The Tactical Sound Garden [TSG] is an open source software platform for cultivating public “sound gardens” in contemporary cities. It draws on the culture of urban community gardening to posit a participatory environment where new spatial practices for social interaction within technologically mediated environments can be explored and evaluated. Addressing the impact of mobile audio devices like the iPod, the project examines gradations of privacy and publicity within contemporary public space. Using a mobile device running TSG software, participants “plant” sounds within a positional audio environment.

These plantings are mapped onto the coordinates of a physical location – overlaying a publicly constructed soundscape onto a specific urban space. Wearing headphones connected to a TSG enabled device, participants drift though virtual sound gardens as they move throughout the city.

The Tactical Sound Garden Toolkit is a project by Mark Shepard in collaboration with Fiona Murphy (field recording, sound production), Brian Diesel (programming), Aaron Flynt (programming), Achint Thomas (programming), Viral Modi (programming), Ajeya Krishnamurthy (programming), and Sepand Ansari (programming)

Visit the TSG Website