Sound Mapping


 

I have never heard the azhan from my family mosque, even though I have been there many times. This is because presently the mosque only holds prayer a few times a year. I imagine that if I could hear an historical recording of the azhan from the MMI it might provide information about the Lipka Tatar community of Brooklyn. Perhaps the recording would contain sonic information about the physical building the mosque exists within, and about Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where the mosque has been geographically located since the 1930s. Maybe the field recording would provide a sense of the prayer room where the azhan was recited, its resonance-size, and maybe how filled it was with attendees. Maybe the recording would reveal the voices and variety of languages spoken by the people in the mosque, the time of year would be marked by whether or not the large heating system fans are audible, or there might be sonic information about how many people were attending prayer, including whether or not children were running around.

Recording from Airport Road near Corniche, Abu Dhabi, UAE