The two exercises I chose were the third and fifth.
For the third exercise I had to listen attentively for five minutes in a public space, I chose a local park, and write down the first eight things I could hear from the environment. It is an unusual feeling to pay so much attention to every noise I can hear as I often wear headphones or I am talking to someone, therefore paying less attention to my surroundings. Certain sounds stood out to me and once I had tuned into them it was hard to lose focus on one sound.
The eight most prominent sounds I could hear were bird song, footsteps of people walking by, passing conversations, the wind whistling, a football being kicked, children laughing and playing, dogs barking, and leaves rustling in the wind.
After this I was instructed to sit with headphones on listening to white noise for 5 minutes, then to repeat the task above and notice any differences.
The eight most prominent sounds I could hear after this five minutes were a different variety of bird calls, footsteps of runners, pram wheels against the pavement, the wind rustling in the trees, conversations and laughter, children playing on park equipment, cyclist and the wheels of a bike, and distant traffic.
Some of the sounds I noticed were completely different. Given I was seated while listening, people were walking around and this would change my focus depending on who was around. However, some of the sounds I could hear in more detail, one example of this was the bird calls I heard. By taking removing the sounds allowed my brain to focus on different noises from the soundscape, it was strange to think about how much I could not realise about my surroundings if I am not paying intentional attention.
The next exercise I chose was the fifth where I was instructed to name sounds and list them smallest to largest, then assign them an onomatopoeia. Here are the eight sounds I heard, from smallest to largest:
- My breathing - my breath created a prolonged yet soft huff
- Wind rustling leaves - creating a soft whish and crunch
- Bike wheels/cyclist - the sound of the spurs made a soft ticking sound and the wheels sounded like a whir
- Distant traffic - being far away left the traffic sounding a low hum or rumble
- Various bird calls - this ranged from tweets of smaller birds to a coo from a larger bird like a pigeon
- Footballs being kicked - feet hitting the ball made a thump, but the ball against a metal fence made a clang
- Children playing - sounds like chatter and laughter
- My footsteps - the boots I was wearing made a heavier thud than a trainer might
