Do you have favorite sounds? I don't mean human voices, music in the usual
sense, animal, or
natural sounds but rather non-musical sounds of human design. Here are the
ones that come to my mind.
- The wind chimes on our back porch. Perhaps Gail remembers how we acquired
them; I don't. They've been out there for 20 years, maybe longer. The
soft sound beneath the bedroom window
is comforting late at night and early in the morning… a familiar sound of solace
and peace, a gentle reassurance that life goes on.
- The theme song of the Yamanote train, the hour-long loop around central
Tokyo. Whenever the train stops at a station, the theme song plays. It's
about ten seconds, and I've heard it hundreds of times —
each bringing a smile to my face. I'm grateful for my chances to travel the world.
- The pouring of water into a font before Baptism. Perhaps you the reader are not
religious, but to me the sound of splashing, circling water triggers
reflections about who I am, why I'm here, what I'm good for, and what
happens next.
- The creaking of the moving sidewalks in Terminal 3, Heathrow Airport in
London. I've been to London so many times that it seems like my second
home. The creaking is distinctive and, in its peculiar way, shouts Welcome.
Terminal 3 was built in the early 1960s. Within 10 years it will
be replaced, they say. I can't argue with the rationale for that,
but I'll be sad because the new terminal won't have those creaks.
- The horn that blows loudly when the Carolina Hurricanes score a goal in Raleigh.
One of the more memorable moments in my life was attending Game 7 of the
Stanley Cup finals in 2006. Most sports fans go their entire lives without
ever seeing a final Game 7 in baseball, basketball, or hockey. I've got that t-shirt
and the horn reminds me of it.
- Morse code that goes "-.-. --.-", known as "CQ" which an amateur radio
operator (ham) like myself sends when he or she wants to converse with anyone
anywhere who hears the call. It's an invitation to make a new friend.
- The Windows 95 start-up sound. Don't remember it? Play it
here. Windows 95 was ground-breaking in several respects, among them its
inclusion of Internet support (technically the TCP/IP protocol stack) and
multimedia support. When I booted Windows 95 the first time after installing
it, out came herald of truly a new
age of computing that has changed our lives in so many ways. The difference
between Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 was as large as the difference between
punched cards and online computer terminals.
- Locomotive horns. They're not all alike! Some are blats, others are
dissonant chords, still others are pleasant chords. They vary in keys, both
major and minor (when they're properly tuned, that is). Motion is good.
What are yours?
