Chris Watson + Hildegard Westerkamp

The next two inspirational sound artists I am looking at is Chris Watson and Hildegard Westerkamp. 

Chris Watson

Born in 1952, Chris Watson is a British sound recordist who specialises in wildlife recordings. He is known for his recordings in where he puts the microphones such as hydrophones and contact mics under the sand on beaches - he does this as sound travels more efficiently in sea water. His soundscape 'Shadows and Reflections' is recorded in Northumberland and during this he put a contact microphone against his 'favourite tree' and layered sounds of the wildlife from different days over a period of time. His soundscapes are well cultured and he states "From recording all around the world I have come to realise no two things sound the same". 

I find Watson inspirational due to the culture he adds to his soundscapes as well as the personal aspects, as this is what I am going to look into for my own soundscape. I want to use sounds that represent things that are personal me to create a moving piece. 

Hildegard Westerkamp

Westerkamp is a Canadian composer, educator, radio artist and sound ecologist. A lot of her sounds are available on CD's and not online and I believe that this makes it more personal to the listener as they spend money on her sounds, conveying that they are genuinely interested in what she is creating. It also suggests that she is more like an artist than a sound recorder. Her famous soundscape 'Into the Labyrinth' is a soundscape of India and is very interesting as it uses a variety of different sounds from the country and breaks them up, then layers them allowing the audience to think about what they are listening to. 

I find Westerkamp's work interesting and inspiring due to how personal it is to her, and how she produces it on CD's - this might be something I look into doing for my final soundscape. She quoted "I like to work that edge between the real and imaginary sounds". This suggests that she likes her soundscapes to abstract but still possible for people to think and feel about the place.