SENSES OF PLACE

When I first learned about this project, I instantly decided to capture the sounds of a baseball game and practice. Baseball has been a significant part of my life since I was about five years old. The audio postcard I created is filled with sounds that transport me mentally to a baseball field. These sounds, to me, are quintessential and heard almost daily whenever I’m at the field. They evoke memories and emotions tied to the game, making them a perfect choice for my project. The crack of the bat, metal cleat spikes hitting the pavement, the cheers of the crowd, and the chatter of players all bring the experience to life. Baseball is not just a sport for me; it's a part of who I am, and these sounds encapsulate that feeling perfectly.

To gather the audio clips for my project, I decided to record new videos during my baseball practices, grab some clips online of an MLB crowd/music, and also use some old clips I had from the batting cages in my camera roll. This process was both fun and interesting, as I had to brainstorm different clips I could use and figure out how to capture high-quality audio. With the help of my teammates, we set up a few drills and practiced like we normally do. This method worked perfectly, resulting in what I believe is an excellent representation of the sounds you'd hear on a baseball field. The collaborative effort with my teammates made the process enjoyable and ensured the authenticity of the sounds. It was fascinating to see how everyday activities on the field could create such a vivid and immersive audio postcard. The experience taught me a lot about sound recording and the importance of attention to detail in capturing the essence of a particular environment. I'm really pleased with the final result and think it truly paints the picture of being at a baseball field.

Since the Christmas season has almost begun and is one of my favorite parts of the year, I decided to capture the feeling of entering a café during this magical time. I aimed to create an immersive experience that transports the listener into a warm, festive space brimming with holiday cheer. Using a variety of sounds and effects, I worked to convey the quintessential mood of a café bustling with holiday spirit.

To begin, I faded the audio in, mimicking the sensation of stepping into a sonically rich environment. This technique mirrors the gradual adjustment our ears make when transitioning from the relative quiet of the outdoors into a lively indoor space. The dominant sound in my audio postcard is the hum of enthusiastic, overlapping conversations—a hallmark of café culture. These lively interactions set an upbeat and positive tone, making the listener feel like they’re surrounded by cheerful people enjoying the holiday season.

To enhance the sense of realism, I incorporated sounds like clinking cups, plates, and other utensils. These small but vivid details immerse the listener further, making it feel as though they’re truly inside a bustling café. To clearly establish the Christmas setting, I layered various kinds of holiday music into the scene. I included “Jingle Bells,” a classic Christmas carol, as a prominent element to immediately signal the festive mood. In addition, I added jazz music with a holiday twist and melodies featuring bell sounds, creating a rich and textured soundscape that evokes the cozy and joyful atmosphere of the season.

To bookend the audio journey, I faded the sounds out, just as I had faded them in. This effect conveys the sensation of walking back outside, leaving the vibrant sounds of the café behind, but knowing that the festive cheer continues within.

For the sound recording, I visited the Starbucks on my college campus and captured various sounds using my phone. I also walked around campus to gather snippets of conversations, ensuring a variety of audio layers. To refine the tracks, I used online software to reduce white noise, preventing it from detracting from the immersive quality of the audio postcard. This careful editing ensured a smooth listening experience and allowed the main themes to shine through. Combining these elements, I crafted an auditory depiction of the Christmas café experience, capturing both the bustling energy and the cozy warmth of the season.

When creating this audio postcard I thought about a time where I felt the most at home. This made me think about watching soccer matches with my family every weekend. Being of Brazilian culture football means a lot to my family and I. It is a time to come together and show pride and spirit for Brazil's most famous sport. In my creative process I wanted to captivate all the feelings I felt growing up watching games and spending time with family. I wanted my audio postcard to reflect a sense of unity, passion, and the unique sonic landscape that emerges from such a shared experience. It was my goal to immerse the listeners in the idea of growing up around football and the importance behind it. I wanted the listener to know and feel the warmth and joy of spending time together, cheering, and coming together for one cause. When starting my sound recording I thought about what makes the moment special. That is when I realized food is a big part of the day and so I decided to record myself cutting vegetables. I used my phone as it was what I had to record me cutting some vegetables. Using Audacity, I overlaid that with an audio I recorded of the game playing and mixed them together to create the atmosphere I felt growing up. Food is central to family gatherings in Brazilian culture. I used the shushing sounds of a pressured pot and the rhythmic cutting noises of vegetables to add an extra layer of warmth. This I then mixed in with the commentary narrating the game. I also recorded the commentator because it always brings joy and anticipation to each one of the plays and the Portuguese commentator specifically brings me great memories.This layering technique helped create a rich, textured soundscape, making the moment feel tangible and real for those listening. I added some carnival music recordings as well which I took from my game day playlist that helps bring the listeners into what it was like to be there with my family. I also edited a recording of my family celebrating a goal by Brazil in unison as well as their clapping and cheering. These small details would add texture and authenticity to the postcard. This postcard was extremely specific to myself and my family and was the overall goal. I immerse the listeners by showing the culture behind game day as far as the shushing from the pressurized beans cooker and the cutting of the onions to put in the food. I also showed the importance of celebrating the team's wins but cutting the audio of the food making when Brazil scores as it shows how much celebration comes before all else. The Brazilian language and culture has a lot to do with rhythm and dance and I feel with all the components I added my soundscapes embodies this well. In general this project deepened my appreciation for the role of sound in storytelling and helped me create an experience that was both personal and universal.

I chose to focus on the blend of nature and urban life because the area I live in feels like a unique intersection of these two elements. It’s a place where wildlife, like a bear that occasionally wanders into my yard, coexists with dense housing and heavy traffic. The sound of planes overhead is a regular occurrence, with both commercial flights from SeaTac Airport and fighter jets from JBLM (Joint Base Lewis-McChord) passing through the airspace. The recordings reflect this duality, capturing the essence of my neighborhood and the experience of walking to the creek. To emphasize this interplay of nature and urban life, I carefully crafted a soundscape that guides the listener through these overlapping worlds. The overall tone I aimed to create was one of peace and calm, with gentler fades and smoother balancing to make the piece feel cohesive. The stream provides a nearly continuous backdrop, grounding the composition and reinforcing the tranquil aspect of the setting. I chose to fade the stream in and out at the beginning and end, paired with footsteps, to mimic walking toward and then away from the water. The jet sound was carefully faded to create the effect of it passing overhead and disappearing into the distance, emphasizing the transient presence of human activity. Recording the sounds presented some challenges, but they were resolved with careful planning and editing. For example, occasional background noise and timing issues were handled using splicing and region-specific mixing in Logic Pro. I captured most sounds while walking, but for more specific recordings like the frogs or jet, I paused to stand still and pointed my phone microphone directly at the source. For the stream, I placed my phone on a rocky riverbank close to the faster current to achieve a crisp and vivid sound of flowing water. Although I didn’t adjust the EQ, I balanced the gain and levels to ensure each sound came through clearly. I was surprised by how well my phone microphone captured clear sounds with minimal ambient interference. The natural clarity of the recordings allowed me to focus on layering and balancing the elements to create an immersive experience. My goal was to take the listener on a journey. The piece begins with footsteps approaching the stream, leading into moments of discovery and immersion in the environment. The sounds of frogs and flowing water convey a sense of calm and connection to nature. The subtle rustling of leaves and the crackling of branches add texture, reinforcing the feeling of walking through a living, breathing landscape. The jet momentarily disrupts the natural soundscape but reinforces the ever-present influence of human activity, reminding the listener of how urban life intrudes on natural tranquility. As the journey continues, the peace is interrupted by traffic and barking dogs, reminding the listener of the urban presence in this natural setting. The piece concludes with the sound of footsteps fading away, offering a reflective resolution to the journey.

A busy street! In the heart of Ho Chi Minh City, it was morning. The city I was in is a bustling metropolis with constant energy on every corner. Street vendors were on every corner, pedestrians walked outside, and loud honking filled the air. The roads were lined with stores, street stalls, and buildings. Traveling to another country allowed me to immerse myself in a different environment. Experiencing something so different broadened my entire perspective.

Sitting as a passenger on a moped and using public transportation, I found the roadway full of what I would describe as a chaotic mix of sounds. I could hear bustling street vendors on the sidewalks, blended with the constant horns of motorbikes. Sitting in traffic, I noticed the ambient sounds of lively chatter on every corner I passed. The city's streets were filled with a mix of motorcycles, cars, buses, and trucks, creating a constant hum of engines and ambient noise. It felt just like every other city in the world - people had places to be, including us.

Hearing the honking sounds, I initially assumed it was road rage, but that wasn’t the case. Surprisingly, it’s often considered normal there - a means of road communication. Just like every morning, people must go to work, and the same goes for us. Morning traffic is usually jam-packed on the freeway, and it’s the same over there too. Long commutes, slow traffic, and all that.

This postcard consists of a recording I made while traveling in Southeast Asia a couple of months back. I’ve always been curious about the different environments in other parts of the world. Traveling through city roads in a completely different country allowed me to grasp how different it is compared to the place I live, largely because of the distinct environment.

As I recorded my travels, I became fascinated by the background noises of the busy roads and their unique sounds. The soundscapes of the outdoors are typically a vibrant mix of different natural and human elements. Depending on the environment, sounds like traffic or people can create a whole dynamic soundscape.

For this audio postcard assignment, I decided to do something simple yet vast. Although there are a million things I wish I could add to this project, I decided to dumb it down not only because I wouldn’t have the time to fit it all in, but because doing something simple, but with a lot of passion behind it, is going to be way better than something with a million things within it that give no inspiring energy. With this in mind, I wanted to create something relatable, calming, and satisfying to listen to, and what better way to check those three things off the list than nature, driving, studying, and, best of all, a coffee shop?

During the creation of this audio postcard, I recorded mainly everything in separate chunks using Apple Voice Memos and blended them together in the free audio and video editing software, CapCut. With the help of CapCut, I could fade the ends of the audio clips together to give it a seamless, one-way flowing audio story. What I expect my listener to experience is a nice mental jog-along, with a peaceful atmosphere and relatable sensation when the main character is finding a place to do some work. It sounds a little basic, but when everything flows together, especially when you subconsciously imagine yourself in the main character’s shoes, it will feel right because, in the end, we’ve all done this before—finding a place to study.

Though this may be a little different in terms of car, location, speaking, etc., we’ve all been in a situation where we wanted to go somewhere and study for a little bit. Because of that fact, it would be easy to make something relatable. Now you have to lay the groundwork. I thought to myself, “How can I connect to people just through sound?” As the wind blew by my house and through my window, wind chimes playing as the wind washed over, I thought, “That’s it!”

Whenever you immerse yourself in nature, it’s the most calming sensation ever, in my opinion. So why not incorporate the soothing sounds of nature and the rhythmic, hypnotic, systematic rattles and hums of a car? I decided to record the wind blowing outside my house with the wind chimes playing, and I drove around the neighborhood to capture the sounds of my car. Finally, I came home, parked my car, and entered my house, where I played coffee shop ambient noise and music to emulate a coffee shop.

Now, putting it all together, you have a story about a man just driving to a coffee shop to get some work done. Within that story, you have subtle things that we all hear in life, making this story relatable.

Music helps people focus on tasks and studying. It helps us feel grounded and concentrate. Everyone listens to their own type of music—jazz, rock, classical. I once knew a guy who listened to kawaii metal while he studied. Ultimately, what you listen to while studying shapes your experience and focus. Popular genres like lo-fi beats are a universal favourite; likely, many people have listened to them before. Another widely appreciated choice isn’t music but ambient sounds, like the rain or ocean waves. As for me, I listen to pretty much anything—J-pop, K-pop, parodies—whatever I’m in the mood for. For my audio postcard, I wanted to recreate the essence of a study session through the sounds that reflect my own experience. My type of music may be unconventional, but video game music helps me study. The dramatic compositions and emotional intensity of songs like One-Winged Angel from Final Fantasy VII put me in the zone. It’s not soothing in the traditional sense, but it keeps me focused, especially when tackling difficult assignments. There’s just something about it that scratches my brain just right for studying—the constant background of the violin and piano. I also find it distracting if a song has English lyrics. If the lyrics are in Latin, Japanese, Korean, German, or any other language, it’s less distracting, although I still end up wanting to sing along. (To be fair, I sing along with everything I know, so...) I also included the sounds of my environment because, let’s be honest, we can’t block that out entirely. The clicking of keyboards as I write this, the rain softly pattering on the window, and the chill of cold air seeping in—these are all part of my study atmosphere. Add to that the cars driving by outside or my dogs barking unexpectedly, and you’ve got a snapshot of what it’s like to study in my world. All of these sounds create a kind of harmony, even with their imperfections. Your environment might be different from mine, or it might be the same. Either way, it’s these little details that shape how we experience studying. For me, blending music, ambient noise, and environmental sounds creates an atmosphere that feels real and grounded—an honest reflection of how I focus. The audio postcard captures all these elements, weaving them together into a soundscape that feels authentic to my study sessions. It’s not perfectly controlled or completely calm, but it’s mine.

Creating this audio postcard was an exciting way to capture the heart of the recent storm - a powerful, windy event that swept through the area, leaving its mark on everyone who experienced it, whether that mark was good or bad. The storm was characterized more by its relentless winds than by heavy rain, and I aimed for my audio to reflect that. I began by recording the dominant sounds: the deep roar of gusts rushing through the trees, the snapping of branches under strain, and the clatter of leaves being tossed around. What truly made this storm memorable was the abundance of leaves swirling in chaos. The dry rustle of leaves scraping across the pavement, tumbling through the air, and skittering against walls became a key part of this soundscape, adding a texture and life to the piece that wouldn't be there without it.

My creative process focused on capturing not just the big, dramatic moments of the storm but also the quieter, more intricate sounds that brought it to life. I used a portable recorder to gather audio from various locations, seeking spots where leaves danced in the wind and surfaces amplified the storm’s effects. During editing, I concentrated on layering these elements to create a dynamic, immersive experience. The loud rush of wind served as the backbone, while the sound of leaves contributed to detail and rhythm. I applied subtle effects like reverb to create a sense of space and panned some sounds—like a sudden gust or the rustling leaves—to evoke movement and unpredictability.

What I hope listeners take away from this audio postcard is a vivid sense of being there, right in the middle of that storm. I want them to feel the power of the wind and the constant presence of leaves, carried and scattered by every gust. For those who experienced it, I hope it brings back memories—the sound of leaves scraping along the ground or the way the storm felt alive, unpredictable, and all-encompassing. The mix of big sounds and subtle details is what makes this piece unique. It’s not just about the storm itself but the little moments that give it character, transforming something that seems normal into something unique and special. I want my audio to bring back the good memories of that windstorm.

For my audio postcard titled Lost in Lanes, I wanted to capture the feeling of being on a busy highway. The recording includes the sounds of fast-moving trucks and cars, accompanied by a noticeable wind that gives the sense of a chilly environment. As I stood near the road, I wanted to convey the isolation and the overwhelming scale of the highway, using the sounds to reflect both the energy and the emptiness that highways often evoke.

In my creative process, I focused on two primary elements: the contrast between the rush of vehicles and the quiet wind that suggests a cold, open space. I chose this setting because highways often feel like places where people are disconnected, each individual lost in their own lane, rushing toward a destination. The wind, light but constant, adds to the atmosphere of space and loneliness, while the vehicles loud and fast create a sense of movement and urgency.

I used a field recorder to capture the sounds in their most authentic form, ensuring that the natural noise of the environment remained intact. I chose not to add any additional effects or manipulation, as I wanted the experience to feel raw and unfiltered. The primary goal was to transport the listener to that exact moment, allowing them to feel the chill in the air and the speed of the passing traffic. I wanted the wind and the sound of the cars to envelop the listener, making them feel as if they were standing right there on the side of the highway.

The decision to leave the sounds untreated was deliberate, as I didn’t want to distract from the primary sensory experience. The distant rumble of trucks, the whizzing of cars, and the faint wind combine to create a sense of both chaos and solitude. These sounds are deeply connected to the feeling of being on the road surrounded by constant motion yet still feeling very alone.

In the final mix, I made sure that the louder, more immediate sounds of the trucks and cars were balanced with the softer, background wind. This combination was meant to enhance the contrast of scale the overwhelming presence of the highway traffic set against the emptiness of the open space.

Through this recording, I hoped to invite the listener into a moment of quiet contemplation amidst the frenetic energy of the highway. The title Lost in Lanes encapsulates the emotional essence of the soundscape: feeling small, anonymous, and adrift, surrounded by the rush of life but never quite part of it. 

In creating my audio postcard titled " An Autumn Windy Stroll," I aimed to capture the essence of a windy weekend walk. My goal was to transport listeners into the autumn atmosphere by using sound to convey the feeling of strolling on a breezy fall day. This piece showcases the sensory richness of the season, featuring a vivid soundscape filled with the crunching of leaves, distant footsteps, children playing, and cars zooming past on a bustling weekend. It invites us to revel in the beauty of this vibrant time of year. The inspiration for this soundscape comes from the nostalgic and comforting feelings associated with a windy fall weekend. The swirling winds and crunching leaves evoke memories of childhood and home, beautifully balancing the lively energy of autumn with the warmth of familiar surroundings.

The postcard begins with a refreshing gust of wind, setting an uplifting tone. The middle section captures the beauty of layered sounds, like footsteps hitting the concrete, leaves crunching underfoot, and the occasional car passing by. I captured this audio by holding my phone and taking a walk to a nearby store in my neighborhood. I moved between the location of the sidewalk to the grass filled with leaves.

While editing my audio postcard, I reduced the volume of the loud wind sounds by lowering the bass, ensuring it wouldn’t be too overpowering during playback. I enhanced the crunching of leaves for better clarity, while softening background noises, such as distant conversations, footsteps, and passing cars, to create a more balanced sound. The aim was to evoke the beauty of a crisp, windy fall day, where the soundscape stirs cherished memories of seasonal change. The swirling winds inspire a sense of movement, while the crunching leaves ground the listener in the beauty of the season. The softer sounds of distant life—footsteps, outdoor noise, and nature—remind us of our shared experiences.

"An Autumn Windy Stroll" shows how nature's chaos connects with its rhythm. This project creates an experience that evokes emotions and memories related to the season. By choosing and layering different sounds, I aimed to create a piece that resonates with listeners. It shows how sound can bring back feelings and memories, even in simple forms. This highlights the strong influence of nature's sounds on our emotions and invites listeners to reflect on their own autumn experiences.

Have you ever wondered if you could capture a memory in a bottle, and when you listen to it, you are transported to that exact space in time, reliving that moment over and over again? As the morning unfolded, I walked onto the rainy streets of the University District, capturing the sounds of rain tapping on the pavement. The sounds around me were so alive, each with its own unique rhythm and tempo. Initially, I didn’t know which sound to capture first but realized that there is no single sound that makes a moment. I started recording what I could hear. Closing my eyes, I was in tune with what I was listening to—my environment.

My first plan was to create a cheerful, fun ambiance of going to school by adding soft background music to evoke memories of being on the school bus with friends. However, as I recorded the sounds and listened to them, I realized the rawness and realness of my environment were enough to create the feeling I wanted to convey.

In the audio postcard, I wanted the listener to share my experience of walking and taking the bus. I guided them through a spectrum of sounds, from walking to waiting at the bus stop and finally sitting on the bus. The postcard might transport listeners back to a time when they took a bus ride, hearing the engine sounds and the announcements onboard. It could evoke a sense of adventure or the anticipation of going somewhere.

I am not well-versed in editing software; however, using GarageBand was fairly manageable. I needed to mix all the audio together. Initially, I wanted to edit each sound individually and then blend them, but I found that approach created a different ambiance. Blending them together sounded more realistic and true to the environment.

However, there were limitations to this project. I still feel I haven’t fully captured the essence of what riding a bus truly feels like. There are still choppy moments in the audio that I am unable to fix or change. Another limitation was the length of the audio. I tried adding a clip from YouTube, but even with that, the final piece was still a minute short.

In conclusion, I’ve realized that limitations do occur. I ultimately decided not to add more audio, as it might disrupt the authenticity of the sound I wanted to create. It wouldn’t reflect the true environment I was in, and I want listeners to feel the genuine essence of the audio postcard I’ve made.

My audio postcard takes you through some of my mundane activities – walking down the street, raking leaves, and even working on this project itself. I recorded everything with my phone and my webcam microphone and edited it in Ableton Live. I only did minimal editing, mostly adjusting volumes. While you are listening, I especially want you to feel like you are with me working on this project. I re-sampled the entire project a couple of times. Rather than using the resampling feature within Ableton Live, I opted to play my entire project back out of my speakers and record it with my webcam microphone. In theory, this reinforces the atmosphere of working on my project, since instead of just hearing clips that I spliced together, you’re hearing a single recording of my working on this project. I made sure you could hear me fiddling with volume knobs, adjusting my webcam, and using my scroll wheel on my mouse. At times, I also flip between different versions of the project. I think it makes for a neat effect, especially on the keyboard noises.

I had struggled for a while thinking of an idea for this project, so I hope that what I’ve made accurately conveys that feeling. That is my primary reason for approaching this project in a sort of meta way. In this way, a lack of ideas bred creativity for me.

My Audio Postcard Midtown Midnight I wanted to capture the atmosphere of a busy city when it is around midnight. My goal of this postcard was to show how a city sounds at night in the middle of the city. I wanted it to feel very blur and still while still capturing the minimal activity that was going on. Through my creative process I initially had to really highlight the bluntness of a city late at night. I wanted to showcase the blur mixed with activity sounds. The audio postcard opens up with police sirens echoing through the city, you could hear the cold wind whisking through the night as then you would hear occasional vehicle honkings and slight murmurs of very distant conversation. These mixed together creates the effect as if the listener is truly present in the scene by simply closing their eyes and breathing slowly. The audio postcard then begins to ease as time moves on and soon all you hear is the cold wind and cars driving on the street. With these elements I wanted to give the listeners a pulse of the city as if you could feel it deeply. During the listening experience I hope the listener feels as if they are on top of an abandoned building around the corner feeling the slightly cold breeze. I want the listener to feel at peace within themselves knowing that that stillness of the city is the medicine to all their problems. At the same time it reminds the listener that these active sounds of the city are a reminder that life never truly stops, and that you must keep moving forward. I specifically chose this theme because I wanted to truly show the dynamic of a busy city at night with certain moments of peace and other moments where there are bursts of noises. My goal was to give the listener a mix of both sharp and peaceful sounds. My message on this postcard was to show that even when you're at your lowest point and you feel like you're alone, it's always okay to step out for a while. I wanted to replicate that feeling of when you're down, then suddenly you find yourself emerging in the city late at night all alone. You eventually found a random abandoned spot no one goes to as you sit there and think about life. The continuous changes in the sounds of cars and sirens coming in and out indicates that life must go on and time is ticking. 

In my audio postcard, I showcased the experience of a winter afternoon spent studying in bed, surrounded by the noises of Christmas music, people downstairs, and other homely sounds. I wanted to capture a home during the Christmas season, which holds warmth away from the cold winter air outside, the liveliness of a family home, and the quieter environment upstairs as a person completes their homework on a laptop. With the listening experience of this audio, I aimed to bring the listener into a home where they can feel the warmth and comfort of a lively family along with the relaxed focus of a person that is studying. First, my audio contains the distant noises of Christmas music and a vacuum cleaner. The distant Christmas music provides context for the setting of the postcard and fills the environment with festive cheer. This indicates an active person in another room, possibly bringing the image of a family member cleaning or preparing for guests. These noises establish life and movement within the home. Next, I layered the sound of typing on the keyboard of a laptop to introduce the separation of objective between the person typing and the activity of others in the house. The change in typing speed and the noises of nail tapping reflect the moments of contemplation or hesitation by the person during their work, which brings a relatable feeling to the listener. Additionally, I included the sounds of fabric shuffling, giving the illusion of being in bed or under blankets. This brings the feeling of warmth once again to the listener as they imagine that they are snuggled in bed themselves. The small and intimate noises like drinking from a water bottle, illustrate the feeling that the person typing has, as they work on their homework. The energy of the family downstairs and the quiet focused area upstairs create a well-rounded environment that is easy to imagine. All of the ambient noises included were crucial in establishing the sense of space and connection within the home. The technique of layering different sounds at specific volumes allowed me to manipulate the perception of space. The quieter vacuum cleaner and Christmas music next to the loud typing emphasized the focus on the person studying and allowed the listener to step into that person’s shoes. The distant noises suggested to the listener that there is other things going on, outside of the closest environment of the bedroom. Overall, my audio postcard brought a sensory experience of being in a lively winter home, while you are in your own area focusing on your own tasks. 

This past weekend, I tagged along with my friends at the University of Washington to watch the men’s soccer team face against their cross-town rival, Seattle University. I decided to make my audio postcard at this game since there was no power from the recent storm in my surrounding area at home and it was dead silent.

I stood at the end of the field on an elevated hill within a crowd of collective UW and SU fans, since there were no more seats available in the stands. In the audio recording, I wanted to capture the calm and sociable essence of the event, as a soccer game may seem more lively and intense. You can hear the announcer on the intercom, crowds in the stands cheering, muddy footsteps from the wet grass nearby, and echoing thumps of the ball being kicked hard in the distance. The game from my location and perspective seemed a lot more like a friendly social event, with much chatter to be heard as I positioned myself surrounded by others. I also tried to get myself not too far into the crowd of people so the audio recording could pick up on the sounds coming from the game as well. It was a little difficult with my proximity, the action of the game primarily taking place on the opposite half of the field, and the whistles from the ref not being as frequent as say, in a tackle football game.

Reflecting on the recording process of this postcard, it’s interesting how much impact sound has on our perceptions of events. For instance, if I were to have moved into the student section, the audio recording may have been a lot different with increased chatter volume, cheers, and sounds coming from the field as I would’ve been a lot closer to the action. This would have made a more intense vibe to the soundscape, contrary to my positioning at the end of the field, further from the action. My spot on the hill captured a nice blend of the game and the social atmosphere, showing the "quieter" side of sports where they bring people together, connecting beyond just the game.

Like many cities in North America, Seattle is a concrete jungle. The expansion of the I5 freeway through downtown encouraged a car dominated environment where future development aimed to improve the quality of private transit rather than quality of life. Many Seattleites opted to leave the city when finding natural beauty. With Kitsap County, Mount Rainer, and Snoqualmie falls all being a short-day trip away, the implementation of greenery within the city seemed to be an afterthought. Fortunately, prior to I5, city planners created natural spaces within the city, many of which have been maintained over the years. 

In this audio postcard, I take you to a little park tucked within Seattle’s oldest neighborhood, Pioneer Square. Created in 1907, the Waterfall Garden offers a unique escape from the hustle and bustle of the city, yet its presence remains elusive for much of the population. When you step inside, it feels like you’re transported to a different dimension. The sound of water flowing over the rocks drowns out the hum of motors and rumbling of cars passing over the neighborhood’s bumpy roads.

At the start of the clip, we walk through the historic neighborhood, taking in the city noises, and getting the listener accustomed to the soundscape of a bustling city in the morning. After a while, the city noises start to fade away, leaving behind the drone of the falls. While the new soundscape is not quite peaceful, the stark contrast from the city creates an almost calm environment, where a visitor can be at peace from the requirements of daily life. Throughout the Summer months, the Waterfall Garden is never empty, always hosting a wide range of visitors. From reading books to playing chess, the garden allows people to slow down and really enjoy life.

Having understood the context of this postcard, I encourage the listener to try and find places just like these. Places within human-made that hold true to their natural roots. With the constant pressure of deadlines and assignments, it’s easy to get caught up in the pace of life and forget to slow things down. By finding these places within the city, you can remove yourself from the big picture, creating a smaller vision centered around the parks and gardens. You no longer find yourself an individual in a sea of millions, but rather one in a group of tens.  

While listening to this audio postcard, the purpose was to have the listener experience the sounds of traveling by plane, beginning in the car and ending with the plane taking off. Traveling is an experience that is treasured by many, and I wanted to create an environment where you could experience all of the most recognizable sounds of travel, all while staying in one place. For this piece, I chose to focus more on the major sounds of each area in the airport. Beginning with the sounds of traffic that you would experience during drop-off, the listener is transported to a busy traffic scene. I believe this step is essential, because the chaotic sound of traffic will allow the listener to appreciate the quieter sounds later on in the audio. Following the traffic, the listener is then taken to the inside of the terminal, where they are faced with the busy, but somewhat quieter sounds of the areas near the check-in stands. It is after this portion where the listener gets to experience one of the most iconic airport sounds, which is the TSA agents yelling at the security checkpoint while the metal detectors sound. Next, the listener will be taken to the secure side of the terminal, where they will hear more busy passenger noise, and be greeted by boarding announcements over the terminal intercom. Following this area, the listener is taken to the boarding process, where they will be immersed in the sounds of other passengers boarding the plane. Next, the listener will be immersed in the beautiful sound of the engines spooling up for takeoff, before being taken to the final audio clip, which is the ambient noise of the aircraft cabin during the cruise phase of the flight. While I could’ve included the sounds of the aircraft landing at a specific destination, I wanted to leave the destination to the imagination of the listener. Typically, people spend the duration of the cruise portion of the flight imagining what their destination will be like, which is why I chose to cut off the audio shortly after entering cruise. This way, the listener would have gone through all of the sounds that they would experience when traveling through an airport, and will hopefully leave wondering where they could be traveling to. I believe that travel is all about experiencing the many things that you imagine, and I hope that this audio clip will help the listener begin to imagine a trip that would bring them happiness.

I created my audio postcard while visiting my Uncle Chris' house in Granite Falls, Washington. The goal of this piece was to capture a day in the life of my uncle on this small plot of land in the woods. The creative process for this project began with the idea of capturing the essence of both the environment and the everyday activities that occur in this place.

I began by recording the sounds of a chainsaw, wood chopping, and the playful barking of Chris’ dogs as they ran around the property. These opening sounds set the stage by immersing listeners in the natural ambience and populating it with people and animals. The nearby highway, with the distant sound of cars driving by, was also important to include because it represents the connection between the rural landscape and the outside world. This gives the listener a sense of the property’s location, positioned between nature and civilization.

Most of the recording focuses on the process of gathering wood and clearing trees, the main objective of my visit. I included as many sounds as I could from the surrounding forest: birds chirping, grass rustling, and sticks snapping underfoot, to bring nature to the forefront. These sounds anchor the postcard in this location, allowing the listener to feel like they are laboring away beneath the trees.

I also included snippets of a conversation between my father, Chris, and his wife Lori, to add an element of warmth and familiarity. The dialogue, though not fully intelligible, evokes a feeling of connection and comfort, creating a sense of home. The human voices layered with the sounds of the area, help personalize the experience, bringing the listener closely into this space.

The final moments of the postcard transition from the bustling outdoors to the quiet, calm of my uncle’s house. The sound of footsteps entering the home, the door closing behind me, and the soft click of the wood fireplace creates a sense of ease. As the conversation outside becomes muffled, the shift in sound marks the end of today’s journey.

To capture this soundscape, I kept my phone nearby at all times, recording videos and voice memos throughout the day. The most challenging part was trimming the audio clips to fit within the three-minute limit and deciding how to structure everything in a coherent way. My creative choices were guided by the desire to create an experience that would portray the atmosphere of a quiet day spent working and relaxing in the woods. 

For my audio postcard, I attempted to transport the listener to a spiritual sanctuary by combining sounds that evoke a serene temple and calm atmosphere infused with the Hare Krishna Maha Mantra. The goal was to create an immersive auditory journey in which the mantra's melody would serve as both the heart of the experience and a cultural beacon. 

The project began by determining the main emotions I wanted to evoke: peace, devotion, and transcendence. The Hare Krishna Maha Mantra, a chant associated with meditation and spiritual awakening, served as my centerpiece. It is known as the “Great Mantra”, which harnesses the power of thousands of mantras into one. To bring the mantra to life in the context of an imagined sacred space, I used environmental sounds such as water flowing, birds chirping, a background sound, and my singing. These layers created a sense of place and authenticity, paving the way for the mantra to resonate. 

The mantra was chosen as the focal point because its repetition has a natural, immersive quality. The ambient sounds were carefully balanced so that they complemented rather than competed with the chant. I made sure to listen to the background sounds first before I recorded myself singing to get a sense of the speed necessary to perform. The mantra's tone was set to a warm and inviting pitch, reflecting the welcoming atmosphere of a temple and meditation. 

I imagined the listener closing their eyes and being transported to a sacred courtyard where the sounds of devotion and nature blended. As the audio progressed, the sonic layers formed a multidimensional soundscape that offered a journey of serenity and spiritual reflection. Since this was my first time using Audacity, I had trouble figuring out how to start. 

Since every Saturday I have been attending mantra mediation sessions, I tried to replicate the place I felt most spiritually resonated with. I made sure to pick the background tracks that had the voices of animals in the background as this would be in the recordings in Vrindavana India which is one of the holiest places in the world. I tried my best to sing a tune of the Maha Mantra that complimented the background sounds, even though my singing skills could be better. In conclusion, I had a lot of fun playing with new software and replicating sounds and energy that encompass my everyday life. This is where I always try to stay spiritually, as it helps me meditate and focus on our busy lives. 

Recording "Whispers of the Woods" was a chance to capture the essence of the forest through sound, offering listeners an immersive experience that conveys tranquility and a deeper connection to nature. The creative process began with a vision: to create an auditory escape where listeners could feel present in the forest, experiencing its serenity and life. My challenge was to balance the complexity of the forest's sounds while keeping it soothing and accessible.

 The first key decision I made was to focus on the natural sounds most indicative of the forest—rustling leaves, bird calls, and the river's flow. The leaves provided the soft, calming texture that set the tone. I positioned the microphone near the ground, where I could capture the subtle movement of the leaves as they brushed together in the breeze. This placement allowed me to create a feeling of proximity, making it seem as though the listener was standing directly on the forest floor, surrounded by the gentle hum of nature.

 Bird calls were another important element. I chose a location near the canopy where birds were most active, positioning the microphone to capture the high frequencies of their songs. I wanted to leave space for the birds' calls to fill the soundscape without overwhelming the other elements. This balance between the birds and the rustling leaves helped ensure the scene felt natural and not too cluttered.

The river was also central to the recording. I found a quiet spot where the water flowed gently, allowing the sound of the river to become a grounding, continuous presence. I used a stereo microphone to capture the full width of the river’s sound, creating a sense of depth in the environment. The river's steady flow provided a calming backdrop to the birds and leaves.

I made sure to balance the sound levels carefully. I wanted each element—the birds, the leaves, and the river—to rise and fall naturally, without any one dominating. In post-production, I applied subtle equalization, boosting the mid-high frequencies for the birds while maintaining clarity in the lower frequencies of the leaves and river. A gentle reverb helped smooth the transitions between sounds, creating a cohesive, immersive atmosphere.

Ultimately, "Whispers of the Woods" was designed to transport listeners to the forest, offering them a brief but powerful escape into nature’s calm. Through these careful sound choices and processing, I hope to evoke not just the sights, but the peace and life of the forest.

For my piece for the audio postcard, I wanted to capture the calm yet vibrant ambiance of a café at the beach during breezy mornings. This location was picked because of its distinctive fusion of jazz music, waves, and the lively activity that characterizes a café. By creating this dual setting, I hoped to give the listener a sense of the warmth of the early sun and the lively energy of people going about their daily lives 

I concentrated on assembling a variety of sounds that captured the atmosphere of the café as well as the natural beach environment in order to create this soundscape. Coffee-making sounds, clinking cups, and brief bursts of light conversation gave the café life, while recordings of the crashing waves and calm jazz music served as the background. I had the difficult task of making sure that no sound overpowered the others during editing. In order for the listener to perceive the location's multi-layered richness, it was crucial to keep things in balance.

I purposefully started the audio postcard with the sound of waves lapping gently since it instantly establishes the mood and transports the listener to the beach. The café noises progressively surface as the composition goes on, producing a transition that simulates entering the café from the beach. With the waves serving as the last, lingering sound, I employed fade-outs to produce seamless layer transitions and to conclude the postcard on a serene note. These selections were intended to create feelings of calm and serenity.

With the sound of the waves crashing in the backdrop, I want listeners to imagine themselves sitting at an outside café table, enjoying coffee. The goal of the sound combining is to immerse the listener so they can take in both the beach's natural beauty and the café's welcoming ambiance.

I edited the audio using Audacity, using strategies like volume control to make sure the noises blended together. To keep the postcard brief and interesting, some portions of the recordings were trimmed to eliminate extraneous or distracting components. The use of fade-outs gave the work a polished appearance and allowed for seamless transitions. I was able to polish the soundscape and make sure it portrayed the desired atmosphere and experience thanks to these resources and techniques.

In conclusion, Morning Melodies at the Beachy Café seizes a singular instance of tranquility and vitality. By means of meticulous sound editing and layering, my goal was to immerse the listener in this serene yet lively coastal environment, allowing them to envision the delight of beginning their day there.

I planned on creating an audio postcard that would transport a listener to my Fred Meyer experience solely through sound. If someone can hear everything I'm hearing while shopping there, they will assume they're along for the ride with me. 

Fred Meyer is considered a big-box convenience store; it's a one-stop grocery and household shopping experience with home and garden items. Therefore, the sounds are the average, everyday sounds of a big-box store—wheeled shopping carts gliding across the floor, checkout areas buzzing and flashing, idle chatter between employees and consumers, and an intercom or static in the background every so often. Where I didn't want to specifically tell a story, though, was through the audio. I wanted my audience to understand and feel like they were in the store with all the sounds. I made an auditory collage from an array of places to bring my audience down the aisles. The muffled chatter associated with clothing, the beeping of the self-checkout—all sounds of Fred Meyer associated with being there. 

Basically, I wanted the audience to experience the whole path of a market—entering the market, walking through the aisles, exiting past the cash register. Therefore, to create renderings of this type of experience, I focused on details, on all the little things people often overlook. If the listener had never actively heard these sounds before but now thinks, "that sounds familiar," I've succeeded. 

I took every sound I could find from all the little corners of the store—from the low grocery and chips aisles to the cash register. They are layered in a way to provide distance as if you are an actual shopper with a world going on around you. Postcard soundscapes were intended to have sounds either near and far as if they too existed in the supermarket sensory overload filled space. It ends with my purchase being scanned and completed, a salute to the completion of the shopping experience as everything dissipates. This was a project meant to highlight how much exchange occurs with something so commonplace.

I can almost smell this audio postcard. It smells like gasoline, dust, and cardamom. In this piece, the most present sound is the constant droning of the engines from the bikes and tuk-tuks. I recorded this piece in the backseat of my uncle's car. It was late at night. The air was a perfect temperature, and the breeze coming from outside was so refreshing.

I chose this piece because of how transportive the sounds are; they remind me of my family and home. You can hear the muffled dialogue of people on the streets and the people in the car. In the piece, we drove past a chai house, and they were playing one of my favorite artists, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. You can feel how alive the shop was. I can remember the bright orange lights and the dancers.

The sound of the engines droning is something that I feel many people can relate to as a nostalgic sound. Every time I hear it, it transports me. For context, this piece was recorded in April, just outside of Lahore, Pakistan, on a drive home from a wedding reception.

Capturing this soundscape of Lahore reminds me of the close relation our senses have with memory and identity. The droning of engines, muffled voices, and strains of music fleeting across are not just ambient sounds but doorways to a place and time that feels like home. They carry in their wake the warmth of family, the vibrancy of the streets, and the timeless energy of a city that never truly sleeps. Every time I hear these sounds, I am taken back, not just to Lahore, but to the core of what it means to belong, to feel alive, and to be enveloped by the comforts of familiarity.