Soundwalk Response

Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
Yes. We were by the fountain and a bunch of stuff was going on.

Was it possible to move without making a sound?
If you move your arms in the air. Otherwise no, not really.

What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
Everything suddenly sounded clearer (which it should I guess). Everything was noiser as well.

In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
Water fountain cash register grasshoppers & birds
engines of all sorts airplanes police walkie-talkies
people and clothing skateboard wheels piano
leaves buzzes chip bag
car door car alarm air conditioner
car starting up unsticking of a sticker

Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
Yes. Recognizable sources tended to be louder and closer

Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?
Yes. Very recognizable difference.


Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone?
Some things that were closer I was. Otherwise it had to be loud in order to hear it.

Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
Couldn't detect far away subtleties.


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)?
I didn't catch much of the wind except for its low pass by. Every once in a while I heard the leaves, but even that was hard to 'find'. I remember a couple of times during the walk where I'd look up from my paper and see a tree so I'd focus my attention on leave noise, but couldn't get any because of everything else drowning it out.


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.?
Pushing a door open, but nothing much. Oh! And the rustling of my notebook paper.

Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
Not really. Although, the sound of the ignition starting really is pretty sweet sounding.

How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
I think that I will listen more carefully for interesting sounds, but nothing other than that.