This is a nice and arty short video about R. Murray Schafer and his views on the soundscape. At the end, there is a very nice touch when Schafer holds up a sign that says “Listen.” and the audio fades out so you can listen to your own environmental sounds. (The effect is changed a bit if you’re wearing noise-canceling headphones like I was.)

I (obviously?) disagree with his contention in the video that recorded sounds are not “real,” although I think I understand the sentiment behind it. Sounds played back from a speaker are certainly different from those sounds as captured by a microphone, but imagining the recording device as some kind of sonic hatchet, chopping wild sounds from their sources and letting them loose, seems an oversimplification.

(via Anti-Gravity Bunny)