SOUND TERRITORIES AND AMBIENCES: SOUND ETHNOGRAPHY AND URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY

Abstract

This study is linked to researches carried out in Bank of Images and Visual Effects, Brazil, about sound ethnography, a research procedure based on recording sounds of urban life as well as in research on collections of sounds. We will treat the idea of sound territories, a rapprochement with the idea of territorial-myth. From the perspective of Urban Anthropology and through sound ethnography, we can identify landscapes and ambiences that shape sound territories, spaces that are delimited by theirs sounds expressions. These last seen here in its cultural dimension, derived from de gestures and symbols conveyed by individuals. In the city, the rhythmic of forms of sociability, of urban itineraries and the daily practices of the inhabitants provides elements to listen: gestures, words, conversations, noises, etc. These sounds create ambiences culturally diverse, establishing or “re-presenting” a certain aura of the place, given by the sound expressions of the groups that live in and the manifestations of culture that there unfold.