Blog Archives

White Noise

2/26/2018

Another week, another walk! We took a new route this time, and it was a bit more “urban,” closer to roads with more people and more traffic. We had a (loose) goal to notice combinations of sounds.

Started at the music building fountain to focus ourselves and our listening.

Through the median, framed by plants but with cars driving on both sides.

One LOUD motorcycle. One quiet bus. (Unexpected sound to size relationship.)

Cars. Bicycles. People.

Stopped in a space with multiple fountains surrounding us. It was further away from the road noise, but still foot traffic and conversations all around.

Skateboards. Sharp sounds because of the hard wheels.

Down a sidewalk lined with palm trees. People. Groups. Conversations.

Into a building. Stark difference. Quiet within these walls. Our footsteps seem loud now. Lights humming.

Out again, past steel drums.

Into a secluded garden area. Quiet at first.

Then a plane.

An AC unit.

Bird sounds bouncing around the walls.

We sat in the “secret garden” for a while before talking about the walk. We discussed the “white noise” sounds we heard all throughout the walk and how other sounds would jump out in juxtaposition. The constant noises (engines, fountains, buildings, etc.) made me reflect on what’s constant in my life. Having this contemplative experience was a nice new part of soundwalking for me.

February 21, 2018
5:45 - 6:15pm
Temperature in the 50s/60s, sunny

Until next time!

P.S. - All are welcome to join our next walk!

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Raindrops keep falling

2/19/2018

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This semester, my friend+colleague Hunter and I have been developing a program to lead weekly soundwalks (as part of the Acoustic Ecology Lab at ASU). And we officially had our first walk!

We planned on following the same path I had taken a class on earlier this semester. But there was one major difference this time…

Rain.

And it wasn’t the standard desert rain of pour for 2 minutes, then be dry until next year. No, this was a constant drizzle for hours (I would even venture to say the rain lasted a few days). How often does something like that happen?? So I was pretty pumped to walk around with these atypical conditions. And it also worked out great because most of the stops on the walk were at fountains – the weather definitely contributed to the “water” theme.

And man, the rain did not disappoint in the sound department.

First, drops hitting the umbrella to create a little envelope of sound around my head.

Water pouring down the side of a building, its landing softened by leafy plants.

Drops hitting a metal table. Loud and distinct pings.

Walking in wet gravel(!!!); it is such a rich and complex sound. And so cool. I HIGHLY recommend finding some gravel to crunch next time it rains in your location.

Bicycle wheels cutting through puddles and lightly splashing the nearby ground.

Planes (of course).

Bell chimes from the clock tower echoing off different surfaces, dancing, as we moved through various spaces.

An INTENSE group of birds in a nearby tree. Their sound was almost overwhelming. One of the participants likened it to the music of Gÿorgy Ligeti, who composed with shifting masses of sound.

I was surprised that the rain actually made some sounds sharper; my assumption was that it would create a blanket of white noise, therefore dulling many other sounds. But the opposite was true for certain things, like footsteps or wheels on the pavement. The quality of sound in these cases was definitely enhanced.

The other participants shared their observations: the different rhythms of the fountains (the first one being in a “swing” style) and how some plants being hit by water actually sounded like plastic.

Overall, successful inaugural soundwalk :)

February 14, 2018
5:45 - 6:15pm
Temperature in the 50s, rainy

Until next time!

P.S. - Please join us for our next walk! All are welcome!

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Desert Breeze

2/4/2018

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This week’s listening time was especially exciting because I was with Matt and Olive! We went to the Desert Breeze Park in Chandler, and after Olive did some running around, we had a sit on the (already scorched) lawn to listen. It was easiest to identify sounds by their source (causal listening according to Michel Chion’s modes of listening).

Children.

Birds.

Children.

Tennis rackets/balls.

Children.

Train.

Children.

(Obviously we were near a playground.)

This was a shorter session, but it was still crazy how much my listening “developed” during it. For example, the playground originally sounded like just a bunch of noise (screaming children), but after a few minutes, it became clear that there were two main “tone clusters”: the higher-pitched register of children and the lower register of parents/adults. Given enough time, I’m sure these broad categories could be subdivided even further into more distinct sounds.

Also, it turns out that different tennis rackets make different pitches when hitting a tennis ball. This makes sense (and I’m assuming it has to do with the tension of the racket strings #physics), but I had never thought about the actual sound of hitting a tennis ball before. Now I want someone to write a piece for intentionally tuned tennis rackets and the tennis match is the performance…

I realized the sounds were also very easy to categorize based on location. The tennis courts were straight ahead. Playground to the left. Road to the right. Little train behind and to the left. I definitely have a tendency to focus on sounds closest to me, so striving to hear further than my immediate surroundings would have been my next step.

This listening round made it obvious that I rely on my eyes A TON when there’s a lot going on. I recently read an article claiming scientists have discovered a physical connection between eye movement and eardrum movement (though the implications of this discovery weren’t really discussed), so maybe my ears are still getting a workout with my eyes, but it is much easier for me to focus on sounds with my eyes closed. Good to know going forward (though I’m not literally moving forward with my eyes closed unless I have a guide).

Olive’s ears show how much was going on sound-wise.

[PS – My favorite moment during the outing was while we were walking our final lap and a child simply couldn’t contain her excitement about seeing a puppy (Olive). She literally pointed at Olive, said, “Look at the puppy,” took a breath, and then just shrieked a happy, loud shriek. She accurately represents my inner self any time I see a dog.]

February 3, 2018
10:25 - 10:40am (ish)
Temperature in the 60s, sunny

Until next time!

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White Noise

Raindrops keep falling

Desert Breeze

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