Sound is part of our lives, it plays a bigger role and affects us. When sound takes place in a particular setting, it affects its space, or those living in that particular environment. This is known as keynote, according to R. Murray Schafer’s “The Soundscape.” One example is a teenager entering a clothing store that was once a toy store, thus giving him a sense of nostalgia, or memories as to how he once loved that store and the atmosphere it brought in his early childhood. Once the sound is given in a particular environment, it gains value and significance over time by the community living there and therefore gives that place meaning. This is known as a sound mark based on Schafer’s “The Soundscape.” There are real-life examples of how Schafer sees sound and how it affects other people when it comes to sound bringing significance to them. From Damon Krukowski’s “Ways of Hearing” to Ralph Ellison’s “Living with Music”, it explains how sound takes place and affects the things around them.
Brandon, this is a good start, but I’m not sure what you will say about this situation. What’s your thesis statement? I think you should also make this more specific, perhaps choose a specific scene or arena of city life.