Sound Walk

I decided to take my sound walk on the train (5 line) ride home. My starting location was the 59th street station and the time was approximately 7pm. It wasn’t quite rush hour but there was still a good amount of passengers on the train. The initial few moments when the doors opened was a collection of chaotic sounds. “Excuse me”, “Sorry” and “my bad” rung out as people tried to exit and enter at the same time. However, even then the conductor voice’s still managed to cut through the chaos, “Please stand clear of the doors, The next stop will be 42nd street.” As the doors close again, people started settling down. There were definitely a fair amount of “expected” noise. The sound of people trying to settle down and ready themselves for their long commute ahead. The creaks and shuffles of people moving around and the echo of footsteps along with the rustling of bags and shifting of coats were all sounds that I heard. Opening my ears, really allowed me to hear the small sounds that I’ve seemingly missed on my daily commute. Sounds like the slow but subtle powering up of the train’s engine as it prepare to embark on its journey. Something I’ve also notice was the small sounds that showed the crowd of people. The clinking of a jacket zipper as it banged against the seat. The subtle muffled music blasting from a nearby passenger. There were also occasional laughter and noise from groups of passengers. There always seem to be a constant “travel noise” in the background. A lot of this “travel noise” comprised of wind blowing by as the train picked up speed. Looking back on the sounds I’ve picked up, I could probably identify that I was in a train. The screeching of the brakes as it pulled into the station is a clear giveaway. You can definitely hear that it was New York City from the energy and the constant stream of noise.

Define a Space project

Traffic from David Chen on Vimeo.