The Sunday evenings at St George Square are very energetic with weekend crowds of individuals, families, and group tour operators fill up the place. The special Sunday sermons, wind instrument performance by the team of disadvantaged and tour trips around the town in the age-old trams are the major attractions here. The place is experienced hectic construction-related development activities in order to accommodate the needs of a growing population.
The Church ground located in the heart of the town is an ideal location for a resting place enjoying the cool breeze even though the rising commotion during a certain period of time could cause a bit of unpleasantness. Sitting there and assessing the soundscape of the region was a long-term objective that I had in my mind as part of my academic curiosity. A wide range of amplitudes at irregular rhythms and varying times of occurrences along with a few clearly distinct continuous types and also pleasant melodious tunes depict the general picture of the acoustic spectrum prevalent in this place. All these reasons make this place an ideal one for such an exercise.
To classify the sounds generated here into finer levels is a difficult exercise. The major share in this spectrum is man-made or generated from machine operations. The sound of vehicular traffic especially road trams, the noise of vibrators and excavators from the construction sites, and periodic church bell chimes are predominant. The only natural one was those chirruping of sparrows that have flocked for the bits of nuts spread in the bird feeding point in the churchyard.
The predominant human sound was the gentle, feeble but melodious flute tunes and the broken parts of speech that occasionally flowed out the church with the help of the prevalent wind pattern. The closer analysis was done on three important parameters – the level of decibel which represented the amplitude as it was the only way in which I could distinguish each one from the other. The time of spread for each one, given as the rhythmic quality, was the other factor assessed here. Also, the level of audibility in relationship to the ambiance formed the final parameter considered in the analysis.
The sound of the huge excavators and the vibratory noise of the heavy concrete cutting equipment dominated the entire space. Having located just one hundred meters away from the place and continuous in operation clearly masks all the sounds getting generated. The absence of clear barriers in the operational area allows the noise to be spread far longer without any interruption. Though they were ranked highest in terms of periodicity the highest decibel was by the occasionally blown horns of the trams. The random and sudden sound of the horn breaks the monotony of the vibratory noise and makes you aware of other prevalent noises in the domain.
Though it lasted only a few seconds it gives way to identify the other sounds that have emerged from the roads. The bustling sounds of cars and buses are the other major ones that come again at irregular time intervals. The church bell that sounded twice every thirty minutes was the most significant of the periodic ones. The amplitude of both the church bell and tram horn seems to be of the same level as both were able to take my attention from the prevailing environment.
The sound of trams, which is pulled by the engine, which would be the oldest on the street in that area was the only distinct sound on the roads. As the sound of trams approaches the audibility limit, it certainly gives a nostalgic feel of the being in the past despite the not very appealing sound it produces. Though it has the latest noise control system the stringent controls on the emissions levels make a point of envy for other auto owners.
In addition to all these, which clearly captures the ears a further array of packets, are also spread in the air surrounding the space, which is very appealing and interesting. The special yard for feeding the birds located in the corner of the church is pleasing not only for the ears but also for the eyes. Probably, the happy and joyous mood shown by the sparrows assembled there might have caught my attention initially to give way for attending this minor sound.
The occasional breeze that moved across the space also carried with its variety of sounds that were very entertaining and interesting. The wind instrument performance by a team of youngsters who were physically disadvantaged kept blowing in the air continuously. As it gets masked by the dominant ones the wind is the agent it gives a better level of audibility. The intervals at which they were heard were very low and both the ears were always sharpened to catch them whenever they emerged to a significant level. Further, the broken message being delivered in the sermon along with the melodious performance of the church choir is also available only at not so pre-determined levels and intervals.
Looking closely into the nature of sounds observed during this time, the one that I felt very impressive was those melodious emerged from the flute though they were available only in incomplete proportions. This low decibel music was the most favorite for the reason of the calmness they spread to the peaceful setting of the town. Also, it is a revitalizing agent for all those students visited to make their minds fresh before starting another action-packed week at school.
Along with this, I would also place the sound of sparrows, which represented the sounds of joy. It was a situation where the sounds become more interested in watching them but in the former one I was enjoying by not being a spectator. The most disturbing sound among the pool is those generated from the construction ground. The highest amplitude generated was not only very deafening but also masking the other potential sounds that emerged in the location. The vibratory noise from the concrete cutters was very monotonous and disturbs the pleasant mood of an otherwise peaceful evening. Equally uninteresting was those tram horn, which was high-sounding ones, which gives a piercing experience something not wanted in any vehicular horns.
The soundscape based on which the above observations were made represented a lo-fi soundscape as it had a poor signal-to-noise ratio and failed to clearly identify the individual sound waves. The majority of the noise components from excavators and vibrators and vehicular horns often masked the individual sound levels from melodious flute performances, church choir, etc. Looking into the entire exercise I have mixed opinions.
The disappointment was the presence of high level of vibration noise than expected masked some of the expected sounds like the sound of general discussions happening on the church ground. But the happiness emerged from the availability of church choir due to the special session organized there. Altogether I feel the soundscape chosen represented a good case for the intended study and has served its purpose. The study could represent a wide range of sound sources on varying degrees of amplitudes and characteristics, thus making a well-represented spectrum.
