Today I turn to one of the tasks from #MUS654 Task 1.2 about the sounds around me. For this, I went somewhere or did something (can’t really say or it spoils the game) and recorded the audio. It wasn’t hard to do and did not take a long time. I simply held out my phone and started the voice memo recording. My recording is 30 seconds long and there are some subtle clues in it. My curiosity is how much you can gather about what I was doing, where I was, and anything else descriptive about the setting.
Any guesses are welcome – comment below… or tweet and tag it #MUS654 (I’ll post a photo taken at the soundscape in tomorrow’s post.)
We can think about the sounds around us in different ways. In an abstract way, the sounds around us are like metadata, leaving details and clues about us and our lives as we move through the world. For me, after doing this exercise my ears were more open to really listening for details, and it reminded me of swimming and being aware of the way water surrounds us from all angles. (Image CC BY-SA by Jade Alexandra Allen)That awareness is vastly different to our attention to everyday movement where we are surrounded by air. Unless there’s a breeze, perhaps we don’t even notice it or give it a thought. Actively becoming aware of what is around us can open up new worlds within sound, experience, and appreciation of what is around us.
Featured image CC BY-NC by Eknath Gomphotherium
Without a doubt you are skateboarding next to a highway while sipping on a latte.
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It sounds as though you are next to a road with a damp surface as if it had been raining. I heard several carsgo by and i think there aslo a bike.
Is that the sound of sand being poured out from a large bucket?