For my sound journals I thought it would be appropriate to go to quiet places and try and pick out sounds that I would take for granted when not listening closely. So for the first one, I sat at a bench in front of Kenan yesterday morning. Once my ears adjusted, the environment seemed pretty loud. I could hear all the cars on College and beyond going by on my right, tweets and warbles from the birds in the trees, wind in the leaves, tires on asphalt, car doors slamming, quiet conversations and footsteps, humming from that weird building between King and Kenan, etc. It was relatively loud and rich with sound, despite campus being deserted. I was sort of disappointed, so I went to the library hoping to find a really quiet spot.
I went to the deepest, darkest corner of Randall, got out my notebook, and listened as hard as I could. Now, even during finals week - when every desk is occupied and people are sprawled out in the stacks, chewing on pencils, chugging iced coffee - the second floor of the library is creepily quiet, so I figured that a summer morning would be as close to total silence as I could get.
As soon as you make it up the stairs, it's like stepping into a vacuum. At first, it feels awkward to breathe because it seems so loud, but eventually you adjust and other sounds start to creep in. I could hear a clock ticking but I didn't see one anywhere. (Is there a giant wall clock upstairs that I just never noticed?) I could hear the air conditioning kicking on and off. Somebody was coughing and sniffing, and sometimes I would hear muffled laughing and talking but it was very faint. A man walked by and I heard his pants swishing. Most of the sounds I heard came from me: I was chewing gum and writing notes, so I could hear the lead scratching on my notebook and every noise I made when I shuffled in my chair.
Overall, I was disappointed because I didn't pick up any weird sounds or anything unexpected. I think next I'll visit some loud places.
Also, it made me think of this video.
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