Sound Diary | multimodalwriting

The Sound Diary

A sound diary is just what it sounds like: a place where you keep a list of sounds you hear. However, our goal in keeping a sound diary is three-fold:

To pay attention to the soundscapes in which we live
To develop a vocabulary of sound
To become aware of the sounds used in media

Keep a sound diary in your phone or notebook. You will have two entries per week due. For each entry, spend at least 7 minutes doing focused listening and write down what you hear. Everything you hear. Do not do all your sound diary entries from the same place; rather try to sit or walk in different places so you experience different soundscapes. Also, at least THREE of your sound diaries should be focused on a form of media (podcast, TV show, radio show, etc.) to which you carefully listened.

What to Submit

Each time a sound diary entry is due, do the following:

Create a blog entry titled Sound Diary Entry 1 or Sound Diary Entry 3, etc.
Write down your list of sounds
Write a thorough couple paragraphs in which you explain the soundscape and practice building a vocabulary of sound by describing what you heard. You probably used some causality terms (like dog barking, horn honking, etc.) when you were making your list, so now try to move beyond them. What does the bark of the dog sound like? What is the sound the car horn actually makes?

Not sure how to describe a sound you heard with using causality? Google it. See what words others are using. We develop vocabularies by reading and practicing the vocabulary in our writing and speaking.