60 Minute Cities Ottawa (revisited)

conscient podcast

A special episode of The Place of Sound podcast featuring highlights from a project I did in 2017 for Bivouac Recordings, in Hong Kong, called 60 minutes Cities Ottawa, a series of winter time field recordings of Ottawa.

Note: This episode is also available in French.

This is a special episode of The Place of Sound podcast. You’ll hear highlights from a project I did in 2017 for Bivouac Recordings, a sound label based in Hong Kong, called 60 minutes Cities Ottawa - featuring winter sounds in Ottawa - curated by Terrence Lloren, which is a series of albums focused on an individual’s genius loci or the ‘spirit of a place’.

Each 60-minute cities album is a personal document of the recordists (re)discovery of their ‘city’ through sound. The 60 minutes of recordings are taken from the recordist’s own personal surroundings and include photos and text to describe the significance of these sounds to their own lives.

The result is a document that reveals the deepest character of a place through a native resident’s own experience so that (locals) and non-locals, as well as the recordist, can (re)connect with the city and (re)discover the beauty of their place.

You’ll hear excerpts from :

• Commemoration, recorded on November 11, 2016 at 10.58am at the National War Memorial on Elgin Street
• Running, recorded on New Year Day, 2017 at 11.28 am in Sandy Hill
• Protest, recorded on January 21, 2017 at 11am at the corner of Elgin and Gloucester street
• River, recorded on January 29th, 2017, at 1.34pm, on the Ottawa River west of downtown
• Office, sound of office towers and entry and exits at 150 Elgin St.
• Skateway, the rideau canal skateway, on January 26th, 2017
• Parliament Hill on February 18, 2017, at 11.58am

TRANSCRIPTION OF EPISODE

Note: below is my original script which I improvised from during the recording

(Choir singing O Canada at Remembrance Day ceremony, November 11, 2016, Ottawa)

Please stand for O Canada…

(Fade to silence)

My name is Claude Schryer. Welcome to a special episode of The Place of Sound, a radio show/podcast produced in Carleton University’s Communication and Media Studies Program by Dr. Vincent Andrisani and airing on CKCU FM, campus radio.

The Place of Sound explores the idea of ‘place’ through the ears of students and sometimes, guest producers, like me. Check it out.

I’m speaking to you from Ottawa, which is on the unceded and un-surrendered territory of the Algonquin-Anishinaabe nations, who are the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries.

What you’ll hear today are highlights from a project I did for Bivouac Recordings a sound label based in Hong Kong. In 2017 I produced 60 minutes Cities Ottawa as part of Bivouac’s 60-minute cities project, curated by Terrence Lloren, which are a series of albums focused on an individual’s genius loci or the ‘spirit of a place’, which is closely related to the objectives of this podcast.

Each 60-minute cities album is a personal document of the recordists (re)discovery of their ‘city’ through sound. The 60 minutes of recordings are taken from the recordist’s own personal surroundings and include photos and text to describe the significance of these sounds to their own lives. The result is a document that reveals the deepest character of a place through a native resident’s own experience so that (locals) and non-locals, as well as the recordist, can (re)connect with the city and (re)discover the beauty of their place.

But first, who am I? Qui. Suis-je?

Until September 2020 my day job was as a senior strategic arts advisor at the Canada Council for the Arts but then I decided to focus on the climate emergency and co-founded an art and climate organization called SCALE, the Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency, that I encourage you to check out.

In 2020 I also started up a bilingual podcast called the conscient podcast, balado conscient en français, exploring art and the ecological crisis. I’m just completing season 4 now exploring the sounds of modernity which will take me to episode 153 on December 31, 2023. I invite you to check it out at conscient.ca. You’ll find various subscription options, including a monthly blog where I share my learnings and more importantly my unlearnings and so on.

However, today, I’m taking a break from the darker side of podcasting and invite you to listen to some soundscapes with me from Ottawa where I was born in 1959 and where my wife Sabrina and two children have lived since 1999.

(fade in Remembrance Day recording)

Let’s pause for a minute of silence.

This recording is called Commemoration and was recorded on November 11, 2016 at 10.58am at the National War Memorial on Elgin Street a few steps away from Parliament Hill. This is Remembrance Day, our national day to remember those who died in military service.

(running sounds in Ottawa)

Will you join me for a run? This sequence was recorded on New year day, 2017 at 11.28 am. Back then I was a marathon runner, so this sequence is me running at a good pace through Ottawa. Can you hear the slush? I love Ottawa in the wintertime.

(Outdoor protests)

There’s always a lot going on and it being our capital city there are often protests, such as this one recorded on January 21, 2017 at 11am at the corner of Elgin and Gloucester street. On this day, all around the world, women (and some men) marched in solidarity with The Women’s March on Washington: a grassroots effort to protest the Donald Trump Presidency, one day after his inauguration) and to stand together in solidarity and to recognize that vibrant and diverse communities are a strength.

The sound of a public march has always been moving to me: inspirational chants, solidarity slogans, cries of anger, echoes of hope. In this Ottawa women’s march, you hear the slogans ‘no limits for women’, ‘the people united will never be divided’ and ‘tiny hands, tiny feet, all Trump does is tweet-tweet-tweet’.

Hopefully we won’t have to protest again on January 21st, 2025.

(Ottawa River)

Now let’s move now to the mighty Ottawa River or the Kichisìpi as it is known in the Algonquin language: This recording was captured on January 29th, 2017, at 1.34pm. Now the Ottawa river is very large: 1,271 kilometers in length with a drain area of 146,300 square kilometers.

You’re listening to a recording I made west of downtown. The current is strong here and the sound is a deep rumble of rushing water and breaking ice. The recording also includes the high-pitched sound of cross-country skiers along a path by the river.

Shall we go inside?

(Elevators and office sounds)

Ottawa is many things, including a city of office towers and bureaucrats. I love office tower sounds: hums, clicks, echoes, voices, drones, rhythms, patterns, etc.

This recording explores the spaces where people enter and exit the building. I love transitions like this. You hear going up and down stairs and elevators, which btw ‘talk’ both French and English.

(skating on rideau canal)

How’s about a skate on the infamous rideau canal skateway? It’s January 26th, 2017, and we’re skating at a rapid pace. Can you feel the wind on your face? Can you feel the rumble of the ice under your feet?

The Rideau Canal Skateway is the largest skate way is 7.8 kilometers long).

However last year it did not open due to warming temperatures in Ottawa, which is a sign of the times and the reason why I dedicated a lot of my time to promoting the role of art in the climate emergency. And I think deepening our listening can make a difference.

Let’s conclude this portrait of winter sounds in Ottawa back on parliament hill.

(crowd on parliament hill)

It’s February 18, 2017, at 11.58am people gather here from across the country all the time to protest, mourn or celebrate. Tourists from all around the world also come to witness parliament hill and listen to…

(parliament hill bells)

Thanks for listening to this special episode of The Place of Sound. Thanks to Vincent Andrisani for his support and congratulations to the students of Carleton University on their excellent programming and to CKCU for broadcasting them and being a good community partner.

And thank you for listening. I encourage you to listen to the place of the sound where you live.

I also encourage you to discover your own place of sound.

*

This episode was produced in October 2023 in my home studio. Thanks to Bivouac Records for permission to reuse some of the material from 60 minutes Cities Ottawa.

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this episode. (including all the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation and infrastructure that make this podcast possible).

*

END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020 on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory (Ottawa). It’s my way to give back and be present.

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and it's francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I publish a Substack newsletter called ‘a calm presence' which are 'short, practical essays about collapse acceptance, adaptation, response and art’. To subscribe (free of charge) see https://acalmpresence.substack.com. You'll also find a podcast version of each a calm presence posting on Substack or one your favorite podcast player.

Also, please note that a complete transcript of conscient podcast and balado conscient episodes from season 1 to 4 is available on the web version of this site (not available on podcast apps) here: https://conscient-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes.

Your feedback is always welcome at [e-mail] and/or on conscient podcast social media: Facebook, X, Instagram or Linkedin.

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible.

Claude Schryer

Latest update on July 20, 2024