Soundwalk Assignment

I decided to spend my hour during the soundwalk at grand central. I took the 4 train to Grand Central 42nd St. As I stepped out the doors, the familiar train announcement of "Stand Clear of the Closing Doors" was the last thing I heard as I walked up the stairs. Walking into the station, I immediately heard the walkie talkies of the policemen there go off as usual. I sat on the steps and closed my eyes in order to hear the different sounds around me. This was slightly unusually for me since I'm usually in a rush whenever I take the trains and I like to listen to music instead of focusing on the sounds around me. While sitting down in grand central, I immediately noticed the sounds of conversations and intelligible chatter. These sounds seem to echo off the walls and meld together. I would also hear the train announcements as they start to pull out of the station to head northbound in other areas of the state. I would hear random laughter and the occasional baby crying. Another sound that I found myself surrounded with was the sound of footsteps as everyone rushed to their perspective destinations. The tapping of the soles of their feet ranged from a fast tempo, which was more common to a slow, languid gait. These sounds were expected since I was within the MTA system which is generally busy and crowded, especially around 5pm, which is when rush hour generally starts. I walked down to the food concourse, where more chatter could be heard along with the clatter of plates and forks as people ate their food which smelled great by the way. It wasn't as loud due to the absence of a high ceiling, which enhanced the acoustics of the station, but the area was just as crowded. I would also hear the wheels of the occasional custodian. There was a lot that was going on at this time which made it somewhat difficult to categorize all the sounds I was being submerged with, but it was a familiar soundtrack since I spend most of my life in the busy city of New York.

Assignment 1: Defining a Space (The Art Department)

Defining a Space from Yessenia Fabian` on Vimeo.