The Deep Listening experience

‘Deep Listening, as developed by Pauline Oliveros, explores the difference between the involuntary nature of hearing and the conscious nature of listening.’ Centre for Deep Listening

Portrait of Pauline Oliveros with accordion.

I’d been waiting for this Deep Listening training for a long time. Having taken part in a two hour workshop at Arnolfini last October I was totally inspired to learn (and listen) more. I discovered an online course at The Centre for Deep Listening based at Lawrence University in Wisconsin so put my name down for three consecutive Sunday afternoons this November.

In the intervening period I listen to Pauline Oliveros’s seminal album ‘Deep Listening’, first released in 1989, over and over again. I love this immersion in the subtleties of sound, the quietness of silence, the meditative nature of repetition, the unknown of improvisation.

‘For me Deep Listening is a life long practice. The more I listen the more I learn to listen. Deep Listening involves going below the surface of what is heard, expanding to the whole field of sound while finding focus. This is the way to connect with the acoustic environment, all that inhabits it, and all that there is.’ Pauline Oliveros

As an introduction to the course we were sent a document, ‘Intro to Deep Listening Syllabus’, from Co-Listeners and workshop leaders Leila Ramagopal and Brian Pertl. It opened with the lines:

 This class is a

  hands-on

   ears-on

      brains-on

         bodies-on

            dreams-on

               exploration of you

                  and your relationship to your world

                     through Deep Listening practice.

What a wonderful, enticing invitation. I became really intrigued by listening to my body, particularly in relation to others’ bodies. What were the sounds I was hearing when receiving a massage? How does my breath align with a person’s standing near me?

Practicing deep listening in various spaces at Tate Modern, London.

Most of Pauline’s compositions were based on text scores rather than musical notation, allowing the work to be more accessible to more people, musicians and non-musicians alike. Her publication ‘Sonic Meditations’ brings together a series of these ‘word pieces’. The publication is made up of twenty five scores in total containing specific parameters in order to ensure those responding to the scores do so with clear intention. This world of intentionality is what really interested Pauline.

‘Deep Listening is my life practice.’ Pauline Oliveros

Thank you to Alyson Hallett for introducing me to the work of Pauline Oliveros, and to Leila and Brian for providing such a beautifully held and stimulating workshop experience.