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LISTEN TO THE JUNGLE
Stand still and listen to the edge of the jungle.
Let your breathing settle.
Even before the marker of the railway crossing you can hear the
difference. You should become aware of the ‘biophony’ of this place,
the sound made by animals. The sound of the Galle Road starts to
recede and, unless a train is passing, humans recede too. There is a
huge amount of audio information to listen to – dogs, monkeys,
insects. The jungle has it’s own geology, one which is weathered by
rainwater and wind, rather than by the erosion of the waves. All of
these sonic habitats exist within a few meters of each other.
Unless you are in adverse weather conditions, it might be hard to
hear geophony over the din – you might nudge at it though – on the
edge of your perception.
Walk back to the main road and turn right. Cross over again.
LISTEN TO HUMANS
STOP AT Ranjith’s Beach Hut alleyway. Listen. Cup your ears by
placing your hands behind them and pushing forward. Turn round
through 360° What can you hear now? It is probably louder than
before. Enjoy the acoustic effect.
There is a mural here. It talks about rocks. ‘Even Rocks Don’t Last
Forever, listen to the light, The future will be soon my love and
the future must be bright’.
Rocks don’t last forever. They are simply subject to different
timescales than our own.
Continue on your walk along the Galle Road.
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LiSTEN TO THE SEA
aS YOU WALK. THE SOUND OF THE ROAD WILL RECEDE. THE SEA WILL START TO
ROAR IN YOUR EARS
Walk down the alley way towards the sea. You should now be beach
side.
You might see some bleached corals on the shore-line. These are the
remains of dead animals. Coral is not rock. But it might become so, in
millions of years time. You might chose to sit here and listen to the sea
roar. Try to isolate the low constant thrum from the higher frequency
wave crash. Sometimes there are other pitches and noises you can
hear. You might like to enter the sea and put your head under the
waves. The sound is very different if you do this. The roar is muffled.
Walk back along the shoreline towards Sun Beach.
In the corner of Mike Kuku’s Nest bar Mural ‘Geology – Always
Beneath us’. In Sri Lanka the geology, the shifting tectonic plates are
less stable than they once were. Things always change.
To complete your walk travel a few more paces past Golden Sands to
Sun Beach.
LiSTEN TO THE EARTH
When you arrive at SunBeach, if it is there, please take time to
listen to the Audiophone. perhaps it could be called a Geophone. It is
for listening to the sounds of erosion and weathering of sea and
storm. The sound of geological processes. The sounds of geology,
Even if the horn is not there, you can still appreciate it from the
terrace.
Geophony. A DEFINITION: the sound of the Earth. Naturally occurring,
non-biological audio sources coming from different types of habitat,
whether terrestrial or marine.
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  GEOPHONY: hikkaduwa soundwalK

A soundwalk is any excursion whose main purpose is listening to the environment. It is
exposing our ears to every sound around us no matter where we are.
Hildegard Westerkamp, 1974

A CIRCULAR ROUTE OF AROUND 25 minutes duration

Start: sUNBEACH HOTEL

LISTEN TO YOURSELF
Place your hands tight over your ears. Listen to yourself. You should
be able to hear your own breathing if you pay close enough attention.
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Move to the outside of the hotel, onto the Galle Road

Listen outside the hotel. It’s noisy here isn’t it? It is noisy with noise
made by biological creatures: human beings.

You are listening to ‘anthrophony’. Noise induced by humans. We are in

the anthropocene after all. Perhaps the friendly Tuk-tuk drivers are
outside Sun Beach. They like rocks too. You can tell by their bumper
stickers.

Turn Left, walk down the Galle Road. At the first turning to the right
on Galle Road, cross over and walk towards the TRAIN track. Stop at
the level crossing.

© Lorna Rees
Gobbledegook Theatre 2017
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Listen TO THE ROAD
aS YOU walk, try to Notice things you don’t usually. there is so
much noise, much of it is beautiful. It is life. It is living. Try to find
sounds you enjoy in the cacophony.

There is a lot of traffic on this road. There are many vehicles doing
many chaotic things in the pursuit of their destination.

If you are a man, walk down the road, try to avoid traffic hazards and
listen as you walk.
If you are a woman, some of the horn beeps might be for you. You
could be a mother with a toddler, a Western tourist or a schoolgirl.
Many drivers use their horns as a nervous tic – traffic hazard – beep –
a woman – beep – traffic hazard – beep – woman – beep - woman.
Sometimes drivers of very big trucks with their very big horns do this
on purpose in order to surprise you, so they can enjoy your shocked
face as they pass. BEEP. How funny. How very funny it is. Other
times vans slow beside you and three men [offer] [threaten] to have
sex with you. How grateful you must feel to have all this indiscriminate
attention directed at your body. Also, try to avoid traffic hazards and
listen as you walk.

Stop at the entrance to an alleyway outside a house covered in  

 
graffiti. Turn left and walk down the alleyway to Miracle’s café.
Look inside.

There is a mural on the wall in the café here. It reads ‘Rocks are not
inanimate. Some are just slower than us. Some are much faster’.
Some of the molten rock erupting in Mount Agung, Bali right now, is
faster than us. It is moving at great pressure and force. The silica in
the magma cracks and re-form and cracks and re-forms. Sri Lankan
gemstones are formed at intense pressures and temperatures.
Sometimes rocks are unexpectedly speedy. Seismic events can be
fast too. And deadly. They cause earthquakes and tsunami. Listening
to the Earth could save your life.
  
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