Not all of Armagh’s sounds happen at random. In fact most have a pattern to them – in the sense that they generally occur at a certain time of day or under certain circumstances. In this sense, therefore, it is possible to think of the City’s soundscape as a sort of musical score – not in order for one to direct the sounds, but certainly as an aid to retrospectively understand them.
The inference, of course, is that anyone who contributes to this composition by making any sort of sound is therefore also a musician within this score. And also, that the people who have specific responsibility for the design of the City and therefore the sounds that emanate as a result (for example, those involved in urban regeneration, management of population density, organisation of green spaces, traffic flow, and so on) are actually the piece’s composers.
Now, it’s obvious that as the City is being regenerated a lot of thought is being put into how the centre of Armagh looks. I wonder though how much musical training these planners have?
