Listening Exercise: The Structural Nature of Sound

Location and time:

Close to the fire station in the neighborhood I live in at 11 am on a sunny day in January:

Voice of a woman over the loudspeaker announcing a call at the station

Engine of fire truck hums and brakes squeak, then the roar of the engine as it rolls out of the station

The siren is a sudden blast of sharp, shrill, grating and abrasive

Then, as the siren fades into the distance it makes a swirling sound

Silence for a moment, then an unidentifiable  bird chirps from a distant tree

As the light at the end of the street changes, cars parade past at varying intervals

Whoosh of air as each car passes me, fragmenting the moments I spend observing

The tires create a distinct flow of sound as they approach and then fade away

A soft breeze rattles a few dry leaves on a nearby tree and a wind chime from a neighboring porch

A crow caws and it sounds like laughter, and then stops as if contemplating something; a moment later this repeats, then is gone

A neighbor pulls into their driveway and a snippet of music plays through the open window of their car; it sounds like country music but I can’t identify the song; this only lasts a few seconds before they turn their engine off

The car door shuts as they leave their car, high heels click across the sidewalk

A car with a bad muffler turns the corner

Another neighbor is walking by with their dog and the chain on the dog collar clinks softly

Honking horns and the sound of a truck at the end of the street down the hill

There is a distinct, yet muted sound of a train whistle as it passes in the distance Train whistles have a haunting quality to them,(but I still find them comforting, perhaps because they remind me of summer days spent at my grandmother’s house)

Many of these sounds reference something concrete:

The cawing of the crow signifies the large black bird that stubbornly decides to stay in the Midwest regardless of days growing colder

The siren references the need for help and an ensuing rescue attempt

The tires on the pavement create a continuous melody of sound, with varied intervals and represent the preferred mode of transportation in the suburbs

I am comforted by the tapestry that is woven by these familiar sounds, (even those that are momentarily unnerving) for they still represent ‘home’ in my neighborhood

Sounds can measure quantities of time in large segments, such as seasonal (i.e. the sound of tires crunching on snow in the winter or spring, lawn mowers and crickets in the summer) or smaller segments, such as the roaring of a racecar each time it passes a certain corner on a racetrack, the ring of a telephone before it is answered, or the clicking of keys on a computer keyboard as a student writes an essay

 Sounds create a ‘sense of place’; The sounds one might find in a manufacturing warehouse would unify the feeling of being at a public job as opposed to the dishwasher humming in the kitchen at night in your house as you watch TV; each one represents a distinct environment