Sunday, May 3, 2009

The power of sound

For a while last night, I listened to NPR's Evening Music hosted by David Garland. Terrance McKnight hosts the weekday Evening Music, and while his choices are very interesting, he frequently does not tell you who who a singer or musician was... if I were the musician or singer I would be infuriated. It's bad enough for the listener.

Garland was asking what listeners' 5 favourite non-music sounds were, and read two lists from comments on the Evening Music blog, on the air. They were beautiful:

Comment from Alana Z.
Date: May 1, 2009, 10:27 pm
1. The “greeting” trill my tuxedo cat makes as he saunters into the room.

2. The warbling whir of a morning dove taking flight.
3. Waves quietly lapping at the shore of Buzzards Bay, MA.
4. A rabbit eagerly nibbling on pansies.
5. The odd cacophony of myriad wind chimes emanating from a nearby apartment in my Brooklyn neighborhood on a windy day.

and

Comment from steven
Date: May 1, 2009, 11:14 pm
heavy snow muffling city sounds

owls in the woods
lonely trucks mournfully winding down a far-away interstate
songbirds as I go home in the very early morning air
rain on the cabin roof
a lover

So I visited the blog and added mine, and soon, as I was sitting at the computer editing photographs, I heard a break in the music, and heard Marie's Favourite Sounds read back to me from the new little radio sitting on top of the fridge, on Saturday night at home, in New York. I felt like a kid.

Comment from Marie
Date: May 2, 2009, 8:07 pm
1. Sizzling of a roasting chicken in a cast iron skillet in a 450′ oven
[Marie is precise, he said]
2. The silver ice-sound of a martini being shaken
3. Ships' horns booming through the mist of New York Harbour, reaching my Brooklyn terrace
4. Fat summer raindrops on my bedroom’s skylight
[And now for a very scary sound, he said, but Marie has heard it, and it is now one of her favourite sounds:]
5. Barking geckos surrounding our tent, invisible in the darkness of a night in the Namib Desert

So what are your favourite sounds?

I used to listen to NPR a lot, and then tossed the last radio when its cd action failed. The last thing I recall hearing was a speech by some senate candidate at the Democratic Convention in Philadelphia (in 2004). The voice and words [close your eyes] stopped me cold in my tracks, and I leaned against the door jam to the bedroom, listening in growing wonder. My breath caught in my throat and he made me cry. This man has to be president, I told no one.

And now he is.

12 comments:

  1. Sweet!

    Now, if you'd wanted to be daring, you could have said as sound number four, "The voice of our beloved President." Hmm.

    Ok, seriously now, I also could see the "doom-like sound of my cat frantically nibbling on his beloved pellets." And for me, the "sound of money coming out of an ATM machine."

    Last but not least, "the sound of neighbors squealing at 2 AM"... :-)

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  2. hey, this post made me swoon. and bo's 2004 dnc speech always makes we cry from count 3:38 on.

    loved that you invoked these feelings within me through your prose.

    :) pritha

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  3. Did I ever mention that my brother went to school with this particular DNC speaker (and current president)? Yeah, they both attended Punahou Academy in Honolulu. Small world, no?

    My favorite sound (other than my husband's voice and my daughter's laugh) has to be Ikaika's amazing vocabulary! (He's very vocal.)

    Keli'i

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  4. The sea, breathing softly
    A cat purring
    Pine trees in the wind
    Morepork owl
    Rustling bamboo
    A stream over pebbles
    My coffee brewing

    Lots more, but they'd be the big ones.
    I might look at your terrace pics later, but I know I'll squander my wishes ;-)

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  5. The sound of David Garland's voice in the evening.

    I read those lists in his voice, I know it by mind.

    Permanent

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  6. Lovely post, Marie! and i suddenly burst into tears reading the end of your post, because i had the identical reaction to said speech...and by golly, now he's President.

    1. two cats simultaneously purring in bed, in different registers and differnt time signatures, one at my head and one at my feet.

    2. wind whistling through the pine trees on the shore of Lake George

    3. loons calling in the night on the shore of a lake in Maine.

    4. spring peepers and American toads trilling on an early Spring night.

    5. Linn Barnes and Alison Hampton playing just about anything on guitar and Irish harp.

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  7. oops, i see it says "favorite non-music sounds"...o.k., substitute hot coffee bubbling in the stovetop espresso maker for Linn and Alison!

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  8. QC - yes, the galloping horses of the stovetop espresso maker. I had quite forgotten that that is one of my favourite sounds, too.

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  9. Beence: Hm, yes...the neighbours' squealing yelping and barking and THUMPING would fall under The Worst. Sounds.

    Pritha - hi :-)

    Ikaika - Dude! Wow. Cool. Was your brother older or younger?

    Dinahmow. What. Is a Morepork owl???? More Pork! More Pork! Cat purrs feature often: definitely a best sound.

    NYC Garden: permanent? His voice?

    Shame, QC - I know those tears :-)

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  10. Hello Marie,

    The human's brother is two years older than the young man he knew as "Barry".

    Ikaika >^..^<

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  11. Hello Marie,

    The human's brother is two years older than the young man he knew as "Barry".

    Ikaika >^..^<

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  12. Morepork is the common name in New Zealand for a Ninox owl. In Australia they are called mopoke. But try saying "mohr porhk" into your cupped hands.

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