Cory Burris and Opal Perron-Feller
On the first
day of soundscape study, the time of day is in the midafternoon. The recording
starts midway into the hourly bell sequence from Finney Chapel. Immediately
afterwards, there are other sounds which signify the time of day in the
recording. Mainly there are insects heard throughout the recording along with a
few birdsongs every so often. They are probably not cicadas, but they could not
be crickets since they do not sound in the afternoon. There are also sounds of
cars and pedestrians passing by. The sounds presented in this study more likely
dictate what time of day the recording was produced.
The location of the recording was
held on Vine and South Professor streets. The most consistent sound on this recording
is the biophonic sounds of insects which speak on their own in a natural
environment. A biophonic sound is a noise made by a living mammal. The location
is close to more natural and geophonic environments. A geophonic location
consists of natural life, such as trees, mountains, and bodies of water. The
sound would therefore not be present throughout all of Oberlin since it is not
an entirely geophonic site. The evidence of biophonic sounds suggests the
recording may have been recorded in a particular season. These sounds are
generally present in every season except the winter, when virtually no
biophonic sounds can be heard due to the winter’s extreme environment.
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| A young Maple Tree. Looking east down Vine Street |
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| A mature Redbud tree kept the area shaded and housed many birds and insects. |
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| A small beetle |
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| Kade Hall, on the western side of South Professor |
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| Lichen growing on the trunk of the Redbud tree |
Oberlin generally does not contain a
traffic environment similar to a bustling tourist attraction, due to its small
size. The anthrophonic sounds of automobiles are therefore present. Anthrophonic
sounds are noises made and arranged by humans. They will usually increase in
volume as they approach the recording, pass it by at the climax of its volume,
and decrease its sound as it moves away. Mainly, only the sound of engines can
be heard as the machine maneuvers. Occasionally, however, there are some other
human–produced and organized sounds directly from the car, such as commercials
and music tracks. The automobiles generally do not disrupt the environment or
change the overall atmosphere or the recording. This is because they move
around to wherever their destination is located.
Least frequently, however, there is
the sound of pedestrians walking, communicating, giving directions and
maneuvering through other means without a motor. At one point, there is a sound
of a beep as an individual slides his or her college identification card into
the reader to gain access to a college–owned building. This sound is more
spread out in the recording, since every aforementioned sound will take place
before another human sound is heard. This is another example of anthrophonic
sound, since it is nothing a biophonic individual could sound, nor would any
geophonic objects be able to do.
Mainly, there are no geophonic
sounds which are audible in the recording. The recording was probably produced
under a clear sky without any celestial objects falling on the earth. If there
is any wind, it is not audible, which is surprising since there are effects
which imitate the sound. There is no rain, thunder, flowing water, cracking of
ice, crackling fire or crunching of leaves. The recording overall is dictated
through the sounds of biophony and anthrophony.
A few days later, another soundscape
study was conducted in the morning, a different time of day. In the first
recording, the cicadas were sounding throughout the recording from start to
finish unceasingly. On the second day, however, there were no endless sounds.
The most common sound was the singing of different birds. The noises lasted for
only a fraction of a second, yet their frequency was the most distributed.
During this time of day, there were more automobiles heard in the recording.
The soundscape was recorded at a time of day when parents would take their
children to school, most commonly through an automobile. The most frequent
sound was from ordinary automobiles from their recognizable engine sound. The
most interesting sound from these automobiles is one that comes from a bus. The
bus will stop, followed by some conversion, supposedly between the driver and
another pedestrian. The bus then departs towards its destination. There may
also have been larger vehicles or motorcycles present due to their larger
dynamic and pitch lengths. There are also pairs of college students conversing
with each other, since it is also the time where they leave to attend their
first academic classes.
From the conducted study, a few
unique observations were noted. From the same geographical location, the same
noises might have been produced in the same time frame on different days,
depending on the season. The noise level may also vary depending on the time of
day and the routine which is utilized in a given area. The soundscape proved
that the mornings seemed to have more anthrophic sounds because there are more
automobiles in motion, whereas the afternoon had more biophonic sounds.
The soundscape studies that have
been recorded have presented a number of unique sounds and timbres which could
be heard from different times of the day. They allow the listener to enjoy
multiple geographical locations and environments in their natural habitats and
view themselves in the same area. It is how individuals can gain a better
understanding of an undisturbed society, wherever and whenever it may occur.
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| Spectrogram |
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