Location: An apartment balcony close to the intersection of St. Clair West and Bathurst

Time: 9:00 – 9:40 pm on Wednesday, September 25

 The first sound I hear as I settle into the soundscape is a dog barking. Its barks are loud, sharp, and deep. The sound echoes off the walls of surrounding buildings, so much so that I cannot even determine the dog’s whereabouts. As the barks grow quieter, I notice they also become slightly higher-pitched and gentler-sounding. I recognize this is a natural sound, and it is unique as it only occurred once.

Cars make the most evident sound of this location as they drive past on the busy street nearby. There is a quick, loud surge of wind as they each zoom by. Accompanied by a more resounding low grumble coming from their engines, the noises made by vehicles are distinct due to their volume and rapid rate of occurrence. This sound is repetitive and technological. It is characteristic of an urban setting such as this, and distinct during this time of night when less human noise is around to slightly muffle its volume.

 I am suddenly startled by the sharp sound of a man shouting across the street. His voice is loud, clear, and low. It echoes off the surrounding buildings, making the sound more drawn-out. This noise is unique because the man only shouted once, however it stood out to me because of its loud volume and low tone.

 As time passes I notice whispers from a balcony nearby. They are hushed, gentle, and sweet-sounding. Although the whispering is somewhat high-pitched, it is not an irritating sound because it is quiet and slow-paced.

I also notice the sound of a teakettle bubbling inside, and then clicking off. It is a unique, technological sound. The bubbling of the boiling water is quiet and gentle. However, the click of it automatically turning off is sharper. It is high-pitched and abrupt. The bubbling continues slightly after the click but slowly fades out, getting quieter and lower-pitched.

People then run by on a path just below me and are shouting along the way playfully. These are deep, male voices but their tone is friendly and light. Their footsteps grow louder as they get closer and echo more deeply as they slap the pavement. As the people run further away the sound of their feet on the pavement becomes quieter, and more high-pitched.  This is a human noise, and it was unique.

 Someone’s radio begins to play softly from a window. They are listening to jazz music and the sound of the saxophone moves in and out of different tones quickly. They are mostly high-pitched, but they sound sweet because they are drawn-out and flickering, rather than sharp. However, as I listen longer to this sound, its duration now past 20 minutes, I notice it is not very crisp. The sound has a somewhat tinny, echoey, more high-pitched quality to it. I imagine this is because I am not close to the source of the sound, and it is not as crisp or clear as it would be if I were directly near it.

 Next, I notice feet scuffing the ground. The sound they make is not as harsh as the runners’ footsteps from earlier. I can tell the feet are being dragged or shuffled along as there is not a crisp sound with each step, but a longer, softer tone. I can almost feel the texture of the pavement as the feet are dragged along, because the scraping noise is so distinct.  As the source of the sound moves away, the shuffling becomes hushed, and takes on a slightly higher pitch. This was a unique, human sound.

 As I sit longer, I notice the hum of an engine in the background. Perhaps it is from an air conditioner, however its sound was so soft that I did not hear it at all before I payed closer attention. It is quiet, very low-pitched, and constant. And although I did not notice it before, I cannot ignore it now because the sound is so technological that I immediately register it as an annoyance.

A much closer car driving through the parking lot below me has a more distinct sound than the ones on the street nearby. The car’s sound is a lower rumble, much louder than the ones further away. As the car speeds up, the sound of its engine grows louder and higher-pitched.  This sound was technological and unique, as no other vehicle passed by closely enough to make a similar sound.

 I also hear the opening of a door. The action seems fast because the sound is harsh and high-pitched. There is a squeaking sound as the door is flung open, ending in a loud and low crash as it finally hits the wall.

 As a bus drives by, I notice it makes a more pronounced sound amongst the other vehicles. The whiz of air as it zooms by is much louder. It seems higher pitched and more prolonged.

 The sounds I heard in this area were largely technological and human, which says something about my location of choice. This location was urban, and the technological sounds from vehicles and human sounds from passersby are common attributes of a city soundscape. There were very few natural sounds that were distinct, which one would also expect in an urban environment. The lack of natural sounds also reveals that this soundscape was recorded during the evening hours when many animals of the area would be resting.

 The keynote sound of this area is most definitely the sound of cars passing on the busy street nearby. The repetitive whizz of cars zooming past is most clearly distinguished amongst all other sounds in the area, and it is almost certain to be heard at any time of the day.

 I could not decipher a specific soundmark that would be unique to this area, as I imagine many apartment balconies in Toronto would sound similar at this time of night. However, the quality of all of the sounds in this area was affected somewhat by an echo. This echoing effect could be seen as a certain soundmark of the area, as the enclosing apartment buildings provide this effect. If I were in another area with fewer, or more spread out buildings, this effect may not be as distinct. Also, the echoing effect may not be as noticeable during the day when there is more human activity that could muffle the sound.