Soundwalk Map and Response

This was definitely a new experience for me. I haven't felt the need to examine the sounds of our society quite that close before. I suppose this could be said of most people nowadays. There are far too many distractions we turn our attention to. When I walk around campus it seems like almost everyone has their cell phone out, or if not that, they're listening to their mp3 player. I guess I'm just as guilty and stopping to listen feels strangely like a new experience.


Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
Inside the Union, next to the Gasthaus seemed to be the best place. There wasn't a constant rumbling of traffic or sounds bouncing off the walls like in the parking structure.

Was it possible to move without making a sound?
Not in the least bit. Unless we were walking on cotton balls in sock feet, and keeping our legs a good distance from each other, with arms stretched out on both directions; all this and also without a shred of fabric on our bodies, there was no way we would be able to walk without making a sound.

What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
I was actually never instructed to do this. However, I did go back and try it at a later date. When I plugged my ears all of the low rumbling, distant sounds, and continuous drones became more apparent. Though it felt more like I was hearing them through the ground I stood on. The sound vibrations traveled up through my feet before reaching my ears.

Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
Most recognizable sounds were ones that have become passive to us after hearing them day-to-day. These we could look up and our eyes would already move to where we know we’ve seen them. Such as a bus, you wouldn’t look toward the top of a building first; you’d look toward the road. Ones you don’t recognize usually take a second or two before you start looking for them.

Were you able to differentiate human, mechanical, and natural sounds?
The majority of the sounds I heard were mechanical, though there were a good amount of human ones as well. It was a bit difficult to find natural sounds in the bustling areas. And when we stopped at a quieter spot it was usually underground or encased so that only hidden ventilation shafts and such could be heard. The natural sounds weren’t able to make it that far down. I suppose it would be easier to find natural sounds during the seasons where things have a bit more life to them, rather than just bare twigs and snow.

Were you able to detect subtleties, changes, or variations in the ever-present drone?
There was one vent under the parking structure that stood out to me. When I listened closer to it I thought I heard a steady fading in and fading out pattern of more air being pushed through it. It turned out not to be steady at all, when I thought I had predicted when the burst would come it wouldn’t, then a second later it would.

Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
All of the close sounds seemed to come and go much too fast in order to discern a change in them. Sounds that were very far away could be monitored longer as they stayed the same distance for a greater period of time.

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.?
I was a bit too busy trying to jot everything down I could about the sounds already present. And even then I was not able to add everything I heard to my notes.

Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
It definitely shows that our society has an immense reliance on technology and mechanical means to do things. I wonder if there will be a point in our future where mechanical sounds will be almost impossible to avoid.

How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
In the work I’ve been doing I’m always looking for new sound effects. However, not everything can be found as simply as walking outside and procuring it. For example, one probably couldn’t find the sound of a “Lazergun 3000” anywhere. You need to listen closely to the sounds available and then figure out a way you could possibly alter or edit it to become what you were looking for.