Sounds Of Our Everyday Lives

34 ECHOES

Location: San Rafael

Emma Reimers
Emma Reimers
Participants were asked to collect and describe three sounds of their everyday lives: one familiar (blue), one unusual (green), and one meaningful (orange).

I have an elderly dog

I have an elderly dog whose health is bad in all kinds of ways - he's blind and arthritic and has some organ problems. A lot of his noises sound like the noises of an achy, anxious old guy. But sometimes we get a heavy snore like this, and it feels good to think he's getting some peaceful sleep.

1 sound

Birds

1 sound

From the park where I walk most days

From the park where I walk most days. It's right next to the VA hospital and a busy highway, but it's a huge green space that feels like countryside.

1 sound

Peeler Park

Unexpected experience of the first frogs singing in the spring.

1 sound

Drummers

A found performance of amazing women drummers.

1 sound

a birthday song

Singing a birthday song, and as a duo again after years of celebrating with kids/family.

1 sound

my childhood bike

This clip is of my partner riding my childhood bike with a flat wheel. He was testing it out to see if he could ride it to his new office. We have been living apart for 5 years and finally live together now permanently, this is the sound of our new life together and it brings me immense joy.

1 sound

Getaway Car

This is my partner and I singing along to our new favorite song. To keep track of time during quarantine we completed a bracket of 64 Taylor Swift songs to find our favorite. We did not know all of the songs and our favorite that we discovered is called Getaway Car. This is us singing along to its play in the final championship round, where it lost closely to Blank Space that took the crown. I chose it as unusual because this is a new song for us.

1 sound

West Wing

This is my partner and I singing along to our favorite song with no words. Every night while we eat dinner we watch a TV show and for the past few months we've been making our way through The West Wing and we (especially I) love singing along to it. We love singing but wordless songs are even more song because you can be more creative.

1 sound

burr grinder

It's the everyday sound of the burr grinder blaring as it buzzes up my daily dose of caffeine, the water bubbling and boiling in the kettle, and NPR telling me what the world's been doing while I've been asleep

1 sound

Burke talking to George

I managed to get a brief recording of Burke talking to George. Which happens a lot, but I think he'd deny how rich their conversations are.

1 sound

cuddly purr

It's the cuddly purr of my favorite four-legged roommate, George. The recording is enhanced by the fact that the construction noise outside my apartment conveniently and considerately paused in observation of Memorial Day.

1 sound

Balcony rain

It's the sound from my balcony. It's mostly dominated by the rain (like Nashville spring weather), but you can hear boats, as well as a freight trawler going by. At any given time from my balcony, you will always be able to hear either boats, birds, or rain.

1 sound

Opening my door

This is perhaps cheating a bit, as this sound has only become unusual recently. It's the sound of unlocking and opening my door. Since I can work from home, do most of my shopping online, and don't live in a neighborhood that's great for socially distanced recreation, stepping outside my door has become a rare occurrence.

1 sound

Sufjan

It's a recording of Sufjan Stevens' Austin City Limits concert in 2006. Stevens is my favorite artist, and I've always loved listening to him, but I've turned to this concert a turn during the past couple months, and it's helped me a lot. It helps that it's a perfect live performance, and is just the right combination of silly, sad, and lovely. The audio is the intro to my favorite song from the set, "The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades is Out to Get Us!".

1 sound

Getting ready for bed

This is just part of me getting ready for bed--things I do every night. Planning my day, getting some water, putting lotion on my face.

1 sound

Rainstorm

I love the sound of rainstorms and thunderstorms. It is a comforting sound that helps me to feel relaxed.

1 sound

Yerba mate

This is the sound of me messing with a yerba mate cup. It sounds gross, just like yerba mate...

1 sound

Doggo

It's my doggo! He is by my side most days and I'm always talking to him, so this is a common sound in my house.

1 sound

New floors

This is the sound of me walking on my new floors, which make a new sound I'm not used to yet. And then the sound of plastic covering rustling, for while we paint the whole house.

1 sound

Dancing to John Mayer

This is my husband and me singing along and dancing to John Mayer while we paint our first home as homeowners. I think someday when I'm older and I hear John Mayer, I'll close my eyes and remember dancing with paint on our hands in the empty, freshly white kitchen.

1 sound

cabinet saw

Most people don't have a cabinet saw in their garage, I guess?

1 sound

bird spies

Birds are great, even if they're government spies!

1 sound

caffeine

It is the sound of caffeine being prepared to enter my body.

1 sound

metal straw

I'm using my metal straw to stir around ice. I usually get cold easily, so it's rare for me to drink something cold. Even during summers, my room is downstairs in a house that starts on the ground floor so it usually feels cool, but this summer has been unusually hot in California.

1 sound

First to rise

I'm usually the first in my family to get up every morning, so I always wake up and use the hand mixer to make whipped coffee for us

1 sound

A Town with an Ocean View

I listen to a lot of instrumental music while I'm working or studying. This is the opening from a song that was part of a movie score of my favorite childhood animated film, Kiki's Delivery Service. The song is called A Town with an Ocean View by Joe Hisashi, and I used Spotify to play it. This song reminds me of the many times I watched as a kid with my mom. I never owned it but made her take me to the library many times to borrow it. Now I think I play it whenever I feel stressed because it helps me feel calm.

1 sound

new house

It’s the sound of a door in my new house opening!

1 sound

Painting

The sound of painting, which I hope will happen only occasionally!

1 sound

Putting on a mask

The sound of putting on a mask and breathing through it.

1 sound

Our unborn baby's heartbeat

The sound of our unborn baby's heartbeat heard at our 18 week scan - reassuring and amazing!

1 sound

News bulletin

I hear it every day at the start of the news bulletin

1 sound

mixer

It is the noise my new KitchenAid mixer makes - bought during the lockdown so I can make fresh bread twice a week.

1 sound

A/C

It's not really an unusual sound in the world, but an unusual sound for here. It's been hot lately, and our landlords switched on their a/c, so just in the past 2 days we hear their heat pump all the time.

1 sound

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