I think one of the least-appreciated features of the new generation of smartphones is the voice recorder. We’re all taking more photos than ever, yet forgetting to capture a significant part of our everyday experience: sound. Lately I’ve made it a point to record interesting sounds I encounter as I go about my day. Interestingly, they seem to have a more powerful effect of returning me to a scene than a photo, surpassed only perhaps by smell. Try recording, post what you’re hearing, and let me know!
The first clip takes us to the campus of Carnegie Mellon University this winter. While in the arts building I heard a the beautiful and haunting sound of a girl practicing the marimbas. Contrast the solitary sound with he cacophony of many music practice rooms mixing. Later in the week, some dispatcher on a radio in a cab ride in Queens was noteworthy for its strangely rhythmic musicality. As if LaGuardia wasn’t bad enough already, this 20-minute alarm at the airport made me vow to go through JFK next time.
Back home, leaving the garage, I noticed the beautiful clicks and pops of an engine cooling down. While walking to work: pigeons under the bridge. The terrifying creaky stairs at the old warehouse in which my studio is located. It’s just a matter of time before they break. Next, the sound of relays chattering in a little mechanical feedback noisemaker a made. Lastly, I will leave you with the sound of the death throes of an exhaust fan in the bathroom of the warehouse. It always manages to screech like some kind of killer primate when you’re least expecting it.