Sounding the Garden

short link: http://bit.ly/soundingthegarden

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Overview

Farid al-Din ʿAttar's famous poem "Conference of the Birds" (Mantiq al-Tayr) recounts the spiritual quest through seven valleys. These valleys have been mapped onto the Aga Khan Garden at the University of Alberta's Botanic Garden, augmented with music and poetry, in order to deepen visitors' experiences of the Garden, to catalyze a richer, fuller, more harmonious understanding of Islamic spirituality, and to support religious pluralism.

• Visit Sounding the Garden Click on Reflect, then navigate to Sounding the Garden. (This version works anywhere, on any device.)
• Sounding the Garden, using GPS and dynamic positional audio mixing, and incorporating additional tracks from the Aga Khan Music Initiative. (This version works on site only, using a GPS-enabled smartphone. There is a subsidiary site adjoining the Aga Khan Centre in London.)
• Additional resources (poem, narration, map, miniatures) available here.

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Sounding the Aga Khan Garden: An Introduction

The Aga Khan Garden is a multisensory garden... not only of flora, fauna, and architecture, perceived visually, but also a garden of sounds - natural and human - perceived aurally. You naturally experience the intertwined lightscape and soundscape as you walk through - the flow of water, the calls of birds and insects, the creaking of trees, the conversations of others - coupled also with fragrances and textures, through olfactory and tactile senses.

Sounding the Garden provides an additional aural dimension. Through your mobile computing device (phone or tablet) you can hear an augmented reality - a new soundscape, comprised of music, speech, and birdsong -- superimposed on the garden, through the frame of a famous mystical poem, Farid al-Din Attar’s “Language of the Birds” (Mantiq al-Tayr). As you stroll through the garden you will hear different sounds through your phone or tablet, varying with your current position, time of day, day of the week, and month of the year, whose sources are virtual. Such sound is known as “acousmatic” - it is not directly coupled with your physical environment, and its “sources” are hidden from view.

We suggest using earbuds or headphones for optimal effect. With reduced volume you can hear a mix of virtual and real sounds. You may wish to view your mobile computing screen, where you’ll find additional controls, as well as visual information: a map, texts, descriptions, images. Or you can put your phone or tablet away - in your pocket or bag - and simply enjoy the hidden aural world they invisibly bring you.

We have borrowed a concept from tasawwuf (Islamic Mysticism): the spiritual path (tariqa) towards self-annihilation and realization of the inner Divine (similar to the idea of enlightenment in other religious traditions), as formulated by one of Iran’s most renowned mystic poets, Farid al-Din Attar (1145 - 1220 CE), of Nishapur.

Attar was a pharmacist, mystic, and writer, whose most famous work is his extended poem entitled Mantiq al-Tayr, literally “The Speech of the Birds” (often translated as “The conference of the birds”), an allegory of the spiritual path:

The birds seek their true king, the Simurgh. They decide to follow the Hoopoe as most knowledgeable. S/he (there is no he/she-distinction in the Persian language) uses many didactic stories to guide them. Two thirds through the book, they finally decide to learn about the path, consisting of seven “valleys” (corresponding to spiritual stages): Quest, Love, Knowledge (Insight into Mystification), Detachment, Unity, Bewilderment, and Poverty (Annihilation). Along the way many birds perish or turn back, leaving the path, but finally there are 30 who remain. Then it is revealed that they themselves are the Simurgh (si=30, murgh=bird).

The valleys on this journey are mapped onto the Aga Khan Garden, which is consequently divided into seven sections, as shown on the map, in a circular formation, underscoring the poem’s theme: that which you sought was within you all along. You cannot see these valleys but you can hear them! As you enter a valley you will hear its name, followed by a short recitation of its poetry, in the original Persian followed by English translation, and a short explication. During this introductory section, you will hear a musical improvisation, including sung poetry, leavened with birdsong. Meanwhile, your mobile device screen will display relevant images, including a beautiful calligraphy (prepared by a University of Alberta art student), and miniature paintings from the Persian tradition of illustrated manuscripts.

Try to pause and listen to the entire introductory track before proceeding, as you reflect on this valley. Look around, and contemplate the unexpected fusion of your senses - physical sights, sounds, and fragrances, overlaid with acousmatic sounds from your mobile device. Once the introduction has concluded, you can proceed on your journey. Your mobile screen will now display a map, along with your position. Tap the button at the lower right of your screen for options (track controls and descriptions, help, feedback).

Treasures from the Aga Khan Music Initiative short, looping tracks-- are located in each valley, in positions indicated by small circles on the map. There is also an ambient track that uniformly pervades the valley. Introductory and ambient tracks were recorded in Edmonton, by local musicians and spoken word artists.

The introductory and ambient tracks are improvisations on a variety of instruments, each in a particular dastgah (Persian musical mode, and major division of the Iranian classical music canon, or Radif) corresponding to the valley, according to the theory of prominent Iranian classical music scholar and composer Majid Kiani.

Valley	Dastgah
1. Quest	Shour
2. Love	Segah
3. Knowledge	Chahargah
4. Detachment	Mahour
5. Unity	Homayoun
6. Bewilderment	Rast-Panjgah
7. Annihilation	Nava

As you stroll you will hear a mix of sounds: the ambient track, overlaid by located sounds, whose intensity varies according to your distance from the source. Using your mobile device’s screen you can peruse information about each track. You can also listen to any track in “solo” mode (meaning you will hear only the one track, in stereo), or mute (and unmute) any track.

May you your journey enrich you!

PROJECT CREDITS

Core team:
Concept and team lead : Michael Frishkopf
Project Advisor : Scott Smallwood
Principal Research Assistant : Hossein Hosseiniparvar
Preliminary research assistant: John Montague
Web Programmer : Yourui Guo
Audio Post-Production : Greg Mulyk

Poetry : Farid al-Din al-Attar
Poetry translation : Afkham Darbandi & Dick Davis
Calligraphy : Zohreh Valiary Eskandary

Valley Narrators:
Bahman Homayun - spoken Persian and English
Hossna Gharaee - spoken Persian and English
Lebogang Disele - spoken English
Michael Samuel Kaplan - spoken English

Valley musical introductions and ambient tracks* :
Hossein Hosseiniparvar - Setar, Vocals
Mehdi Rezania - Santour
Morteza Abedinifard - Setar, Kamancheh
Sean Borle - Piano, Djembe
Greg Mulyk - Piano, Upright Bass
Abtin Ghaffari - Tonbak
Michael Frishkopf - Ney
Terry Tran - Recording Engineer
(Recorded at The Audio Department, Edmonton, AB)

Situated Musical recordings : AKMI series, on Smithsonian Folkways

Many thanks to :

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Aga Khan Music Initiative
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
British Library and Metropolitan Museum (Persian miniatures)
Lee Foote: director of the University of Alberta Botanic Garden
Hussein Keshani: Principal Investigator for the Garden App project.