Today I had the pleasure of experiencing a Locustream during one of Dawn Scarfe’s lectures. We tested and experimented with setting up and listening to streams from both around the world and from my own classmates. I set up my livestream using the locus sonus app, propped my phone up with a pillow and pointed it down into the busy Dalston high street.
I then began to listen to my own stream very closely for about five – ten minutes. It felt strange – I could hear words and phrases mixed in with the passing of buses, cars and the occasional doink and flop of a car driving over the loose manhole on the tarmac. I felt like a ghost, listening so intently – closing my eyes, hovering over the red kebab shop canopy – occasionally hearing a flutter of fabric and a squeak from the hinges. Initially the experience was incredibly connective – but I wanted to experiment with what it would feel like if I disconnected – forcing my brain not to recognise familiar sounds and using them in my own soundscape. Suddenly the familiar buses and cars chugging by become an alien language, the squeaking hinge becomes electricity, the talking becomes a strong breeze. I loved this experiment; I have found it incredibly useful and stimulating – especially when faced with a creative block.
We then began to listen to streams from around the world. We experimented by mixing multiple streams at once to create our own strange and alien environments – suddenly the electric sounds of a wave farm and a huge whistling sand dune is on a busy street in Camberwell. I’ve found these experiments to be incredibly stimulating – I never realised how deeply connected you could become with your surroundings and how it can be used as a tool to paint otherworldly, dreamy soundscapes.