Now that I am officially retired, I will be able to devote myself more intensely to a passion I have nurtured for over twenty years. Not being a musician, the whole notion of active listening — or deep listening — was completely foreign to me. I discovered it very gradually, partly through sound recording, but also through learning guided by musicians, sound recordists, and composers I encountered over the years. That journey undoubtedly gave me back the ability to use this sense and draw from it at a level I would have found difficult to imagine before. It is a bit like discovering colour when you have always seen the world in black and white.
The idea and the reflex of keeping one’s hearing on alert — without even realising it, as it becomes a constant practice — allowed me to hear the world very differently, and certainly with far greater precision. Take the time to analyze the sounds around you: by layer, by dimension, by frequency. From the most subtle sound to the most obvious. You won’t believe your ears!