Listening to "Layla" at the farmer's market

Excerpted from the article "Listening To The Hudson River Valley" by Joshua Groffman, appearing in The Hudson River Valley Review, Volume 40, Number 2, Spring 2024.

The Millbrook Farmer's Market, June 2017. Image courtesy of the author.

 

Alongside historical accounts of sound and musical works, my recent research has also made frequent use of soundscape recordings. The “soundscape” is an idea that has been widely used by scholars, composers, and musicians; most notable is the work of R. Murray Schafer, Barry Truax, and others involved with the World Soundscape Project, who defined the soundscape as “an environment of sound (or sonic environment) with emphasis on the way it is perceived and understood by the individual, or by a society.” Soundscape observations can be done across minutes, hours, days, or months. They can cover broad or highly localized terrain, and can be conducted by a recordist present in the landscape or by automated or remotely-controlled recording equipment. Some observations are targeted and purposeful, seeking out particular kinds of sounds, while others seek a general, overall characterization of the sonic environment.

One of my favorite sites for soundscape recordings are farmers’ markets. Apart from the excuse to look for a good cider donut, observations from these markets provide an excellent place to hear the sounds of human and non-human interaction, and they frequently feature music as well. The sound of a market projects beyond the boundaries of the space where it is held and before visual details are apparent; it is usually the first thing you experience as you approach one. When listening back to soundscape recordings, I pay particular attention to ambient noise levels, as well as attempting to identify and record as many of the separate and recognizable sonic events as possible. Noise levels, usually measured in decibels, gauge the overall loudness or quietness of the environment. Sonic events reflect the mixture and proportion of living and non-living elements in the landscape; soundscape ecologists think about this as the balance between biophony (sounds made by living bodies, voices, and calls) and anthrophony (human-made machinery, cars, equipment, and infrastructure). These considerations help me to characterize the sonic environment and think about the perceptual and affective components of experience in the landscape.

In June 2017, I made a recording of a walk through the Saturday morning farmers’ market held in Millbrook, Dutchess County. In it, I hear a low hum of noise reflecting the generally quiet levels of a village landscape. Against this backdrop of voices and car traffic, a few events stand out in sonic relief: a dog barking excitedly, a vendor helping a customer choose the right baked good, the chance meeting of two friends. Soundtracking the whole is a guitar and bass duo performing Eric Clapton’s “Layla.” They have chosen a close cover of the song created by Clapton for his 1992 acoustic sessions produced by MTV, a jazzier, softer reimagination of the 1970 Derek and the Dominos hit.

Musical acts are almost always carefully chosen at local markets with an eye to a particular experience curated for weekenders and local residents. As I browse over local crafts, food, and produce, the music contours that experience and my affective interaction with the human and non-human elements around me. Both stylistically and volume-wise, the music is tightly constrained to allow for the easy interactions of socializing and commerce. It skews acoustic, with an old-time feel, a blend of classic rock, blues, country, and bluegrass. The suggestion is of a historic and apolitical tradition that meshes well with assumptions about the timeless quality of agriculture. Acoustic music, too, brings with it the implications of “unplugged” and “natural” sounds as an analogue to the goods and food on display. One can imagine how the experience would be interestingly different if the original, hard-driving and electrified version of “Layla” had been performed, or perhaps a song by one of the punk bands I grew up listening to in the basement of the Thorne Building just up the street from the Millbrook market.

Farmers’ markets are a key place to hear environmental ideology. They bring together agricultural products and goods in settings that assert the value and salutary social and health effects of the local, homegrown, and “natural.” In this setting, sound and music shape a particular version of the Hudson Valley and a particular experience of landscape. The soundscape observation here demonstrates how the Hudson Valley’s beauty is often associated with its quiet, reinforcing the contrast with New York City as a “getaway chock full of earthly delights.” The low noise levels and freedom from noise is an important attraction. Mellow, acoustically driven music reinforces a timeless and vintage vibe. Soundscape recordings invite consideration of these sonic ideologies as they resound across the landscape.