Soundwalk Response

Were you able to find places and spaces where you could really listen?

Yes the woods was a very good area that we could listen to the noises around us.

Was it possible to move without making a sound?

I don't think it really was possible to move without making a sound. I tried to a couple times but was unsuccessful.

What happened when you plugged your ears, and then unplugged them?

With my ears plugged, I wasn't able to hear as much as I did when they were unplugged. Sounds weren't as clear with my hands over my ears. I think there was also a difference with my eyes opened and closed. When I was simply plugging my ears I found myself looking for sounds around me; I wasn't really listening for them. But with my eyes closed and ears unplugged I was forced to listen for different things because I couldn't see them with my eyes. Out of all the sounds though, I could hear the airplanes flying overhead quite clear with my ears plugged and unplugged. When I uncovered my ears, everything became clear. I could hear more sounds around me.


In your sound log exercise, what types of sounds were you able to hear? List them.

-Airplanes

-Traffic

-Birds

-Leaves

-Wind

-Power Tool

-An object brushing against tree bark

-Someone talking on a radio

-People screaming

Were you able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds you could not place?

Yes I believe I was able to differentiate between sounds that had a recognizable source and those sounds I could not place.

Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?

I heard all three of these sounds but I believe I heard more of the human/mechanical sounds than natural ones.

Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone?

I had a hard time really concentrating on the subtle noises. I heard noises that were hard to miss by the human ear.

Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?

I heard a few sound that were extremely close. I was sitting on a log in the woods and right behind me there were leaves on the ground and when the wind blew, the leaves rustled with it. There were more sounds that came from far away for example the many airplanes that flew over us. There were cars and trucks on the road as well and a power tool that continually went off that was farther away.

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 main wind effect that I was able to detect was the leaves on the trees moving in the wind. What I thought was cool was that it wasn't just a constant flow of wind. It was more like gusts of wind that came and went. It would start off weak but then grew and grew until it died off to nothing.

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.?

The only thing that I can think of that intervened in the landscape was my shoes walking across the stone path in and out of the woods.

Do you feel you have a new understanding or appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape?

I do think I have a new understanding and appreciation of the sounds of our contemporary landscape/cityscape. For the past few weeks I have been stuck inside my dorm room with no real connection to the outside world. I think this soundwalk helped me to appreciate the sounds of my new surroundings and I hope to be able to really get familiar with them now.

How do you think your soundwalk experience will affect your practice as a media artist, if at all?

I think my soundwalk experience will really get me to listen. I enjoy working with sound and this really experience only heightend that. I hope to listen more intently with my ears rather than just seeing with my eyes.