Taking attunement “as the capacity to sense, amplify, and attend to difference” (Ash & Gallacher 2015:73), this talk will chart the distinctive role that acoustic ecology could play in a larger programme of participatory urban attunement. Departing from the  well-established acoustic ecology tropes of ear cleansing and sonological competence, and questioning common understandings around acclimatisation, habituation and (de)sensitisation, through case studies and practical experience the talk will foreground audiologically specific themes of acoustic comfort, temporary threshold shift and Drever’s concept of auraltypical hearing.

Operating at the intersection of acoustics, audiology, sound art, soundscape studies and composition, Drever’s practice represents an ongoing inquiry into the affect, perception, design and practice of everyday acoustic environments. Drever is Professor of Acoustic Ecology and Sound Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he leads the Unit for Sound Practice Research. He is an Academician of The Academy of Urbanism, a Member of the Institute of Acoustics and a Visiting Research Fellow at Seian University of Art and Design, Japan.