Locative (Non-Linear) walks
I first started experimenting with locative media by using the Miniatures for Mobiles app which is related to the Radio Aporee field recording map project. At some point this ceased to be supported in a sustainable way, so I migrated the works to Echoes, and eventually Tracks. I made two pieces called Secret Garden, both sited in parks, which let the audience hear sounds that are normally hidden, e.g. extremely quiet, difficult to access, inside objects (like trees) or vibrations normally outside of our hearing range (ultra- and infrasound). The listener is encouraged by the graphic interface to explore the park as if on a treasure hunt, searching for sounds hidden in unusual locations. I tried to locate sounds at points which attract the walker visually (or perhaps psychogeographically). There is no text except a short displayed or spoken introduction to the piece. The narrative, like in Secret City, is walked by the listener and their own imagination.
In these pieces, although sounds are triggered at particular locations, some sounds will continue playing, overlapping with the next sound. The combinations are determined by the route of the listener and cannot be fully predicted. In this case the listener has no knowledge of what is being combined, sometimes it is not possible to distinguish the different layers of sound until one of them stops. This also means that walking the same path in different directions could sound quite different. There are two versions, one in the Amstelpark in Amsterdam, the other in the Pildammsparken in Malmö, Sweden.
Other media.
Extra content can be added by using other media or interventions. A simple example is the use of a map which also contains other information (see the book of Rumours / Resonances). With the Krems version of Spectral Analysis all the text was printed. This allowed the listener to read the information, sometimes with instructions on where to stand and how to behave, in their own time and their own language, keeping the sound pieces more abstract and open to interpretation. A recent audio walk made by students of mine used the very simple device of pasting drawings onto a wall in a semi-public space. The audience was simply told to follow the drawings.
In some cases, when the piece was hosted by a venue, it has been possible to include images and / or extra sounds in spaces - not just on the headphones. The last episode in Spectral Analysis WG layers sound on headphones with sound in the surrounding space. Whereas the headphone sound fades out at the end, the sound in the space continues indefinitely, making it unclear to the listener when the piece has finished.
Guiding with maps / app visualisation.
Using Tracks (or Echoes) it is possible to design the piece so that the areas containing audio are visible on the device's screen or not. In Tracks there is also the option of drawing lines on the map, which could be interpreted as the intended route, but they can also be used to define areas which may or may not be linked to the sounding areas. These tools make it possible to encourage various ways of moving through the city and ways of interacting with the sound. A single route through the city where the audio-areas are hidden will encourage a linear reading of the piece, even when it is made out of many fragments or layers. A collection of shapes spread around a neighbourhood will encourage exploration like a treasure hunt. For instance in Secret Garden Malmö I divided a circular area of the park into segments with lines leading to a small circular area in the middle. Approaching this area made all the other sounds fade out to silence, so that the listener could simply hear the live sound of the environment at that point. Defining a larger area of the city with lines could simply define the boundaries of an area to be explored, without the listener needing to look at the screen.
The screen can also be used to give other information in text or images which are triggered at a particular point on the map. On the other hand, including spoken instructions can also reduce the necessity of looking at the screen. Choosing whether to use the screen as an active part of the piece, rather than just to be used if you get lost, is a decision that should, I feel, be made early on in the development of a piece.
Next: Audio as the in-between.
Narrative methods of modulating the relationship of the audio-walker to the environment.
As well as the toolbox of audio effects, binaural recording and the linking of these to the storyline, I have used a number of other devices in the walks which I believe change the listener's relationship with their surroundings.
The untrustworthy narrator.
Used in a number of walks, but especially in Rumours / Resonances. The narrator, usually also the voice guiding the listener, admits to lying or "having voices in their own head", takes the listener the wrong way or "loses contact" with the listener for a moment. This puts the listener more on their guard and sharpens the awareness for other kinds of information on the soundtrack or in the real world.
Instructions.
The listener could be asked to stand in a certain place, to look at something specific. This can make a strong connection with the presented sound (synchresis), but it can also turn the listener into a self-aware agent. Particularly when asked to do something unusual like hug a tree, climb a wall, walk around a fountain. The listener becomes aware that they are not just a distanced, removed listener, an auditory flaneur, but also a body in public space which is seen by others as performing. In addition other senses - sight, touch, smell - can be invoked through the instructions.
Transparency.
Sometimes I have paused the fictional narrative, or broken through it to address the listener as an active participant. Whereas sometimes the listener might identify with the narrator or a character, here the relationship is clarified. You are listening, I am talking to you. This was used e.g. in Zuidas Symphony. While talking about the process of gentrification, the listener is made aware of their complicity - by taking part in the audio walk, by simply walking and listening, they (and the artist) are contributing to the cultural capital of the neighbourhood, contributing a tiny amount to the rise in rents and house prices, supporting building projects encroaching on green spaces. The listener at these moments becomes an "actor" in a real sense, rather than a theatrical sense.
Randomness
In Secret City, short tracks, often with instructions are chosen at random. The instructions then have usually nothing to do with the position of the listener, causing them to get lost and perhaps go around in circles. This promotion of drift is part of the piece and is related to the next approach:
