Breathing Room
Steven Webb - Alto Flute and Fixed Electronics
Scored for alto flute and fixed electronics, Breathing Room is a collage made up of recorded sounds I made of the environment around me over the past seven years living in Toronto, Ontario.
Throughout these seven years, the sounds of my city have changed drastically. In 2020, the global pandemic disrupted the the sonic landscape, with much of the vibrancy and life being leeched from the city's character as we all retreated into our homes.
These seven years have also seen the gradual erosion of the Greenbelt in Southern Ontario, as our provincial government continues to open it up for development. This degradation of our urban forests, ravines, and surrounding greenspace additionally alters its sonic characterstics, with the acoustic ecology being damaged as species and habitats are destroyed in the name of much needed housing. All of the movements are sonic snapshots in time, echoes of already faded memories — here presented for posterity.