SG'S SOUND DIARY - HELSINKI

How often do you recall the sound of your holiday?
For over a century, since the invention of the camera and the development of the smartphone, visual documentation through photos and videos has become the primary method of recalling memories from the past. However, despite technological advances that allow anyone to capture high-quality audio with portable devices, documenting just the sounds of your travel destinations remains uncommon outside the field of academia. How powerful or different would the act of reminiscing be if it were based solely on auditory documentation rather than visual? How personal and intimate could it become?
This episode of SG’S SOUND DIARY is composed of five sequences of consecutive 3-minute-long soundscapes from various places along my journey to Helsinki in December 2023. These are not sounds from nature or wilderness; these are urban noises. Yet, this Finnish capital is unlike typical cities full of loud, abrupt noise. Everything slows down in this Nordic city during the winter of heavy snows and scarce daylight. Even the sound of waves seems calm and distant in the frozen Baltic Sea.
In the Traditional Market, one of the liveliest scenes in the city centre, locals and tourists hide from the snowstorm, yet there is a notable respectfulness-nobody speaks loudly. This manner of quiet respectfulness can also be heard inside the tram passing through the busiest commute area of the city. Ice bathing in a public sauna is undeniably one of the most exotic experiences one can have in Finland. Through the ritual of alternating between extreme heat and below-zero-degree water in narrow spaces, the community forges special bonds to endure the long winter. The soundscape concludes at Suomenlinna, a medieval fortress on an island just 3 km from the urban area, evoking a sense of wonder about how Helsinki sounded hundreds of years ago. The urban noise, although barely heard, sits in the distant background creating a pleasing ambience.
1. South Harbour of Helsinki
2. Inside the Tram passing Helsinki Central Station
3. Vanha Kauppahalli: Old Market Hall
4. Sompasauna
5. Kuninkaanportti, Suomenlinna