Following COVID-19 lockdowns around the globe, there have been numerous observations made on the impact of reduced human activity in acoustic environments.

The following lists of resources were primarily prepared by FSAE member Meri Kytö on her website, with additional contributions by AFAE member Jesse Budel.

Articles/Blog posts
  1. In the May 2020 issue of The Monthly (AUS), Nicola Redhouse's article, 'Quiet Life', discussed the work of various acoustic ecologists during the pandemic.
  2. Douglas Quan's 'Listen up: In these disquieting COVID-19 times, hushed cities are making a loud impression on our ears' for The Star (CAN), discusses pandemic soundscapes with input from acoustic ecology pioneers Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp, amongst others.
  3. The interactive New York Times article, 'The Coronavirus Quieted City Noise. Listen to What’s Left' by Bui and Badger compares urban soundscapes pre- and post-lockdown.
  4. Scientific Sonification – The Sound of Corona, essay by Holger Schulze: http://passiveaggressive.dk/scientific-sonification-the-sound-of-corona/
  5. Less seismic vibration on Earth (YLE, in Finnish, references Nature journal):
    https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11295684
  6. Birds sing louder (Iltalehti, in Finnish, references Reuters):
    https://www.iltalehti.fi/ulkomaat/a/70a94312-3615-48a4-a33d-ccef6de2100e
  7. Reduced marine noise (The Guardian)
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/apr/27/silence-is-golden-for-whales-as-lockdown-reduces-ocean-noise-coronavirus
  8. Tom Banse's article, 'The Pandemic Gives PNW Whales A Break From The Din Of Underwater Noise' for OPB investigates the impact of reduced ocean traffic during lockdown.
  9. Essay on Istanbul, by Burcu Yasin:
    https://terrabayt.com/expat-life/the-soundscape-of-covid-19-in-istanbul/
  10. Essay on various places, by Matt Mikkelsen
    https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/changing-sound-of-cities
  11. The bagpipes at Lauttasaari, Helsinki (in Finnish):
    https://www.lauttasaari.fi/suurenmoinen-sakkipillinainen-esiin-soitan-kannustukseksi-ja-valittamisen-osoitukseksi/
  12. Silent Helsinki (YLE, in Finnish):
    https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11259414
  13. Silent Kuopio (YLE, in Finnish):
    https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-11313383
  14. Not so silent Helsinki (HS, in Finnish, mentions the legendary Corona Bar):
    https://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/art-2000006449033.html
  15. Silent day care centers (MTV, in Finnish):
    https://www.mtv.fi/sarja/kevennys-10-4-2020-33001002004/korona-on-hiljentanyt-paivakodit-ja-paasiaisaskartelu-on-jaanyt-vahaiselle-aleksin-paivakotitadit-askartelivat-ikkunaan-lasten-paasiaisvisan-1243021
  16. Silence retreats by Tampere parishes are cancelled between March-May (in Finnish):
    https://tampereenseurakunnat.fi/tutki_uskoa/retriittielamaa/retriittikalenteri
  17. Music for corona generation (in Dutch):
    https://www.thisisourhouse.nl/features/muziek-voor-een-corona-generatie/
  18. Seismograf article compilation on sounds of 2020, essays collected through a writing competition  (Lyden af 2020, in Danish): https://seismograf.org/fokus/lyden-af-2020
  19. A collection of written experiences with the sonic environment during lockdown (in English and Dutch): https://urbansoundlab.nl/listening-to-the-city-in-times-of-corona/ (see also the related open call: https://soundtrackcity.net/open-call-how-do-you-experience-a-quieter-city/
  20. A blog by field recordist Arnoud Traa in Amsterdam: https://deauditievedienst.tumblr.com/ (tags #corona recordings and #coronarecordings)
  21. The Observer: Why lockdown silence was golden for science, June 20th, https://www.theguardian.com/science/2020/jun/20/why-lockdown-silence-was-golden-for-science
  22. “Missing Sounds of New York: An Auditory Love Letter to New Yorkers”, New York City library’s list of sound recordings from NY “before Covid-19”. https://www.nypl.org/blog/2020/05/01/missing-sounds-of-new-york, see also a story by Ashawnta Jackson at https://daily.jstor.org/recalling-city-sounds-during-a-quarantine/ 
  23. Jez Riley French’s blog diary on listening during the pandemic: https://jezrileyfrench-aquietposition.blogspot.com/2020/03/552020-i-first-posted-about-this-during.html
  24. “Singing Together, Apart”, by Rachael Beale, blog post at London Review of Books site: https://www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2020/june/singing-together-apart

Podcasts/Radio
Sound map projects
  1. Radio Aporee Project Corona
    https://aporee.org/maps/work/projects.php?project=corona
  2. Cities and Memories' #stayhomesounds project, inviting people from around the globe to submit sound recordings from where they live during COVID-19.
  3. Soundscapes Under Fear of COVID-19, a series of recordings made by Koji Nagahata in Japan's Tohoku region during the lockdown
  4. Window-Swap features 10-minute audiovisual snapshots from people's homes in isolation.
  5. Covid-19 Sound Map by Pete Stollery: https://earth.google.com/web/@31.61265225,32.75149559,8133.66958234a,25017742.90688754d,35y,0h,0t,0r/data=MicKJQojCiExN0MwN3o5Y1JIOV8ycjRXOE5IYmlYSkt0cDVFMHBCcl86AwoBMA [Chrome browser needed]
  6. Sound Outside Map: Listening to the world at Covid-19 Time
    https://www.soundesign.info/2020/03/28/the-sound-outside/
  7. Locus Sonus, real time audio streaming
    http://locusonus.org/soundmap
  8. Muuttuvat suomalaiset äänimaisemat Listening Map: Poikkeuksellinen kevät 2020: http://kartta.aanimaisemat.fi/projects
  9. Locate your sound, Italian Covid-19 sound map: https://locateyoursound.com/paesaggi-sonori-italiani-covid19
    (see also related essay: https://ilmanifesto.it/covid-19-il-ritmo-del-silenzio/)
  10. Several recordings (Grenoble) and soundwalks (Turin) on Cartophonies during confinement (search year 2020):
    https://www.cartophonies.fr/
  11. Sound recordings from Fukushima and Sendai, Japan, by Koji Nagahata: https://www.sss.fukushima-u.ac.jp/~nagahata/covid-sp/index-e.html
  12. Freesound Audio Database, with the search word “covid”:
    https://freesound.org/search/?q=covid
  13. Based on the list collated by Society for Ethnomusicology members of hundreds of corona themes songs around the world, Elise Heinisch has made a very accessible map: https://padlet.com/eliseheinisch/a_global_coronavirus_playlist (Because of “national education system she has had to filter certain songs which could be viewed as religious, political, or otherwise controversial”, so it now contains 139 songs from the list. The list keeps growing substantially.)
  14. Lisbon sound postcards in times of Covid-19, a tourist city without tourists: http://www.soundsoftourism.pt/soundpostcards-in-times-of-covid-19-confinement/

Silence in pictures: empty cities photo reportages
  1. Istanbul (Sabah, in Turkish): https://www.sabah.com.tr/galeri/yasam/istanbulda-korona-sessizligi/13
  2. Istanbul (Milliyet, in Turkish): https://www.milliyet.com.tr/galeri/corona-virus-sessizligi-istanbulu-hic-boyle-gormediniz-6173749/1
  3. London (Financial Times): https://www.ft.com/content/e2b314aa-69d2-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3
  4. Segovia (El Norte de Castilla, in Spanish): https://www.elnortedecastilla.es/segovia/estridente-silencio-ciudad-20200405121429-nt.html
  5. Paris (Le Point, in French): https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/en-images-coronavirus-paris-ville-morte-17-03-2020-2367562_23.php

Social media videos / streams of sounding out, playing, singing that have caught my attention
  1. How I’m Handling Online Teaching (Original Screaming Teacher Video)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zy_y9yOrgxk
  2. HUS (Helsinki University Hospital) doctors choir (in Finnish):
    https://www.nly.fi/pida-huolta/
  3. Saturday evening music by Lauttasaari church, Piia Maunula on baroque oboe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHJndfPdUA0
  4. The Lahti Symphony Orchestra: Sibelius: Finlandia op 26
    https://youtu.be/Sh1L-8T5hu0
  5. Virtuaalikuoro (Virtual Choir project, in Finnish)
    https://www.facebook.com/virtuaalikuoro/
  6. Vaskivuoren lukion kuoro (Vaskivuori High School virtual choir, in Finnish):
    https://www.vantaa.fi/uutisia/101/0/150216 and
    https://youtu.be/OrThp_wFI7k
  7. Covid-19 parody songs FB group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2717954571809688/
  8. Darude Sandstorm on your balcony (in Finnish), FB group with videos: https://www.facebook.com/groups/669917093758944/
  9. Video from early March with a hazmat dancer and people cheering in Spain: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=521289605463875&id=361430174733
  10. Balcony scene from Germany, a commentary on balcony singing: https://mobile.twitter.com/MusicIsPeople/status/1239500328862695425 (Searching social media platforms with “balcony singing” provides lots of videos.)
  11. Spectral Electric: Pandemic Response Division album
    https://spectralelectric.bandcamp.com/album/pandemic-response-division
  12. Alex Ross essay on pianist Igor Levit’s home concerts:
    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/05/18/igor-levit-is-like-no-other-pianist
  13. The Boccaccio Project, a ollection and commision of musical performances by the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/concerts/boccaccio-project/

Research projects or surveys about the same subject
  1. Year of Sound 2020 response to Covid-19:
    https://sound2020.org/news/soundscape-under-covid-19-and-wiki-for-sound/
  2. Silent Cities: A participatory monitoring programme of an exceptional modification of urban soundscapes:
    https://renoir.hypotheses.org/files/2020/03/Silent·Cities-Project.pdf
  3. Survey by Paola Moscoso:
    https://es.surveymonkey.com/r/RQ69GXZ
  4. The Hellenic Society for Acoustic Ecology’s International Survey: https://forms.gle/tHd4WZ3EgKXx7smz7
  5. The Collegium Hungaricum Berlin Open Call for making a collective soundscape compositions:
    https://www.facebook.com/events/2489926544601566/
  6. Invitation for sound contributions for Live Release, open call:
    https://livereleaseconvergence.tumblr.com/
  7. Call for works: Sonic, Social, Distance and Soundtracks for Strange Days, curated by Maile Colbert at Sonic Field: https://sonicfield.org/2020/05/call-for-works-sonic-social-distance-and-soundtracks-for-strange-days/

Sound art works on the subject
  1. A radiophonic sound work “Poikkeusaika” by Taina Riikonen on life in quarantine: https://areena.yle.fi/audio/1-50513054
  2. Interiorities: Sonic Experiment and Documents from Lockdown, by Kate Carr
  3. “Poikkeustila” soundscape work by Mikko Haapoja under the project The routes of Helsinki (Helsingin reitit): http://mikkohaapoja.net/helsinginreitit/poikkeustila.htm
  4. Ricardo Huisman’s (DJ Sensescape) compositions of his contributions to the Aporee sound map, published as an album: https://ricardohuisman.bandcamp.com/album/sensescapes-in-the-pandemic-disruptive-transparencies
  5. “Sounds of COVID album” by Sammy Holmes and co, Carleton University, Ottawa: https://sammyholmes.wixsite.com/website/sounds-of-covid-album (see also reflections on the project here).
  6. 'CORONA CONCRETE' is based on the experiences of sound artist Lasse-Marc Riek during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this time, he created an extensive sound archive that forms the basis and source for the elaboration of the material into various artistic formats. https://corona-concrete.lasse-marc-riek.de/index.php?l=en

If you are aware of any further projects or pieces investigating our acoustic environments in the time of COVID-19, please email WFAE Secretary Jesse Budel at [email protected] to add to this resource.