A Tale of Two Soundscapes

I thought the Sound Box Project was very interesting as it gave me greater insight into the relationship between sound and experience. By taking advantage of multiple senses, we can enhance the quality of our activity/experience, which becomes very practical when engaging in understanding academic work in more than solely a strictly textual way.

The Sound Box project was very different from the other forms of story telling that I have encountered before. I think the inclusion of many different sounds coupled with the underwhelming text really prompted the reader to find meaning through sounds rather than finding meaning through words/speech. Overall, the presentation of the story was very unique and really drew my attention.

This piece had me thinking a lot more about my observations of people on campus and their sonic connectivity with the environment. Many people tend to walk around campus or do work with headphones in, listening to their own music or sounds of choice. These are preferences and decisions we make on a daily basis. However, it’s fascinating to think about how little we may be listening to our actual surroundings anymore. I was actually thinking about listening to these sounds on my walk to class this morning. I heard the cars drive pass on the road behind me, but I could also hear so many birds chirping and singing near the trees. I felt almost comforted to hear these sounds and others because they make part of the sonic characteristics of our environment here. It’s something I sometimes forget to pay attention to, but something I’ve realized that has an impact on me.

This was a very illuminating sound project/video! The things it brought to my attention I realized are things I had been experiencing but never really taken the time to consider what it meant for me. Now that I am aware of this, it makes me realize all the times in my life when I have traveled and I have been disconcerted by the sounds initially. This project has definitely encouraged me to take my headphones off more and really pay attention to all the sounds around me and think whether maybe those sounds affect my mood and physical being on a daily basis.

This project uses a unique form of storytelling but it was interesting to listen. The variation of sounds helped me follow her emotions and thought-processes throughout the piece and made me feel more connected to the story. The artist highlighted the unexpected mental, emotional, and physical impacts that sounds can have and her speech really made me think a lot more about the effects of the various sounds that I experience in different settings. Thinking through this piece has made me more aware of the impact of sound and how they can subconsciously affect my mood, even after we become used to a new environment and they become less noticeable.  

This was an interesting listening experience. It reminded me of a podcast, but the added sound effects made me feel like I was either in Cullowhee or Pittsburgh with the speaker. The cricket and cicada noises are so familiar to me that I have never thought about them being jarring to someone who was not used to them. Furthermore, I've always wanted to live in a city but have never thought of the constant noise I would face in doing so. I like how this story made me think about my own experiences with sound, and maybe I will stop wearing my earbuds so much while walking around campus. 

I really liked how there were sound samples of everything the narrator was discussing. It really helped to get a real sense of what she went through. The sounds of nature and the city accompanied by her narration really made the project immersive. I liked how by the end of it I also "really noticed sound again" as she said near the end. I feel like the narrator and I have sort of the same mindset about the interaction between sounds/music as it relates to our daily life. I make playlists for everything. I also tend to be pretty sensitive to sounds so I listen to music through my phone so I can be a little less overwhelmed. However, I was still able to really relate to what was being said about the need to pay more attention to my surroundings.  I really liked this, overall. 

My favorite part of this project was when she said that nature eventually made her feel cut off from society, whereas the city made her feel connected. I really liked that line because I feel a similar way about the city and the country, but I never know how to explain it to people, and I feel that she summed it up well. I thought the sound effects were amazing, especially paired with the video. It made me feel like I was really there. At some points, I could close my eyes and feel completely immersed. This project also made me realize that I don't really take much note of sounds, so I am going to try to focus on them more in my daily life.

This podcast was a really immersive experience. I was relating to all the things that the speaker was saying, although I find that my memories are more evoked by smells than sounds. Hearing all the sounds added an extra dimension of meaning to what the speaker was saying. I think that this was a really interesting storytelling medium and the sounds definitely made it more intimate and meaningful. 

This audiovisual project functioned as a contemplative space. This medium was dualistic in nature—the narrator utilized it as a reflective outlet, and the audience summoned their own experiences and reevaluated their perception of sound. Notably, the audio clips that featured cicadas and crickets resonated with me because they elicited a sense of familiarity and home. We form attachments to sounds, and this is only realized when we are removed from this setting. In this medium, the narration was in the "background" while the sounds were casted to the foreground. The sounds were more potent than words. Personally, the sounds evoked a visceral feeling. Words couldn't reproduce or capture this sensation. Simply listening to a story is rather mundane; having a story actively affect you is a rare phenomenon.

This piece made me more thoughtful about how the sounds played in the video impacted me and how I respond to sound in my daily life. In many respects, I can relate to the narrator's story. I used to live in rural North Carolina and, since I've been at Chapel Hill, I find myself increasingly using earbuds to tune out the sounds around me. I found it particularly interesting how the use of sound really formed a sense of place in this piece. When she layered the sounds of the bus and the children playing in the city, I almost felt as though I was there. 

This audio essay was very an interesting shift from the typical essay. It almost had the feel of a short podcast, and the sounds enhanced the information shared by the author, often serving the same purpose quotes/evidence would in an essay. They reinforce points and add depth to the essay. The sounds also create a sense of me experiencing the author's experiences myself.

I found A Tale of Two Soundscapes to be very interesting! The sounds seem to perfectly fit into the narrative the author is telling; it's really interesting the effect that the sounds playing in the background have on the reader's understanding of the story.

I really loved the nod to a Tale of Two Cities here, and the author's ability to use one sense to paint a full picture of her argument. The sound layering was a really interesting medium for storytelling, and her natural pauses worked well for delivering her story. The sound existed both as embellishment and evidence, playing a unique dual role.

When I listened to this audio essay, I did not pay much attention to the outline or structure of the "essay" but rather the vocal and audio aspects of the recording. This includes the background sounds such as moving trains, shaking keys, the monotonous tone, or even music in the background to describe changing moods: i.e when she started to adjust to the sound in pittsburgh. The different sounds are used as a foundation for the audience to also create visual images, which is what I experienced while listening. I am a huge fan of different sounds surrounding us and how it effects our general moods so listening to this audio essay truly did interest me.  

I found this piece to be super interesting. The essay itself was simple, but the sound effects and her writing techniques (staying professional and slightly intimate) truly amplified her piece of work.The audio essay was presented in a monotonous voice, and I think this worked in her favor. She kept it very intimate, and as a result, allowed her readers to better relate and connect to her piece. Her selection of ambient sounds enhanced her claim that the sounds of which you are exposed to as you grow up ultimately shape you. The author of this work did a great job making her story a recollection of a sentimental memory and not mundanely reading off of a page. I enjoyed it.

The SoundBox Project was a very intriguing take on storytelling. Personally, it reminded of musical scores in movies and movie soundtracks because the movie industry heavily relies on background music to set the proper mood of each scene. Both the movie industry and this podcast demonstrate how meaningful and important our auditory sense is. The narrator's monotonous voice over the background noise made up of sounds we hear every day went hand in hand with the essay and the works complimented each other.

This audio essay was so neat! 

It really expanded my idea of what it means to tell an audio essay. At first, I just saw it as speaking an essay into a microphone, maybe with some music in the background. While that is a possibility, this audio essay showed how you can use sonic elements to add a second dimension to the story; you can help create the settings and feelings of the personal narrative. I felt like I was with the reader, not just sitting across from her, listening to her chat.