Chi-Town Sounds: Chicago Through My Ears

Downtown Chicago at Night

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Overview:

So, this is the final post for Chicago: Through My Ears; my personal web project for Writing for the World Wide Web at Columbia College in Chicago. My intent with this post is to keep it short and leave all of you with the final compilation of the audio that I have recorded throughout the semester. This piece of audio does not include each recording in its entirety, but you can most definitely tell which sound came from which recording over the past weeks. This has been a fun experience for me so I hope all of you have enjoyed hearing Chicago through my ears!

Medical Helicopter (Recording: Part #7)

Medical Helicopter  in Flight

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Why This Sound?

• Unique "chopping" sound of propeller blades
• Heard all over Chicago
• Reminds me of Children's Memorial Hospital (Top-rated hospital in Chicago)

Living near Children's Memorial Hospital, the sound of medical helicopters arriving and departing has become a sound that I hear pretty often. It can be depressing thinking about the child who is suffering in the helicopter, but we try to stay positive around the house so when we hear the chopper hovering above us we tell each other that it is delivering something to save a child's life! Regardless, in the six months or so I have lived here, the sound of a helicopter overhead is a sound that will forever remind me of Chicago.

Recording Location:

 The actual recording of the helicopter was taken from my front porch, but the helicopter was just above the heli-pad on top of Children's Memorial Hospital. The recording captures just how close my apartment is located to the hospital.

Technique:

• Timing
• Mic-placement

Again, the hardest part of this recording was capturing the sound of the helicopter (which I hear about 2 times a week) in the short amount of time that it hovers above the hospital. Timing has proved to be one of the key factors in this kind of field-recording that I have been doing over the past few weeks. As for mic-placement, I chose to not use the external condenser mic and just use the built-in microphone to capture more ambient sound. To record I simply faced the portable voice recorder in a horizontal position with the face of the recorder pointing up towards the source (the helicopter).

CTA Bus (Recording: Part 6)

CTA Bus at Stop

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Why This Sound?

Since this is a blog about Chicago and how I hear it, I felt that I had to include a recording of a CTA bus. If you live in or have spent a significant period of time in Chicago, then I'm sure you have heard the buses stopping to let passengers on and off VERY often! With this recording I wanted to capture the sound as if I was waiting for the bus. For that reason I like how it turned out. You can hear the bus approaching the stop, the brakes screeching as it stops, the doors swinging open, the automated voice announcing the bus number and route, and even a lady yelling as she runs to catch the bus before it leaves. I haven't quite decided which part(s) I want to cut and use in my final project though because I like the recording as a whole.

Recording Location

I took this recording at a bus-stop near Oz Park. Where the X is on the map below is the bus #74 stop on Webster Avenue, and that is the specific location of this recording.

Technique

The technique I used for this particular recording was more in the idea than the actual recording process. As I said earlier, my plan was to make the recording sound as if I was waiting for a bus at the stop. So that's exactly what I did! I clipped the small condenser microphone to my jacket and pointed it forward. Then I waited... When the bus finally came, the microphone picked up its sounds very close to the way my ears would. Recording specific noises can end up being a waiting game, but, like this one, it pays off in the end!

Thunderstorm (Recording: Part #5)

Thunderstorm Over Chicago

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Why This Sound?:

With the final product of this personal project in mind, I decided I needed a definitive ambient sound. What's better than a clap of thunder? Although the prior recordings of mine qualify as ambient sounds, this is one that really stands out. The rain sounds alright, but the thunder is what I intend to cut and put in the final project. I haven't decided exactly how I will utilize the sound. Maybe as an introduction? Maybe loop it in the background? I can't say for sure yet. However, I can say that I am happy to have gotten an "ok" recording of thunder reverberating through the city. This is a sound that you will most definitely notice in my final production!

Recording Location:

This recording was taken while walking home from my girlfriend's work. She works near Armitage and Halsted, so about a 5 minute walk from my apartment.

Technique:

When field recording in the rain, keeping the equipment dry is a  MUST! Since this recording was taken while walking in the rain, I had to be very cautious about how I went about it. This would have been a much more daunting task if I was using quality equipment rather than a little voice-recorder. What I did was run the wire for the external microphone through my jacket and then I clipped the microphone (facing forward) to my collar which was covered from the rain by the hood of my jacket. I left the recorder in my pocket and clicked record as I started to walk. I was lucky enough to get a pretty good recording of the thunder!

Recording 4: OZ Park

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Recording Location:

This recording was taken at Oz Park in Lincoln Park near my apartment.

Technique:

I recorded this as if I was hearing it myself. What this mean is I attatched the microphone to the collar of my jacket so that the sound being inputed woul hit the mic pretty close to the same way that it hits my ear. Still, since I am using a low-end, voice-recorder microphone I pointed the mic towards the sound source since it is not capable of capturing ambient sound very well.

Why Here?:

 I chose to record here because Oz Park is somewhere I walk through every day with my dog. You can hear my dog's chain in the recording because this recording was taken on an actual walk through the park with him. Every day during the week at Oz Park around 3:30PM many of the Lincoln Park Highschool students gather at the basketball courts to hang out after class. This recording captures what an average week-day sounds like when you are walking through Oz Park. 

Chicago- Recording #3

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Where did I record this?

This week's recording was done at North Avenue Beach. I was actually sitting on the pier that is pictured in the image above.  

What audio does this recording consist of?

This recording is made up of typical lake noise. We can hear the bubbling/gurgling sound of the water. Also, the sound of the tide hitting the walls of the pier. We can also make out the slight howl of the wind that travels over the lake's waters.

What makes this "Chicago" to me?

What makes this piece of audio one that defines Chicago, in my opinion at least, is the fact that we can tell by listening that it is a large body of water. The sound of waves hitting the beach is something that you don't hear in the midwest. Even though Lake Michigan has waves of a minature stature, the sound that they produce is still one that is rarely found in this area. If anyone is to come to Chicago, the lake is something that they will most definitely want to experience. Lake Michigan is without a doubt one of the things that defines the city of Chicago

Chicago- Recording #2

Where Did I Record This?
This piece of audio was recorded at the 6-way intersection of Fullerton, Halsted, and Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park, Chicago. More specifically, I was sitting on a bench right next to the intersection with Halsted on the right (East) side and Fullerton on the left (North) side of me.

What Audio Does This Recording Consist of?
In this recording we can make out the sounds of heavy traffic. We hear the low-frequency "rumble" of diesel engines, the different exhaust tones of different vehicles passing, screeching brakes, and even foot steps of people walking by me as I recorded.

What Makes This "Chicago" to Me?
This recording best describes the "busy" quality of Chicago. The recording was taken very early in the morning on an average weekday. What defines this piece of audio as recording of Chicago is the seemingly never-ending traffic flow. Had I recorded this at large intersection in the suburbs, there would be a much different "feel" to it. The recording captures the running-late-to-work feel that is a definitive quality of Chicago. This is something that a person would hear while waiting to catch a bus in the morning to go to school or work. This audio recording defines busy and that is what makes it "Chicago" to me. 

Chicago- Recording #1



Where Did I Record This?
This piece of audio was recorded while I was riding the "L" home from class. I was on the Red Line train that goes North towards Howard. The recording took place as the train was approaching the Lake Street stop.

What Audio Does This Recording Consist Of?
Within this recording there are several things that can be heard. We can hear the sound of the train on the track slowing down as it approaches the stop. Next is the sound of the voice coming over the loudspeaker inside the train; informing the riders that the stop is the Lake Street station. We also hear the sound of the doors opening and passengers boarding the train. As the train departs from the Lake Street stop, we hear voices of the people around me as they find seats and/or get themselves situated.

What Makes This "Chicago" To Me?
Being from the suburbs, the CTA rail system is something new and unique to me. The Chicago "L" is one of the numerous things that defines the metropolis from most others. The recording is extremely "busy" sounding, which is another thing that defines it as "Chicago" to me. The main thing that makes this recording sound like "Chicago" is all the people talking. Chicago is heavily populated and I think that this recording captures that ascpect of the city very well.

Introduction

My name is Mike Adler and I am a college student majoring in Audio Arts and Acoustics at Columbia College Chicago. My goal in creating this blog is to use important aspects of my major, such as analyzing specific properties of different sounds and using those sounds to create a piece of audio, to show people (through recorded audio, of course) what the modern-day city of Chicago sounds like through the ears of an audio-phile. What I intend to do is gather various sound clips, or audio files, in different areas of Chicago and write a brief description of the location and source of the recorded sound. In the final post I will layer the collection of sound-files over each other to create a collage of sounds that, to me, represent Chicago in the way that I hear it.