In ” Living with music” Ralph Ellison described that music affects his living experience in his New York City apartment building by hearing things in his neighborhood as he described, drunk and singer noise. Living there inspired him because there were many passionate musicians who lived in his building and made him think about how the importance of the sound of music is.
When he said “In those days it was either live with music or die with noise” means as a person we need to choose whatever sound we want to listen to. There are a lot of noises in the world that we don’t want to hear. We need to choose which sound that good for us. If we can’t choose, we will live our life with overwhelming feelings. Some noises are not good for our mental health or our ears, for example screaming sound, and construction sound. So we need to listen to some things that fulfill our happiness like some music. Music can keep people sane in this crazy and unpleasant noisy world.
Ellison’s essay mostly talked about his life experience through surroundings sounds from his New York City apartment building. Likewise, in “The Soundscape”, Schafer talked about sound and how it affects the space surrounding it. Both of them focus on sound and space.
Agree with you because of the third response and also about the first one ☝️ the drunk voice give him feeling
I agree that some noises are not good for our mental health. I do find myself being overwhelmed by the noise sometimes and especially at night when you are supposed to rest, but noises from the street never stop. Listening to music, and the beautiful sound of nature, does help to be calm and regain sanity.
Aor, you raise interesting points here. I’m wondering if you could push the connection you make in your last paragraph further. For instance, what do you make of the fact that Schafer argues that we should cultivate beneficial sounds and eliminate noise pollution whereas Ellison embraces the noisiness of his apartment building?