This is a map of the first sound walk where we simply sat and listened. The dot in the middle represents where I was sitting. The sounds heard are represented by a jagged line and then a label. The closer the spikes are together represents how loud the sound was. On most pictures the sound either gets louder, quieter, or both. Some such as the car horn were one short loud burst of sound, while others, like the planes. come and go out of hearing the spikes get bigger than smaller as the object comes in and out of hearing. Where each line is represents where in the sound is in reactivity to me.
These are the notes I took on my walk. Many sounds came up multiple times such as The sound of building air conditioners and bird songs. One of the more interesting sounds I heard was that of a skateboarder. It wasn't the usual clack of the wheels over sidewalk cracks or the wheels cruising over pavement. This particular skateboarder was doing (more like attempting) to do tricks. The result the sound of hard wood smacking the pavement. What made the sound more interesting was the fact that I was in an area that acted like an echo chamber. This made the loud smacks resonate in my area and they were far more exaggerated and more dimensions of the sound could be heard. From the impact of the wood and pavement to the slight rattle of the wheels and metal pieces. Every detail could be heard easily and picked apart and examined because of my location
Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
Yes, most of which were either in open areas or near buildings where walls conjoined.
Was it possible to move without making a sound?
Technically, I feel that this is impossible, however I was able to move without me hearing the sounds I made.
What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
When I plugged my ears, all high frequency sounds became muffled and all loud and deep sounds became easier to distinguish. When my ears were unplugged all the higher pitched sounds became more dominant.
In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
The sounds I heard the most were vehicle sounds. These include but are not limited to: buses slowing to a hault, motocycles whizzing by, car doors opening and closing, and cars started. There were also many natural sounds such as bird songs and insects buzzing, as well as wind moving through trees.
Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
Yes. Some sound I recognized immediately, such as cars and people and could tell right where they were. On the walk, however, I heard a tinking sound that took me a minute or two to realize it was the flag on the pole high above me.
Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?
I heard many humans talking and walking and shouting, air conditioners buzzing and many birds.
Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone?
Yes
Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
Some close sounds were those of cars and people. However some cars and people could still be heard from far away. There was a time when I heard a student (who I latter on saw playing football) shouting from blocks away.
What kinds of wind effects were you able to detect (for example, the leaves of trees don't make sounds until they are activated by the wind)?
The only times wind became a factor was when I was surrounded by trees and the wind blew through them and when I was in what seemed like a wind tunnel and the howl of the wind was very apparent.
Were you able to intervene in the urban landscape and create your own sounds by knocking on a resonant piece of metal, activating wind chimes, etc.?
There were times when I smacked my pen on signs and poles to hear the different chimes each would make.
Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
Yes, I do. I actually started to not just listen, being to hear most sounds I would just tune out.
How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
This helped train my ear to listen for more than the everyday noise. I believe that this will come in most handy in future film editing projects when training to add in folly sounds.
