Soundwalk Reflections

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

We were in Lake Park right by the road. I had the distraction of traffic, but I was able to hear other sounds through the traffic. When I walked more into residential areas I was able to hear even more.

Was it possible to move without making a sound?

No. There is no way to walk or move without making a sound of some sort. You have to learn to cut out the distractions that you create yourself and focus on other sounds.

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

When my ears were plugged, I was able to hear internal breathing, heart beats, and joints moving. Also I heard only the main external sounds, like cars speeding past and people jogging closely past.

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

squeaking breaks of cars
car clicking
birds chirping softly
airplane above
wind in the trees
shoes scuffing the ground
soccer ball being kicked in the distance
squeaking railing of a house
kids happily squealing
circular saw in background
church bells in distance

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

Yes, most of the time the sound amplifies once I was seeing what was making the noise. Otherwise, I could tell what it was by hearing something like it in past experiences.

Human sounds? Mechanical sounds? Natural sounds?

I heard all three, but mainly mechanical sounds. At one point all I heard was cars going past me, breaks squeaking, and an airplane flying above me. I heard a few natural sounds and human sounds, just because I was around humans.

Were you able to detect subtleties in the everpresent drone?

Yes. Once I started tuning out loud sounds, like cars, I was able to hear other sounds that I would have never heard just walking by.

Extremely close sounds? Sounds coming from very far away?

I heard many different sounds from a distance. The close sounds I heard were mostly the same sort of sound.

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)?

Leaves in the trees and railing squeaking were the sounds I heard that were effected by the wind.

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 chose not to intervene with this walk.

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

I feel that I can hear many things in the contemporary landscape and can create many unique sounds in an everyday location. I appreciate, when focused upon, the different sounds in a very monotones, usual landscape.

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

I think that a soundwalk is a good way to focus on the sounds and not only on the visuals because sounds are just as equally important to the artwork.