“If you develop an ear for sounds that are musical it is like developing an ego. You begin to refuse sounds that are not musical and that way cut yourself off from a good deal of experience.” -John Cage
Our senses enable us to interpret the world around us and thus experiences are conceived. Our sight is so powerful a sense, that we often don’t pay attention to all the types of sounds occurring around us every day in our lives. Soundscapes contribute largely to our overall experience of a place and can dramatically change how we feel subconsciously. The sounds we mostly overlook are in the places we frequently visit or pass through; therefore I chose my hometown as my source for observational listening. I visited three places that I regularly pass through or visit in my day-to-day life, but on this occasion my only purpose and focus was to observe their sounds. During the duration of forty minutes in each location, I meticulously recorded all the sounds I could hear at various points along the journey. I designed a Key with individual symbols for each sound and using this I then constructed a ‘sound line’ for each of the places. Their compositions were determined by the individual volume, pace, location and duration of each sound. Conclusively each sound line, although follows a similar key of symbols, is unique in appearance as is their locations soundscape.
