As we neared the end of our sound walk, we found ourselves immersed in the full blown hustle and bustle of Downtown Milwaukee. The city is truly alive with sound; sounds that capture the character of the downtown. The sounds of cars driving to unknown locations, buses moving people across the city, people conducting business, and workers constructing buildings make the city come alive.
Another colorful example of playground ambiance is that of the swing set. In this case, a child sits in the swing and the mother pushes him. In this way, they are interacting with the equipment and creating a rich mechanical sound to accompany their playful conversation. A conversation that illustrates not only the loving connection between a mother and her son, but also a primary function of the playground; family interaction.
A playground comes alive when children play and interact with their environment. In turn, this interaction creates many complex sounds that beg to be observed and appreciated. In this case, I held my microphones under a bridge a child was running across. It is interesting to observe how his playing sets off a chain reaction of sounds with the playground equipment that effect the sound scape and then blend nicely into the ambiance when he is finished.
As we began to leave the residential sound scape, we entered a new, more commercial section of town full of people, traffic, and other commotion. One place in particular had an interesting variety of auditory interaction; a sidewalk cafe where friends, dates, and businessmen alike were gathered to talk and eat. Walking through the Cafe with sound recording equipment, we knew it was only a matter of time before we sparked a few questions. Tempting as it was to say we were either terrorists or ghost hunters, my friend kindly obliged with information about our class. Though, just as the conversation began I continued to walk through the market and the speech became overwhelmed by the other sounds competing for dominance in this complex arena.
As we wandered away from campus, we were immersed in a largely residential neighborhood. Though we didn't expect to find many interesting sounds yet, we managed to stumble across a minor cement operation. we discovered a rich ambiance surrounding the truck as the sounds of the engine, men talking, and the pressure hose intermixed with each other. In order to gain a full experience of this event, I slowly walked the perimeter surrounding the cement truck.
