The acoustic backgrounds off all modern cities contain the accumulative residue of traffic noise. It is so pervasive and omnipresent in the built environment that it has greatly contributed to a condition in which most people do not listen to the sounds around them.

Bregenz on Lake Constanz, will be the site of a sound sculpture that will transform the public perception of urban acoustic space of this city.

Bell towers are architectural structures designed to widely distribute sound in the landscape. Many bell towers of Bregenz (seven to be exact Pfarrkirche St. Gallus, Pfarrkirche St. Kolumban, Pfarrkirche Herz-Jesu, Kloster Mehrerau, Nepomukkapelle, Seekapelle, Pfarrkirche Mariahilf) will sound at the same time. Resounding not with bells, but with the voice of the lake. The underwater sound of the lake which is so much a part of the unconsciousness and identity of Bregenz, will become the acoustic background town.

Live hyrdophones placed in the Lake to hear moving water sounds will simultaneously transmit these signals to loudspeakers placed in seven bell towers of Bregenz . This will result in an acoustic overlay of water sounds that will be virtually flying through the town. The sound levels from the bell towers will be adjusted as to not to be too loud, but strong enough to mask some of the traffic noise. These airborne underwater sounds will not be spatially or musically static, because they have undulating water tonalities that will interact with the reflective architectural surfaces of the town. This will cause pedestrians making a listening journey through Bregenz to find that these airborne water tonalities will describe the urban acoustic space of Bregenz, by reflecting off of building surfaces, sometimes echoing and penetrating into unexpected corners.

During the installation and tuning of this sound sculpture, there will be special points throughout Bregenz at which an amazing echoes and reflections takes place. A few of these points may already privately be known by such people who normally wander through the town curiously clapping their hands or noticing how a particular bell echoes off of a building surface. . The new aerial water sounds flying about town will reveal all these magic acoustic points at the same time.

The acoustic backgrounds off all modern cities contain the accumulative residue of traffic noise. It is so pervassive and omnipresent in the built environment that it has greatly contributed to a condition in which most people do not listen to the sounds around them. This is symbolized by the widesperead use of wearing headphones attached to walkmans.