Ralph  Ellison describes how the sound of the city is annoying as he is a writer and needs his peace to work . one of the things he also describes the noises and sound he has to put up with in his apartment particularly the upstairs neighbor and how her singing affects him being able to write.Ralph Ellison  goes on to state he made a machine and had battles of decibels with her and how she was a good sport about items it didn’t hinder her creativity .He talks about his child hood and his love for music and then comes to realize can he bother this artist for he too is a artist of writing .In the end his love for music return.

in the first sentence I believe he means you live with your love for music or die  listening to the noises of NYC.

the point of comparison in sound scape is that noise is pollution like in Ralph Ellisons book and that music is becoming more modern