A research on sounds of places visited by Mario Montez
Research:
On our project about a Dead New Yorker, my group decided on Mario Montez as a research topic. I was assigned the role to collect data of sounds from the places that are related to Montez. We chose 4 places to visit, each relating to Montez in their own way. Below are the datas I’ve collected and organised:
Evergreen Theatre (53rd East 11th Street):
The Evergreen Theatre, where Montez once performed, has now became Bahat Center. This is generally a quiet place with a few construction sounds that can be heard from far away. There are little people here, therefore seldom conversations can be heard. Various footsteps can also be heard clearly due to the low density, this includes high heels, sneakers and flip flops. Small sounds such as door opening, keychains clinging and wind rustling can also be heard. In contrast, the way here was pretty noisy, filled with cars and chatters.
Soho:
Soho was where Montez’s loft was. It is a busy and crowded place, filled with people from all over the world. As Soho is a famous shopping area, half of the people here were tourists looking for goods. Various languages can be heard, including English, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, French and Cantonese. There are also a lot more cars than Evergreen Theatre, creating more beeping and engine sounds. Minor sounds such as doors opening, shopping bag bumping into each other are also heard. There were also a lot of moving vehicles such as box carts and trash bins.
Warhol Factory (231 East 47th Street):
The place where Montez filmed for Warhol’s works. Generally a quiet place that is now a residential area filled with apartments and shops. Few cars can be heard as well as people’s conversation and chatters. Some construction noise are present, but was relatively less noisy. Doors and footsteps can be heard as usual, in addition to bicycles. Noise made by small machines also takes an appearance in this area.
East Harlem:
Montez moved here when he was at the age of 8. East Harlem is quite a busy and noisy place, it was filled with various noises when I visited it, and is one of the noisiest places amongst the four. Loud music from the stereo of a car and radios from home; construction works coming from all over the place; street performances and vehicles across the street… these are all factors that account for the noise level of East Harlem. Never the less, it is a lively place with lots of people talking, walking, chatting and shouting.
Initial notes:
Observation process reflection:
During my observation process, I spent more time and effort trying to hear things than when I’m just walking around the city randomly. I notice smaller things and think of where its source might be, it surprised me on the variety of sounds you can hear when walking around. When people ask what kind of sound and noise a certain place makes, we would probably just think about talking, cars, vehicles… but that wasn’t it. A place is actually composed of several different noises, and they come from various places, things, events. The observation process made me realise that we are always ignoring the small details in everyday life because we expect them to be there forever, but the truth is that if you don’t try and discover them, they won’t even be there.
It was definitely a fun experience observing New York like this, it gave me the opportunity to explore this place from a different viewpoint and aspect.
Map making reflection:
Our group map making went on quite smoothly as everyone did their research and was willing to cooperate with each other. We first decide on how to present our map as the places we visited was separated into several areas, and decided that we should focus on each of these areas instead of mapping out the entire Manhattan.
We then decide on how to present each data, thinking about different ways to include datas that we’ve collected. After some discussion it has been agreed upon that sight will work accordingly with the sense of touch, by making 3D models of buildings and textures on top of them. Scent will be represented using colour along with spread, and sound with shapes and size.
So far we’ve finished the base and have a clear idea on what everyone is suppose to do. We will bring our finished work and put them together next class.
