Music Observation Paper

Going to a location and simply listening to the sounds around you for twenty minutes seems like a difficult task; however, after spending an afternoon in the Miami University’s Recreational Sports Center and observing the sounds around me, I was pleasantly surprised by how I enjoyed listening to the variety of pitched sounds. From basketballs being dribbled down the court, to the random interjecting sounds of the small store cash register or the phone ringing, I heard sounds ranging from low frequencies of metal weights to the high frequencies of squeaking shoes. While sitting in a general area near the basketball courts and the weight room, I heard sounds from people working out. Some people were lifting weights in the weight room; others were doing yoga in a small studio room, but the main sound I observed was the sound of basketball playing. From attending many of my

Each bounce on the solid wood floor created a loud thud that filled the large and open gymnasium. This sound, while deep, felt like a random heartbeat. Since multiple people were practicing their game at once, there was not a pattern to the sound. If only one person was dribbling the ball at a time, the bounces would have been fairly rhythmic, but this did not occur. Instead, continuous and random hits were produced, almost sounding like a young group of percussionists that cannot play in sync. Not only did this sound create a full boom due to the force of the players pushing the balls downwards, but the hard surface of the balls and floor also helped to create the low sounds. For a few short seconds, someone dribbled a ball on a carpeted floor, and this sound was completely different. The pitch was somewhat higher, and it the sound was much drier. It felt as though someone put a mute on an instrument. The carpet must have dampened the sound and changed its