Soundscape of Lan Kwai Fong in Hong Kong
Introduction
Lan Kwai Fong which is one of the greatest working district in the night time of Hong Kong gives a wide range of acoustical characteristics that show the complexity and variability of culture and society around. The idea behind this project is to build a soundscape of this legendary district. The concept of augmented reality is discussed in the framework of the project and concerns the use of the Zoom H3-VR audio recorder to investigate the auditory landscape and its importance in perceiving urban territories.
Techniques and Approach
To achieve full- immersive audio, the soundscape was recorded with h3-VR Zoom which records binaural and Ambisonics. Audio was used in the binaural manner to recreate the impressions of the actual walk through the crowd where presence is eminent.
First-Order and Higher-Order Ambisonics were employed for the capture of the spatial character and complexity of the environment in order to obtain an instant 360 degree acoustical picture of the scene.
Recording Process
To most adequately present the soundscape, recording sessions were scheduled. Focusing on an excursion from the Central MTR station to Lan Kwai Fong, the transformation from the station to the streets was filmed. The recording included fundamental factors consisting of people’s conversation, street musicians, and music from nearby slotting houses.
Specific emphasis was made for parts of LKF with high values of degree of interest based on the auditive sense. The bar zones featured music, oral communication, the sounds of glasses being clinked together and the club areas featured bass and energetic people sounds. Sounds of footsteps on inclined streets, sudden car sounds added reality to the soundscape as well as emphasized opposition of individual presence and constructions.
Significance
This project is a form of music; it is a soundscape composition that goes beyond the ears and acts as a form of ethnography on Lan Kwai Fong. The captured sounds provide understanding of cultural meaning and sociability of the space occurring at nighttime. Using soundscape composition as an element of the auditory kind of narrative, such an approach deepens the understanding of how different soundscape forms people’s perception of space and behaviors.
The project established the significance of sounds in the urban setup. It reveals how and to what extent sound and sound related features constitute place, and are influential over participants. Through making listeners actually hear the sounds associated with Lan Kwai Fong, the current project also encourages listeners not only grow more attentive to the character of the given district.
Conclusion
By representing the ability of soundscape compositions to portray the comprehensiveness of urban environments this project enhance sound art. The recorded clips capture the casual moments that characterise Lan Kwai Fong, something that depicts its rich ethnic endowment. Beyond this project, possibilities for analysis and conceptualization of sound in urban environments are created and may spur novel ways of documenting and understanding sounds in cities.