I decided to record my 10 minute walk back from campus to my apartment at Fairfax at around 5:00 PM in the evening on Wednesday. Since I was recording, I was naturally more inclined to listen my surroundings on the way back than I'd usually be. Even so, the walk could only be described as very peaceful. The only obvious sounds I could hear were my own keys jangling as I walked, and other random sounds - such as little snippets of conversation, or cars, or other machinery in the background.
Listening to the recording once I got back, I was rather surprised by what I heard. The same scenes that I had perceived to be extremely quiet and peaceful as I walked, seemed extremely chaotic and busy in the recording. Sounds that I couldn't have possibly picked up myself were clearly audible on the recording. The most obvious of these was the wind. The sound of the wind picks up more in the open areas, and comes to completely dominate the recording in some parts. Another things I noticed was how different spaces that sound very similar to the ear, are clearly demarcated on the recording. Simply moving from the UC Courtyard to the Cut results in a very noticeable increase in noise. Similarly, the Morewood Parking Lot sounds very different from the Wooden Staircase shortcut through WQED. Listening to the recording also made me pick up more conversation around me than I could have naturally picked up. In some cases, I could clearly tell what people who were probably walking at least 20-25 feet away from me were saying. The most interesting change in soundscape occurs when I step indoors, into the Fairfax. Suddenly, the noise nearly dies out. Furthermore, completely innocuous sounds of the building itself, such as doors opening and closing, elevators arriving, etc. come into focus.