What a difference three weeks can make! Last time I came down to the Hill, it was Victoria Day (May 22). The very early beginnings of the tourist season - a few families were wandering around pointing to various buildings, but they were rather thinly scattered throughout the grounds. You could hear human voices if you listened carefully or happened to be close to one of the tourist family units but it required intensive listening.
Today, the Hill is buzzing. Sounds of the traffic on Wellington Street are the most prominent sounds. Behind the Centre Block (the main Parliament Building - the one with the Peace Tower), and closer to the river, bird sounds are more prominent and human activity is minimal.
Moving to the centre of the lawn facing the Peace Tower, I am hearing anything but peace. Canada Day is almost here. Construction workers are hoisting metal scaffolding and cross beams for the massive metal stage where the Canada Day concerts will be held. The stage is now mostly assembled. Fifty feet back, close to the street, the platform for the sound and lighting gear is going up. I hear something like a jack-hammer, though not as loud. What is that sound ...?? I have to get closer so my brain can place it. Okay, now I know, it's a generator. Banging, clanging, droning, all set against a basso continuo of traffic din.
And the tourists have now arrived. Prime tourist season doesn't happen until Canada Day, but more than a few people have shown up early. The sound of people would be more prominent without the construction, but even so, small voices can be heard from all directions.
I have now moved to the back of the Parliament Buildings. Being no great fan of industrial soundscapes, I am glad to be behind the Parliament Buildings which act as a sound buffer between the construction and me.
I am sitting atop a bluff, high above the beautiful Ottawa River. Two Japanese toursits and their children are speaking to each other and clicking their cameras (the sounds of cameras is a constant on the Hill in summer). I can hear seagulls call to each other (about 25 of them) from a sandbar in the rive about 100 yards away. Sounds of voices are everywhere. Traffic sounds are audible from across the river in Hull. So much more peaceful on this side of the House. I am also hearing many French voices.
Soon I will hear the sound of rain - the sky is looking frighteningly grey.
Another interesting note about construction sounds. I first visited Ottawa 4 years ago and was rather taken aback by the constancy of construction noise on the Hill and the immediately adjacent downtown. After moving here 3 years ago, I now know that construction sounds on the Hill are a fact of life. Every time I come down here during a workday (and sometimes weekends), the construction workers are always here, banging things, operating heavy equipment, tearing up the concrete, sandblasting the bricks ...
What does it say, that the people who manage this space, our national meeting place, will not allow us room for quiet reflection. Today it seems more like a triumphal sonic monument to the machine. Not a place for the voices of Canada to dialogue about the present and future of the country and our identity as a community.
It is those ideas and more that this piece will explore. There are many sonic spaces on this hill. Some of them are constant throughout the day and night; week to week; month to month; year to year. Others are a transitory moment in time.
To reflect as many of these moments, yet unify them in a consistent whole is a challenge. Rather like the challenge this place represents - unifying the voices and spaces across Canada into a consistent whole which makes sense. Or at least attempting to make it make sense.
An inventory of sounds - Centre lawn
Time to retreat to the quiet ....
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- Prologue
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