When sounds that define us become noise, can cities speak?

When village bells tolled in pre-industrial landscapes, the sound was laden with meaning. Religious representation, the passing of the days, and imminent warnings and dangers were all attached to its perception. Their historical meaning to communities has been thoroughly researched.

Alain Corbin’s book, Village Bells: Sound and Meaning in the 19th-century French Countryside, explores the central role these sounds played in everyday life, both in theistic and secular society.

The World Soundscape Project, led by Murray Schafer, investigated the acoustic horizons formed by bell sounds in their Five Village Soundscapes research, and how these sonic boundaries