Coimbra daydream
Mar 23, 07:53 PM
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"After hearing the sound piece 213 Asakusa Bell of Time Senso-ji Temple bell and reading the accompanying description I became fascinated by the sounds and the history of this and other bells in Tokyo. Particularly by the fact that the bell is still rung everyday and is mostly now not heard above the sounds of the city.
"I spoke to my friend Mike Ward and fellow musician from Longstone https://longstone.bandcamp.com/ as I knew he would be interested having a deep passion for Japan and Japanese culture and has visited Tokyo many times. He told me he had visited the Senso-ji Temple but had not heard the bell before. Mike recommended that I read The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/anna-sherman/the-bells-of-old-tokyo/9781529000498 which was crucial as it too provided many more ideas for the kind of sounds we wanted to use.
"The overall piece I knew had to include the original sound piece in full as it is so full of drama. To this we added new sounds, echoing not only, the walking sounds on gravel, the bird song and the crash of the mighty bell sounds, but mixing its history and the contemporary soundscape in which it now exists. Sherman made me aware of the contrast of old time with its source in Buddhist mythology when in the Edo era, people were more likely to refer to the time using the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, for on old Japanese clocks, each number was associated with an animal. The hour before sunrise was the Hour of the Tiger, dawn was the Hour of the Rabbit, noon was mid-Horse and dusk was the Hour of the Rooster. It is said that the Buddha once summoned all the animals of the world to visit him before he left for Nirvana. Only 12 animals bothered to show up - the rat, dragon, monkey, ox, snake, rooster, tiger, horse, rabbit, sheep, dog, and pig. To thank them, the Buddha broke time down into a 12-year cycle and made each animal the guardian of a year. While he was at it, he also gave each of them an hour of the day to look after.
"Sonic Heritage linking the present with the past through sound. Adding contemporary time sounds; the inside whirring of an old alarm clock, the slow drip of rain drops, the ticking of a clock, an arpeggiator regulated synth sound, highlighting the distance in time. Then with the lap harp plucked and acting as a bridge between the old and new world."
Senso-ji Temple bell reimagined by Stuart Wilding and Mike Ward.
———————
This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.
Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage
"I spoke to my friend Mike Ward and fellow musician from Longstone https://longstone.bandcamp.com/ as I knew he would be interested having a deep passion for Japan and Japanese culture and has visited Tokyo many times. He told me he had visited the Senso-ji Temple but had not heard the bell before. Mike recommended that I read The Bells of Old Tokyo by Anna Sherman https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/anna-sherman/the-bells-of-old-tokyo/9781529000498 which was crucial as it too provided many more ideas for the kind of sounds we wanted to use.
"The overall piece I knew had to include the original sound piece in full as it is so full of drama. To this we added new sounds, echoing not only, the walking sounds on gravel, the bird song and the crash of the mighty bell sounds, but mixing its history and the contemporary soundscape in which it now exists. Sherman made me aware of the contrast of old time with its source in Buddhist mythology when in the Edo era, people were more likely to refer to the time using the animals of the Chinese Zodiac, for on old Japanese clocks, each number was associated with an animal. The hour before sunrise was the Hour of the Tiger, dawn was the Hour of the Rabbit, noon was mid-Horse and dusk was the Hour of the Rooster. It is said that the Buddha once summoned all the animals of the world to visit him before he left for Nirvana. Only 12 animals bothered to show up - the rat, dragon, monkey, ox, snake, rooster, tiger, horse, rabbit, sheep, dog, and pig. To thank them, the Buddha broke time down into a 12-year cycle and made each animal the guardian of a year. While he was at it, he also gave each of them an hour of the day to look after.
"Sonic Heritage linking the present with the past through sound. Adding contemporary time sounds; the inside whirring of an old alarm clock, the slow drip of rain drops, the ticking of a clock, an arpeggiator regulated synth sound, highlighting the distance in time. Then with the lap harp plucked and acting as a bridge between the old and new world."
Senso-ji Temple bell reimagined by Stuart Wilding and Mike Ward.
———————
This sound is part of the Sonic Heritage project, exploring the sounds of the world’s most famous sights.
Find out more and explore the whole project: https://www.citiesandmemory.com/heritage