Sound Journal # 11 – Spring!

1. Walking down Hamilton, toward Breslin, Thursday, April 24th, 2014, 2:30 pm.

2. Sounds furthest from me: In the distance, I can hear a riding mower, squealing into gear as the blades are engaged and the subsequent whir of cutting grass.

3. Sounds at medium range from me: On my other side, I can hear children laughing and screaming as they have recess on the playground at the California Ave school. This, along with the sound of the mower in the distance, really brings in the feeling of spring.

4. Sounds closest to me: The wind is rustling the leaves in the trees as I walk beneath them. I can also hear several birds chirping, although, as I’m not a bird expert, I couldn’t name what they were, but they are featured in my field recording. They are singing happily, sharing in my joy on this beautiful day.

5. General sound level and level of activity: The sound activity is pretty busy with the sound of the children screaming and laughing, combined with the undertones of the mower and the wind and birds. The sound level is medium, though.

6. Word to describe sound environment: Springy.

7. Three sounds that complete the sound environment:
— the lawn mower
— children laughing and playing
— birds chirping

Sound Journal #2

1- DATE-TIME-LOCATION

  • Friday, February 7th, 2014. 8:42 AM, My living room.

2- Identify and list the sounds farthest away from you.

• Garbage truck starting and stopping on the next block
• Gentle hum of the wind
• Television coming from another room, set on a very high volume

3- Identify and list the sounds at a medium range from you.
• Foot  steps clonking as my neighbors make a mad-dash for the train station.
• The bell on my cat’s collar ringing as he prances around the house
• Cars rushing past behind me

4- Identify and list the sounds closest to you (You can include internal sounds if noticed or relevant).
• The gentle hum of my laptop
• The bell on my cat’s collar ringing as he prances around the house
• Another cat breathing as she sleeps soundly
• My mother singing Les Mis, horribly.

5- Describe the general sound level and amount of sound activity.

The general sound level is at a medium, half the people in my family are not present- but the loudest two are here. The amount of sound activity is decent, its at this time that the house is quiet enough to hear all the sounds my cats make, which is a lot.

6- Assign a one word description to the “sound environment”.
Free

7- Select and list 3 sounds which are essential to the sound environment.
• The television
• The rattling of my cat’s bell collar
• The birds chirping