An encounter in the park
Apr 07, 2020, 04:01 PM
Philadelphia lockdown sound recorded by Michael Reiley McDermott.
"I went for a walk this morning at a nearby park in Philadelphia. Parks seem to be the only place where people see each other socially anymore.
"People still say hello, but they keep their distance. I was inspired to go out this morning because the birdsong where I’m staying was very intense when I woke up and I thought it would be a nice soundscape in the nearby forest.
"I recorded this walk with binaural microphones to try to give the recordings a very first person perspective while I explored. As with many of these natural in the city recordings, sometimes the din of cars, airplanes and other machines overpower it.
"However I felt the birdsong cut through. I also noticed how the tempo of the bird calls affected my gate.
"Towards the end of the recording I saw an older man walking his dog in the distance. I thought maybe I would walk closer to him since I liked the look of his dog and I like to say hi to dogs sometimes, even when I’m recording.
"Then he started to cough! (around 1:20) I froze. I felt like a wild animal who heard the dangerous sounds of disease; something to fear. I stopped heading towards him and took another path.
"Oddly enough after this moment I saw more people on the trail and noticed almost everyone was wearing masks today for the first time."
"I went for a walk this morning at a nearby park in Philadelphia. Parks seem to be the only place where people see each other socially anymore.
"People still say hello, but they keep their distance. I was inspired to go out this morning because the birdsong where I’m staying was very intense when I woke up and I thought it would be a nice soundscape in the nearby forest.
"I recorded this walk with binaural microphones to try to give the recordings a very first person perspective while I explored. As with many of these natural in the city recordings, sometimes the din of cars, airplanes and other machines overpower it.
"However I felt the birdsong cut through. I also noticed how the tempo of the bird calls affected my gate.
"Towards the end of the recording I saw an older man walking his dog in the distance. I thought maybe I would walk closer to him since I liked the look of his dog and I like to say hi to dogs sometimes, even when I’m recording.
"Then he started to cough! (around 1:20) I froze. I felt like a wild animal who heard the dangerous sounds of disease; something to fear. I stopped heading towards him and took another path.
"Oddly enough after this moment I saw more people on the trail and noticed almost everyone was wearing masks today for the first time."
Part of the #StayHomeSounds project, documenting the sounds of the global coronavirus lockdown around the world - for more information, see http://www.citiesandmemory.com/covid19-sounds