Sound is a variable people don’t seem to account for with our surroundings, we just thoughtlessly assimilate it until a discrepancy occurs. With shifts in sound, what we notice seems based on what we expect to hear. Living surrounded by pines and birch, my expectations were pendant on those sounds for wind noise. When I moved to more urban surroundings, the assumption of wind noise shifted from the softer whisper-rustle of needle-filled branches to the high pitched whine of the drafts and the whooshing sound as higher speed gusts hit brick edge corners. Likewise an emergency siren begot very different responses from me, curiosity over panic (chances were I would see it pass by rather than arrive at a neighbor’s house) it was if it stopped and stayed in the urban context that I left my home. Conversations passed, the only note I took was pitch. Are they content? Fighting? Is that an issue? Are they likely to be in trouble or causing it? In the rural area, voices engendered curiosity, why are they out this far? Our views on notable noise are purely based on our expectations and previous exposure.

As a child, my times on the subways of New York were enjoyed. I could tell you about light systems, when the cars went over switches, glimpses of the access doors in the tunnels, the secret spaces in the less busy stations, it was a different world. It was also SO much louder; I couldn’t stand the sounds of the arriving trains. And so that is my first clip, the subway, with the squeal of the wheels, the clatter of cars passing over irregularities in the rails (likely switches), the murmur of voices having quieter conversations further down the car. People avoid paying attention in a noticeable fashion, they may see you, but will not acknowledge it. Pay attention, can you tell when the subway curves? It’s not as loud as some, but I think there is a turn in there.

The next two are flows and rhythms of water, the first is a fountain hitting its basin, then filling a bottle. The second is the Gowanus Canal’s terminus/head, where the mechanics initiate flow via outpourings of waterspouts, and the foam hisses as it dissipates. The difference between the two in interesting, the smaller one has a louder identity due to its more singular notes, while the latter, larger one is more of a sound-subsuming roar.

My last location was time specific. It is a park in Brooklyn, which had a modest and very well populated playground, with people of varying ages. The children using it were either attended by adults playing games with them (often with two to five kids per minder), or playing while their adults watched and chatted, or read on benches. Additionally, the rest of the parks benches played host to the less heard contingent of people relaxing, or meeting. If you listen, you can hear the gentle conversations beneath the higher-pitched children’s voices. At this specific time, parents were meeting with caretakers to collect their kids. It’s funny, because despite a ton of that activity happening around me, I can’t find the conversations I know were happening when I was there; there is no indication of this in the sound of the place at that time.

Jake Mosher
​We experience landscape through our senses. Sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound all combine to give the user a unique experience. The focus of today was on the sounds of different landscapes. From the beginning of the day, I was conscious of what I was hearing and how that affected how I felt in the landscape. At Gantry State Park on the riverside of Long Island City the sounds of the city were far enough removed from the site that it was a pleasant experience. As we got walking towards the current phase under construction the sounds of the trucks and construction crews changed my experience of the park. Now this is only a temporary sensory experience but it is necessary for the rest of the design to be implemented. The next sound clip was taken on the roof of the Brooklyn Grange. This is an agricultural as well as educational landscape. The farm being on a rooftop allows the user to escape the sounds of the city and traffic below. This shift in sense allows you to focus more on the food production and form a deeper connection with the landscape. II took this sound clip while the lady from the farm was going over how the farm works and what they do with the food. This experience is very telling of what a student group would experience on the rooftop. The third sound clip is my favorite, it was taken underneath a cluster of elevated rail lines over a chaotic arrangement of roads and crosswalks in Brooklyn. The intensity of the sounds being pumped into this area were very anxiety inducing. It did not help that we were somewhat lost while we were around this chaos. This was my favorite clip because it shows how much sound can change how you feel and act in a landscape. I recorded this in the middle of a beautifully designed section of a park that was a long side this petroleum fueled chaos. It would be near impossible for someone to relax in this area because of the sound of the traffic. This is probably why no one was sitting in the beautifully designed space. The final clips were taken in two areas that I felt were very peaceful. The first is at the Moore Street Market Farm and the second at the Guianas Canal pump station. Both of these spaces had a strong connection with water. The sound of the water in these recording is so relaxing it could be used as a lullaby. These spaces show how you can not only create a physical connection with the water in a site but also an audible one. Sounds can affect how we feel and can turn the most beautiful design into an underutilized space, as landscape architects we have to design for all the sensory experiences of a place and not just for how it looks. 

As many of you know i commute daily back and forth through the city, and as a result it hear many conversations and live performances in the train as well as in Penn station. the first recording I found was when I was waiting for my train. Now not sire if you all know this, but Penn is a large train station which could take you practically anywhere, and in my case I take the LIRR, Long Island rail road. the LIRR has a large screen with all trains listed with their respected times, and you have to constantly be staring at it because it will randomly tell you which track your specific train will appear on; i.e. the train to ronkonkama for 6:53  will be in track on. It leads to a large mass of people staring mindlessly at the sign waiting for the track o appear, and this large population is a great area to preform live. So this band set up right beneath the sign and began playing and i was lucky enough to capture it before my train arrived.  

The second file was from the streets of Brooklyn when we were walking to the Moore Street Market Farm. We passed by a lot of places and small businesses, some were playing music. in the little clip I took you hear what the average Brooklyn resident would, which i found interesting to listen to. When you live in an area for a time, noises and obscure sounds become while noise naturally, so when i recorded this i thought it was interesting hearing all the sounds on the streets, yet at home it's piratically identical besides thr music, yet I never take notice anymore. 

Throughout my experience of exploring NYC, I have collected various sound samples of the ambiance present at each site. The following clips are the highlights of the sounds experienced via recorder. What this means I did not include the sound of water at Paley Park because it creates too much noise for the recorder.

There is something very particular about the soundscape of the lower half of Pier 15 that is very pleasant. It offers a calm atmosphere in an area that is within close walking distance to the streets of Manhattan. This is combined with other sounds including passing boats and helicopters, which are pleasing to observe traversing the urban built environment.

The northern part of The Highline provide an interesting change to the overall experience of the walk. Instead of going straight forward, it  hooks towards the Hudson River and overlooks several new development projects and the Hudson Yards site. It provides a diverse combination of sounds from trains, boats, cars, and helicopters. It gives the area a sense of occupancy because of how many different sources of noise are present.

One of my favorite ambient moments was standing along the waterfront of Roosevelt Island and listening to the sound of the city from a reasonable distant location. There are sounds of car horns from the Manhattan that can be heard from Roosevelt Island, but because of how far away from the area, the sounds become softer and more pleasant to the experience of the walk. In a way the soundscape here gives you a sense of an escape from the city without leaving the city, although development on the island may change this over time.

Of the sites visited in the Brooklyn/Queens area, the experience of sound on the Brooklyn Grange rooftop offers the most unique experience of them all. The sound of the wind is the most prominent at while at the higher elevation, but the sound of cars and construction bring about the connection the the surrounding urban setting.

The small areas within public transportation vehicles is a drastic change in the soundscape compared to being outside on the street. This clip captures the sounds heard while riding a bus from one area to the next rather than walking. The sound of cars and construction of muffled while the sound of people talking is more apparent. This changes the way in which we perceive an area due to the different noises perceived.

When we visited Paley Park, the most prominent feature was the waterfall that provided an enjoyable visual and sonic texture. The sound of the flowing water overpowered the noise of the surrounding city. Water was a recurring theme in all of the sites that we visited today, from the waterfront in Queens to the gallon jugs bought at the corner store. My first clip is a recording from one of the tanks at the aquaponic farm in Brooklyn. Water is of course essential to any farm, but it was especially central to this one, and the way that they treated it was very unique. The cycle of the water from the fish tank to the plant pools and the infusion of nutrients from fish waste and bacteria cultures was very intriguing. The second clip is from the Gowanus Canal where water is pumped in to keep the canal flowing. There was a lot of foam generated at this point and the sound was very subtle but it provided an element of interest to an otherwise fairly uninteresting site (unless you are a landscape architect).

These 2 clips were taken within 1-2 blocks of where we are staying in Brooklyn near the Franklin stop (generic photo included). This is a wonderfully diverse yet rapidly gentrifying neighborhood, with great Caribbean and Soul food mixed with hip new Brooklyn eateries and bearded baristas. Last night we heard the call to prayer which was quite beautiful and I knew I had to capture that moment (clip 1).

I often stop at the end of a long day by the local Popeye's for a biscuit and some iced tea (where else should I go, given the wealth of possibilities within walking distance?)--Popeye's does make a mean biscuit.  Last year I noticed that the restaurant had moved across the street. Then a few months later, the entire block where the original Popeye's had been located was torn down to make way for a new development (captured in the construction sounds). The buildings immediately to the left of these townhouses are all gone now, only to make way for another generic development--very demoralizing.

-Under Ground (Subway) The audio is recorded in the subway and made of people's talking, broadcasting and sound of the engine of the subway. This car is a closed environment so the ambient sound is very deep and loud. Because of that, people need to raise their voice to talk, which is shrill and noisy.    

-Ground of the deck (Old gantry park)   The First audio is composed by the sound of the wave lapping against the shore under the deck, people's voice and the roaring of ferries's engines. The sound of the wave suppress over the other ambient noises because my phone was touching the ground. People's voice become blur and the sound of the engine was just a faint background sound.  

-5 feet above ground (Hunter’s Point South Park) The second audio mainly receives the sound of ferries and helicopter. Because the distance was far away from every resource of the sound, we can heard each sound clearly. However, the receptor was seriously affected by the winds, suppresing all the other sounds.      
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- On the roof garden (Brooklyn Grange Organic Range Rooftop Farm)  The height of the roof lowers the sound of the street, such as vehicles and roaring of sirens. Everything become a blurred ambient sound, which is hard to differentiate them.