What I hear

I did my sound walk in Park Slope, specifically on 7th and 8th ave in the afternoon. When I exited the train station I heard the piercing wail of a siren coming from two ambulances as they raced down the street. As I continued walking I heard dogs barking as they passed by one another and the leashes that their owners held onto jingled as the dogs paced back and forth near each other. Kids began getting out of school and I heard as they talked to their parents about what had happened in school. A woman sneezed as she walked past me and a couple across the street laughed as they wrapped their arms around each other. A child screamed, throwing a gnarly tantrum outside a bakery because he wouldn’t be getting a cupcake that he desperately wanted. Later, another boy ran after his group of friends, making thumping sounds as his feet hit the pavement and shouting for them to wait for him.

As I was looking out for all the sounds taking place around me I noticed that I was also taking down notes about the context or the background story of the sound. After hearing a sound I looked to see where the sound was coming from, who or what was making the sound, and what was going on as the sound happened or if possible why the sound occurred. I definitely paid closer attention to my surroundings and realized that we hear so many sounds everyday that we don’t normally think about. Park Slope is more of a residential family-based neighborhood so there isn’t as much hustle and bustle compared to other parts of New York City. Still, I encountered a few loud sounds but not as many as I would if I were to observe a neighborhood in uptown Manhattan.