Acoustic experiences in rural school soundscapes

Abstract

Studies on soundscapes have been discussed in different areas of knowledge, which provides opportunities for multiple perspectives on the topic. The research data presented in this article were produced in rural school environment. In this study, the well-known aesthetic soundwalking practice is compared to Jorge Larrosa's readings about experience, pointing out how this aesthetic practice turns to the acoustic realities of a rural school in the city of Rio Grande, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Such practice is considered to be an alternative for music appreciation in the face of music teaching models in conservatoires and/or historically ingrained in the way of listening and making music. This new rural school context, silenced and apparently immobilized by the Covid-19 pandemic, is understood as a vibrant, tense body, revealing a potent silence of sounds to be experienced. Based on artistic practices in the surroundings of a rural elementary school, the ways in which the acoustic experience took place and the processes were established are presented, in order to underline the uniqueness of this experience and the relationships established with that space.