Paul Graney, Pioneer of Acoustic Ecology?

I discovered Paul Graney at Manchester Histories Festival, learning about a figure notably absent from historical records. Born in 1908 into poverty, Graney meticulously documented industrial Manchester through hundreds of sound recordings, interviews, photographs, and notebooks throughout his unconventional life.

Graney’s archive demonstrates the work of an accomplished recording engineer and interviewer who captured the everyday acoustic environment of the city. His recordings, despite presumably challenging storage conditions, remain impressively well-preserved.

Acoustic Ecology Context

Graney predates formal Acoustic Ecology—established in 1970s Canada through R. Murray Schafer’s work—by approximately 15 years. However, the acoustic ecology movement perpetuated what I’d describe as elitist preferences. The field promoted “high-fidelity, ‘unspoiled wilderness’” above urban soundscapes, reflecting intellectual snobbery.

Sophie Arkette observed the field’s bias toward “antiquarian or rural soundscapes, as if these are assumed to be more refined than their modern-day equivalents.”

The Urban Soundscape Defense

Rather than dismissing city sounds as inferior, alongside theorists like Arkette, I celebrate urban acoustic environments as equally fascinating. Both Graney and 19th-century art critic John Ruskin viewed industrial environments as worthy of celebration, seeing human creativity in industry as natural and awe-inspiring.

Graney’s archive represents essential British soundscape documentation, capturing people and experiences that shaped industrial society.