What I Hear: A Soundwalk Reflection

68th Street, Hunter College

Sitting outside of Hunter College, surrounded by the busy streets of New York City, the amount sounds I could identify surprised me. Taking out my noise cancellation headphones (for once) and concentrating on the mostly harsh and loud texture of the city helped me realize that there are multiple layers to this cacophony.

The most prominent sounds were the friction of the wheels of the numerous cars hitting the asphalt and coming to a stop. Their car horns shouting in traffic are overlapped by sounds of the exhaust of busses in the background. As I listened closely, sounds of car doors being slammed are followed by faint food steps as shoes scratch on the concrete. A single bike passes by and I first notice its presence from its cog wheels churning. What distracted my attention the most was the sound of conversations happening 360 degrees around me. Laughter from the students and cheerful shouting of kids and their guardians were interrupted by the large group of people entering from one end and walking away into the distance of the other. The sound of a phone conversation brought in by one person was cut off by an exchange of words coming from the food truck. As I focused on the truck, the faint sounds of spare change being placed on the stainless-steel countertop caught my ear. The addition of food wrappers being wrinkled added to the exchange. These unexpected sounds surprised me – since I only predicted to hear an abundance of cars in the background and people chattering in the foreground.

For the time being around two in the afternoon at 68th Street, Hunter College, the sounds I heard were fitting to the neighborhood. Especially listening in to such a populated area, the noises coming from people, cars, and even construction gave clues to my location. The keynotes of the construction and vehicles added to the sound signals created by conversations. The specifics of the conversations as well as the noises from food carts around the college are unique to the area I was sitting in. But if I have not concentrated on listening deeply to my environment, I would have never noticed how detailed and diverse the sounds were.