COVID-19 Sydney CBD soundscape

With the minimisation of human movement caused by the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, during March and April 2020 the Sydney Central Business District was forced into a previously unheard state of quietude. With a dense layer of anthrophony removed, unique opportunities were presented within my research to add another step in the progression to near silence, to hear the sound layers of the city peeled back through the pandemic lockdowns, and listen below the usual primary sounds to explore the sonic substructure through sound recording and composition. Key questions examined were:

  • What are the effects of reduced human presence on the city soundscape?
  • What can be heard if we peel back primary anthrophony to the fundamental sonic substructure of the city soundscape?

The aim was to document and investigate the soundscape of Sydney’s CBD altered by the Covid-19 lockdown. However, this did not aim to be a completed and detailed soundscape research such as that by Daniel Steele and Catherine Guastavino, ‘Quieted City Sounds during the Covid-19 Pandemic in Montreal’ (Steele & Guastavino 2021), but it sits within my approach of peeling back sound layers. Location listening and sound recording involved gathering 15 to 30-minute recordings of selected locations in the Sydney CBD using a small, portable omni AB stereo pair recording system. A Lectrosonics SPDR recorder with two Sanken COS11 microphones was the recording system. A bicycle was used as transport to discretely record locations during lockdown restrictions, and at times as a microphone stand with the handlebars used as a stereo bar for the AB recording technique. 

Below is a selection of recordings captured during the first COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney during March and April 2020. The recording equipment used and settings including input levels were unchanged throughout the entire recording process in an effort to gather standardised data. Photos were taken to show the empty streets, but also to document the exact location for any future comparison recordings that may happen once the city has returned to full function ... and when I am back in Australia. An average SPL A weighted reading was also noted for each location for future comparisons.

Additionally, the results from the field recordings are summarised in two compositions based on findings from the field recording practice; approaches to sound processing and composition were governed by strict rules. These can be found below the following selection of recordings.

Opera House promenade (53dB SPL A)


On the Opera House promenade the microphones are set on the handlebars of the bicycle to avoid detection and closer to foot traffic. Reduced water traffic allows people walking and cycling past to be heard in greater detail: footsteps, clothing rustling, the stomping and puffing of joggers, bicycles, and passing conversations are all heard. In the recording the whine of a leaf blower is heard approximately two hundred metres away and has more presence in the quietude of a usually loud location, “the sound of neighboring televisions and leaf blowers can seem even more intrusive in quarantine” (Bui & Badger 2020). Birdcall is heard clearly while the drones emanating from the Opera House again provide a bed of anthrophony, the sound of traffic and passing trains over the Harbour Bridge now gently resonating through the harbour. With both these recordings it is possible to hear in detail the revealed sonic substructure of Sydney Harbour comprised of; building drones of Circular Quay, occasional traffic from the Sydney Harbour Bridge, ferries, and water lapping against the harbour side.



Circular Quay, wharfs 4 & 5 (59dB SPL A)


Circular Quay between Wharfs 4 and 5 was recorded on Easter Monday morning. There are minimal passers-by and sounds are magnified in what is usually a transport hub. Minimal walkers, joggers, and cyclists pass by, seagulls squawk, transport announcements and warnings of social distancing dominate at times, ferry horns sound at what seems like an increased volume, while a drone comprised of the sound of buildings and ferries provides a thick bed of anthrophony. The fundamental sounds of Circular Quay operating are still present and appear louder with the people gone.



The Rocks MCA (55dB SPL A)


The quietude of The Rocks is heard on Easter Monday. Opposite the Museum of Contemporary Art there is the occasional walker, passing car or cyclist, briefly a television news crew documents a cafĂ© open for takeaway only. To the right at Circular Quay station the low frequency rumble of trains passing above are heard loud and in solitary detail with a comparison between the sonic characteristics of trains and trams presented in the quieter soundscape. 



Martin Place George St (60dB SPL A)


Martin Place was captured over three recordings; foot traffic is minimal, single trams and busses passing by are captured individually and clearly, while the drone from buildings dominates the soundscape as a thick fundamental and independently illuminate the acoustic properties of the reverberant thoroughfare. The main point of interest is the dominance of the now prominent building drone in the absence of the usual layers of human presence. This recording captured at 5PM is at the quieter end of Martin Place next to George Street; passing trams are heard clearly in the quietude, and, while the now-familiar building drones and distant fountain provide the underlying din, there are instances when the recording contains this din alone.

Importantly, Martin Place is where building drone is first clearly recognised as a detail fully revealed through lockdown. It is present throughout many of the locations and is a theme to emerge throughout the recording process. It is similar to the “baseline” (Bui & Badger 2020) and is the fundamental sonic substructure of the city. Like room tone - the fundamental resonance of an empty room caused by the inevitable surrounding urban anthrophony and even subtle geophony of wind entering - building drone is heard to be the fundamental sonic substructure that resonates through the city.


NSW Parliament House (53dB SPL A) and Hyde Park Barracks (55dB SPL A)


Recordings on Macquarie Street opposite NSW Parliament House and outside Hyde Park Barracks present a usually busy street reduced to minimal traffic. Opposite NSW Parliament cars are minimal and a few empty buses drive along the usually busy roads; the sound of bicycles ticking past is now a theme throughout the recordings that reflects a reported rise in the popularity of cycling during lockdown (Mark 2020).





Queen Victoria Building tram stop (59dB SPL A)


The QVB tram stop between the Dymocks building and Town Hall was recorded at 11AM on Monday the 13th of April 2020 and holds similar characteristics to the early evening recordings at the Dymocks building. The acoustics and building drone are different here which alters the sonic substructure. However, of interest is that this morning recording holds similar characteristics in content and volume to the previous nearby evening recording, indicating that according to these sound recordings, the daytime soundscape was similar to the night. Certainly being on location and the subjective act of listening this to be the case.


Central Station Tunnel 4th April (52dB SPL A)


Central Station Tunnel is brought down to a level where the low frequency rumble of trains passing above dominates at intervals with the absence of other sound, emphasising its true volume. Buskers and the sound of the daily commute are non-existent, minimal passing footsteps are heard in a detail, and occasional food delivery bicycles are heard as they pass quickly by the stereo image. Similarly to the State Parliament recording, the words of singular passing conversations are sometimes discernable, providing a brief insight into passing lives as opposed to the usual indiscernible cacophony. Given reduced anthrophony, details are also heard coming from each end of the tunnel with intermittent distant pedestrian crossings and birds present. The tunnel itself is heard with a diminished acoustic illumination as opposed to the overpowering accumulation of sounds that would usually reverberate through the tunnel.



China Town (54dB SPL A)


China Town was recorded on the 4th of April 2020 and is comparatively silenced for a usually busy restaurant strip on Saturday afternoon. Mechanical building drones and wind blowing leaves dominate and are heard loud and in detail. Passing foot traffic and conversation is slight, immediate and distant road traffic minimal, building repairs are being carried out. The occasional food delivery bicycle replaces the bustle of restaurants, representing the hospitality industry in shut down and a new dependence on casual bicycle delivery.


UTS Student Centre (33dB SPL A)


Locations in and around the University of Technology Sydney were recorded on the 10th and 12th of April 2020 over the Easter weekend. The first recording sees the bicycle used as a microphone stand and placed against a seat. The Student Centre is usually teeming with activity but, due to lockdown and the Good Friday holiday, it is recorded with largely no human activity present barring a few instances of distant movement and a solitary person entering the cavernous foyer through the automatic door. External sounds of buses rumbling along Broadway sometimes enter. As the sun comes out from behind the clouds and the building warms, creaks and cracks of the building expanding, that would usually go unheard beneath the primary anthrophony, now dominate. The building affected by the weather is heard as a combination of anthrophony (the sonic presence of the building) and geophony (the sun coming out from behind the clouds), the building may be heard as being played by the sun.



UTS Building 2 (42dB SPL A)


Building 2 containing the library, food court and lunch areas, should be a hub of activity but instead we hear buses travelling along Broadway, the occasional sound of escalators and elevators, and just a few students moving or chatting.


Compositions. 

Reinterpretation of UTS Building 10.

This composition is based on the soundscape within Building 10 at the University of Technology Sydney recorded during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns. An excerpt of the original field recording is below titled UTS Student Centre. At the time of the recording the building was empty due to the shutdown of education. With all the people gone the fundamental, lowest sound layers of the building were revealed. The underlying mechanical drones of the buildings function, and the creaking and cracking sounds of the building heating and expanding as the sun comes out from behind the clouds are revealed with the enforced quietude. This composition focuses on these aspects as a reinterpretation of what was heard on location and what is captured in the recording. This single recording is used in composition based on strict rules to avoid a reliance on sound manipulation in composition, it is intended the recording would retain its original voice through the composition process. Sound processing of samples taken from the recording was limited to: gain, EQ, and compression.


Reinterpretation of the Sydney CBD Coivd-19 Soundscape.

This composition is based on a number of recordings gathered in the Sydney CBD during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns. Again, it is an interpretation of the soundscape as heard and recorded during lockdown when city function was at a minimum. A unique quietude descended across the city. There was only a smattering of people in the streets and minimal traffic, most of which was empty busses and trams still running to timetable. With the people gone geophony such as leaves blowing through the empty streets or water lapping at the harbour shore in circular quay was emphasised, while the drone of buildings was revealed as the constant fundamental sonic substructure of the city soundscape that is usually hidden beneath the primary city anthrophony. The fundamental sound layers of the city were revealed. This composition explores this sonic substructure progressing form the surroundings of the University of Technology Sydney, to the quietude of China Town on what is usually a busy Saturday afternoon with the leaves blowing along the ground, then through the cavernous city of sky scrappers, to the sounds of the water at Circular Quay heard in greater detail with the absence of people. In composition building drones are sampled and focused on to emphasis their constant presence. Geophony is focused on with the sound of leaves blowing along the ground with small details captured, repeated or constructed into short rhythmic bursts, a similar approach used with the sound of water lapping against the harbour shore at Circular Quay.