Soundwalk 9/10

Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?
Yes. Really, anywhere works well, as there are interesting noises pretty much anywhere you go. Outside of Mitchell Hall was very good as there was a good mix of natural sounds (birds, wind) and human/machine noises (talking, cars).

Was it possible to move without making a sound?
No. There is no way to be completely silent, even when not moving you're still breathing or making some other small noise.

What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?
Right when I unplugged my ears, the sound was much more clear than it had been before. Things like wind and far away noises were briefly amplified.

In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.
Car engines, car doors, car brakes, buses, bus doors, that "PSH!" noise buses make, wind, talking, coughing, shouting, birds chirping, a truck beeping, motorcycle engine, airplanes, loud hip hop from a car, cicadas, a bird cawing, paper rustling, pens on paper, people breathing...

Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?
There weren't really any noises that I couldn't place. Some faraway sounds were harder to identify but I could pretty much tell what everything was.

Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?
There was pretty much always talking going on, as well as laughing, coughing, and a little yelling. Mechanical sounds mostly came from cars and some building noises (a generator I think?) It was a windy day so that noise was pretty much around us all of the time. There were also a lot of birds chirping and cicada calls.

Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone?
Yes. Much of that "drone" came from wind and car noises, as well as the generator outside the union.

Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?
Close sounds were mostly human made sounds from our group: breathing, paper rustling, pens writing, soft talking, footsteps, etc. Faraway sounds included airplanes, car engines and horns, and the occasional person yelling.

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)?
The wind was pretty much constant, so I could always hear it blowing through the leaves and grass. It also made some noises with the paper people were writing on.

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.?
We experimented with the echo in the paring garage (about 4 seconds) and with a metal railing on a walkway.

Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?
Yes. The only times I've ever really just sat and listened to the sounds around me have been in more natural settings, never in an urban area, so this was an interesting experience.
How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?
I honestly don't know. I think it may help me become more aware of noises around me, especially that "everpresent drone." Time will tell, I guess...