Soundwalk with Lady Eve – Online

Explore the sounds and rhythms of our urban and natural world with Lady Eve. Beneficial for people of all ages to relieve stress, gain focus, and develop a deeper understanding of how we fit into the ecosystem of our environment. Watch online at https://www.facebook.com/atlanticcenterforthearts/

 Eve Payor joined Atlantic Center for the Arts as a musician and electronic soundscape artist. Her arts advocacy focuses on the connection between music, environment, and wellness. In the Fall of 2016, she created an Arts &Wellness program of soundwalks, which gave the public opportunities to experience natural surroundings through listening techniques, meditative breathing, and mindfulness.  Eve also mentors youth to help them find their creative spark, develop professionalism, and real-world assets for careers in the arts.

What is a soundwalk?

“A soundwalk is any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are. We may be at home, we may be walking across a downtown street, through a park, along the beach; we may be sitting in a doctor’s office, in a hotel lobby, in a bank; we may be shopping in a supermarket, a department store, or a Chinese grocery store; we may be standing at the airport, the train station, the bus-stop. Wherever we go we will give our ears priority. They have been neglected by us for a long time and, as a result, we have done little to develop an acoustic environment of good quality.” – Hildegard Westerkamp (published in Sound Heritage, 1974)

How can a soundwalk improve health?

Focused, silent walks can be a key to reducing stress levels, anxiety, distractions, and can improve breath control. Our sense of hearing is heightened, and awareness of our connection to nature is enhanced. Concentrating on the sound environment links us to the risk of noise pollution and solutions to create an ecologically balanced soundscape. Taking the time to listen to our surroundings gives us a deeper understanding of how our everyday actions affect both nature and our well-being.

What is a soundmap?

Each individual location around the world has its own fingerprint of sound. Here in New Smyrna Beach, we have a diverse and vital ecosystem. Sound can give us a wider perspective of the health of our environment, and reveal things we cannot see. A soundmap is a tool used to map the sounds of a location. The soundmap that is being developed through the soundwalk program will use online mapping to present field recordings of various locations. Visitors to the online map can click on a location and hear the sound that was collected. Sounds will be archived at soundcloud.com/nsbsoundmap

https://www.facebook.com/events/225006268866393/

Last month in connection with Atlantic Science Festival, Eve Payor, Atlantic Center for the Arts Director of Community appeared on WABE’s radio program “City Lights with Lois Reitzes”. Enjoy the conversation as Lois Reitzes talks with Eve Payor on soundscapes, her Sound Walk Program, and why it’s important. https://www.wabe.org/episode/city-lights-atlanta-science-festivals-soundwalk-pixars-kelsey-mann-and-aurora-theatres-on-your-feet/ (Play Story 1:23)

You can join Eve on a Virtual Soundwalk this Saturday, April 11 at 11 AM on Atlantic Center for the Arts Facebook Page. Visit https://www.facebook.com/events/225006268866393/ Tell us you are “going” and share event with friends!