Blog 2: Soundwalk

A spring afternoon in Minetta street has many sounds that creates an airy and collaged texture. It’s airy in the sense that there is no stability to the texture that a New York City street gives you. Like a collage, all sounds are "frankenstiened" or pasted together to create a larger composition. The instruments that set the urban scene are the cars that rushing , people walking, conversations everywhere, a flute player, wind, cyclists. All these diverse sounds might seem like they are competing but they each have their role to create a setting. The keynotes or indicators of spring’s arrival were the sound of a flute player creating an atmosphere that spread all over the street; it brought thoughts of warmer days in another neighborhood, like the uptown Barrios, instead of the brink of Soho and the Village. The aimless chirping of birds perched above brought harmony to the music. It was a windy afternoon too, the branches of the trees whispered and swished as everyone walked down the street. There were fleeting background sounds like cyclist rolling by with the click clicking of their bicycles, it's almost insect like sound… Prominent foreground sounds were the fractured sentences and conversations of people walking by. Many conversations were in different languages giving off smaller textures… like details, depending on how guttural palatal or labial they were. No matter how loud they were because of their proximity, they did not stay long enough to dominate the whole scene instead, these voices integrated into the urban scene because of their unfinished nature.

Project 1: Define a Space

Define A Space by Amanda Hernandez and Niamh McDonnell from Amanda Hernandez on Vimeo.