Sound blog 1

The hardwood floors in my apartment creak and groan under me as I walk around. This sound is important because it reminds me of all the hard work we put into our apartment when we moved in, in September. At the beginning, there was this ugly what-used to be pink carpet but was now stained gray. The landlords refused to have it clean so my roommate and I moved all the furniture pulled the carpet up in one big piece so as to easily put it back when we move out, then we sanded the floors with a belt sander and got down on our hands and knees to varnish the whole thing. So now every time I walk around and hear the creaks and groans, and the cracking of the dark hardwood under me I'm reminded of how proud I am that not only am I living on my own but I turned my house into a home.

The clicking of the tiny keys on my cell phone as I text is an important sound in my daily routine. I have to admit I am a texting addict so I hear the little cracking as the letters are pressed down by my thumbs probably close to 100 times a day. I find it a great way to stay in touch with my friends and family. Its discrete, useful to pass the time at work and saves on my minutes as I have unlimited text messages but not very many daytime minutes.

Another technology I use daily is my computer so the melodic synths of the windows start up music is important in my daily sonic experience. After I started my computer up this morning, I searched this soft sounding classical style of music on YouTube to be able to listen to it on repeat and better describe it. I realized this soothing music isn't just a "start up" sound but a sound that can be used to make an up-tempo videogame-esque song as evidenced by the related links I found on YouTube’s sidebar. This makes me think of how so many people are connected thanks to computers and the internet. This is clearly influential as something like the sound of a received email or contact signing on to msn can be combined to make whole songs that are actually pleasant to listen too.

Of course after the start-up music is over comes the tapping of the keys on the keyboard. The keyboard on my laptop is new so the keys click down easily making a pitter-patter sound as I rapidly type this sentence. The keyboard on my desktop is older and has had a few encounters with water and dust so the keys are stickier making a harder click sound that vaguely reminds me of an old time typewriter. I used to play with such a typewriter when I was young and I loved to hear the loud clacking of the keys as they stamped each letter onto the paper.

The happiest sound in my daily sonic routine is the laughter of my roommates and I. Everyone tells us all three of us have the same laugh and now that I listen carefully, I can see why. All three of us start giggling small giggles that sound like “ha ha ha” that grows louder the longer we laugh. Afterwards we let out a long soft breath that sounds like whispering or a soft wind blowing through a semi-open window. Although we do have some differences, one of my roommates laughs a lot louder and I tend to go silent if I’m laughing really hard at something.