, more than the Indian. When we played our drums they (Japanese) could not understand what is its nature, because when we play music we are listening not only to the primary sound but developing it as a highly creative pattern and configuration of rhythms which are completely different from the Asian. It also happened to me when I once visited a Japanese concert which was for me a very sad and deep tune. When the concert was over the musician enquired curiously about it and I said it was very deep and interesting. Then he said: "No it was a dance tune, you did not hear it?’ So there is a difference of understanding of all the music we hear, and the perspective of understanding of all the music we hear, and the perspective varies. But there is something in common in the world of music or, say, sound. Suppose when I play from any tape the airplane sound, everybody would understand as the same thing. So we have a lot of new sounds created in our days which would one day create a new language. But to understand the Indian music it would cost me a whole lifetime!

G.C.: Coming from music to sound, today there are many a sound varying from technical sound like `zoom’ or to natural sound of birds call like `cukoo’. How do you define these two sound categories. Say, for example, in common lingua franca you may say `zoom’ is the sound of an airplane which might have some natural sound like storm.

A.B.: This is a fantastic question! Of course, there is a technical device (indicating at the air conditioner) which is creating a repetitive sound. Know repetitive, I mean there is sound coming out from the background of machine. You can study this sound of wind it is never studied like this … Actually we forget that technology is part of our Nature. It is iron, it is electricity. Yes you can switch off a machine, but there is no switch to regulate the wind. Yea that’s natural. I think at the deeper level it is interesting to think about technology as something man made and not really understood by us. That’s why we have so much trouble. But this technology is part of our Nature. So this is not so easy just to say we have Nature and we have technology! I think Nature is something taken as granted, which is very vast and we don’t understand and which we cannot control. And the technology in which we are swinging is much smaller. So the uncontrollable makes us afraid. We are still anxious about the Nature, that is what I want to say, don’t think Nature is easy, because all our ancestors have been afraid of Nature and we have now revived the Nature in this technology, and now we are anxious and we think this is the God who is disrupting us. Now we are actually ourselves disrupting us.

GC. Now from the nature and then machine technology, let us come to the theme of your dream of city soundscape. Will you share your feelings?

A.B.: Ya! You said that important word ‘theme’. I think music is something which is created together and this, in a way, also is a reason why I do music because this has brought me to work in groups, and as a musician one likes to have many other musicians together. In the sound-city I dream of everybody present in the city in a way that he is a kind of musician and whatever he does has an acoustic, emotional and space relationisation. I dream that all people in the city are aware and enjoy everything (the sound of the city), and on hearing the acoustic results everyone immediately feels that he is just like any other person creating and hearing the same… I don’t think we should be completely quiet. Of course being quiet and nice is necessary. In a sound city we should have half an hour as ‘quiet hour’ which should be respected by everybody… I think the people have the feeling of giving one another (sound) and they share the sound and they celebrate their being there. Once they are used to this sound-sharing, then they would shape their houses keeping that in view. This is the basic…

G.C.: Do you have any sound city plan relevant to Indian cities?

A.B.: Oh! Yes I am already doing it and have four plans on my hand. It is going on and I am dreaming how to stimulate the sound-city. I propose every city should have a ‘sound-fountain’ as you have water fountain. This sound-fountain would have a small structure wherein there will be a little hole where one can listen to sound. And the New Delhi sound-fountain would be linked to the Vienna sound-fountain. Likewise whatever said or sound created will be heard in either of the cities. For example, we can approach this sound-fountain and speak into the fountain and my dream of life is to have 6,7 or 8 fountains in the world which will work. At the very moment it will be linked with satellite, and in the near future the fibre optic technology would replace the satellite. As in ancient Greece where there was a forum where one could speak, likewise sound-fountain would also provide similar scope. I would say every city needs a sound park where you come together and speak with people from the world-wide. This is an open forum to all. It is unlike the modern days where you speak to one another from small telephone booths. These telephone booths look like a toilets for me. You see, why do we go and speak to people in such a little booth? Of course, sometimes you want to speak privately, but we do it all the time. So I think the choice is the big telephone telematic square where you come and sit and there share your views with others as you sometimes go out to a public square and listen to people. But you need this in every city which will unite cities and people from all over which would give the feeling that we live together.

G.C.: So this conception is valid for universal, rather universalization of East-West, concepts which would lead to global cultural integration. Do you think this way?

A.B.: I think in any case it is the integration, sharing, understanding and respecting one another which is the goal of sound-fountain. Sound is something common to everybody and people fees also like that. Sound is not merely music, but we need a more simple, more elementary concept of sound-sharing … but we need both ways.

G.C.: Have you ever experimented anywhere with the sound fountain concept.

A.B.: Yes, in a way, I began to learn how sound fountain will work and I have just selected three locations within Zurich. I have fully linked to one another for three days… Though three days are not enough because sound fountain needs sometime to get tuned. We have to hear a lot; it is heard somewhere you know, it comes back but then you have to tune the line in a way that it is not too loud so that on the other side people get scared away. So we have really to tune with space… I have to learn it to do it. But I have a strong concept about it, where I can work in a clear concept so that each fountain I will establish will be better than the other one. This concept is an extension of telecommunication experiments. I give you an example. There is a group in America which call themselves electronic Café, which is telematically linked with the second Café in Vienna. When you sit there you have people sitting around and TV screens from other places. So you can speak to other people and say, Hello how are you… the coffee is very nice here! So one can interact and talk and this is public concept. And with everything the coffee costs only one Dollar. I learnt a lot form these people, and sound fountain in a way is a very basic concept and everybody can share and respect each other and you are sensible and you are peaceful…

G.C.: So you say that sound goes for the betterment of man and mankind. And it’s true a sensitive man is made out of a good-hearing personality who respects and listens to others. Will you enlighten us how sound goes for the betterment of individual in particular and civilization as a whole?

A.B.: I hope I have become a little bit better after listening to others. I feel it increases the joy of life. Of course sound goes for sharing… the more you can use the words and articulate is properly it is more satisfying. But beyond the language the other sounds like, for example, the falling sound of spoon which is very natural and part of my personality and wherever I hear this sound I feel at home. The sound of telephone ringing, the opening and closing of doors sounds are part of our personality and we derive enjoyment out of it. So most of the sound you feel good about and share them you feel more open. For example, listening to tree-wind is pleasant and when I hear a tree-sound I still become much more inspired. So I think everybody should engage in listening to the sound. It is easier than to read the newspaper and listening to the sound around is more useful than reading the newspaper. If you listen to the Nature everyday, it is something like listening about the ‘Sound-news’. For ten minutes everyday one should listen to the natural sound. It is so easy; only open the window and just listen what’s going on!

G.C.: So you are propagating the one thing, that listening to sound is almost replacing the listening to the news, for example, the BBC. So tomorrow when you have a house-fountain, you have another concept of public news system.

A.B.: I am sure now there is another thing when you speak about Radio. With the revolution of fibre optic technology in a couple of years you will be having hundred thousand TV Channels and not thirty. So that means the particular station becomes unimportant. You can have you own station. Everybody has his own Station. Then we can control one another. You know, I call you, I will speak from channel three to speak to you… In Radio it’s a vertical structure, you have a head office, you have directors… this is like the King and the courtyard…this is like Media Feudalism, this will have to be changes and we should have news democracy, we don’t have democracy, we don’t have democracy at the news level.

G.C.: So likewise you have democratic world at the news level!

A.B.: But don’t think I am a terrorist (Laughs)

G.C.: Thanks a lot Dr. Bosshard it was really pleasure to listen to you and your sound.

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