Reaction to R2 Media

     The video Listen and the documentary short of Justin Boyd really demonstrated the importance of soundscapes and the noise all around us. I think Listen demonstrates this the best with the films impeccable sound design. The long take when the camera circles around the old man emphasizes all the different sounds around him, despite not being able to physically see any of the sources. Also you can gauge just about how far in proximity the sources of the sounds are from the loudness and whether the sounds echo.

     What I found interesting that essentially all the media touched upon was the danger of sound overload. To much sound can not only be harmful to humans but to animals as well. The article on Acoustic Ecology mentions how planes and personalized motor vehicles create such loud and disruptive sounds that they can drown out the sounds that occur amongst wildlife. Since the rise of cities many bird populations have experienced a decrease in their overall populations due to the fact that they cannot hear their mating calls over the sonic booming of cities. I found it redeeming though that government organizations are working to try and limit the disruptive sounds of man made technologies.

     Also I thought it was interesting in the interview with Murray Smith how he comments on how in cities we humans cannot hear more than ten feet around us. Murray refers to loudness and disruptiveness of city sounds and noises as Sonic Sewers, which is essentially just an overproduction of sounds. What Murray feels this is a result of is that cities are much more dense with people than they ever were. People have always complained about sound, even dating back to Roman times. Murray mentions how their are more sound complaints to the police now than compared to actual crime reports.